Disputes Surrounding the Discovery of the Stapes in the Mid 16th Century

The discovery of the stapes in the mid 16th century remains a subject of controversy in medical literature, even if most historians credit the Italian Ingrassia, in 1546, for this discovery. The aim of this study is to discuss previously published works, to add additional insight and interpretation to them, and to finally discuss the veracity of this accreditation to Ingrassia. Between 1546 and 1564, Jimeno, Collado, Valverde, Colombo, Lusitanus, Pare, Falloppio, Eustachio, and Vesalius described this ossicle in their respective publications, and Ingrassia only in his posthumous one in 1603. A step by step chronology of the narrated and published events demonstrates that Ingrassia could be the first to have discovered and mentioned the stapes in public lectures in 1546, but Jimeno is the first to publish it in 1549. The discovery of the stapes will remain a subject of controversy, until new, previously unknown documents, demonstrate the contrary.