The Physician of a Dying Time(1984)

The Physician of a Dying Time is a five-part historical series about Johannes Jessenius, a Renaissance anatomist, scholar and politician who lived through one of Europe's most turbulent centuries. Born in Slovakia in 1566, Jessenius rose to prominence as a professor of surgery and anatomy at Wittenberg University, earning renown across the continent. Yet his life was marked by both intellectual triumph and political catastrophe. The series traces his journey from early scholarly success through the personal and social upheavals of the late Renaissance, culminating in his execution on the Prague Old Town Square gallows in 1621 following the failed Bohemian Revolt. Directed by Slovak filmmaker Miroslav Luther and produced by Czechoslovak Television Bratislava in the early 1980s, this epic biographical drama captures a pivotal moment when Renaissance humanism gave way to a new age of conflict and change.