Tommaso Bovio was a representative of North Italian non-academic medicine in the early modern period. His "dialogues", published in the second half of the 16th century, were written in the Italian vernacular and enjoyed a certain popularity also in Germany. Although Bovio used to exaggerate for rhetorical effect, his portrayal of patients, illness and treatments provides interesting insights into everyday urban life in his time. Sympathising with Paracelsus, Bovio propagated an image of empirics as humanitarians and fought for the recognition of his own practical knowledge and skills. Bovio was a most original figure in the medicine of the period of counter reformation. His writings exemplify the lively debate between the learned medical tradition and unorthodox reform.