ISSN 0340-5354, Volume 257, Number 5

This article was published in the above mentioned Springer issue.

The material, including all portions thereof, is protected by copyright;
all rights are held exclusively by Springer Science + Business Media.
The material is for personal use only;
commercial use is not permitted.
Unauthorized reproduction, transfer and/or use
may be a violation of criminal as well as civil law.
J Neurol (2010) 257:691–698
DOI 10.1007/s00415-009-5433-7
Author's personal copy
REVIEW
Epilepsy during the Middle Ages, the Renaissance
and the Enlightenment
Aristidis Diamantis • Kalliopi Sidiropoulou •
Emmanouil Magiorkinis
Received: 16 August 2009 / Revised: 16 November 2009 / Accepted: 16 December 2009 / Published online: 27 December 2009
 Springer-Verlag 2009
Abstract The purpose of this study was to pinpoint the
views on epilepsy as a disease and symptom during
medieval times and the Renaissance. A thorough study of
texts, medical books and reports along with a review of the
available literature in PubMed was undertaken. With the
exception of some early Byzantine doctors in the East and
some of the representatives of Arab medicine, scientific
views and observations on epilepsy in the West were
overrun by the domination of the Catholic Church. This led
to the formulation of superstitious views of the disease;
epileptics were considered possessed and, therefore, only
religious methods could possibly cure it. Near the end of
the fourteenth century, physicians were emancipated from
Catholic intervention. The Renaissance is marked by a
plethora of new treatises on epilepsy regarding the mech-
anisms of epileptic convulsions, the connection with vari-
ous clinical conditions such as tumors and venereal
diseases and the collection of interesting cases.
Keywords Epilepsy
Medieval times
Renaissance

Convulsions
Daemonism
Epileptic fits
Epilepsy during the Middle Ages
Epilepsy as a symptom is as old as human existence.
However, Hippocrates, in his classic treatise On the sacred
A. Diamantis
K. Sidiropoulou
E. Magiorkinis
Office for the Study of History of Hellenic Naval Medicine,
Naval Hospital of Athens, Athens, Greece
E. Magiorkinis (&)
Leoforos Aianteiou 3, PB 1541, Salamina 18900, Greece
e-mail: mayiork@med.uoa.gr
disease, was the first to provide a systematic description of
the medical condition of epilepsy. In this, Hippocrates
addressed the disputed issue of divine origin when he said
the following: ‘This disease is in my opinion no more
divine than any other; it has the same nature as other dis-
eases, and the cause that gives rise to individual diseases.
It is also curable, no less than other illnesses, unless by
long lapse of time it be so ingrained as to be more powerful
than the remedies that are applied’ [29]. The work of
Hippocrates was followed by that of Aelius Galenus [25],
Aretaeus of Cappadocia [8], Soranus of Ephesus and other
minor physicians of the Roman period who provided
excellent descriptions of various aspects of epileptic sei-
zures. However, in parallel with those important advances
in our understanding of epilepsy, magic and religious
beliefs about the divine origin of the disease persisted [9].
During medieval times, symbolism, demonology and
religious beliefs, which were inherited from the Greco-
Roman period, dominated the currents of life and science.
As in all sciences, mysticism and dogmatism pervaded
medicine. Medieval physicians applied the ancient Baby-
lonian and Jewish belief in demon possession to epilepsy,
hysteria and the psychoses. Therapy for epilepsy was based
on rituals with patients considered ‘possessed’ or labeled as
witches and warlocks. Victims experienced prejudice,
exorcisms and social marginalization. Many medieval
mosaics, frescoes, miniatures and paintings depict the
exorcism of a particular disease/devil by a particular saint.
Artworks depict a devil driven from the mouth of the
energumen [38]. Beyerstein [11] suggests that the curious
behavior of possessed people described in the classic
Malleus Maleficarum (fifteenth century A.D.) (Fig. 1) is
likely due to symptoms of epilepsy or Tourette’s syndrome.
In medieval accounts, the presence of God, Satan and
various other visions are commonplace, leading physicians
123
692 Author's personal copy
Fig. 1 Malleus Maleficarum front page (Lyon edition, 1669)
and clergy to suggest exorcism as the only possible cure
[11]. Beginning at age 13, Joan d’Arc experienced
moments of ecstasy associated with light, heard voices of
saints and claimed to see visions of angels, all probably
symptoms of epileptic seizure [15].
Even today many of those superstitions are propagated,
especially in poorly educated lower social classes. While
epilepsy is a pretty common disease, epileptic patients
across socio–cultural groups are stigmatized and experi-
ence severe social discrimination, impacting patient
adherence to treatment and understanding of their disease.
Epilepsy, in medieval times, was regarded as a conta-
gious disease. The chthonian cult of the ancient Greeks
consisted of epileptic outcasts and the Cloister of St. Val-
entine at Rufach (Upper Alsace) founded an isolation
hospital for epileptics in 1486. The epileptics, considered
possessed, were excused from oblation and Eucharist
because they would desecrate the holy objects and would
infect the common plate and cup [16]. Epilepsy was also
included in the infectious diseases enumerated in the verse
of the so-called Schola Salernitana, where it was named
pedicon [37]. Berthold of Regensburg, attributed the
infection of the ‘falling evil’, as epilepsy was commonly
123
J Neurol (2010) 257:691–698
called during this period, to the contagious character of the
patient’s evil breath. Medieval experts considered diseases
such as leprosy and the falling evil incurable.
A connection of epilepsy with astrology was also a very
popular theory in medieval times. Pagans believed that
epilepsy was a vengeance of the goddess of the moon. The
waxing moon supposedly heated the atmosphere sur-
rounding the earth, which in turn melted the human brain
and provoked the attack [57].
Epilepsy through the Catholic Church lens
Members of the Catholic Church expressed different
opinions on epilepsy. St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179
A.D.), for example, distinguished between two kinds of
epilepsy: ‘a vengeful wrath sets the blood in motion
causing one type of epilepsy while patients with unstable or
low morals suffered the second type’ [28]. Saint Valentine,
a medieval saint of the Catholic Church, was said to have
treated epilepsy. His name in German originates from the
phrase ‘fall net hin’ (Valentin) which means ‘do not fall
down’. Saint Valentine was a person who protected people
from diseases that cause someone to fall down and lose
their senses, a condition such as epilepsy [32]. Saint John
the Baptist also had a connection to the disease. In France,
le mal Saint-Jean (the disease of St. John) was a common
expression. One theory connecting St. John to epilepsy is
based on his decapitation by Herod and the subsequent
falling of his head to the ground [13]. St. John was origi-
nally the patron of the dancing mania. Later, however, St.
Vitus, a Christian martyr of Sicily took the place of St.
John as a patron of this neurosis, and St. John was pro-
claimed as patron of epilepsy. The three wise men from the
biblical tale of Jesus’ birth also had a reputation as patrons
of epilepsy mainly because they fell down before the divine
child and offered gifts [31]. Similarly, the Greek Orthodox
Church has the example of St. Tychonas of Cyprus, who
allegedly cured many possessed people [1].
Byzantium perspective on the malady
One should also note the views of famous Byzantine
physicians such as Oribasius of Pergamum, Aetius Amid-
enus, Alexander of Tralles and Paulus of Aegina on epi-
lepsy. Overall, Byzantine doctors recapitulate the theories
of Ancient Greek physicians and further systemize the
nosology of the disease by reporting interesting cases of
epileptic patients. Oribasius of Pergamum (320–400 A.D.)
believed that phlegm provoked epileptic convulsions. He
considered the influence of various external factors such as
the moon and the climate on the brain’s functions. Aetius
J Neurol (2010) 257:691–698 Author's personal copy
Amidenus (sixth century A.D.) largely adopted the views
of Galen and followed the remedies of Oribasius. He also
quoted the opinions of Didymus, Asclepiades from Bithy-
nia (first century BC), Archigenes (first century A.D.) and
Dioscorides (first century A.D.) [19]. During the seventh
century, Alexander of Tralles (525–605 A.D.), in his
treatise Twelve books on Medicine, takes an orthologic
approach and characterizes epilepsy as a brain disturbance,
although he still proposes ‘magic treatments’ as a cure
[61]. However, he rejected extreme procedures such as
trephinization, ‘which to many become a punishment rather
than a cure’ [60]. Paulus of Aegina (seventh century A.D.)
addresses epilepsy in his chapter about madness [5]. He
defines epilepsy as a convulsion of the body caused by an
affliction of the ‘hegemonicon’.1 This theory supports the
belief that phlegm and tumors led to this condition.
According to Economou and Lascaratos, Paulus was the
first Byzantine doctor who provided a clinical description
of epileptic fits. He also described a clinical condition that
resembles status epilepticus [19]. Theophilus Protospatha-
rius (seventh century A.D.), another famous Byzantine
doctor, did not make any important contributions to epi-
lepsy. He agreed with all Byzantine physicians that the
brain was the seat of the disease [35]. Leon the Iatrosop-
hista (870 A.D.), a cleric and archbishop of Salonica,
considered epilepsy a type of daemonic possession. Theo-
phanes Nonnus (950 A.D.) believed the epileptic brain was
a diseased organ but also recognised focal forms. He
explained epileptic symptoms and noticed that an afflicted
person falls and foams. Nonnus [40] chastised people who
believed epileptic fits were a demonic possession. Michael
Psellos (eleventh century A.D.) avoids the distinction
between lunacy and epilepsy but hypothesized that the
moon and air lead to epilepsy. He defines epilepsy as an
incurable illness that provokes convulsions of the whole
body. Johannes Actuarius (1275–1328 A.D.) discusses
epilepsy in his book De diagnosi, without making any
important contribution to the understanding of the malady
[19].
Arab medicine views on the condition
Arab doctors also dealt with epilepsy in their practice
during the Middle Ages. In his Continens, Abū Bakr
Muhammad ibn Zakariyā Rāz (known as Rhazes), a
famous physician and alchemist (865–925 A.D.), describes
three cases of epilepsy [55]. Abu al-Qasim Khalaf ibn al-
Abbas Al-Zahrawi (936–1013 A.D.), known as Abulcasis,
1 vations on traumatic epilepsy, correctly associating frac-
Hegemonicon (gcelomijóm) comes from the word hegemon,
meaning sovereign. Writers use this term to define the part of the
brain that controls bodily functions.
693
one of the most famous surgeons of the Islamic medieval
world, enumerates five main causes for epilepsy; four of
them are the usual humors and vapors while the fifth cause
of epilepsy ‘is caused by some outside agent whose mode
[of action] is not known, and it is said to be caused, as
usual, by demons’. He also refers to his own personal
observations of individuals with epilepsy. These people,
whose appearance changed, fell down, spoke in a foreign
tongue unknown to them, read complicated books and
wrote and spoke about scientific matters of which they had
been ignorant. Those demons, according to Abulcasis, were
‘the accursed demons who are called allahin ablis’ [4]. He
also recorded two cases of epileptics with hallucinatory
visions, one of sexual nature and one of a black woman [4].
Abulcasis suggests the use of cauterization as a therapy for
epilepsy with the application of a hot iron on several places
of the head [3]. Ali ibn Abbas al-Majusi (late tenth century
A.D.), known as Masoudi, a famous physician and psy-
chologist, refers to epilepsy of traumatic origin by noting
that an obstruction of the brain may be the result of a
compression from a fracture of the skull accompanied by
severe pain [2]. Abu Ali Sina Balkh, known as Avicenna
(981–1037 A.D.), one of the most influential scientists of
the Middle Ages, supported the theory of blockage of
humors as a possible mechanism of epileptic convulsions
[10]. Yahya ibn Masawah (776–857 A.D.) (known also as
Johannes Mesue), a Nestorian Christian physician of
Baghdad, in his Grabadin, idest compendii secretorum
medicamentorum, enumerates six points for the treatment
of epilepsy: (a) arrangement of a regimen, (b) the morbid
matter is prepared for evacuation, (c) the morbid matter is
then evacuated, (d) care is taken to minimize residual
morbid matter from spreading to other parts of the body,
(e) the brain and any other organ where the disease origi-
nated is restored and (f) the various symptoms incidental to
the disease are set right [39].
Constantinus the African (1020–1087 A.D.), a translator
of Greek medical and Islamic texts, advises the parents of
epileptics to take the patient to church during the second
week following Whitsuntide (Pentecost) and expose them
to the Friday or Saturday Mass [56]. He also noticed the
similarity among epilepsy, lunacy and demonic possession,
proposing specific instructions to differentiate them. A
formula commanding the demon to recede would be spo-
ken into the ear of the patient. If the patient was a lunatic or
possessed by demons, the words would provoke a deathlike
state for an hour. Afterward, he would be able to answer
anything he might be asked. If, however, the afflicted did
not fall down, this would prove him an epileptic [7].
Beyond superstitions, Al-Zahrawi made important obser-
tures of the skull and brain compression with the malady
[6].
123
694 Author's personal copy
Famous physicians of the Middle Ages
A review of prevalent medical theories from the Middle
Ages finds variations among them, especially those of
Galen. These theories are largely devoid of originality but
full of theological speculations that perpetuated the con-
fusion and superstitious views of their time. In De Medi-
cina ex Graecis logicae sectae auctoribus liber translatus
sub Artabure et Calepio consulibus, Cassius Felix (fifth
century A.D.) summarises his predecessors by distin-
guishing two forms of epilepsy: one connected with con-
vulsions and another one characterized by sleep. He
differentiated three pathological forms of the disease based
on its point of origin: the brain, the stomach and any lower
part of the body [21].
Among the most influential physicians of this era are:
Arnold of Villanova, a famous physician, alchemist and
magician; Bernard of Gordon, a teacher in Montpellier
from 1285 to 1307; and John of Gaddesden, physician to
Edward II of England. Arnold of Vilanova (1240–1311),
in his book about epilepsy De Epilepsia, emphasizes the
dependence of the disease on the star constellations and,
in particular, the moon. As remedies, he suggests the use
of animal organs and precious stones [64]. In his Bre-
viarium he notices that ‘the true epilepsy is engendered
with phleghm; spurious epilepsy by black bile mixed
with phlegm’ [62]. As therapy for epilepsy, he suggests a
fever treatment, the application of leeches over the
spleen and the administration of a poultice comprised of
pigeon’s dung and raven’s eggs [63]. Bernard of Gordon
(1303) suggested that a priest should recite the Gospel
passage that reads: ‘this kind of demon is not cast out
but by prayer and fasting’. He suggested that this pas-
sage should be written down and be carried by the
patient as an amulet [27] reproducing superstitious views
about epilepsy.
Most medieval physicians adopted the tripartite Galenic
classification of epilepsy with minor modifications. For
example, John of Gaddesden (1280–1361 A.D.) distin-
guishes three forms of epilepsy: minor, medium and major,
assigning the synonyms true, truer and truest. Minor epi-
lepsy is attributed to the obstruction of arteries, medium
epilepsy to the obstruction of the nerves and major to an
obstruction of the ventricles of the brain [24]. Giovanni
Michele Savonarola of Padova (1385–1466 A.D.) notes
three main causes for epilepsy: primitive, antecedent and
conjoint. The primitive causes are identified with external
causes, the antecedent precede the outbreak and are divided
into ‘complexional’ and humoral, whereas the conjoint
causes are connected with the manifestation of the disease
[48]. In his Practica brevis, Matthaeus Platearius, a Sal-
ernitan physician, adopts the Galenian classification of
three types of epilepsy and adds two clinical varieties that
123
J Neurol (2010) 257:691–698
are distinguished as ‘major’ and ‘minor’ epilepsy (i.e.
grand mal and petite mal) [49].
Valescus de Tharanta (1382–1418 A.D.), a famous
Portuguese physician, describes an interesting case of
epilepsy in the fourteenth century. Valescus described the
case of a man with a head wound penetrating the pia
matter; the individual had as many as eight epileptic
attacks a day but eventually died, despite having received
treatment from Valescus [58].
The Renaissance and Enlightenment brings more
scientific approach
The European Renaissance (14th–17th century) is marked
by an exceptional production of literature on epilepsy.
Almost all the prestigious and famous physicians of the era
dealt with epilepsy either by summarizing the views of
their predecessors or by advancing more ‘scientific’ views
about the disease.
Physicians dealing with epilepsy during the Renaissance
focused on identifying a plausible mechanism that caused
epileptic convulsions and on further classifying epileptic
seizures. Petrus Forestus (1522–1597 A.D.), a Dutch phy-
sician, noted that the part of the body from which epilepsy
originates leads to different manifestations. For example,
preceding an attack, epilepsy associated with the liver
caused pain and symptoms in the right side of the body. In
cases of epilepsy associated with the spleen, pain origi-
nated in the left side preceding the attack. Its association
with the intestines created local pain prior to the attack and
more feces would pass during the paroxysm. In cases of
epilepsy originating from another part such as the fingers or
toes, the patient felt a vapor ascending (aura) [23]. Gode-
fridus Steeghius (Gottfried Steegh) (1550–1609 A.D.),
another famous Dutch physician, refers to epilepsy as a
‘symptom of other diseases like smallpox and poisonous
bites and ceases together with their cure’ [51]. In his Da-
emonum investigatio peripatetica (Peripatetic investigation
of demons) Andreas Caesalpinus (1519–1603 A.D.), an
Italian natural philosopher, tries to differentiate epileptic
seizures and daemonic possession [14]. As Caesalpinus
states in his book, he was summoned along with other
theologists, philosophers and physicians from the Univer-
sity of Pisa to indicate the signs in order to differentiate
between diseases of natural causes and symptoms that
could be removed through divine intervention only.
In one of his early treatises, Paracelsus (Phillip von
Hohenheim) (1493–1541 A.D.), a physician, botanist,
alchemist, astrologer and general occultist, includes a
chapter on the ‘falling sickness’ in a collection of patho-
logical essays. He agrees that epilepsy may originate from
the brain or the liver, the heart, the intestines and the limbs
J Neurol (2010) 257:691–698 Author's personal copy
[41]. His views about human nature and the construction of
the human body from mercury, sulfur and salt led Para-
celsus to a different explanation of the causes of epilepsy
[42]. He makes a direct comparison between macrocosmic
and microcosmic patterns by associating epilepsy with a
thunderstorm. According to Paracelsus, when a thunder-
storm approaches the weather changes, the animals notice
and, for that reason, become restless. Clouds gather in the
sky, while man’s eyesight becomes weakened and sleepy,
followed by winds that sweep everything. In parallel, the
inner wind of epileptics makes their abdomens and necks
swell. The thunder that follows shakes heaven and earth in
the same way that the epileptic convulses in the limbs
during an attack. However, in his essay Paracelsus clearly
sets God above all, and stresses that the physician should
ask for divine help in treating epilepsy [43]. Ioannes
Marcus Marci (1595–1667 A.D.), a Bohemian physician
and scientist, broadened the definition of epilepsy ‘to any
affection of the body where the victims are disordered in
their minds, while the members [of the body], be it all, or
some, or only one, are moved against their will’. Thus, he
tied cases of epileptic convulsions to mental manifestations
[36]. Hieronymous Gabucinius (1550 A.D.), Johann Weyer
(1515–1588 A.D.) and, in particular, Levinus Lemnius
(1505–1568 A.D.), a famous Dutch physician and student
of Vesalius, all stressed the natural origin of the disease
and rejected any theological superstitions. Lemnius spe-
cifically wrote: ‘Since, therefore the cause of the Fallin-
sicknesse is so evident, I would persuade the ignorant
people to think of no other cause of this disease, than the
motion of the humours, that men may not fear so much,
when they see their mouths draw awry, their cheeks
swollen, and strutting froth with frothy humour: and should
not be dismaid to come near them, and lend them their
help. For so are all those that stand by and are fearful,
amazed, when they see them rending themselves, and
beating their heads and bodies against posts, that they think
there is no hopes of them, and so cause them to be buried
before their Souls are departed from them. For I have found
it in our own days and in former Ages also, that some have
broken the Coffin, and lived again. Wherefore it is fit a Law
should be made, that those who are to take care of the dead
bodies should not presently put them into their coffins,
whom they think to be dead, especially those that are
strangled by the Apoplex, Epilepsie, or rising of the
Mother; for oft-times their soul lies within them, and they
live again’ [34].
In his classic treatise on epilepsy, Charles Le Pois
(1563–1636 A.D.), a consulting physician to Charles III of
France, rejected previous theories such as those postulated
by Petrus Forestus suggesting that peripheral organs led to
epilepsy. He stressed that the malady is ‘proved to be an
idiopathic disease of the head, not by sympathy of the
695
uterus or the intestines’. He asserts that the epileptic attack,
having started in the head, manifests itself and is first felt in
a specific part of the body before the fit becomes gen-
eralized and the senses lost [33]. His summation proved to
be exceptionally correct.
Joannes Ambianus Fernelius (Jean François Fernel)
(1497–1558), a French astrologist and physiologist, sup-
ported the theory that poisonous vapors affected the brain
and led to epileptic fits. Volcher Coiter (1534–1600), a
Dutch anatomist, supported Fernelius’ theory. In De abditis
rerum causis, Fernelius rejects the medieval belief about
the contagious nature of epilepsy. He states: ‘A person who
has taken poison or suffers from epilepsy cannot contam-
inate others, either by his breath or by his contact. For this
reason these diseases are different from epidemic and
contagious diseases’ [22].
Jean Taxil’s Traicte´ de l’e´pilepsie, consisted of two
books and 43 chapters that summarize knowledge related
to epilepsy, including its causes and various remedies. Jean
Taxil, a physician from Arles who lived in the seventeenth
century, conducted post-mortem dissections of several
children who died of epilepsy but failed to find any con-
siderable quantity of moisture in the ventricles (Fig. 2). He
concluded that epilepsy must be due to an irritation of the
brain caused by poisonous substances [54]. He was also the
first Renaissance doctor who seriously doubted demonic
possession, stating that any case of demonic possession
published in the literature could be traced to epileptic
symptoms [53].
Joseph Du Chesne (known as Quercetanus) (1521–1609
A.D.), a French physician and Paracelcist, blames the
‘vitriolic vapor of mercury’ [44] for epilepsy, whereas
Franciscus Sylvius (1614–1672 A.D.), a Dutch physician
and scientist (chemist, physiologist and anatomist), attrib-
uted the cause of epilepsy to animal spirits that are nec-
essary for motor functions and the senses [52]. William
Harvey (1585–1657 A.D.), a renowned English physician,
made the first important contributions to the establishment
of clinical neurology with his descriptions of various
neurological disorders including epilepsy [12, 30]. Francis
Glisson (1597–1677), a British physician and anatomist,
also supported the theory of irritation caused by vapors
much like Joseph Du Chesne, presuming the existence of
some kind of ‘perception’ in the organs [26]. The Swiss
doctor Johann Jacob Wepfer (1620–1695) rejects the the-
ory that irritating agents such as vapors cause epilepsy.
According to Wepfer, many diseases such as syphilis and
cancer are accompanied by the corruption of the humors
and are caused by acrimonious irritants in the body. One
would, therefore, and according to the theory of irritants,
expect these diseases to be frequently complicated by
epilepsy, yet this is rarely—if ever—the case. For Wepfer,
an epileptic fit represents the ‘president’ of the nervous
123
696 Author's personal copy
Fig. 2 Frontpage of Traicte´ de l’e´pilepsie by Jean Taxil
system, trying to rid itself of harmful irritants, and is a
healthy response [65]. In order to explain convulsions of
epilepsy, Thomas Willis (1621–1675) assumed the exis-
tence of a ‘spasmodic explosive copula’. For Willis ‘The
convulsive disease [i.e. epilepsy] for the most part, takes its
origin from the head: to wit, as often as the heterogeneous
and explosive particles, being diffused from the blood into
the brain, or its medullarie appendix, are afterwards
derived to the nervous stock, and there grow together with
the spirits’ [67]. In his De morbus convulsivis (Morbid
convulsions) Willis places the cause of epilepsy in the
brain, but differed with his predecessors who pointed to the
middle of the brain itself or the meninges. His hypothesis
suggested that since the brain is of a weak constitution, a
strong spasmodi copula distills from the blood to the brain,
leading the animal spirits that lie in the middle of the brain
to explode. The explosion of animal spirits causes all the
mental symptoms of the epileptic attack, and a series of
similar explosions occur along the rest of the nervous
system to bring about the convulsions of the body [66].
123
J Neurol (2010) 257:691–698
Georg Stahl (1660–1734), a German chemist and physi-
cian, also believed that the soul rules the body, watches
over the vital muscle tonus and regulates movements.
Therefore, epileptic convulsions could be explained as
mechanical processes. He also classifies the convulsions
and suggests that epilepsy and other convulsive movements
cannot be distinguished by the severity of the symptoms.
On the contrary, the only distinction would be consider-
ation of the convulsions that appear as complications of
some disease as a symptomatic convulsive movement, and
to recognize those with no relationship to other diseases as
epileptic convulsions [50].
Interesting cases of epileptic patients also appear during
this period. One of the most famous physicians of the era,
Ambroise Paré (1485–1558), in Of Monsters and Prodigies,
describes the case of a young man who was afflicted with
epilepsy, the process by which the doctors made the diag-
nosis and the various remedies that were administered to
him. After the failure of all remedies, the doctors concluded
that the man was clearly possessed by demons. Martinus
Rulandus (1532–1602), a German physician and alchemist,
describes the case of a 40-year-old man suffering from epi-
lepsy and mania. A woman considered a witch was accused
of causing evil to this man, but during her confession she
claimed that she could not cure him. So, Rulandus was called
and he managed to cure him through bloodletting, sternuta-
tory and a strong cathartic [47]. He also described the case of
a 10-year-old child who had convulsions of the mouth, the
left eye and left hand, while his left arm became stiff and his
speech lost. The attacks were frequent, but passed quickly
and the boy did not fall down [46]. Thomas Erastus (1524–
1583), a Swiss theologian, documents the case of a girl with
characteristic psychomotor symptoms of epileptic convul-
sions. After convulsing, she wandered around the room for
almost half an hour and could not be stopped by the people
around her. After the event she could not remember anything
that had happened [20]. Marcellus Donatus of Mantua
(1538–1602), a famous physician and anatomist, briefly
observed an incomplete form of epilepsy in an actor before
that person died from syphilitic ulcerations [17]. In the 1676
medical text Observationum medicinalium centuriae tres,
Joannes Rhodius (1587–1659) mentions the discovery in the
ventricle of the epileptic brain a fleshy tumor that com-
pressed the brain, rendering the disease incurable [45]. Felix
Plater (1536–1617), as referred by Tissot, describes a young
man whose malady began with a headache, stubborn
insomnia and deterioration of his faculties and ended with
frequent convulsive attacks and emaciation. The post-mor-
tem dissection revealed a tumor in the anterior part of the
brain [59].
Charles Drélincourt (1633–1694) was at last the first to
provoke epileptic convulsions experimentally by driving a
needle into the fourth ventricle of a dog’s brain [18].
J Neurol (2010) 257:691–698 Author's personal copy
Conclusions
The Catholic Church, which dominated the sciences during
the Dark Ages, inevitably linked epilepsy with daemonic
possession, and branded epileptics as ‘witches’ and ‘war-
locks’. At the end of the fourteenth century, medicine was
beginning to be emancipated from the restrictions of the
Catholic Church, and some doctors began viewing epilepsy
as a disease of the human body rather than a supernatural
curse. Doctors suggested possible mechanisms for the dis-
ease and more rational treatments. The Enlightenment is
marked by the publication of a plethora of new treatises
regarding epilepsy with references to symptoms, theories of
provocation and different treatments. Physicians worked
systematically to report different cases of epilepsy with a
variety of symptoms.
References
1. Agios Tychonas. http://www.agiostychonas.com/agios_tychonas.
shtml. Accessed 24 May 2009
2. Ali Ibn Abbas (1523) Theorica, IX, 6. In: Liber totius medicine
necessaria continens quem sapientissimus Haly Filius Abbas ….
edidit, regique inscripsit, unde et regalis, dispositionis nomen
assumpsit. Lyon, fol. 103
3. Abulcasim (1778) De chirurgia. In: Channing J (ed) De chirurgia,
vol I. Oxford, p 31
4. Abulcasim (1519) Liber theoricae nec non practicae Alsaharavii,
qui vulgo Acararius dicitur. Augsburg, fol. 34
5. Aegina, Paulus of (1921–1924) Paulus Aeginita, III, 14. In:
Heiberg IL (ed) Paulus Aegenita, 2 vols. Teubner, Leipzig-Berlin,
120–122, p 156
6. Africanus C (1536–1539) De communibus medico etc. IX, 7 vol
2. In: Opera. Basel, p 247
7. Africanus C (1515) Pantegni, lib. V. In: Omnia opera ysaac in
hoc volumine contenta: cum quibusdam aliis opusculis. Lyon,
practicae c. 17, fol. 99
8. Aretaeus (1856) On epilepsy, Chapter V, on the causes and
symptoms of acute diseases, Book I. In: Adams F (ed) The extant
work of Aretaeus the Cappadocian. The Sydenham society,
London, pp 244–246
9. Aurelianus C (1950) Morbis chronici, I, 4. In: Drabkin IE (ed) On
acute diseases and on chronic diseases. The University Chicago
Press, Chicago, par. 62
10. Avicenna (1999) The canon of medicine. Kazi, Chicago
11. Beyerstein BL (1988) Neuropathology and the legacy of spiritual
possession. Skeptical Inquirer 12.3:248–262
12. Brain SR (1959) William Harvey, neurologist. Brit Med J 2:899
13. Budrys V (2007) Neurology in Holy Scripture. Eur J Neurol
14:e1–e6
14. Caesalpinus A (1593) Daemonum investigation peripatetica. In:
Quastionum peripateticarum lib. V. Daemonum investigatio
peripatetica, Quaestionum medicarum libri Ii, De medicament.
facultatibus lib. II. c. 1, fol. 145 C
15. d’Orsi G, Tinuper P (2006) ‘‘I heard voices…’’: from semiology,
a historical review, and a new hypothesis on the presumed epi-
lepsy of Joan of Arc. Epilepsy Behav 9:152–157
16. Dolger FJ (1933) Der Ausschluss der Besessenen (Epileptiker)
von Oblation und Kommunion nach der Synode von Elvira.
Antike und Christentum 4:110–129
697
17. Donatus M (1613) De historia medica mirabili, liber II. In: De
historia medica mirabili libri sex, opera et studio Gregori Horsti.
Francofurti ad Moenum, c. 4, p 145
18. Drelincurtius C (1682) Experimenta anatomica. Ernestum Gott-
fried Heyseum, Leiden
19. Economou NT, Lascaratos J (2005) The Byzantine physicians on
epilepsy. J Hist Neurosci 14:346–352
20. Erastus T (1581) Comitis Montani Vincentini novi medicorum
censoris quinque librorum de morbis nuper editorum viva ana-
tome. Basel, p 195
21. Felix C (1879) De medicina, c. 71. In: Rose V (ed) De medicina.
Leipzig, pp 168–169
22. Fernelius J (1577) De abditis rerum causis. In: Universa medi-
cina. Francofurti ad Moenum, II, c. 15, p 87
23. Forestus P (1634) Observatorium, liber X. In: Observatorium et
curationum medicinalium ac chircurgicarum opera omnia.
Frankfurt, observ. 56, p 385
24. Gaddesden, John of (1595) Rosa Anglica. In: Ioannis Anglici
Praxis Medica, rosa anglica dicta, recens edita opera ac studio
clar. V. Doct. Philippi Schopffi, Medici Physici Durlacensis, 2
vols. Typis Michaëlis Mangeri, Augsburg, p 40
25. Galen (1821–1833) De locis affectis, vol 8. In: Kuhn CG (ed)
Opera Omnia. Leipzig, p 194
26. Glisson F (1677) Tractatus de ventriculo et intestinis. London, c.
8, 6, p 161
27. Gordon, Bernard of (1542) Lilium medicinae. In: Omnium aeg-
ritudinum a vertice ad calcem, opus praeclariss. quod lilium
medicinae appellatur. Paris, fol. 119
28. St. Hildegard (1903) Causae et cureae, 13–16. In: Kaiser P (ed)
Hildegardis Causae et cureae. Teubner, Leipzig, p 156
29. Hippocrate (1849) De la maladie sacrée, Livre 6. In: Littré E (ed)
Oeuvres complètes d’Hippocrate. Baillière J-B, Paris, p 364
30. Hunter R, MacAlpine I (1957) William Harvey: his neurological
and psychiatric observation. J Hist Med 12:126
31. Kerler DH (1905) Die Patronate der Heiligen. Kerler, Ulm
32. Kluger G, Kudernatsch V (2009) St. Valentine—patron saint of
epilepsy: illustrating the semiology of seizures over the course of
six centuries. Epilepsy Behav 14:219–225
33. Le Pois C (1733) de Epilepsia, Consilium, chap 7. In: Boerhaave
H (ed) Caroli Pisonis….selectiorum observationum et consilio-
rum… liber singularis. Leiden, p 115
34. Lemnius L (1658) The Secret Miracles of Nature, II, 3. In: The
secret miracles of nature. London, p 93
35. Makris G (1995) Zur Epilepsie in Byzanz. Byzantinische Zeits-
chrift 88:363–404
36. Marcus Marci a Kronland (1678) Liturgia mentis seu disceptatio
medica, philosophica et optica de natura epilepsiae illius ortu et
causis. Regensburg
37. Martin A (1922) Warum galten Epilepsie und Geisteskrankheit
(Frenesis) als ansteckend? Deutsche Zeitschrift fur Nervenh-
eilkunde 75:103–110
38. Mc Henry LC (1969) The Middle Ages and the Renaissance. In:
Mc Henry LC (ed) Garrison’s history of neurology. Charles C.
Thomas, Springfield, p 30
39. Mesue J (1623) Grabadin, idest compendii secretorum medica-
mentorum liber secundus. In: Ioannis Mesuae damasceni medici
clarissimi opera de medicamentorum purgantium delectu, catig-
atione & usu, libri duo. […] et Ioannis Costaei annotationes
Luntas…. Venice, summa 3, c. 26; fol. 208
40. Nonnus T (1794–1795) Theophanis Nonni epitome de curatione
morborum, 2 vols. Gothae, Amsterdam
41. Paracelsus (1922–1933) Elf Traktat von Ursprung, Ursachen,
Zeichen und Kur einzelner Krankheiten, vol 1. In: Sämtliche
Werke, 1. Abteilung, medizinische naturwissenschaftlische und
philosophische Schriften, herausgegebn von K. Sudfhoff 14 vols.
Oldenbourg, Munich-Berlin, pp 142–152, ‘‘Vom fallend’’
123
698 Author's personal copy
42. Paracelsus (1922–1933) Von den hinfallenden siechtagen, vol 8.
In: Sämtliche Werke, 1. Abteilung, medizinische naturwissens-
chaftlische und philosophische Schriften, herausgegebn von K.
Sudfhoff 14 vols. Oldenbourg, Munich-Berlin, p 280
43. Paracelsus (1922-1933) Von den hinfallenden siechtagen, vol 8.
In: Sämtliche Werke, 1. Abteilung, medizinische naturwissens-
chaftlische und philosophische Schriften, herausgegebn von K.
Sudfhoff 14 vols. Oldenbourg, Munich-Berlin, pp 281-284
44. Quercetanus J (1609) Tetras gravissimorm totius capitis affect-
uum. Marburg, p 114
45. Rhodius J (1676) Observatorium medicinalium centuriae, obs. 55.
In: Observatorium medicinalium centuriae tres. Frankfurt, p 33
46. Rulandus M (1580) Curatinum etc. centuria sexta, centuria 9,
curatio 99. In: Curationum empiricarum et historicarum in certis
locis et notis personis optime expertarum, et rite probatarum,
centuria prima (secunda) emendatius impressa. Basel, p 157
47. Rulandus M (1580) Curatinum etc. centuria sexta, curatio 100. In:
Curationum empiricarum et historicarum in certis locis et notis
personis optime expertarum, et rite probatarum, centuria prima
(secunda) emendatius impressa. Basel, pp 132–133
48. Savonarola JM (1547) Practica maior. In: Practica maior. Venice,
tract. 6, c. 1, rubrica 20; fol. 71
49. Serapion J (1530) Platearii Practica Brevis. In: Necessarium ac
perutile opus totius medicine practice profundissimi ac antiquis-
simi Arabis domini Joannis filii Serapionis… Practica etiam
brevis Domini Joannis Platearij Salernitani ultisiima, fol. 172
50. Stahl GE (1831–1833) Theoria medica vera. Pathologia, vol 2. In:
Choulant L (ed) Theoria medica vera. Leipzig, pp 263–264
51. Steeghius G (1606) Medicina practica, liber VII. In: Ars medica.
Frankfurt, c. 3, p 323
52. Sylvius (1635) Prax. med. In: Opera medica. Geneva, pp II, c. 20,
83; p 319
53. Taxil J (1602) Traicté de l’êpilepsie, maladie vulgairement ap-
pelée au pays de Provence la gouttete aux petits enfants, c. 17
54. Taxil J (1602) Traicté de l’êpilepsie, maladie vulgairement ap-
pelée au pays de Provence la gouttete aux petits enfants, p 22 f
123
J Neurol (2010) 257:691–698
55. Temkin O (1942) A medieval translation of Rhaze’s clinical
observations. Bull Hist Med 12:102–117
56. Temkin O (1971) The Middle Ages. In: Temkin O (ed) The
falling sickness: a history of epilepsy from the Greeks to the
beginnings of modern neurology. The John Hopkins University
Press Ltd, London, p 105
57. Temkin O (1971) The Middle Ages. In: Temkin O (ed) The
falling sickness: a history of epilepsy from the Greeks to the
beginnings of modern neurology. The John Hopkins University
Press Ltd, London, p 95
58. Tharanta, Valescus De (1523) Philonium, I. In: Philonium:
Aureum ac perutile opus practice medicine operarum dantibus
quod Philonium appellatur, consumatissimi medici domini
Valesci de Tharanta. Lucamontanus, Venice, p 18; fol. 16
59. Tissot (1770) Traité de l’épilepsie. Faisant le tome troisième du
Traité des nerfs et de leurs maladies. Paris, p 117
60. Tralles, Alexander of (1878) Alexander von Tralles, vol I. In: von
Puschmann T (ed) Alexander von Tralles, Original-Text und
Ubersetzung. Vienna, I, 15, p 575
61. Tralles, Alexander of (1556) Medici libri duoedecim, vol I, chap
5. In: Petrum H (ed) Alexander Tralliani medici libri duodecim.
Gunther Andernach, Basel
62. Vilanova, Arnald of (1585) Breviarium. In: Opera Omnia. Basel,
I, 22, col. 1071
63. Vilanova, Arnald of (1585) Breviarium. In: Opera Omnia. Basel,
I, c13, col. 1074
64. Vilanova, Arnald of (1585) De Epilepsia. In: Opera Omnia.
Basel, c. 1, col. 1603
65. Wepfer JJ (1679) Cicutae aquaticae historia et noxae. Basel
66. Willis T (1682) De morbis convulsivis. In: Opera omnia.
Amsterdam, c. 1, pp 13–14
67. Willis T (1684) Of Convulsive diseases, chap 1. In: Dr. Willi’s
practice of physick, being the whole works of the renowned and
famous physician. London, p 5