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ISSN 0340-5354, Volume 257, Number 5

REVIEW

Epilepsy during the Middle Ages, the Renaissanceand 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

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

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

123

J Neurol (2010) 257:691–698

DOI 10.1007/s00415-009-5433-7 Author's personal copy

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

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

Fig. 1 Malleus Maleficarum front page (Lyon edition, 1669)

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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, Abu Bakr

Muhammad ibn Zakariya Raz (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,

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-

vations on traumatic epilepsy, correctly associating frac-

tures of the skull and brain compression with the malady

[6].

1 Hegemonicon (gcelomijom) comes from the word hegemon,

meaning sovereign. Writers use this term to define the part of the

brain that controls bodily functions.

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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

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

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[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

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 Francois 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’epilepsie, 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

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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].

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 Pare (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 Drelincourt (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].

Fig. 2 Frontpage of Traicte de l’epilepsie by Jean Taxil

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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.

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