Journal of Epilepsy
Volume 11, Issue 6 , Pages 296-300, November 1998

The epilepsy of the Emperor Theodore II Lascaris (1254–1258)

  • John Lascaratos

      Affiliations

    • From the Department of the History of Medicine, Medical School, National Athens University, Athens, Greece
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. John Lascaratos, M.D., 164b Hippocratous Street, 11471 Athens, Greece.
    • ,
  • Panaghiotis Vassilios Zis

      Affiliations

    • From the Department of the Neurology, Medical School, National Athens University, Athens, Greece

Received 20 February 1998; accepted 4 March 1998.

The study of contemporary historic sources affords us a clinical picture of the epilepsy of the Byzantine Emperor, Theodore II Lascaris (1254–1258). It appears that he suffered from an epileptic disorder of rather generalized tonic-clonic type (grand mal), which started to afflict him in all probability before the age of 30 years. Numerous incidents described by many historians of his entourage reveal that he also had serious behavior disorders that the famous Byzantine historian, George Pachymeres, directly attributed to his disease.

Key words: Byzantine medicine, Epilepsy, Medieval literature, Theodore II Lascaris

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PII: S0896-6974(98)00032-2

doi:10.1016/S0896-6974(98)00032-2

Journal of Epilepsy
Volume 11, Issue 6 , Pages 296-300, November 1998

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