Abstract
The avatars of trepanation in the Middle Ages until the Renaissance are described. The Christian and Islamic medieval period does not offer technical innovations of greater relevance concerning cranial trepanation because surgeons of both cultures followed the Greco-Roman doctrine on cranial opening. Cranial surgery in the Islamic world had a splendid presence with brilliant surgeons. Meanwhile, Christianity was going through a period of delay and obscurantism. This situation changes from the year 1000 with the medical schools of France and Italy. The training and activity of surgeons were organised in all European countries. The invention of the printing press allows a rapid expansion of surgical techniques. To illustrate the Medieval instruments for trepanation according to the Renaissance interpretation we have chosen the Spanish surgeon Andrés Alcázar (c.1500–1584). We present and discuss the case of Enrique I king of Castile (Spain), who underwent a trepanation after suffering from a cranial trauma in the year 1217.
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González-Darder, J.M. (2019). Cranial Trepanation During the Middle Ages. In: Trepanation, Trephining and Craniotomy . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22212-3_10
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