Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: King of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty and sovereign of the overseas Spanish Empire, Charles II of Spain, was physically disabled, disfigured, mentally retarded, and he proved impotent. He is known in history as El Hechizado (the Bewitched) because both him and the people believed that his mental and physical incapacity were due to a "witchcraft act." Although several authors speculated about different diseases, most of them genetic such as pituitary hormone deficiency, distal renal tubular acidosis, Klinefelter syndrome, fragile X syndrome, or male XX hermaphroditism, the hypothesis of hydrocephalus was not taken into account. We don't have clear elements to hypothesize a certain etiology of Charles II' hydrocephalus; however, we think the herpetic infection he suffered of after his birth should not be ignored.
Source: European Neurology
DOI: 10.1159/000500719
Authors: Mihaela Dana Turliuc, Andrei Ionut Cucu, Antonio Perciaccante, Giulia Tosolini, Stefano De Luca, Bogdan Costachescu, Claudia Florida Costea
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W2945452014