Medical lessons from a historical case: The disappearance of King Charles IV

Abstract

Traumatic injury to the brain and its vessels is a major part of medical practice across the world. Its management however has long historical origins, but those beginnings can still teach clinical practitioners about the basic care of an injured patient. We present a little known historical medical case that to this day provides an example of best practice management resulting in successful clinical outcome. Charles IV (1316–1378) was Holy Roman Emperor between 1347 and 1378. During his reign, he disappeared for four months and returned a disfigured hunchback. There has been considerable controversy as to the cause of both his physical change and disappearance. We propose the most likely cause is from an unfortunate consequence of his love of jousting. Despite the damage and management of the traumatic injury endured by Charles IV occurring over 600 years ago, there are still lessons of his clinical management relevant to this day.