title: The sacred disease and its patron saint.
abstract: Although the Hippocratic natural theory of epilepsy as a brain disorder originated around 400 bc , it did not begin to take root until the 18th and 19th centuries, leaving the intervening centuries dominated by mostly supernatural concepts. This article provides historical insight into human behavior when afflicted with disease: supplication to a patron saint, Saint Valentine, a cult that spread throughout Europe.
authors.affiliation: Department for the History of Medicine, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fatović-Ferencić
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Dürrigl