A Medieval Surgery, Illustrated: The First Recorded Surgical Separation of Conjoined TwinsMain MenuIntroductionThe SourceAbout this SourceSupplementsAbout this EditionBibliographyCredits and AcknowledgementsAbout SourceLabKrista Zamora92e74893563e9dd0adc40dd5447478cf4e18eff8Caroline Da Rocha Birnfeld69f0eec2682a65875cfec2d26fd43a557607a39dAndrew Barrios1f64484d01321f5383e04e8bfb84b031edd76e2d
12022-08-03T17:51:09+00:00Alex Drydenbb5ccf4591af9a1e2b579ecc283a321fc7a7d87dThis is where the author begins discussing the twins.Alex Dryden1plain2022-08-03T17:51:09+00:00Alex Drydenbb5ccf4591af9a1e2b579ecc283a321fc7a7d87d
“During that time, from Armenia, a monster came to the imperial city ; two male siblings who were grown together [conjoined twins]. They were conjoined from a single stomach. And they were driven from the city as a sign of evil to come. But they returned during the reign of Constantine [VII Porphyrogennētos, r. 913-959, alone from 945]. When one of the twins died, the more experienced among the surgeons endeavored to cut off the dead portion. They succeeded. The living one only lived for a short time after and then he died.”
**Transcription and translation provided by Jacob Bell, UIUC History PhD Candidate
12022-08-03T17:51:09+00:00Supplements2plain2022-08-04T04:13:28+00:00Here we present other accounts of the surgery:
Theophanes Continuatus, Chronographia, Book VI, Chapter 49, text from Corpus scriptorum historiae byzantinae, Vol. 45, page 433. Translated by Jacob Bell.
“And in these days, a monster from Armenia arrived in the city [Constantinople], two boys grown together out of one womb, on the one hand all limbs of the body completely grown, and on the other hand conjoined from the top of the stomach [lit. mouth of the stomach] down to the lower abdomen, made to face towards one another. They lingered in the city for a while, and they were regarded by all as an extraordinary thing, but then were driven out of the city as they were perceived to be an ill omen. A little while later, during the sole reign of the Emperor Constantine, they returned. Then, after one of them died, certain experienced doctors skillfully cut them asunder at the line of union in hope of saving the living one: he died after surviving three days.”
Leo the Deacon, Historia, Book X, Chapter 3, text from Corpus scriptorum historiae byzantinae, Vol. 11, page 164. Translated by Jacob Bell. Note: These could be the same twins in Skylitzes and Theophanes Continuatus, but the dating is not precise.
“During this time, male twins, having come out of the land of Cappadocia, were wandering around many parts of the Roman Empire, I myself who write these very lines have seen them throughout Asia, being a wonder both monstrous and strange. For the appendages of their bodies were full-grown and made whole: but their sides were fastened together from their armpits down to their ribs, fitting their bodies together and making them one. On the one hand, their inside arms wrapped around one another’s necks, and on the other hand, they each bore a cane, which they used to support themselves while walking, being thirty years old. They were well-developed in body, appearing to be both young and vigorous. During long journeys, they would ride a mule, sitting on a saddle as women do, being indescribably kind in mind and virtuous. But that is enough about this.”
Note: Another translation of Leo the Deacon’s account of the twins. Found in Anthony Kaldellis, A Cabinet of Byzantine Curiosities, 174.
“The limbs of their bodies were whole and in good shape, but their sides, from the armpit to the hip, were joined together, so their bodies were united into one. With their opposite arms they could embrace each other around the neck, and they used staves in order to support themselves as they walked. They were thirty years old, and their bodies were well developed, robust and youthful. They rode a mule for longer journeys, but sat on it side-saddle, like a woman. They were very friendly and sweet to meet.”
Creating Illuminated Manuscripts
The creation of illuminated manuscripts in the medieval period was an expensive and highly specialized process. Most higher-end manuscripts were created using vellum, the processed skin of a calf. The manner in which vellum was made could vary between regions, but, generally speaking, creating vellum began with a chemical bath in a lime solution, followed by skinning, stretching, and, finally, drying. Another expensive aspect of the process was acquiring or creating the desired ink. Depending on the desired color there were generally a variety of methods of creating ink. For example, black ink could be created by boiling cuttlefish gills or soaking pieces of charcoal in water. Other colors required more specialized methods. Green, for instance, required that malachite be ground to a very specific consistency, in order to avoid losing its vibrancy. These powders and pastes were then mixed with a binding agent such as egg whites or Acacia tree sap, turning them into the consistency of ink. This binding agent also allowed the mixture to adhere to the vellum. The scribe or artist was equipped with a variety of specialized tools allowing them to create various different effects and styles in their work. Overall, creating a highly detailed and large piece of work was an extraordinarily expensive, specialized, and time consuming process that was rather exclusive to the church and the wealthy.
Stella Panayotova and Teresa Webber, “Making an Illuminated Manuscript.” in The Cambridge Illuminations: Ten Centuries of Book Production in the Medieval West, ed. by Paul Binski and Stella Panayotova (London: Harvey Miller, 2005), 26. ↵
Eltjo Buringh, Medieval Manuscript Production in the Latin West: Explorations with a Global Database (Leiden: Brill, 2011), 253.↵
Panayotova and Webber, “Making an Illuminated Manuscript,” 31.↵
Panayotova and Webber, “Making an Illuminated Manuscript,” 32.↵
