Prague 1337: the first successful caesarean section in which both mother and child survived may have occurred in the court of John of Luxembourg, King of Bohemia

Abstract

Objective: An interdisciplinary historical-medical study, analysis of historical sources, and critical interpretation of the indirect evidence surrounding the childbirth of Beatrice of Bourbon, the second wife of the Bohemian King John of Luxembourg. Study type: A material-based study founded on a comparative analysis of available private and public sources, particularly surviving letters, and narrative sources.

The conclusions are reached based on a textual interpretation according to historical methods.

Keywords

• Prague
• caesarean section
• first
• survived
• mother
• child
• John of Luxembourg
• Beatrice of Bourbon
• 1337
• anesthesia
• mortality
• morbidity