Facts and fiction: the death of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.

Rosenman, L D · Surgery · 1996

other · Level V

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Abstract

The biography of Ignatius of Loyola, the sainted founder of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), ends with his death in curious circumstances. A careful search of the available sources written from the time of his death in 1556 to the present has reviewed the evidence. The evidence does not support the claims for a diagnosis that has been used for four centuries. So-called historical "facts" simply are the opinions of historians. Ignatius may have suffered from hyperparathyroidism that led to his death rather than from a cholangioportal venous fistula.

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