When one combines literature (or people of literary significance) with medicine, I am generally interested.Here is a cool article on Lord Byron's lameness, published in Pharos.
Lord Byron likely suffered from a clubbed right foot. This was both an embarrassment and personal weakness which he attempted to conceal to the fullest. Treatment consisted of painful forced manipulations. Special boots were custom made for the poet to disguise rather than correct the deformity.
Most notably, it is argued, Byron's drive to excel physically (particularly in swimming), his extreme dieting, alcohol abuse and womanizing were compensations for his physical disability.
Physical deformity possibly driving the ambition of a great poet.
Fascinating medical history.
