First Advisor

John Ott

Date of Award

Spring 6-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in History and University Honors

Department

History

Language

English

Subjects

Mentally ill -- Care -- Europe -- History -- To 1500, Miracles -- Europe -- To 1500 -- History, Mental illness -- Europe -- History -- To 1500

DOI

10.15760/honors.1294

Abstract

Medieval descriptions of mental distress can inform us on a range of subjects, from community organization to diagnostic and interpretive practices. While we often employ the medical model of understanding disability presently and, while this model was still present in the Middle Ages, medieval individuals often understood mental distress as a religious phenomenon. This paper utilizes two miracle collections written in the twelfth century: The Miracle Collections of Thomas Becket and the Miracle Collection of Our Lady of Rocamadour. Miracle collections record miraculous occurrences at a saint's shrine. Many of these miracles documented healings and, of these healings, some concerned themselves with the healing of mental illness and madness. Thus, the content of miracle collections raises questions both of how people understood mental distress and how they treated it. These documents show that those experiencing mental distress were often cared for by their communities. Medieval communities were acutely aware of the problems that their mentally ill neighbors were experiencing. Due to this communal experience, communities came together to care for individuals with mental disorders.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/37875

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