Medieval Communities and the Mad

Narratives of Crime and Mental Illness in Late Medieval France
Erscheinungsjahr 2020
ISBN: 978-94-6298-335-9
Verlag: Amsterdam University Press

Buch, Englisch, 202 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 408 g

Reihe: Amsterdam University Press

The concept of madness as a challenge to communities lies at the core of legal sources. Medieval Communities and the Mad: Narratives of Crime and Mental Illness in Late Medieval France considers how communal networks, ranging from the locale to the realm, responded to people who were considered mad. The madness of individuals played a role in engaging communities with legal mechanisms and proto-national identity constructs, as petitioners sought the king’s mercy as an alternative to local justice. The resulting narratives about the mentally ill in late medieval France constructed madness as an inability to live according to communal rules. Although such texts defined madness through acts that threatened social bonds, those ties were reaffirmed through the medium of the remission letter. The composers of the letters presented madness as a communal concern, situating the mad within the household, where care could be provided. Those considered mad were usually not expelled but integrated, often through pilgrimage, surveillance, or chains, into their kin and communal relationships.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Pfau, Aleksandra Nicole

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Geschichte: Seuchen, Krankheiten
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Tables

Acknowledgements

Introduction

I. Language and Narrative

II. Historiography on Madness

III. Structure of the Book

Chapter 1: Composing Communities: Languages of Madness in Remission Letters

I. Letters of Remission

II. Languages of Madness from Families and Notaries

Chapter 2: Madness as Communal Threat

I. Reconstructing a Life Narrative

II. Moments of Rupture: Crimes against the family and the community

III. Proofs of Madness

Chapter 3: Reintegrating Madness: The Mad in Their Communities

I. Reputation and Renown

II. Community Concern: Chains, Cures, Recoveries and Relapses

III. Acts of Communal Justice: Sorcerers and Remission

IV. Understanding the Mad

Conclusions

Notes

Bibliography

List of Tables

Über Autor(innen)

Pfau, Aleksandra Nicole
Dr. Aleksandra Pfau is a professor of History at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. She received her PhD in 2008 from the University of Michigan, and has published several articles on crime in medieval France.