A History of Madness in Sixteenth-Century Germany [Paperback]

H. C. Midelfort (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2000

This magisterial work explores how Renaissance Germans understood and experienced madness. It focuses on the insanity of the world in general but also on specific disorders; examines the thinking on madness of theologians, jurists, and physicians; and analyzes the vernacular ideas that propelled sufferers to seek help in pilgrimage or newly founded hospitals for the helplessly disordered. In the process, the author uses the history of madness as a lens to illuminate the history of the Renaissance, the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, the history of poverty and social welfare, and the history of princely courts, state building, and the civilizing process.

Rather than try to fit historical experience into modern psychiatric categories, this book reconstructs the images and metaphors through which Renaissance Germans themselves understood and experienced mental illness and deviance, ranging from such bizarre conditions as St. Vitus’s dance and demonic possession to such medical crises as melancholy and mania. By examining the records of shrines and hospitals, where the mad went for relief, we hear the voices of the mad themselves.

For many religious Germans, sin was a form of madness and the sinful world was thoroughly insane. This book compares the thought of Martin Luther and the medical-religious reformer Paracelsus, who both believed that madness was a basic category of human experience. For them and others, the sixteenth century was an age of increasing demonic presence; the demon-possessed seemed to be everywhere. For Renaissance physicians, however, the problem was finding the correct ancient Greek concepts to describe mental illness. In medical terms, the late sixteenth century was the age of melancholy. For jurists, the customary insanity defense did not clarify whether melancholy persons were responsible for their actions, and they frequently solicited the advice of physicians.

Sixteenth-century Germany was also an age of folly, with fools filling a major role in German art and literature and present at every prince and princeling’s court. The author analyzes what Renaissance Germans meant by folly and examines the lives and social contexts of several court fools.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Middlefort’s latest book will not disappoint the many scholars in varied disciplines who have eagerly awaited it. This is mature, sensitive scholarship . . . [that] succeeds brilliantly in exploring the social and intellectual dilemmas posed by early modern insanity. . . It belongs in every academic library.”—History: Reviews of New Books

“This is the best book I have ever read on the border between cultural and social history in early modern Europe.”—Thomas A. Brady, Jr., University of California, Berkeley

“The best book yet on madness in history. Erik Midelfort's study of madness in sixteenth-century Germany is an outstanding contribution to the medical, social and cultural history of the insane. Its impressively researched discussions of madness, melancholy, demonic possession, witchcraft, folly and the asylum give a more convincing and reliable picture of these subjects than we have ever had, for any European nation. Although aimed at a scholarly audience, the book is so well-written and so full of fascinating topics and colorful tales that it should appeal to general readers as well as to professional historians.”—Michael MacDonald, University of Michigan

“In this long awaited book, Midelfort explores how sixteenth-century Germans understood madness and mental disorders during the age of the Renaissance and the religious reformations. Operating from the assumption that one cannot understand madness without understanding the social contexts in which it is defined, diagnosed, and treated, the author examines madness in seven chapters, each a model of th integration of intellectual and social history. . . . This important work should be in every university library.”—Choice

From the Inside Flap

This magisterial work explores how Renaissance Germans understood and experienced madness. It focuses on the insanity of the world in general but also on specific disorders; examines the thinking on madness of theologians, jurists, and physicians; and analyzes the vernacular ideas that propelled sufferers to seek help in pilgrimage or newly founded hospitals for the helplessly disordered. In the process, the author uses the history of madness as a lens to illuminate the history of the Renaissance, the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, the history of poverty and social welfare, and the history of princely courts, state building, and the civilizing process.
Rather than try to fit historical experience into modern psychiatric categories, this book reconstructs the images and metaphors through which Renaissance Germans themselves understood and experienced mental illness and deviance, ranging from such bizarre conditions as St. Vitus’s dance and demonic possession to such medical crises as melancholy and mania. By examining the records of shrines and hospitals, where the mad went for relief, we hear the voices of the mad themselves.
For many religious Germans, sin was a form of madness and the sinful world was thoroughly insane. This book compares the thought of Martin Luther and the medical-religious reformer Paracelsus, who both believed that madness was a basic category of human experience. For them and others, the sixteenth century was an age of increasing demonic presence; the demon-possessed seemed to be everywhere. For Renaissance physicians, however, the problem was finding the correct ancient Greek concepts to describe mental illness. In medical terms, the late sixteenth century was the age of melancholy. For jurists, the customary insanity defense did not clarify whether melancholy persons were responsible for their actions, and they frequently solicited the advice of physicians.
Sixteenth-century Germany was also an age of folly, with fools filling a major role in German art and literature and present at every prince and princeling’s court. The author analyzes what Renaissance Germans meant by folly and examines the lives and social contexts of several court fools.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 456 pages
• Publisher: Stanford University Press; 1 edition (August 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804741697
• ISBN-13: 978-0804741699
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #595,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Book Yet on Madness in History, September 26, 2000

By 

Michael MacDonald (Ann Arbor, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A History of Madness in Sixteenth-Century Germany (Paperback)

Erik Midelfort's study of madness in sixteenth-century Germany is an outstanding contribution to the medical, social and cultural history of the insane. Its impressively researched discussions of madness, melancholy, demonic possession, witchcraft, folly and the asylum give a more convincing and reliable picture of these subjects than we have ever had, for any European nation. Although aimed at a scholarly audience, the book is so well-written and so full of fascinating topics and colorful tales that it should appeal to general readers as well as to professional historians.

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid and Informative Analysis, December 16, 2011

By 

Rocco "jmbsacdc" (Moscow) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A History of Madness in Sixteenth-Century Germany (Paperback)

It is important for the historian to gauge and decipher history from the standpoint and in the context of those who lived it, not from those who now write it. Erik Midelfort, in his book A History of Madness in Sixteenth-Century Germany, makes a valiant effort to write such a history. He delves into the complexities of "madness" without a simple guiding methodological tool such as "modern sociological theory" or "modern psychological theory" (12). His tome develops into a social, ethnological history that surveys the various interpretations and perceptions of folly, demonic possession and melancholy. At times, such "maladies" were viewed as "genius," while at other times they were viewed as insincere. The aforementioned perceptions lie with the likes of physicians, jurists, theologians and various other professionals through both the scientific and religious lens of the 16th century. He argues that "changes in law, medicine, and theology altered the categories of experience for troubled Germans of the Renaissance" (14). Moreover, religious devotion underscored many cases of madness as well as the approach of physicians and theologians who looked to eliminate the particular affliction of the mentally ill.

In his first chapter, Midelfort introduces the reader to Hugo van der Goes, a Flemish artist who experienced a mental breakdown out of fear of damnation. This story points to a key theme of the book, which portrays religion as both a progenitor and remedy to madness. The Germanic Protestant and Catholic culture bred a fear of defying God and thus drove devout practitioners to various forms of madness out of a sense of guilt. Moreover, the "idioms" constructed by practitioners, not from purposeful theological instruction, but from the practitioner's own interpretation of religious dogma, often was the cause of those who fell into melancholy (78). Hugo's "initial frustration of artistic pride turned into a morbid obsession with his own sinful pride" (28).

Another key concept illuminated by Midelfort concerns the balance between science and religion in relation to "healing" the mentally ill. Respected physicians of the 16th century, such as Johann Weyer sought medical cures for madness bouts of melancholy and demonic possession. He "was sure" that 16th century diseases "were symptomatic of the cursed and declining time he lived in...weakened by sin and plagued by God's righteous anger" (172). Yet, he was regarded as a scientist who used "observation" to diagnose diseases and actively sought to "debunk the numerous cases" of false mental illness and witchery (173). He debunked witchery cases by turning accusers away from accusations of demonic possession and toward the delusional actions of the woman accused of witchery. Moreover, "his erudition," as indicated by Midelfort, "was first and foremost medical" in the Renaissance era (that is, tracing diseases to "disorders of the corporal humors and spirits")(173). Other prominent physicians of the era, including Tollat and Ryff, recommended herbal remedies to deal with psychological disorders (142-143).

Martin Luther and Paracelsus offer an opposing example to the approach to mental illness. "Both men were rooted in the Western tradition of seeing sin as disease, and disease as often a punishment for or the very embodiment of sin" (137). Luther, and to a lesser extent Paracelsus, believed that they were living in a world that was stalked by "Satan, who went about like a lion, seeking whom he might devour" (138). Thus, madness was a symbol of the end of times. Moreover, as Midelfort makes clear, Paracelsus was also medically and scientifically inclined. Paracelsus declared "that the diseases that rob men of reason were caused not by demons but by nature" (132). However, he still left "room for the devil" as a cause of madness as well. It is interesting to point out, however, as Midelfort does in his footnotes, that "in his own century, opponents of Paracelsus often couched their arguments in religious terms" (138).

Midelfort also points out that 16th century Germany (the Germanic states) adopted and amended Roman laws concerning "the insanity defense." For example, Weyer argued "that those accused of witchcraft were usually mad" (214). Thus, lawyers could also deny that witches had somehow "made a pact with the devil. Moreover, such revelations as these led to a court system that identified levels or degrees of insanity as well as a greater focus on determining the causes of melancholy.

Midelfort's coverage of pilgrimages is intriguing. Most of the travelers sought to fulfill a "contractual" obligation, that if miraculous aid for some immediate trouble were provided, the grateful recipient" would pay homage to "the responsible saint" (281). Others went on pilgrimage to "payoff" a saint for "help they had already received" (282). The mentally ill went on pilgrimage seeking the miracle of a cure. Midelfort identifies the interesting books written during the 15th and 16th centuries denoting the number of "miracles" that took place in various towns as well as the recorded instances of those who were miraculously cured. Interestingly, "visions," such as of the Virgin Mary, were not considered a sign of insanity but rather of "special grace" (300).

In his final chapter, Midelfort compares the approaches of Catholics and Protestants in caring for the mentally troubled. He accomplishes this through the lens of the new Protestant hospitals in Hesse with those of Catholics in Wurzburg. Philipp of Hesse "hoped to demonstrate a more truly Christian concern for the poor and helpless" by constructing a hospital (365). The Catholic Counter-Reformation witnessed a growth in helping the poor as well. In the early 1570's, the bishop of Wurzburg reformed thirteen hospitals. Of course, one of the hospitals was constructed atop an old Jewish cemetery (367-368). Most patients stayed for a shorter amount of time than might be expected by those reading a history of the mentally ill.

Midelfort's book is greatly informative as well as eye-opening. It eliminates many assumptions and myths that contemporary historians and readers may hold concerning the diagnosis and treatment of the mentally ill. As he states in his introduction: "The kinds of image or metaphor through which a disorder was experienced and understood had real consequences for the way one was treated" (24). Despite the secular views of modern science today as well as the increasingly secular views of society, or at least United States society, it is remarkable how easily that statement about the 16th century treatment of the mentally ill could be transplanted to today.