Customer Reviews

Mad Princes of Renaissance Germany (Studies in Early Modern German History)

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Although the title initially almost seems like a parody of historical research on incredibly arcane topics (and, as Midelfort points out, there is no particular reasons to believe that Renaissance German royalty were more prone to insanity than anyone else, inbreeding not withstanding), the book in fact uses the unusually high levels of documentation available on these individuals to create a fascinating and detailed study, not only of the medical and religious treatment of insanity during this period, but also of the political implications when a monarch or his heir became "unfit" to rule.

This is the book that inspired me for starting my Mad Monarchs Series (http://www.xs4all.nl/~kvenjb/madmon.htm)! Before I found this book, I had often seen references to "the last mad Duke of Cleves, married to a sister of the last mad Duke of Prussia". This book has finally shed some light on that odd pair of Dukes.

The first part of the book focuses on the early 16th century, when mental problems was not regarded as an illness and melancholic Princes were locked up and often neglected. Sometimes they were exorcised. The cases described are, among others, Princes of Hesse, Saxony and Baden. William the Younger of Brunswick is the 1st Prince whose mental state is described in more detail, because unique reports have survived: "He ran out into the streets of Celle half-dressed, [..] spoke unintelligibly and gestured weirdly". He was actually treated by doctors.

The second part of the book describes Albrecht Friedrich of Prussia, Rudolf II of Austria and the last Dukes of Cleves in more detail. Midelfort describes detailed accounts of their mental and medical conditions and the doctor's crude attempts to cure them.

The book is a serious and detailed study of 16th century Princes that were described by their contemporaries as "melancholic" or locked up as being "mad". Black and white images of most of the described mad Princes and Princesses are included. An unique book about an unique subject!

The piece de resistance of this book has to be the theological memorandum concerning the mental condition of the Duke of Prussia which begins with the unfortunate Osiandrian sympathies displayed by his parents prior to his birth and their possible contribution to the current situation. The majority of the recommendations, however, came from physicians and were medical rather than theological.

It's solidly researched -- if anything, one would have wished more detail on some of the episodes, such as that of the Duke of Saxe-Weimar in the bath house.

Designed to appeal to a wide range of individuals and schools of thought, this book reaches nobody. Midelfort throws a collective bone to feminists, microhistorians, historians of science, etc. but his demonstrates an inability to understand their theoretical underpinnings that borders on disdain and condescension. While working with impressive archival materials, this book seems like the product of market research--all flash and consumer demographics, absolutely nothing of substance, interest or importance. A failure in all respects.