Insanity and Sanctity in Louis XIV's France

[silverwhistle]

Today is the anniversary of the death of a tragic young woman in whose case I have become somewhat interested, after buying a small reliquary locket of her on eBay. She's an interesting case in terms of how mental and physical illnesses were handled (and mishandled) in religious communities in 17C.

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[silverwhistle]

It is, desperately. But I was at least partly impressed by the fact that some people around her did give sensible advice and tried to save her from herself. The tragedy was that they weren't in a strong enough position to do more, and that there was a strong thread in the religious culture of the time that positively encouraged such behaviour. (She was a pretty girl, too, judging by her portraits and the wax mask on her remains. The French tend to put wax death-masks or portraits over the preserved bodies of saints, so they still look lifelike: so many Snow Whites in glass coffins.)

Another sad case is Catherine of Siena, in 14C, who died of anorexia in her 30s. Her mummified head survives: even allowing for the shrivelling you get with mummies, it's clear she was emaciated by the time of death. It occurs with some of the male ascetics, too.

The military orders, fortunately, had to remain fit for action, so didn't fast in the way some of the others did. Having more of an outdoors-y, active life, they probably appealed to a more psychologically normal membership, too, by the standards of the time.