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.

Comments

[raissad]

Sad

[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