The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1873-06-21
Insanity in the Middle Ages.

The middle ages were period Of
upheaval, when every thing was swallowed
up in the bottomless abyss ofscholasticism
and demonology, and medicine became a
routine Of superstitious practices. Such
and such plant was considered beneficial,
if gathered at the new moon but deadly
poison If at the moons wane. Science,
art and literature went down in the storm,
and wars, battles, pestilence and famine
were the order of the day. As God was
invoked in vain, men turned to Satan.
The belief in the devil was universal, and
the world became hell. Now both
science and experience show that the pre-
yailing notions of a given period are very
rapidly taken up by the insane, and by
them distorted into grotesque shapes, with
a uniformity resembling the symptoms of
epidemic disorders. This phenomenon is
Of daily occurrence. Thus, accordingly as
France is ruled by king, an emperor or
president, those insane persons who imagine
themselves to be somebody, claim the rank
Of president, emperor, or king, as the case
may be. Just now, respectable women
patients at Salpetriere, Ste. Anne, Vaucluse
and Ville-Evard asylums solemnly assure
the physicians in charge that they are
petroleuses, while men of unquestionable
patriotism will tell you that they guided
the Prussians up the heights of Sedan.
The phenomenon, therefore, of diabolic
possession in the middle ages is perfectly
natural The calamities attendant on
continual wars had so eneryated the peo-
pie that they were fit subjects for all
manner Of mental disorder, and this, taking
form from the prevailing ideas of the
times, found expression in demoniacal
possession.
During the middle ages the devil was
everywhere-Hbigue demon. There was
one religious sect whose adopts were ever
splitting, hawking, and blowing the nose,
with view to expel the devils they had
swallowed A trace of this still remains
in some localities, where one who sneezes
is saluted with "God bless you y Such
beliefs we're universal. Thus certain
prior of a convent had around him con-
stantly guard Of two hundred men, who
hewed the air with their swords, so as TO
cut to pieces the demons who were assailing
him. Demons were even cited to appear
before ecclesiastical tribunals. A curious
and pitiful epoch, when the possessed
and their exorcists were madmen alike
This view Of insanity was favored by
the philosophical, or rather the theological
ideas Of the time. According to these,
man was Of twofold nature. On the one
hand was The flesh, mere matter; on the
other, the soul direct emanation from
Deity, passing through this vale of tears,
on its way to the ineffable glory of Heaven.
The body is but the souls dwelling-plaee
"a temple or den, accordingly as its in
visible inhabitant is the servant of God or
of Satan, Therefore, when the soul is
deceased, the treatment must regard the
soul alone, which is governed by laws of
its own, and is merely in juxtaposition
with the body for moment. No doubt
the ideal Of purity thus held up was sub
lime yet the result of it was the upsetting
Of the body's equilibrium, and this reacted
on the mind. But this theory led to still
more serious consequences, for it was
admitted into science, and checked the
progress Of the medical art. When in
1923 Broussais attacked it, he was accused
of blasphemy and of "sapping the founda-
tions of society" Now, however, we
know that the faculties of the mind are
not Independent of the conditions of the
body. Take a slight dose of sulpbate of