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Representing Mental Illness in Late Medieval France
Machines, Madness, Metaphor
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Julie Singer
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2018
About this book
An exploration of the medieval mind as a machine, and how it might be affected and immobiled, in textual reactions to the madness of Charles VI of France.
At the turn of the fifteenth century it must have seemed to many French people that the world was going mad. King Charles VI suffered his first bout of mental illness in 1392, and he underwent intermittent bouts of frenzy, melancholy and ever-scarcer lucidity until his death in 1422. The king's scarcely mentionable malady was mirrored at every level of social experience, from the irrational civil war through which the body politic tore itself apart, to reports of elevated suicide rates among the common people. In this political environment, where affairs of state were closely linked to the ruler's mental state, French writers sought new ways of representing the psychological dynamics of the body politic. This book explores the innovative mix of organic and inorganic metaphors through which they explored the relationship between mind, body and government at this period; in particular, it considers texts by such authors as Alan Chartier and Charles d'Orléans which describe mental illness and intellectual impairments through the notion of "rust".
JULIE SINGER is Associate Professor of French at Washington University, St. Louis.
At the turn of the fifteenth century it must have seemed to many French people that the world was going mad. King Charles VI suffered his first bout of mental illness in 1392, and he underwent intermittent bouts of frenzy, melancholy and ever-scarcer lucidity until his death in 1422. The king's scarcely mentionable malady was mirrored at every level of social experience, from the irrational civil war through which the body politic tore itself apart, to reports of elevated suicide rates among the common people. In this political environment, where affairs of state were closely linked to the ruler's mental state, French writers sought new ways of representing the psychological dynamics of the body politic. This book explores the innovative mix of organic and inorganic metaphors through which they explored the relationship between mind, body and government at this period; in particular, it considers texts by such authors as Alan Chartier and Charles d'Orléans which describe mental illness and intellectual impairments through the notion of "rust".
JULIE SINGER is Associate Professor of French at Washington University, St. Louis.
Topics
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Frontmatter
i -
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Contents
vii -
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List of Illustrations
viii -
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Acknowledgements
ix -
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List of Abbreviations
xi -
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Introduction: Oxidation Before Oxygen
1 -
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1 Of Metal and Men
39 -
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2 Une enroullure de sapience: Instituting Princely Virtues at the Court of Charles V
79 -
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3 Metaphors of the Body Politic
121 -
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4 Le fer en la playe
173 -
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5 Alain Chartier’s rooil de oubliance
245 -
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Epilogue: Men Without Machines
291 -
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Bibliography
313 -
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Index
355
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
February 21, 2024
eBook ISBN:
9781787443334
Original publisher:
D.S.Brewer
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook ISBN:
9781787443334
Keywords for this book
Mental Illness; Late Medieval France; Machines; Madness; Metaphor; Charles VI; Fifteenth Century; Mind; Body; Government; Metaphorical Representations
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
