Abstract
The medicine of medieval Europe was above all influenced by the Hippocratic and Galenic legacies, conveyed through the medical School of Salerno, albeit also more or less embedded in demonological, supernatural and folklore principles. But more concrete or extensive clinical descriptions of mental illness is hardly found beyond the anecdotic realm. However from the high middle ages (1100-1300, and Viking period 800-1030) the most vivid and universally available writings and descriptions in this respect stems from fictional literature, more precisely the sagas, written predominantly in Iceland, in the native language Old Icelandic during the 13th century. This was a period also called the “Old Norse Renaissance”, hallmarked by intense intellectual and literary activity and achievements. The literature of the period has given us a wealth of reports concerning everyday life and social life and mentality, with an eye for peculiarities and abnormalities.
Highlights
A spectacular 1325 lawsuit in Bergen against a woman named Ragnhild Tregagás is of interest, being the only known verdict of the kind from the Norwegian Middle Ages
She was exonerated from the accusation of having caused shipwrecks by means of sorcery
The Gulatingsloven states that murdering a close relative is by itself indicative of madness in the perpetrator
Summary
Summary The medicine of medieval Europe was influenced above all by the Hippocratic and Galenic legacies, conveyed through the medical School of Salerno, albeit to an extent embedded in demonological and supernatural beliefs and folklore customs. More concrete or extensive clinical descriptions of mental illness are hardly found beyond the anecdotic realm. Between the Viking period (800-1030) and the high Middle Ages (1100-1300) the most vivid and universally available writings and descriptions of mental illness come from fictional literature, more precisely the sagas, written predominantly in Iceland in the native Old Icelandic language during the 13th century. This period was called the Old Norse renaissance, hallmarked by intense intellectual and literary activity and achievements. The literature of the period has given us a wealth of reports concerning the everyday and social life and mentality, with an eye for peculiarities and abnormalities
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