Diagnosis, guardianship, and residential care of the mentally ill in medieval and early modern England

Abstract

Histories of psychiatry concerning preindustrial Europe emphasize demonologic beliefs and physical mistreatment of the insane. Records of an English legal incompetency jurisdiction demonstrate that both government officials and laymen accepted that psychiatric disorders had biological and psychosocial origins. This jurisdiction, which developed a social welfare dimension by the seventeenth century, offered benevolent protection for the insane. Private guardians arranged for the lodging and care of their wards in private homes. While physicians played little role in the certification process, the guardians made frequent use of their skills. Furthermore, some physicians with established reputations in psychiatry accepted patients into their homes for prolonged cures.