Mental Health in Late Medieval England: A Surprising History of Mental Illness and Its Treatment in Society

How did people in late medieval England understand severe disturbances of mind and behaviour, and what happened to those who experienced them? Michèle Schindler looks beyond modern assumptions to the explanations, treatments and social responses available in the medieval world.

Medical theories form part of the story, but so do households, local communities and the Church. By bringing these different settings together, Schindler shows that responses to mental illness were shaped as much by social relationships and practical care as by formal ideas about medicine. The book opens a less familiar side of medieval daily life and gives the subject the historical context it is often denied.