IMC 2014: Sessions
Session 835: Visions, Voices, and Other Hallucinatory Experiences in the Middle Ages, II: Medical and Legal Approaches
Tuesday 8 July 2014, 16.30-18.00
Sponsor: | 'Hearing the Voice' Project, Centre for Medical Humanities, Durham University |
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Organiser: | Hilary Powell, Department of English Studies, Durham University |
Moderator/Chair: | Hilary Powell, Department of English Studies, Durham University |
Paper 835-a | Medical and Legal Explanations for Hallucination in Medieval England (Language: English) Index terms: Law, Medicine, Mentalities |
Paper 835-b | Lawyers and Visions: 14th-Century French Legal Approaches to Visionary Experiences (Language: English) Index terms: Law, Medicine |
Paper 835-c | Hallucinatory Experiences as Sources of Insanity in Medieval Iceland (Language: English) Index terms: Language and Literature - Scandinavian, Medicine, Mentalities |
Abstract | This is the second of two sessions on visions, voices, and hallucinatory experience. This session focuses on medical and legal approaches to visionary experience. While the phenomenon was not initially pathologised, naturalistic explanations were increasingly sought as a means of discerning truly supernatural incursions into human life. This session explores the growing demand for methods of discerning spirits from legal, medical, and popular perspectives. Geographically broad, covering English, French, and Icelandic material, this session will offer an excellent opportunity to identify themes and draw out parallels regarding the way in which visionary experiences were viewed across Europe. |