Il malessere femminile tra demonopatia e melanconia. Michel Marescot (1539-1605)e la possessione di Marthe Brossier (Parigi, 1599)

DESSI', MARIA CRISTINA

2010-01-01

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Abstract

Women’s uneasiness between demopathy and melancholy. Michel Marescot (1539-1605) and Marthe Brossier’s possession (Parigi, 1599). 1.This paper deals with doctor Michel Marescot’s positions presented in Discours sur le veritable faict de Marthe Brossier de Romorantin pretendue demoniaque (Paris, 1599). He was consulted with other colleagues from the Faculty of Medicine, the University of Paris, in order to check the health conditions of a person that was thought to be possessed by the evil. In this occasion he expressed strong reservations about the reality of possession, by diagnosing melancony and simulation. Doctor Marescot’s intervention fits into the process of naturalization of psychological distress of people carried on by modern medicine. The natural interpretation of human behavior, ascribed to causes related to demonic and religious powers, allowed the study of mental illness and the search for scientifically approved therapies.