ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the ideas about insanity that were most widely diffused and that help readers to understand at least some of the commonest reactions to cases of madness. It also elucidates the medical and religious considerations, and legal provision for the insane in the community and the question of hospitalization. The chapter describes about the literary representations with some well-known mad individuals. A study of medieval madness requires an analysis of contemporary understanding of body, mind, and 'bodily spirits'. The medieval concept of 'bodily spirits' can be traced back to the Stoic school of the fourth century BC, which was influenced by Aristotle. Historical considerations of medieval madness as a medical condition are generally found within larger studies of medieval medicine or within broad overviews of madness. Catherine Rider has shown that many medieval physicians themselves were willing to admit the possibility of a demonic aetiology for madness.
