Melancholy and the nonconforming godly in England, c. 1640-1700
This thesis explores representations of melancholy amongst Presbyterians, Independents, and Particular Baptists across the period c. 1640 to 1700. Faced with increasing accusations of melancholy from their Anglican opposition, the nonconforming godly grappled with how this condition should be interpreted and dealt with. In asserting that the histories of neither health nor religion can be understood through ideas alone, the study counters the conformist-focused, top-down, and intellectualised approach of the existing scholarship on melancholy at this time. Rather than focusing on the published views of ministers and physicians, the thesis draws upon a range of printed and manuscript sources to investigate the experience of melancholy from the perspective of laypersons. In examining the use of health and the passions in godly writing, Chapter One considers the discourses from which attitudes towards melancholy stemmed, demonstrating that an embodied form of piety persisted throughout the period. Taking this stance further, Chapter Two contends that the heart was understood to react physiologically to duties and, ultimately, indicate the state of an individual's soul. Turning to the issue of melancholy, it is
Finn, Finola
Melancholy and the nonconforming godly in England, c. 1640-1700. This thesis explores representations of melancholy amongst Presbyterians, Independents, and Particular Baptists across the period c. 1640 to 1700. Faced with increasing accusations of melancholy from their Anglican opposition, the nonconforming godly grappled with how this condition should be interpreted and dealt with. In asserting that the histories of neither health nor religion can be understood through ideas alone, the study counters the conformist-focused, top-down, and intellectualised approach of the existing scholarship on melancholy at this time. Rather than focusing on the published views of ministers and physicians, the thesis draws upon a range of printed and manuscript sources to investigate the experience of melancholy from the perspective of laypersons. In examining the use of health and the passions in godly writing, Chapter One considers the discourses from which attitudes towards melancholy stemmed, demonstrating that an embodied form of piety persisted throughout the period. Taking this stance further, Chapter Two contends that the heart was understood to react physiologically to duties and, ultimately, indicate the state of an individual's soul. Turning to the issue of melancholy, it is
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