BETHLEM ROYAL HOSPITAL AND ITS INFLUENCE ON FRANCEBy: Lela

ST. MARY’S BETHLEHEM

London 1247 Lastingly known

as Bethlem (“Bedlam”) Meaning uproar

and confusion The worlds FIRST

psychiatric hospital

Infamous for the brutal treatments of its inmates

FIFTEENTH CENTURY

The presence of the insane is first mentioned in 1403

Henry IV brought the hospital's porter, Peter Taverner, to trial for abusing his office Charged with stealing two stocks, various chains

with locks, manacles, and some metal chairs Items were used routinely to restrain the patients

No advances in the treatment of mental illness were made before the middle of the twentieth century Little could be offered beyond custodial care

SIXTEENTH & SEVENTEENTHCENTURIES

In 1547, it went under control of the City of London

Violent or dangerous patients were manacled and chained to the floor or wall

In 1676 a new building was opened at Moorfields the existing building was

‘very old, weak and ruinous’.

Iron grilles across the centre to divide the male and female wings

“THE BOYS OF BEDLAM”

More "fortunate" inmates were discharged from the hospital Were given license to beg on the streets of

London Identifiable by the tin plate that they wore on

their arms Became known as the Bedlam Beggars,

Abraham-Men, Bedlamers, Bedlamites or Tom O'Bedlam

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

Patients were subjected to public scorn of those who were allowed in Public had to pay a fee

Allowed to gawk, laugh and aggravate the patients

Allowed to bring in long sticks to poke the patients

A REVOLUTION IN TREATMENT

Philippe Pinel, a French doctor Head of the Paris asylum for insane men at

Bicêtre in 1792 Argued that confining the mentally ill to jails,

pens, cellars and garrets, restraining them in chains, straight jackets and chairs, feeding them bread and water, and hiring attendants based on their strength was unacceptable.

Sparked a revolution in the treatment of the mentally ill.

IN RESPONSE TO “UNREASON”

Families can have mad family members legally restrained upon obtaining a “lettre de cachet” from royal officials Warrants effectively depriving the “lunatic” of all

legal rights 1808 – An Act of Parliament passed.

Permitting the use of public funds for asylums 1845 – against those who denounced it as a

waste of money or an infringement of freedom

NINETEENTH CENTURY The hospital moved to its

third site in 1815 Due to increased numbers

and a crumbling building Moved to St George’s

Fields, Southwark Restraint of patients had

been used sparingly at Bethlem in the 1840s Was abandoned in the

1850s Emphasis on the

opportunities for work and leisure as a means of facilitating recovery

The wards began to be much more comfortable

TODAY Bethlem moved to its

present site in 1930 Did not want to

replicate the buildings of Moorfields and St George’s Fields but to design the hospital on the ‘villa system’ Each ward had its own

building with kitchen, dining room and garden

Other facilities were housed in separate units throughout the 250 acres of grounds

HOW BETHLEM INFLUENCED FRANCE

In France 1656, King Louis XIV, ordained the confinement of beggars, vagabonds, tramps, freethinkers, prostitutes and the insane

The Hopital General of Paris was established to segregate socially dependent or disruptive individuals from society

Other hospitals included: La Bicetre – for men Salpetriere – for women

WORKS CITED Allderidge, Patricia. “A Brief History of Bethlehem”.

Genetic Futures News. www.geneticfutures.com December 2, 2010.

Andrews, Jonathan and Scull, Andrew. Undertaker. University of California Press. California. 2001.

Baker, Jeffrey, Golann, Stuart and Pomerants, Jay M. The Bethlehem Diaries. Canfield Press. San Francisco, California. 1974.

"Bedlam." Dictionary of the Middle Ages. Ed. Joseph R. Strayer. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1989. Gale World History In Context. Web. 8 Dec. 2010.

Johnson, Ann Braden. Out of Bedlam: The Truth About Deinstitutionalization. Basic Books, Inc. New York. 1990.

Porter, Ray. Madness: A Brief History. Oxford University Press, Inc. New York. 2002.

PICTURES

http://reference.findtarget.com/search/Bethlem%20Royal%20Hospital/

http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/exhibits/quest/images/bedlam.jpg

http://www.victorianweb.org/art/illustration/cruikshank/4.jpg

http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/pinelsmall.jpg

http://www.intriguing.com/mp/_pictures/grail/large/HolyGrail027.jpg

http://www.bethlemheritage.org.uk/images/mainimage_aboutust.jpg