Bethlem Royal Hospital Expands in London

1407

The London priory of Saint Mary of Bethlehem, already housing mentally ill patients for decades in conditions that ranged from neglectful to horrifying, expanded its capacity under royal patronage. It would eventually give the English language the word bedlam. Medieval Europe's approach to mental illness oscillated between religious compassion and horrified containment, and Bethlem occupied the uneasy, badly funded center of that continuum.