Talk:Bethlem Royal Hospital

An inaccuracy?

I am reading a theatre play from 1622, the Changeling, and there is a place similar to Bedlam, very likely to have been taken up from the real one, and there is a passage mentioning "patients" as well as "daily visitants" who were looking at the madmen for fun. This would render the first dates of mentioning the former (18th century) and latter respectively (19th century) questionable. Malej 19:28, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

Just a different possible inaccuracy. The first footnote link to a journal discussing the possible madness or insanity of Jesus, rather than the playwright or the quote the footnote is attached to. 92.234.30.143 (talk) 06:45, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

Cite supports the Nathaniel Lee quote. But it's derived from Porter, so probably better to use that if it's to be retained. The paragraph as it is is confused. FiachraByrne (talk) 00:35, 29 October 2012 (UTC)

Public visitations certainly had begun by early 17th century and possibly by late 16th century FiachraByrne (talk) 01:41, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

Public visits almost certainly by 1590s. Should have some account of prevalence of Bethlem/Bedlam in Jacobean plays. Also really need to account for term Bedlam. FiachraByrne (talk) 22:05, 9 December 2012 (UTC)

Removal of another two paragraphs - one sentence (quote) sourced

Excised the following:

The Hospital became famous and notorious for the brutal ill-treatment meted out to the mentally ill. In 1675 Bedlam moved to new buildings in Moorfields designed by Robert Hooke, outside the City boundary. The playwright Nathaniel Lee was incarcerated there for five years, reporting that: "They called me mad, and I called them mad, and damn them, they outvoted me."

The inmates were first called "patients" in 1700, and "curable" and "incurable" wards were opened in 1725-34.

Paragraph 1: First sentence true but needs context and specification. Will add detail for this - mostly derived from Andrews Phd. Second sentence true but unsourced. Will re-add information and cite it properly. Nathaniel Lee quote correctly sourced (but derived from Porter - so might be better to cite him instead). Will add back in but somewhere where it makes sense. Paragraph is collection of non sequiturs as it stands (which might be my fault as I've edited some of the original article out due to repetitions as I've added content.

Paragraph 2: Unsourced. First statement incorrect. Second pretty much correct. Will add back in with sources at appropriate point in the article. FiachraByrne (talk) 00:44, 29 October 2012 (UTC)

Actually, and typical of your ignorance, the first statement is correct. You've confused the reference to "patients" by the Privy Council with the Hospital's own nomenclature. FiachraByrne (talk) 00:29, 8 December 2012 (UTC)

Please assume AGF or I'll take you to ANI FiachraByrne (talk) 00:29, 8 December 2012 (UTC)

According to Andrews (1991 thesis) Bethlem itself first referred to inmates 'lunatickes' as patients in 1640s - makes sense with inauguration of medical regime in 1634. FiachraByrne (talk) 21:58, 9 December 2012 (UTC)

Picking up books this week

• Edward Geoffrey O'Donoghue, The Story of Bethlem Hospital from its Foundation in 1247 (London, 1914).
• Charles Webster (ed), Health, Medicine and Mortality in the Sixteenth Century (Cambridge, 1979).
• David Russell, Scenes from Bedlam: A History of Caring for the Mentally Disordered at Bethlem Royal Hospital and the Maudsley (London, c. 1997).
• Jonathan Andrews et al., The History of Bethlem (London, 1997).
• Patricia Allderidge, The Bethlem Royal Hospital: an Illustrated History (London, 1995).
• Jonathan Barry and Collin Jones (eds), Medicine and Charity before the Welfare State (London, 1991).

FiachraByrne (talk) 02:06, 14 November 2012 (UTC)

Only got the two key ones in the end. Andrews et al. and Allderidge chapter in Webster. FiachraByrne (talk) 22:02, 9 December 2012 (UTC)

Tom O'Bedlams

Cut section:

In the early modern period it was widely believed that patients discharged from Bethlem Hospital were licensed to beg, though in 1675 the Governors denied this. They were known as Abraham-men or Tom o' Bedlam. They usually wore a tin plate on their arm as a badge and were also known as Bedlamers, Bedlamites, or Bedlam Beggars. In William Shakespeare's King Lear, the Earl of Gloucester's son Edgar takes the role of a Bedlam Beggar in order to remain in England unnoticed after banishment. Whether any were ever licensed is uncertain. There were probably far more who claimed falsely to have been inmates than were ever admitted to the hospital.

FiachraByrne (talk) 00:30, 8 December 2012 (UTC)

Bedlamites certainly existed but unclear if they had any but symbolic relationship to institution.FiachraByrne (talk) 22:01, 9 December 2012 (UTC)

St George's Fields

Cut unreferenced sentence:

The new building had a remarkable library as an annex which was well frequented. Although the sexes were separated, in the evenings, those capable of appreciating music could dance together in the great ballroom. In the chapel the sexes were separated by a curtain.

FiachraByrne (talk) 00:30, 8 December 2012 (UTC)

Relevance of The Curtain inclusion

The distance between the original Bishopsgate site and the site of the Curtain is somewhat over a kilometer. You must have a rather strong arm to be able to throw a stone that distance! More to the point, is there any connection between the two, beyond the Shakespearean references above? Is it demonstrable, perhaps, that Robert Armin, whose house was close to Bedlam, had any relationship with the hospital? There was much else in the area too.