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How did popular culture add to Bedlam's fearsome reputation?
Manage episode 510703117 series 3340847
Bedlam, or Bethlem Royal Hospital to give it its full name, is actually the world's oldest psychiatric institution. It began life in 1247 in the Priory of St Mary of Bethlehem, which stood where we now find Liverpool Street Station.
Yet the hospital has inspired a range of books, films, and TV series, with its infamous reputation lasting well into the 21st century. The hospital has since become a valued institution for psychiatric treatment, yet the ghost of its former incarnations still linger.
After all, the word 'bedlam', meaning chaos, came from this very hospital. People shortened 'Hospital of Saint Mary of Bethlehem' to Bethlem, and then Bedlam, in around the 1660s. The word even went on to inspire the word 'Bedlamite', used to describe someone suffering from insanity, from the 1620s.
So how did this hospital gain such a fearsome reputation, and how has it survived well beyond the hospital's adoption of new practices? Let's find out in this week's episode!
Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/bedlam-reputation/
Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/
Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595
Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick
Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore
Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop
Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7
Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick
Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social
'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
406 episodes
Manage episode 510703117 series 3340847
Bedlam, or Bethlem Royal Hospital to give it its full name, is actually the world's oldest psychiatric institution. It began life in 1247 in the Priory of St Mary of Bethlehem, which stood where we now find Liverpool Street Station.
Yet the hospital has inspired a range of books, films, and TV series, with its infamous reputation lasting well into the 21st century. The hospital has since become a valued institution for psychiatric treatment, yet the ghost of its former incarnations still linger.
After all, the word 'bedlam', meaning chaos, came from this very hospital. People shortened 'Hospital of Saint Mary of Bethlehem' to Bethlem, and then Bedlam, in around the 1660s. The word even went on to inspire the word 'Bedlamite', used to describe someone suffering from insanity, from the 1620s.
So how did this hospital gain such a fearsome reputation, and how has it survived well beyond the hospital's adoption of new practices? Let's find out in this week's episode!
Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/bedlam-reputation/
Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/
Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595
Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick
Fabulous Folklore Bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/fabulous_folklore
Pre-recorded illustrated talks: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick/shop
Request an episode: https://forms.gle/gqG7xQNLfbMg1mDv7
Get extra snippets of folklore on Instagram at https://instagram.com/icysedgwick
Find Icy on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/icysedgwick.bsky.social
'Like' Fabulous Folklore on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fabulousfolklore/
406 episodes
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