According to researcher Gill Speak, who wrote the definitive paper on the glass delusion in 1990, two notable 16th-century doctors-Alfonso Ponce de Santa Cruz, the physician to Philip II of Spain, and Andre du Laurens, physician to Henry IV of France-told the story of an unnamed royal who believed he was not a human, but a glass vase. Over the next few centuries, the delusion spread to the courts, monasteries and universities of Europe. King Charles VI of France in his bedchamber with servants and ministers. ![]() When he did have to move, he did so in a special garment, which included iron “ribs” to protect his glass organs. To keep himself from “shattering,” Charles would stay motionless for hours, wrapped in piles of thick blankets. These actions led him to be nicknamed Charles “the beloved.” But in 1392, he suffered a psychotic break (believed to be his first manifestation of schizophrenia), which would lead to sporadic violent episodes and periods of inertia and confusion for the rest of his life.Ĭharles “the beloved,” was now known as Charles “the mad.” Allegedly, the king had spells where he believed his body was made entirely of glass. Handsome, judicial and charismatic, he had spearheaded reform efforts after taking over from his corrupt regents in 1388-streamlining the royal bureaucracy and surrounding himself with enlightened advisors. King Charles VI (1368–1422) had ascended the throne of France at the age of 11. One of the first recorded patients to suffer from this delusion was probably its most famous victim. It was so well known that it would be mentioned by Rene Descartes, Denis Diderot and in scholar Robert Burton’s 1621 medical compendium, Anatomy of Melancholy.Īlexandra Amelie, daughter of Ludwig I of Bavaria. Known as “the glass delusion,” this psychological malady, first recorded in the Middle Ages, would become quite common before virtually dying out in the late 19th century. The princess was, in fact, following in a long tradition of royals, nobles and scholars who believed that all or certain parts of their bodies were made of clear, fragile glass. Surprisingly, Alexandra Amelie’s odd fixation was not an unheard-of disorder. It now resided inside her-wholly intact-and would shatter if faced with any sudden movement. As a child, she had swallowed a full-sized grand piano made entirely of glass. When asked by her family what she was doing, the Princess explained that she had just discovered something remarkable. ![]() ![]() Alexandra Amelie was walking sideways through doorways and labyrinthine hallways, tiptoeing and carefully turning her body so that nothing would touch her. Her relatives noticed that the obsessive, highly intelligent young woman-who only wore the color white-was acting even stranger than usual. One day in the late 1840s, Princess Alexandra Amelie, the 23-year-old daughter of the recently abdicated King Ludwig I of Bavaria, was making her way through the corridors of the family palace.
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