Healing emotional distress in a time of plague and war: Witnesses to the canonization of Delphine de Puimichel (1363)

What we call emotional expression, especially distress, is not innate and unchanging. It is shaped by language, culture, and time period. In order to study the emotional distress of people in the late Middle Ages, therefore, we must understand the language they used to express their distress, the culture that shaped their expression, and the immediate context within which emotional distress occurred. To do this, I analyze witness testimony for the canonization of Delphine de Puimichel in Apt, Provence in 1363. These testimonies reveal how diverse witnesses understood, expressed, and tried to heal their emotional distress. During the years leading up to Delphine's inquest, especially1348 through 1363, daily life became less predictable and more frightening. Waves of the Black Plague and mercenary raids during the Hundred Years War added to the normal stresses of illness and mishap. In response, the witnesses encountered inconsolable fear, sadness, despair, and anger.;Although medical frameworks for emotional distress were available, witness in Delphine's canonization inquest understood their emotions in a moral framework. In this framework, negative emotion came from the perception of living in a non-Christian manner. Either the individual failed morally and felt sorrow and despair, or people with military or political power failed morally and caused distress for others. To heal their emotional distress, they turned to Delphine to restore a moral balance. Delphine's voice, actions, and prayers influenced people's moral selves and provided consolation, reassurance, and joy.