‘Murderers’ and ‘Honest Persons’: Religious emotions and responses to syphilis, 1495-2000

Through an analysis of printed texts held by the Herzog August Bibliothek, this project investigates the role of religion in shaping emotional responses to syphilis in Germany from 1495 to 2000. It explores how religion motivated the expression of a complex range of emotions, from disgust and anger to compassion and sympathy, among medical practitioners, the sick, and authors of religious and legal texts. My research seeks continuity and change in these religious emotions and considers the consequences of these responses for medical practitioners, their work, the sick, and their societies. This project brings a new perspective to the growing emotional histories of medicine and illness, offering understandings of how attitudes to a disease change and the consequences for individual, professional, and collective lives.

Monica on academia.edu: https://hab.academia.edu/MonicaOBrien