Aside from the main beliefs of how madness was caused in the Elizabethan Era, there were other conspiracies that many people kept in mind when dealing with mental illness.
The first main conspiracy behind the causes of madness was that witches and magicians, living among humans, are able to give people melancholy. It was believed that witches and magicians were just extensions of the devil, and were even considered to be worse in nature than the devil himself. These extensions of the devil would use spells, pendants, amulets, and words to cause melancholy in a surrounding individual (Burton, 2.1).
Another conspiracy behind the causes of madness in the Elizabethan era was that planets and their orbits could have an affect on a person's mental illness. It was believed that the way a planets orbit was situated about earth would have a direct relationship with how long a person would take to recover, or if the person would even recover at all. It was believed that each planet coming closer to earth in its orbit would raise a certain humour (Sommerville):
The first main conspiracy behind the causes of madness was that witches and magicians, living among humans, are able to give people melancholy. It was believed that witches and magicians were just extensions of the devil, and were even considered to be worse in nature than the devil himself. These extensions of the devil would use spells, pendants, amulets, and words to cause melancholy in a surrounding individual (Burton, 2.1).
Another conspiracy behind the causes of madness in the Elizabethan era was that planets and their orbits could have an affect on a person's mental illness. It was believed that the way a planets orbit was situated about earth would have a direct relationship with how long a person would take to recover, or if the person would even recover at all. It was believed that each planet coming closer to earth in its orbit would raise a certain humour (Sommerville):
- Mars would increase the amount of yellow bile
- The moon would increase the amount of Phlegm
- Saturn would increase the amount of black bile
- Jupiter would increase the amount of blood