The 1774 ordinance for the hospitalization of the mentally ill in Tuscany

Two centuries ago, in 1774, an ordinance concerning the hospitalization of the mentally ill was issued in Tuscany. The main points of this ordinance consisted of: individuals allegedly presenting symptoms of mental illness were to be examined by “public specialists” (i.e., physicians competent in mental disorders); the relatives of these individuals were to be located and their cooperation, including financial, was to be obtained; paupers were to be taken care of at the expense of the community; in any case, these individuals were to be admitted and treated in a hospital following certification by the proper authority. This decree–apparently the first of this kind in any country–is discussed by the author in the light of the Italian Enlightenment in Florence and Tuscany, especially typified there by the innovations introduced by the Grand Duke Peter Leopold. Finally, some analogies with the present situation are drawn.

Certification · Decree · Enlightenment · Mental health · Mental illness · Mentally ill · Political science · Psychiatry · Historical Psychiatry and Medical Practices · Law · Medicine · Mental Health and Psychiatry · Neurology and Historical Studies · Philosophy · Psychology