22. The Meowing Medieval Nuns
In the medieval era, many outbreaks of collective hysteria occurred in religious institutions. Nunneries, or convents, were especially prime grounds, ripe for eruptions of contagious mass delusion. That was because convents contained large numbers of nuns who had been forced into them by their families. Once behind the establishment’s walls, they were forced to lead lives that quite a few found disagreeable. Many of the unfortunate girls or women compelled to become nuns were confined in prison-like conditions and led a stressful lifestyle that was not of their own choosing.
Among other things, the nuns were expected to be celibate and submit to a regimen of poverty and hard work. They were also expected to unquestioningly obey authority figures. Those set above them had the right to compel compliance with coercive measures ranging from the imposition of extra labor, to confinement in cells, to withholding food and water. Physical chastisements as punishment were also available, ranging from whipping and caning in-house, to turning over the most defiant nuns to ecclesiastic courts. There, if things went particularly bad, hardheaded nuns could end up executed for heresy, witchcraft, or demonic possession.
