S3 E10 Naught so sweet as melancholy (Part 1)

They will act, conceive all extremes, contrarieties, and contradictions, and that in infinite varieties…Scarce two of two thousand concur in the same symptoms. The Tower of Babel never yielded such confusion of tongues, as the chaos melancholy doth variety of symptoms. - Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, 1621

BURTON, Robert, The anatomy of melancholy: w. Wellcome Collection. Source: Wellcome Collection.

In Episode 10 I take a look at the perplexing affliction of melancholy in the first of two episodes exploring the relationship between food and mental health.

Early in the seventeenth century a Leicestershire clergyman Robert Burton set out to untangle complex yet bizarrely alluring renaissance disease of melancholy and its effects on mental and physical well being. His research culminated in The Anatomy of Melancholy, a lengthy treatise on how to identify and treat this illness.

Joining me to discuss what melancholy was, Burton’s work and the role food played in exacerbating or treating the condition are Professor Mary Ann Lund of Leicester University and author of A User’s Guide of Melancholy and food historian Ken Albala and author of Eating Right in the Renaissance.

Useful Links

Ken has written many books over the years including:

• Opulent Nosh: A Cookbook

• Beans: A History

• A Cultural History of Food in the Renaissance

• Nuts: A Global History

You can also find Ken on Instagram.

Mary Ann’s books include:

• A User’s Guide to Melancholy

• Melancholy, Medicine and Religion in Early Modern England: Reading 'The Anatomy of Melancholy

Suggested Reading

• The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

Don’t forget you can follow me on Instagram or Bluesky @mrssbilton or find out more about my work on sambilton.com.

A huge thank you to Thomas Ntinas of The Delicious Legacy for doing the sound mixing on this season of the podcast.