De predikande pigorna i 1700-talets Sverige: medicinska och teologiska föreställningar om övernaturlig fasta, svärmeri och besatthet

Sammanfattning: The Preaching Maids in 18th Century Sweden: medical and theological conceptions of supernatural fast, enthusiasm and possession. This thesis examines the relationship between medicine and theology in 18th century Sweden through supernatural fast, enthusiasm (svärmeri) and possession, three terms that all encompass religiously understood diseases. In the thesis these conditions are interpreted as belonging to ‘preaching maids’, because all conditions – even though there are some dissimilarities – where present in maids that exhibited traits that were described in both theological and medical terms. The fasting and enthusiastic maids all had a similar disease course where they became ill, fainted, came in ecstasy, and started preaching. During the beginning of the 18th century, they were understood by the Swedish state-church as miracles and by the medical field as ill, while they in the later part of the century were considered as ill by both the state-church and in the medical field. The maids’ ecstasies were not in compliance with the state-theology. The enthusiastic movements during the latter part of the 18th century were similarly described as ill by both the church and in medicine, but instead they were described in terms of contagion and infection. Many of the fasting and enthusiastic maids where also supposed to be possessed. The conflicting views of the fasting and enthusiastic maids concerned how God could or could not perform wonders in the world. The possessed maids had a similar course to their disease, but here the conflict concerned how the devil could or could not possess humans. The state-church considered the devil a threat during the whole period, but there was not always consensus on how to determine if possessions could still be a possibility. In medicine, the role of the devil declined during the period, and toward the late 18th century possession was considered nothing else than a mental disease. Earlier research has stated that there was a conflict between medicine and religion in Sweden during the 18th century, where medicine came to overtake previously religious conceptualizations of diseases. While the medical examinations and understandings of the preaching maids certainly became more prominent during the era, this thesis instead purposes that the divide between medicine and religion during the 18th century in Sweden was not between medicine and religion as such, but rather between the Lutheran state-religion and divergent religious groups during the period, specifically pietism and the ecstatic movement.