Is it Possible to Die of Sadness? Emotions and Physical Health in the Annals of Jan Długosz

Narodowe Centrum Nauki

The article discusses the intersection between emotions and physical health in the narration of the “Annales seu cronicae incliti regni Poloniae” by Jan Długosz (1415–1480). The research is placed within the framework of the history of emotions, a field aimed at determining how people in the past used to perceive and experience emotions. Its main scope is to find out how emotions can influence the body and health according to the medieval author. The descriptions of illnesses and deaths caused by the influence of emotions are analysed both from the point of view of the medieval medicine and approach to emotions as well as contemporary concepts of psychosomatics and Susan Sontag’s approach.