Tamara Sanderson explores the historical phenomenon of glass delusion, a psychiatric condition wherein patients in early modern Europe believed their bodies were literally made of glass. Focusing on King Charles VI of France (1368-1422), the essay traces how this psychological idiom manifested in medical records around the 15th-16th centuries, coinciding with advances in lens technology. Charles VI’s delusion intensified after surviving a masquerade fire in 1393 where four nobles perished; he subsequently refused touch and had iron rods sewn into his garments for protection. Sanderson argues glass delusion functioned as a psychological language for expressing fragility, fear, and existential anxiety in an era lacking modern psychiatric vocabulary. Published in March 2026 by The Public Domain Review, the essay investigates how material culture and optical innovation intersected with embodied psychological experience, revealing delusion as both pathological symptom and metaphorical vehicle for expressing unbearable truths about vulnerability and royal precarity during medieval political instability.
Original article published on Public Domain Review — AI-generated summary.
