The Noctambuli: tales of sleepwalkers and secrets of the body in seventeenth-century England.
Elizabeth Hunter
The Seventeenth century December 17, 2020 DOI: 10.1080/0268117x.2020.1855235 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Dreams Witchcraft Sleepwalking Secrets Wonder |
| Key points | The text argues that early modern explanations of sleepwalking (noctambulism) combined demonological, medical, and esoteric frameworks: the Malleus Maleficarum attributed it to demons, medical texts to hot vapours and the imaginative faculty, and 1650s esoteric writings to mystical bodily powers. The medical account was widely accepted until challenged by these alternative views. |
Abstract
Seventeenth-century readers were fascinated by marvellous tales of people known as the noctambuli who rose up in their sleep, performed daily chores and attempted dangerous feats, such as clambering onto rooftops. On account of their uncanny nature, commentators noted that sleepers could be mistaken for spectres or those who had been bewitched. Depictions of the noctamubli were also influenced by the Malleus Maleficarum, which had argued that they were acting under the influence of demons and would fall if their Christian name was called. Medical texts explained this behaviour in terms of the escape of hot vapours within the body, the powers of the imaginative faculty, and the impairment of common sense during sleep. While this explanation was widely accepted, in the 1650s it was challenged by alternative views from esoteric writings, which conceptualised the movements of sleepers in terms of mystical powers within the body.