Anorexia Mirabilis, or Holy Anorexia, Was Common in the Middle Ages
Aside from Anorexia Nervosa, there is another separate diagnosis known as “Anorexia Mirabilis”, or “Holy Anorexia”. Most of the cases of this happened in the Middle Ages in Europe, especially among Catholic nuns. Both nuns and monks would purposely hurt themselves, because they believed suffering was a way to imitate the life of Jesus Christ, and the fact that he was tortured and died for their sins. While men typically saw celibacy, poverty, and physical pain as enough torture, women took it one step further. They would often abstain from eating for long periods of time. In some cases, these nuns claimed to receive spiritual enlightenment. Some said that they were able to feast on the “delicious banquet of God”. There are multiple cases of nuns who actually died of starvation.