Legend
says that
Geel's system of foster family care for the mentally ill was motivated
by events that occurred in the 6th - 7th century, A.D. There are
variations on
the details of that legend as well as evidence negating the legend
itself. Regardless of the veracity of Dymphna's story,
Geel's
foster
family system of care for the mentally ill is a fact and it is forever
linked to a legend that goes something like this. . .
The Celtic king Damon
was
married to Odilla, a beautiful Christian woman When their
daughter, Dymphna, was born, the mother arranged for the child to be
raised by a priest, Gereberne, and Damon had little to do with
her. Then, when Dymphna was in her teens Odilla
died. King Damon was overcome with grief and insisted that
his
aids find for him another wife as beautiful as Odilla. After
an
unsuccessful search, they reminded Damon that he did, in fact, have a
beautiful daughter who might be a good replacement for her
mother. Damon liked the idea, but Dymphna and the priest
would not accept his incestuous offer and they fled across
the North Sea into Belgium. There they hid in the forests outside of
Geel, taking refuge in St. Maarten’s chapel. But, Damon
did not give up easily and within months he and his soldiers found
Dymphna and the priest. Once again, Damon demanded
that
Dymphna marry him -- or die. However, even faced with a
choice of incest
or death, the young woman did not submit to her father’s
madness and,
near the chapel, Dymphna allowed herself to be beheaded.
Over
the
years, the site of her martyrdom, came
to be associated with miraculous cures and, in 1247, based on a history
of
reported miracles and the legend of Dymphna's determination not to
yield to
her father’s madness, she was canonized as the patron saint
of the mentally ill. With her
sainthood assuring a continued influx of pilgrims seeking religious
treatment, in 1286, a guest house hospital was built
near the site of the chapel to accommodate the
pilgrims. As
pilgrims continued to arrive in Geel, a new church building was begun
in
1349. Though the church suffered fire and storm over the
years,
the present Church of St. Dymphna was completed in 1749 and still
stands today. A sickroom was first added to the church in
1480. But, there were still more pilgrims than could be
accommodated. And so, in about the 15th century, a practical
solution was found.when
the church canons instructed local villagers to house overflow
pilgrims. Many pilgrims, even after their treatment, stayed
on as
long-term boarders in Geel, and a new legend was born. The
legend of St. Dymphna grew from
an oral history. Whatever "facts" might be associated with
the
start of that legend seem to be inconsequential in the face of a new
documented legend: Geel's legendary, centuries old system of
foster family care for the mentally ill. (see Geel Time Line for detailed information)
