This study examines the attitudes of Belgian hospital sisters towards pain and pain relief in the 19th century, amidst secularisation and the rising influence of medical professionals. While official records show their participation in pain’s medicalisation, indicating a loss of decision-making power to doctors, these sisters simultaneously sought alternative pain relief methods. They emphasised religious beliefs and practices. They also collected and disseminated knowledge, blending scientific insights with traditional remedies. Furthermore, they engaged in entrepreneurial ventures. Case studies reveal sisters embraced medicalisation without abandoning traditional Catholic discourse on suffering and atonement, offering holistic comfort and filling gaps left by medicine.
KU Leuven, Belgium - ORCID: 0000-0001-7623-8945
Chapter Title
Negotiating a space in-between. Belgian women religious and pain (relief) in nineteenth-century public hospitals
Authors
Kristien Suenens
Language
English
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-1072-0.05
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2026
Copyright Information
© 2026 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
Pain fragments
Book Subtitle
Practising Catholicism in the 19th and 20th centuries
Editors
Tine Van Osselaer, Leonardo Rossi, Kristof Smeyers, Maria Heidegger
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
184
Publication Year
2026
Copyright Information
© 2026 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-1072-0
ISBN Print
979-12-215-1071-3
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-1072-0
eISBN (epub)
979-12-215-1073-7
Series Title
Fragmentaria. Studi di storia culturale e antropologia religiosa
Series ISSN
2975-1217
Series E-ISSN
2975-1225