Freaks of Fanaticism and Other Strange Events (1968 edition) is a reissue of Sabine Baring-Gould’s 1891 collection of historical curiosities, documenting bizarre episodes of religious mania, mass delusion, and inexplicable phenomena. This volume compiles the Victorian clergyman’s accounts of:
- The Convulsionnaires of Saint-Médard: Frenzied 18th-century French Jansenists who writhed in ecstatic fits at a Paris cemetery, convinced of divine intervention.
- The Tichborne Claimant: A sensational British impostor trial where a butcher posed as a missing aristocrat, captivating the public.
- The Jumpers of Cornwall: Methodist revivalists who leaped uncontrollably during worship, their seizures attributed to spiritual fervor.
Baring-Gould approaches these tales with a mix of skepticism and anthropological intrigue, reflecting his era’s fascination with the boundaries of reason and faith. The 1968 reprint preserves his dry wit and scholarly tone, offering a window into how Victorians grappled with the irrational.
