Chapter 10 - The strange case of Peter the Lunatic

Summary

The case of Peter the Lunatic, Sir Thomas Temple's youngest brother, commands our attention here. This chapter attempts several things. Firstly it seeks to establish the nature of Peter's malady, how it would have been regarded by contemporaries, and the various problems posed by Peter's care. Secondly, it examines how he was cared for. Thirdly, it considers the implications of his care for his eldest brother Sir Thomas and his wife Lady Hester, for his own wife Katherine, and for his other siblings. While in no way disagreeing with the perspectives adopted by previous historians or their conclusions, the emphasis here is upon the demands sibling care could make upon families with many other calls upon their time and energy from the simple nuclear family. In this specific case any difficulties were compounded because Peter's care became the subject of litigation. I give considerable detail regarding the course of the legal case in order to emphasize both its tortuous and complex nature, and the problems an incomplete record presents for the historian seeking to describe what happened. I have also touched upon the methodological issues involved in using evidence provided by court cases, and further attention is accorded this in future chapters.

My brother Peter's malady: ‘It is the very error of the moon, She comes more nearer earth than she was wont And makes men Mad’

The bald facts about Peter's life are these: he was born in 1589, the fifth son of John Temple Esquire and his wife Susanna Spencer Temple. This was about three years after John's heir Thomas married Hester. Following John Temple's death in 1603, Peter, then about 13, lived at Stowe with his widowed mother, although he was educated at Winchester College and then served in the retinue of the Earl of Northampton. Peter's expenses were paid by his eldest brother, Thomas, sometimes through the agency of older brothers Sir Alexander and William or that of Hester. In 1614 he was sent home very ill to his mother Susan (Spencer) Temple. In December of that same year he married Katherine Kendall, daughter of a clergyman, and the two had several children, born between then and the 1630s. A mythology has since arisen surrounding this Peter Temple, which requires closer scholarly examination.