Journal of Belgian History, XLVII, 2017, 4

This thematic issue tackles a somewhat neglected domain in Belgian contemporary history, notably the History of Psychiatry. This issue, under the supervision of guest editors Benoît Majerus and Anne Roekens, is the result of the conference ‘History, archives and psychiatry: prospects for Belgium’  at the University of Namur in May 2014. This thematic issue has a total of five articles, in successive order:  the impact of the First World War on psychiatric institutions, the role of architecture and the relationship between space and the medical profession, a transnational approach to the topic through a case-study of the Société de Médecine Mentale de la Belgique, the development of Belgian legislation with regard to the treatment of psychiatric patients in the 19th Century and finally new methods of treatment at the beginning of the 20th Century. In light of its pioneering role, this thematic issue presents an important step in the launching of this field of research in Belgian contemporary history.