This study of anorexia nervosa from a historical point of view is intended as a contribution to the research on a condition that involves the cultural influence on the origin and maintenance of a clinical reality. The article also questions opinions that consider anorexia nervosa a "modern evil" or the result of a single factor. An analysis of the lives of certain medieval Christian saints, for example, reveals how strongly their persistent behavior, based on asceticism, identifies them with modern anorexic girls, even though, in contrast, their concerns are esthetic
Holy anorexia; anorexia nervosa; fasting; culture