Asylum
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a Greek word designating a temple inclosure within which refugees might seek protection. One who had killed another in self-defense might take refuge from the avenger of human blood in an asylum. If the refugee could make out a good case, the priests were required to protect him; otherwise he was delivered to the authorities for punishment. To violate an asylum, that is, to drag out by force one who sought protection, was an act of the utmost impiety, sure to be punished by the gods. Among the Jews certain towns were designated as cities of refuge, "that whosoever killed any person unawares, might flee thither and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stood before the congregation." Among those who might lay claim to the rights of asylum were slaves who had been cruelly treated by their masters, soldiers defeated in battle and pursued by the enemy, and criminals who wished to evade trial. In the Middle Ages many monasteries served as places of refuge. In days of murder and political revenge instances are not wanting of even kings taking refuge for the remainder of their days. The idea of "asylum, or refuge" originated in a state of society in which wrongs, real or fancied, were adjusted with a strong hand, a society in which established courts were wanting. The Cherokee Indians had a city of refuge on the Tennessee, where the murderer was safe. Even the white man who had taken the life of an Indian was safe "once his foot touched the soil of this city." In modern times the term has been used to indicate a shelter or home for the needy, as, for instance, an orphan asylum. Most commonly, however, an asylum is a place for the safe keeping and care of the insane. In America each state and province makes liberal provision for insane asylums where the unfortunate are cared for at public expense. See Inns Of Court ; Lunacy ; Extradition
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Aiton's wrote this in 1910, "asylum" most commonly meant "a place for the safe keeping and care of the insane," and the entry praised American states for their "liberal provision" of them. That usage is gone: the resident population of US state mental hospitals peaked in the mid-1950s at roughly half a million and then collapsed under deinstitutionalisation and new antipsychotic drugs, with most of the great institutions closed or converted, and the word itself dropped in favour of "psychiatric hospital." The older sense — sanctuary from an avenger — became hard law instead of temple custom: Article 14 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserts a right to seek asylum, and the 1951 Refugee Convention with its 1967 Protocol defines who qualifies and forbids returning them to persecution. The sacred inviolability Aiton's described now rests on treaty obligation rather than fear of the gods, and is argued over in courts and parliaments every week.
Written for this edition, 2026.