A lunatic (colloquially, "loony") is a person who is mentally ill, traditionally someone whose sanity comes and goes with the phases of the Moon.
This probably refers to the symptoms of what is now known as Bipolar disorder.
Extremely foolish persons are also called lunatics.
... was a quiet one, his time being spent
between devotional exercises, composition, and
copying. He copied the Bible no less than four
times, one of the copies being ...