Medievalists.net » Disabilities in the Middle Ages http://www.medievalists.net Where the Middle Ages Begin Sun, 06 Dec 2015 19:35:15 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.9 Making the Medieval Relevant: Crossing Boundaries: Interdisciplinary Studies on Disease and Disability http://www.medievalists.net/2015/11/20/making-the-medieval-relevant-crossing-boundaries-interdisciplinary-studies-on-disease-and-disability/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/11/20/making-the-medieval-relevant-crossing-boundaries-interdisciplinary-studies-on-disease-and-disability/#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2015 14:44:38 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=62643 A summary of a paper given by Professor Christina Lee at the University of Nottingham's "Making the Medieval Relevant" Conference.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/11/20/making-the-medieval-relevant-crossing-boundaries-interdisciplinary-studies-on-disease-and-disability/feed/ 0 Neither Cursed Nor Possessed: Mental Abnormality in the Late Middle Ages http://www.medievalists.net/2015/09/24/neither-cursed-nor-possessed-mental-abnormality-in-the-late-middle-ages/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/09/24/neither-cursed-nor-possessed-mental-abnormality-in-the-late-middle-ages/#comments Thu, 24 Sep 2015 19:39:21 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=61317 I plan to address the more formal ecclesiastical proscriptions regarding mental abnormality.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/09/24/neither-cursed-nor-possessed-mental-abnormality-in-the-late-middle-ages/feed/ 0 To what extent has the concept of ‘deformity’ affected Richard III’s image and character? http://www.medievalists.net/2015/07/20/to-what-extent-has-the-concept-of-deformity-affected-richard-iiis-image-and-character/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/07/20/to-what-extent-has-the-concept-of-deformity-affected-richard-iiis-image-and-character/#comments Mon, 20 Jul 2015 18:19:35 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=59891 This essay will adopt a chronological approach in an attempt to assess when, how, and why the concept of ‘deformity’ or disfigurement became so integral to the central argument surrounding Ricardian historiography, and whether Richard was a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ king.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/07/20/to-what-extent-has-the-concept-of-deformity-affected-richard-iiis-image-and-character/feed/ 0 Monsters: An etymological and cultural reading of the ‘freak’ in the Middle Ages http://www.medievalists.net/2014/08/31/monsters-etymological-cultural-reading-freak-middle-ages/ http://www.medievalists.net/2014/08/31/monsters-etymological-cultural-reading-freak-middle-ages/#comments Sun, 31 Aug 2014 13:04:38 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=52218 That the medievals did not interpret 'freaks' as an insult to creation is the theme of this paper, showing that medieval thought on the disabled body was not as 'backward' as the Dark Ages school of popular historical perception teaches

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2014/08/31/monsters-etymological-cultural-reading-freak-middle-ages/feed/ 0 Physical Disability and Marriage in Later Medieval (c. 1200–1500) Miracle Testimonies http://www.medievalists.net/2014/04/13/physical-disability-marriage-later-medieval-c-1200-1500-miracle-testimonies/ http://www.medievalists.net/2014/04/13/physical-disability-marriage-later-medieval-c-1200-1500-miracle-testimonies/#comments Sun, 13 Apr 2014 23:32:05 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=48959 In September 1470, a man called Laurencius Rawaldi from Linköping in Sweden was struck by a severe condition in his eyes. The illness left him blind for three years, during which he—according to his own testimony—was useless for both himself and others.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2014/04/13/physical-disability-marriage-later-medieval-c-1200-1500-miracle-testimonies/feed/ 0 Accepting Fools as Heroes http://www.medievalists.net/2014/03/10/accepting-fools-heroes/ http://www.medievalists.net/2014/03/10/accepting-fools-heroes/#comments Mon, 10 Mar 2014 20:44:46 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=48206 What sociocultural attitudes towards the intellectually disabled – commonly referred to as fools – were prevalent during the Viking Age?

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2014/03/10/accepting-fools-heroes/feed/ 0 Drug Overdose, Disability and Male Friendship in Fifteenth-Century Mamluk Cairo http://www.medievalists.net/2014/02/22/drug-overdose-disability-male-friendship-fifteenth-century-mamluk-cairo/ http://www.medievalists.net/2014/02/22/drug-overdose-disability-male-friendship-fifteenth-century-mamluk-cairo/#comments Sat, 22 Feb 2014 19:27:25 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=47801 Shihab al-Din al-Hijazi (1388-1471) was an unexceptional legal student in Mamluk Cairo, who, at the age of 24, overdosed on marking nut, a potent plant drug valued for its memory-enhancing properties

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2014/02/22/drug-overdose-disability-male-friendship-fifteenth-century-mamluk-cairo/feed/ 0 Integrative Medicine: Incorporating Medicine and Health into the Canon of Medieval European History http://www.medievalists.net/2014/01/18/integrative-medicine-incorporating-medicine-and-health-into-the-canon-of-medieval-european-history/ http://www.medievalists.net/2014/01/18/integrative-medicine-incorporating-medicine-and-health-into-the-canon-of-medieval-european-history/#comments Sun, 19 Jan 2014 00:29:25 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=46783 Hitherto peripheral (if not outright ignored) in general medieval historiography, medieval medical history is now a vibrant subdiscipline, one that is rightlyattracting more and more attention from ‘mainstream’ historians and other studentsof cultural history.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2014/01/18/integrative-medicine-incorporating-medicine-and-health-into-the-canon-of-medieval-european-history/feed/ 0 Illness and Disability in Twelfth and Thirteenth-Century Notarial Documents in Medieval Toledo http://www.medievalists.net/2013/09/29/illness-and-disability-in-twelfth-and-thirteenth-century-notarial-documents-in-medieval-toledo/ http://www.medievalists.net/2013/09/29/illness-and-disability-in-twelfth-and-thirteenth-century-notarial-documents-in-medieval-toledo/#comments Sun, 29 Sep 2013 16:26:23 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=43962 Their documents are symbolic not only of the transition from Muslim Al-Andalus to Christian Spain, but also give us insight into the real-time everyday interactions and events of transitional Toledo after the year 1085 AD between peoples of different cultures, religions, backgrounds and identities.

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