Skip to main content

Medieval Disability Sourcebook: Western Europe

  • Edited by Cameron Hunt McNabb

Published on March 26, 2020 by punctum books

SUBSCRIBE
Pages
500 pages
Languages
English
Dimensions
7⤫10 in.
ISBN (Paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-950192-73-1 (Paperback)
ISBN (PDF)
ISBN: 978-1-950192-74-8 (PDF)
DOI
DOI: 10.21983/P3.0276.1.00(opens in new tab)
LCCN
LCCN: 2020934559
BISAC subject codes
BISAC: LIT011000
Thema subject codes
THEMA: JBFM, NHDJ

The field of disability studies significantly contributes to contemporary discussions of the marginalization of and social justice for individuals with disabilities. However, what of disability in the past? The Medieval Disability Sourcebook: Western Europe explores what medieval texts have to say about disability, both in their own time and for the present.

This interdisciplinary volume on medieval Europe combines historical records, medical texts, and religious accounts of saints’ lives and miracles, as well as poetry, prose, drama, and manuscript images to demonstrate the varied and complicated attitudes medieval societies had about disability. Far from recording any monolithic understanding of disability in the Middle Ages, these contributions present a striking range of voices—to, from, and about those with disabilities—and such diversity only confirms how disability permeated (and permeates) every aspect of life.

The Medieval Disability Sourcebook is designed for use inside the undergraduate or graduate classroom or by scholars interested in learning more about medieval Europe as it intersects with the field of disability studies. Most texts are presented in modern English, though some are preserved in Middle English and many are given in side-by-side translations for greater study. Each entry is prefaced with an academic introduction to disability within the text as well as a bibliography for further study. This sourcebook is the first in a proposed series focusing on disability in a wide range of premodern cultures, histories, and geographies.

Contents

  1. Frontmatter (1–11)

    Cameron Hunt McNabb

  2. Introduction (13–21)

    Cameron Hunt McNabb

  3. York Cause Paper E.92: Redyng c. Boton (1366–67) (25–55)

    Alison Purnell

  4. Mental Competency Inquisitions from Medieval England (ca. late 12th c.–early 15th c.) (56–68)

    Eliza Buhrer

  5. Nuremberg Town Records: Select Entries Pertaining to the “Mad” and Intellectually Disabled (1377–1492) (69–76)

    Anne M. Koenig

  6. Tax Relief Requests from Medieval Dijon (1389–1449) (77–84)

    Anne Galanaud, Pierre Galanaud

  7. Examining for Leprosy in the Fifteenth Century (ca. 1430–1500) (85–102)

    Lucy Barnhouse

  8. Ortolf of Baierland, “Arzneibuch,” “On Madness” (ca. 1300) (103–109)

    Anne M. Koenig

  9. Selected Episodes on Healing and Disability from the Vulgate Bible—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (ca. 382) (113–137)

    Will Eggers

  10. Miracles in Apocryphal Infancy Narratives (ca. 550–13th c.) (138–146)

    Brandon W. Hawk

  11. Ælfric of Eynsham, "Catholic Homilies" 1.10 (ca. 989–ca. 992) (147–156)

    Brandon W. Hawk

  12. Augustine of Hippo, "The City of God against the Pagans" (413–26) (157–161)

    Leah Pope Parker

  13. William of Canterbury, "A Miracle of Thomas Becket: De puero syntectino" (Concerning a boy suffering from a wasting disease) (1172–77)

    Rose A. Sawyer

  14. "Njáls Saga" (13th c.) (168–172)

    Kolfinna Jónatansdóttir

  15. Thomas of Monmouth, "The Life and Passion of William of Norwich" (1152–70) (173–180)

    Sarah Edwards Obenauf

  16. Testimony from the Canonization Proceedings of Charles of Blois (1371) (181–185)

    Leigh Ann Craig

  17. Bernard Gui, On a Miracle of Saint Thomas Aquinas (ca. 1325) (186–189)

    Leigh Ann Craig

  18. Bede, The Prose "Life of Cuthbert" (ca. 721) (190–205)

    Marit Ronen

  19. Bede, The Miracles of King Oswald from "Ecclesiastical History" (late 9th c.) (206–209)

    Heide Estes

  20. The "Life of St. Margaret of Antioch" (11th c.) (210–219)

    Leah Pope Parker

  21. "Life of Mary of Oegines (Oignies)" (ca. 15th c.) (220–230)

    Kisha G. Tracy, Alicia Protze

  22. Marie de France, "Bisclavret" (ca. 12th c.) (233–241)

    Kisha G. Tracy

  23. Alain Chartier, "The Book of Hope" (ca. 1429) (242–246)

    Julie Singer

  24. Geoffrey Chaucer, The "Merchant’s Tale" from "The Canterbury Tales" (ca. 1387–1400) (247–259)

    Moira Fitzgibbons

  25. Geoffrey Chaucer, The "Man of Law’s Tale" from "The Canterbury Tales" (ca. 1387–1400) (260–275)

    Paul A. Broyles

  26. Geoffrey Chaucer, The "Wife of Bath’s Portrait," "Prologue," and "Tale" from "The Canterbury Tales" (ca. 1387–1400) (276–291)

    Tory V. Pearman

  27. "Dame Sirith" (ca. 1272–82) (292–303)

    Danielle Allor

  28. Tale of Constance (1380–90) (304–312)

    Will Rogers

  29. Thomas Hoccleve, "Complaint" (1419–21) (313–323)

    Will Rogers

  30. The "Book of Margery Kempe" (ca. 1450–1500) (327–340)

    M.W. Bychowski

  31. Bede, Menstruation, Infirmity, and Religious Observance from "Ecclesiastical History" (late 9th c.) (341–344)

    Heide Estes

  32. Bede, Physical Disability, Muteness, Pregnancy, Possession, and Alcoholism from "Ecclesiastical History" (ca. 731) (345–364)

    Maura Bailey, Autumn Battista, Ashley Corliss, Eammon Gosselin, Rebecca Laughlin, Sara Moller, Shayne Simahk, Taylor Specker, Alyssa Stanton, Kellyn Welch, Kisha G. Tracy

  33. Evadeam, The Dwarf Knight from the "Lancelot-Grail Cycle" (ca. 1220–30) (365–378)

    Kara Larson Maloney

  34. "Morkinskinna" (ca. 1220) (379–392)

    Ármann Jakobsson

  35. Snorri Sturluson, "Ólafs saga helga" from "Heimskringla" (ca. 1230) (393–410)

    Ármann Jakobsson

  36. Snorri Sturluson, The "Prose Edda" (ca. 1220–40) (411–415)

    Kolfinna Jónatansdóttir

  37. "The Cure of the Blind Man" from the "Chester Cycle" (ca. 1531–75) (419–427)

    Kurt Schreyer

  38. "Christ and the Leper" from the "Chester Cycle" (ca. 1531–75) (428–433)

    Kurt Schreyer

  39. "The Entry into Jerusalem" from the "York Cycle" (ca. 1377) (434–447)

    Frank M. Napolitano

  40. The "Nativity" from the "N-Town Plays" (ca. 1460–1520) (448–457)

    Jeffery G. Stoyanoff

  41. Croxton "Play of the Sacrament" (ca. 1461–1546) (458–470)

    Cameron Hunt McNabb

  42. The Smithfield Decretals (ca. 1300–1340) (473–475)

    Rachael Gillibrand

  43. Visible and Invisible Impairments in Images of Medieval Musicians (476–484)

    Karen M. Cook

  44. Thematic Table of Contents (487–489)

    Cameron Hunt McNabb

  45. Contributors (490–495)

    Cameron Hunt McNabb

Biographies

  • Cameron Hunt McNabb

    (Editor)

    Southeastern University

    Cameron Hunt McNabb is Assoc. Professor of English at Southeastern University. Her primary research interests include disability studies and early drama, and she has published in numerous journals, including Early Theatre, Neophilologus, Studies in Philology, and Pedagogy. Her chapter “Staging Disability in Medieval Drama” is forthcoming in the Ashgate Research Companion to Medieval Disability Studies (Routledge, 2018). She is a strong advocate for undergraduate research, and she and her students have contributed two entries to the Medieval Disability Glossary(opens in new tab).

Usage metrics

Genres

  • Literary Studies
  • Neurodiverse+Crip
  • Premodern

Keywords

  • accessibility
  • disability
  • embodiment
  • identity
  • illness
  • literary studies
  • Middle Ages