Values and beliefs of society at the
time were commonly accepted and the stigmas of the disabled were widely
acknowledged. Our ideology and culture both, in past and future, alter our
perceptions of normality and are mostly determined by others through learning
and the natural transmission.(Metzler, 2006) This could be seen in the art and religious
art of the time period. People with a disability were often depicted as unclean
or deformed even if their disability was mental or not visible; there was
something that set them apart. (Barnes, 1991) Also as for the evil being
represented, the tormentors of Christ in religious art were depicted with sores
or blemishes, to reflect the blemishes that were believed to be on their soul
(Barnes, 1991), meaning that someone who did an evil thing and someone with a
disability are on the same level.
In medieval Europe disability was sometimes
associated with the devil and witchcraft. Deformed and disabled children were
seen as 'changelings' which are the Devil's substitutes for human children, and
it was believed they are this way because of their parents' involvement with
the black arts or that their mothers' had had intercourse with Satan. And the
association between disability and evil was not limited to the layman.
Protestant reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546) proclaimed that he saw the Devil
in a profoundly disabled child. If these children lived, Luther recommended
killing them. They were the focus of a mixture of emotions which embodied
guilt, fear and contempt. (Metzler, 2006)Individuals with disabilities were placed in the care of family members and would not be on their own and encouraged with independence.(Meltzer, 2006) I believe that this means that the disability of these peoples were not actually "dealt" with by society and was kept within the family.
The idea that any form of physical
or mental impairment was the result of divine judgment for wrongdoing was
pervasive throughout the British Isles in this period. All in all people with
disabilities were treated as 2nd class human beings who were
unfinished and deformed due to a sin or cheat of nature. Being treated as
though you are a sign of evil must have taken its toll on these individuals and
made it hard for them to live full lives. Just because people have a physical
disability that others can see does not mean that there is also a mental
disability, for those individuals aware of their limitations and the view of
society, life in the medieval era must have tormented these individuals.
- Marquise
Metzler, I. (2006). Disability in Medieval Europe: Thinking
about physical impairment duing the high middle ages (pp. 53-55). New York:
Routledge. Retrieved November 23, 2012, from http://books.google.ca/books?id=alRZIEijOtgC&pg=PA55&lpg=PA55&dq=physical+deformity+in+feudal+europe&source=bl&ots=4HV3ieVIgt&sig=LsusGp9RgGY9dMEeSHDPaZogFQw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=m8euUPjnGIbJyAGVpYDIAw&ved
It is sad to look back on history and research the various deaths that took place upon people with physically and mental disabilities, as well as their families in result of people not understanding the full concepts of these disabilities and why people had them.
ReplyDeleteThe discrimination of people with disabilities in the middle ages did not give them opportunity to work with and learn from their disabilities so that they may have an equal chance in life among the other members of society.
Witchcraft was a superstition believed by those of Medieval Europe. There was no actual forthcoming proof that an individual was capable of witchcraft, just the fact that they were deformed or oddly set apart from society.
With the understanding of physical disability in the middle ages, such as maybe looking at it as a gift as the furst nations did, a lot of lives would be spared within that time period.
- Kara (Poverty Group)