Disability in SCA Period through Art and Theater
Alienor Hathaway
146537@members.eastkingdom.org
Introduction to some of the recent disability scholarship on cognitive, physical, and mental disability throughout time and lands covered by the SCA. The attitudes and language in period ranged from distressing attitudes of monstrosity to thoughtful consideration. As examples, we will consider Shakespeare's portrayals of disability and artistic renderings of disability. Please be aware that the language and images from original sources can be distressing
Detail of Old Age, portrayed as a woman with a crutch from the Roman de la Rose, Harley MS 4425, f. 10v https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2016/09/disability-and-illnesses-in-medieval-manuscripts.html
St. Pantaleon restored the sight of a blind man, Chartres Cathedral
https://www.cathedrale chartres.org/en/mediasrc/disabled-people-in-the-stained-glass-windows-of-chartres-cathedral/
“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.” – William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act 5, Scene 1
King Henry VIII as David, seated with harp, in an interior with his jester, William Sommers; illustrating Psalm 52. Taken from Psalter of Henry VIII (1530-1547).
https://exploring-london.com/2022/09/05/famous-londoners-will-somers/ /
[Glou.] But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks,
Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass;
I, that am rudely stamp’d, and want love’s majesty
To strut before a wanton ambling nymph;
I, that am curtail’d of this fair proportion,
Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,
Deform’d, unfinish’d, sent before my time
Into this breathing world, scarce half made up,
And that so lamely and unfashionable
That dogs bark at me as I halt by them;
Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace,
Have no delight to pass away the time,
Unless to spy my shadow in the sun
And descant on mine own deformity.
And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,
I am determined to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days.
Richard III, Act 1, Scene 1
Vol. 29 No. 4 (2009): Disabled Shakespeare
https://dsq-sds.org/index.php/dsq/issue/view/42
Why does the world report that Kate doth limp?
O sland'rous world! Kate like the hazel-twig
Is straight and slender, and as brown in hue
As hazel-nuts, and sweeter than the kernels.
O, let me see thee walk. Thou dost not halt. (Taming of the Shrew Act 2, Scene 1)
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Beggars, 1568.
https://arthistoryteachingresources.org/lessons/disability-in-art-history/
A boy being transported in a wheeled cart, from the Luttrell Psalter, British Library Add. 42130, f. 186v. East Anglia, 1325-1335.
Thee Lame Mephibosheth before David about 1400–1410 Rudolf von Ems (Austrian, about 1200 - 1254)
https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/person/104MHM
Places for further Study
Resources List: Disability Studies in SCA Period
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pwI5ZoHllXN6iGxKRhVyh6MTZlYJMXhvfQ0jFr_f1tQ/ edit?tab=t.0
Society for the Study of Disability in the Middle Ages
https://ssdma.hcommons.org/
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