Disability History Midterm

St. Anselm - A medieval theologian whose work influenced Christian perspectives on suffering, salvation, and bodily imperfection, shaping attitudes toward disability in religious contexts.

Aristotle - Developed theories of natural hierarchy, arguing that some people were 'natural slaves,' which influenced later justifications for oppression, including ableist attitudes.

Asclepius - Greek god of medicine, associated with healing temples where disabled individuals sought cures.

St. Augustine - Wrote about suffering and disability in relation to divine will and original sin, influencing medieval Christian views on disability.

Roger Bacon - A medieval scholar interested in optics and corrective lenses, which helped advance assistive technologies for vision impairments.

Clara Barton - Founded the American Red Cross, contributing to the rehabilitation of wounded soldiers, which is relevant to wartime disability care.

Betsey, Lucy, and Anarcha - Enslaved women subjected to experimental gynecological surgeries by J. Marion Sims, illustrating the historical exploitation of Black bodies in medical history.

Juan Pablo Bonet - Early advocate for sign language and education for the deaf in Spain.

Pieter Bruegel (the Elder) - Flemish painter who depicted disabled and marginalized people in his artwork, offering rare visual records of disability in the early modern period.

Chamberlen family - Developed forceps, which were significant in obstetrics but also had implications for birth injuries and disability.

Council of Orange - A 6th-century church council that reinforced Augustinian ideas about grace, sin, and suffering, indirectly shaping theological views on disability.

Leonardo da Vinci - Studied anatomy, including congenital conditions, and made sketches of medical devices.

Abbé Charles-Michel de l'Épée - Developed early sign language education for the deaf in France.

St. Foy - Associated with miracle cures and healing shrines, which played a role in how disabled people sought relief in the medieval period.

St. Francis of Assisi - Emphasized suffering as a form of spiritual connection, influencing Christian attitudes toward disability.

Galen - Expanded Hippocratic ideas on medicine, including the humoral system, which shaped medieval understandings of illness and disability.

Hippocrates - His theories on the humors influenced medical perspectives on disability for centuries.

Homer - His works feature disabled characters, such as the blind prophet Tiresias and the blacksmith god Hephaestus.

Ibn-Rushd (Averroes) - Islamic philosopher and physician who contributed to medieval medical knowledge, including treatments for ailments that could cause disability.

St. Jerome - Translated the Bible into Latin, influencing religious texts that shaped Christian views on suffering and disability.

Jesus - His healing miracles reinforced religious associations between disability and divine intervention.

Margery Kempe - A mystic whose visions and behaviors have been analyzed in the context of mental health and disability.

Maimonides - Jewish physician who wrote medical texts on physical and mental health.

Silas Weir Mitchell - Developed the 'rest cure,' which was used (and often misused) to treat conditions like hysteria and neurasthenia, especially in women.

Florence Nightingale - Revolutionized nursing and hospital care, influencing treatment for disabled and wounded soldiers.

Benjamin Franklin Palmer - Developed one of the first patented artificial limbs in the 19th century.

Ambrose Paré - Pioneer in prosthetics and rehabilitation for injured soldiers.

St. Paul - His writings on the body of Christ metaphorically included disabled people, shaping Christian perspectives on inclusion and suffering.

Pedro Ponce de León - Developed early methods for educating the deaf in Spain.

Plato - Advocated for selective breeding and infanticide of disabled infants in his ideal society, influencing later eugenicist ideas.

J. Marion Sims, M.D. - Conducted unethical medical experiments on enslaved Black women without anesthesia, demonstrating historical medical abuses.
4th Lateran Council - Established doctrines that reinforced religious interpretations of suffering and physical impairment.

Ancient world - Disability was often seen as a divine punishment, a mark of inferiority, or a reason for exclusion from public life.

Āha - A Sanskrit term related to bodily processes, which could intersect with historical understandings of disability in Ayurvedic medicine.

Al-Qarawiyyin University - One of the world's oldest universities, contributing to medical knowledge that influenced disability care in the medieval Islamic world.

American Civil War - Led to an increase in amputations and prosthetic development due to battlefield injuries.

Amputation - Historically used as a medical treatment for injury, often without anesthesia before the 19th century.

Artificial limbs - Developed extensively after wars, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Black 'super-body' - A racialized concept that justified medical exploitation of Black individuals, including forced medical experimentation.

Christian Scriptures - Often depict disability in the context of sin, healing, and divine power.

Christus Medicus - The idea of Christ as a healer reinforced religious views on disability and cure.

Code of Justinian - Roman legal codes that included provisions about care for disabled individuals.

Congenital v. acquired - A distinction in disability history that shaped social attitudes and medical responses.

Corrective lenses - Early forms of assistive technology for vision impairments.

Drapetomania - A racist pseudoscientific diagnosis used to justify slavery, demonstrating how medical ideas were used for social control.

Early modern era - Saw developments in medical knowledge but also reinforced stigmas around disability.

Elevatio - A medieval religious concept that sometimes related to miraculous cures.

Eustachian Tube - Studied in relation to hearing impairments.

'Extraordinary bodies' - The idea that disabled bodies were either stigmatized or displayed as curiosities.

Forceps - Assisted childbirth but sometimes caused birth injuries leading to disability.

Gnosticism - A religious movement with ideas about the body and suffering that influenced early Christian thought on disability.

Guide dogs - Used as assistive animals for the blind since at least the medieval period.

Gynecology - Historically linked to abuses, particularly toward enslaved Black women.

Hebrew Scriptures - Contain laws and narratives that shape views on disability and purity.

Hegemonic masculinity - Defines 'ideal' male bodies, often marginalizing disabled men.

Humoral system - A dominant medical theory that linked disability to imbalances in bodily fluids.

Hystera - Greek concept of hysteria, historically used to pathologize women.

Iconoclasm - Destroyed religious images, including some associated with miraculous cures. Icons - Religious images believed to have healing properties.

Infertility - Often stigmatized and linked to gendered disability history.

Interdict - A form of church punishment that could impact disabled individuals dependent on monastic care.

Islamic Scriptures - Contain references to disability, often emphasizing care and compassion.

Labor and delivery - A historical source of injury and disability, especially before modern medical advances.

Medical schools - Advanced disability treatment but also institutionalized ableist medical models.

Medieval era - Disability was often seen through religious and social lenses, with some individuals finding care in monasteries.

Minie ball - Caused severe injuries in war, increasing amputations.

Monasteries/nunneries - Provided care for disabled individuals in the Middle Ages.

Musica mundana - Medieval music theory, sometimes connected to medical treatments.

Normate - A term for those who fit societal standards of bodily ability.

One-body/one-sex model - A premodern view of gender that influenced understandings of sex-based disabilities.
Patriarchy - A system that marginalized disabled individuals, especially women.

Prophetic medicine - Islamic medical traditions that included treatments for disability.

Monica Strocchia, "Disability Histories from the Convent" - In this piece, Strocchia examines how disabilities were understood and managed within convents, particularly in early modern Italy. She argues that women's disabilities were often framed as signs of spiritual suffering or divine testing, which reinforced the religious and social role of women as obedient and enduring. This medicalization of disability in religious settings created a system where nuns with physical or mental impairments were not seen as in need of medical treatment, but rather as experiencing spiritual trials. Strocchia's work shows how this framing both constrained and protected these women, offering them a form of social identity but also restricting their agency. Disabilities, particularly in religious contexts, were often interpreted through a lens of gendered suffering that further enforced patriarchal control over women's roles in society.

Erin Miller, "The Patients: Enduring the Fearful Test of Manhood" - Miller's work focuses on the intersection of disability and masculinity, particularly how men's disabilities were perceived in ways that could undermine their social standing and ability to fulfill masculine roles. This study emphasizes how disability in men was framed as a failure to embody traits of strength, resilience, and independence, ideals strongly associated with masculinity. Miller explores how men with disabilities, especially those who had been wounded in war, faced a form of social and legal marginalization. Unlike women, whose disabilities were often linked to ideas of frailty or virtue, men's impairments threatened their masculinity, resulting in exclusion from the workforce, military service, or the ability to fulfill family roles. This crisis of masculinity created unique challenges for disabled men, who were often viewed through the lens of their inability to meet societal expectations of manhood.

Erika Field, "Our Antinomians, Ourselves" - Field's article addresses the intersection of disability, religious dissent, and gender, particularly how women's physical and mental health was historically framed in ways that reinforced patriarchal control. She explores how women who challenged religious norms or exhibited behavior deemed deviant were often diagnosed as mentally unstable or hysterical. This medicalization of deviance was used to justify their exclusion from social, religious, and legal life. Field's analysis highlights how women's disabilities were often treated as symptoms of moral or spiritual failure rather than as medical conditions that warranted treatment. Religious institutions, in particular, used medical diagnoses to control women, framing their dissent or nonconformity as a form of mental instability. This gendered framing of disability played a crucial role in enforcing power structures that marginalized women's voices and autonomy.

"Blindness" from Disability in the Ottoman Arab World by Sara Scalenghe** - Blindness as a Privileged Impairment: In the Ottoman Arab world, blindness was considered the most "noble" impairment. Unlike in parts of medieval Europe where blind individuals were often marginalized or ridiculed, Islamic societies granted blind people a higher status. Many blind individuals became respected scholars, poets, or religious figures. Religious and Cultural Views: Islamic teachings framed blindness as an opportunity for divine reward, and some texts, such as Consoling the Blind for the Affliction of Blindness by 'Ali al-Qari, emphasized patience and perseverance for blind individuals. Common Causes and Integration into Society: Blindness was widespread due to diseases like trachoma, making it a normalized condition rather than a rare or alienating impairment. Many blind individuals participated actively in religious, scholarly, and cultural life, with no systematic exclusion from social or religious institutions.

"Speaking Hands: Early Modern Preaching and Signed Languages for the Deaf" by Rosamund Oates** - Protestant Views on Deafness and Salvation: Early modern Protestantism, particularly in England, heavily emphasized preaching and sermons as the key to salvation. This led to theological debates about whether deaf individuals, who could not hear sermons, could be saved. Theological Challenges and Responses: Some Protestant reformers interpreted St. Paul's statement that "faith comes by hearing" literally, suggesting that the deaf might be spiritually disadvantaged. However, others, such as Anton Deusing, argued that deaf people should not be excluded from salvation and sought ways to integrate them into religious life. Development of Signed and Written Communication: Protestant ministers in England began using rhetorical gestures and, in some cases, recognizing sign language as a valid form of communication. This helped create accommodations for the deaf within church services, ensuring they could still participate despite their impairment.

"Remarkable Providences" by Increase Mather (Chapter IX: Deaf and Dumb Persons)** - Case Studies of Deaf Individuals in Religious Life**: Mather documents the experiences of deaf individuals in colonial New England who, despite their inability to hear or speak, were deemed knowledgeable in Christian doctrine. He provides examples of people who communicated through writing and signs and were allowed full participation in church sacraments. Religious Inclusion Through Alternative Communication: The text emphasizes that while deaf individuals could not hear sermons, they could still express their faith and understanding through signs or written language. Protestant leaders, including Mather, supported their inclusion in church life if they could demonstrate a clear grasp of religious teachings. Theological Justification for Deaf Inclusion: Mather references theological arguments that signs and written communication are equivalent to verbal expressions of faith. He cites historical precedents and other theological authorities (such as Luther and Melanchthon) to argue that deaf individuals should not be excluded from religious communion.

Boster, African American Slavery and Disability - Disability and race-based slavery were deeply intertwined, as enslaved people with impairments were often devalued and subjected to harsher treatment.Slaveholders and doctors defined "soundness" in enslaved people based on their economic value, using medical assessments to justify exploitation.Enslaved individuals used their impairments strategically, sometimes exaggerating them to resist labor demands or escape bondage.Medical care for enslaved people was driven by economic interests rather than humanitarian concerns, and Southern doctors played a crucial role in reinforcing the slave economy by determining a person's ability to labor​

Hunt Kennedy, Unfree Labor and Industrial Capital - In Caribbean slave societies, disability was both a product of and a justification for enslavement, with enslaved people seen as disposable when they became unable to work.Plantation records categorized enslaved people by their physical fitness, reinforcing a hierarchy where those with impairments were devalued and often left to die or forced to leave.The concept of disability as a social construct emerged within slavery, as enslaved bodies were judged based on their productivity rather than their inherent worth.Enslavement itself caused physical and psychological disabilities through brutal labor, poor living conditions, and violent punishment, demonstrating how race and disability were co-constructed