What happened to people who were mentally disabled, blind, deaf, or disabled in the Middle Ages?

by hmg5467
sunagainstgold

Care for disabled people in the Latin Middle Ages, whether from a congenital disability or one acquired later in life, fell to the person's family in nearly all cases. There are a few special, rare cirumstances where another situation might arise. Such as:

  • In the high and later Middle Ages, monasteries and then city convents might operate a "hospital" as holy charity. In medieval Europe, this would be more like a modern hospice or homeless shelter--a medium/long-term residence for the indigent sick and disabled.

  • For guild workers injured on the job, there are a few (very few) surviving guild regulations from the late Middle Ages that describe payments rendered to members who could no longer work

  • Especially in cities, people with disabilities seem to have been over-represented among the begging population

  • Late medieval England established a system of "guardianship" for aristocrats/other propertied people with cognitive disabilities--well, people judged in the eyes of a court to be unable to comprehend how to manage their money and property. These people would be considered wards of the king by law, but their guardianship--responsibility for the person AND control over their property--would generally be delegated to a favored noble. As you can imagine, this resulted in some bitterly contested court cases.

  • In a few incredibly rare, incredibly privileged cases, medieval (almost entirely) women used their chronic illnesses or other disabilities, in conjunction with a super-saintly life, generally a claim to divine religious revelations, and the support of male clerics to help make a case for "living sainthood." Some of these women, like Margaretha Ebner in 14C Germany, were already nuns. Others, like Margaret the Lame of Magdeburg (Margareta contracta), were supported by clerics/the Church in becoming urban recluses. They would spend the rest of their lives in a small "cell" attached to a church, often with one window into the church to observe Mass and one window to receive (for a very limited portion of time each day) visiting pilgrims who sought spiritual advice from someone who spent the rest of their day praying.

I have a few previous answers on medieval disability history, if you're interested: