Literature and intellectual disability in early modern England : folly, law and medicine, 1500-1640 / Alice Equestri.

New York : Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2022.

viii, 254 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 25 cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: Fools, from Popular Culture to Disability Studies -- Section 1. Law -- The Legal Discourse of 'Idiocy' on the Stage and Page -- 'A fool and his money are soon parted': the Fool and Property -- 'An you knew my properties somebody would ha' me': the Fool as a Ward -- Section 2. Medicine and Physiognomy -- Nature, Wits and Skulls: the Fool's Head -- Intellectual, Sensory and Physical Disability: the Fool's Body and Face -- Rationalising Fools' Disability: Causes and Risk Factors -- Epilogue: Intellectual Disability, Embodiment and Humour in Early Modern Literature.