Leprosen in der mittelalterlichen Gesellschaft : Physische Idoneitaet und sozialer Status von Kranken im Spannungsfeld saekularer und chrislicher Wirklichkeitsdeutungen / vorgelegt von Antje Schelberg.

The present study challenges and critically reevaluates the century-old hypothesis cherished by historical sciences stating that leprosy sufferers formed the group of social outcasts in medieval Europe. Mythmaking, misconceptions and biases in modern historiography have contributed to this persisting image: the uncritical application of theological or modern medical concepts (e.g., "sinner's leprosy", "infectiousness") to medieval times has presented essential components. This study responds to those traditions in historical research by offering context-sensitive in-depth analyses of a generically and chronologically diverse spectrum of sources, which ranges from archeology and historical medical literature to medieval hagiography, theology, law and fictional literature and which comprises Antiquity as well as the Late Middle Ages.The results present a far more complex and dynamic character of the history of leprosy sufferers: It no longer presents a static, separate history, but a history the development of which was intricately shaped as much by historical concepts of both gender and body as by general notions of socio-political order. In an analysis particularly focussing on institutional contexts such as "labor", "marriage" and "governmental offices", the societal status of and the social conduct towards leprosy sufferers reveal themselves as highly diverse phenomena with regard to their manifestations and motivations from Antiquity to the Late Middle Ages. Yet even more: Strong parallels to the history of other sick and physically handicapped people can be detected. The study, thus, regards and presents itself as a historical contribution to atopical research discipline, which has recently been promoted in the U.S.A.: disability history.