Miracle Children: Medieval Hagiography and Childhood Imperfection

• Published in: The Journal of interdisciplinary history Vol. 47; no. 3; pp. 267 - 285
• Main Author: Bailey, Anne E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: One Rogers Street, Cambridge, MA 02142-1209, USA MIT Press 01-11-2016; The MIT Press; MIT Press Journals, The
• Subjects: Children & youth; Medieval history; Middle Ages
• ISSN: 0022-1953; 1530-9169
• DOI: 10.1162/JINH_a_01012

Approaches from social history, medical anthropology, and the history of the emotions can aid in the understanding of sick and physically impaired children as they appeared in the miracle stories of medieval England. An analysis of the medical and religious meanings attached to bodily defects in the Middle Ages discovers that hagiographers harnessed the emotions evoked by childhood illness to create a distinctly Christian concept of childhood imperfection.