Leprosy, Language and Identity in the Medieval World
A leprous woman (below left) kneeling to pray before the shrine of St William, in a 15th-century stained glass panel at York Minster, England (Wellcome Library, London)
An international workshop to be held at King's College, Cambridge, 12–13 April 2011
The issues of language and identity are central to numerous questions about leprosy, leprosy sufferers and leper hospitals in the Middle Ages, and to broader issues relating to disease and disability from ancient to modern times. Although recent historians have challenged the predominant earlier view that the leprous were excluded and stigmatized, much work remains to be conducted about the understanding of leprosy and responses to leprosy sufferers in the Middle Ages. This workshop, supported by the Wellcome Trust and King's College, Cambridge, brings together scholars working on multiple aspects of medieval leprosy from the UK, Europe and the USA.
Programme for 'Leprosy, Language and Identity in the Medieval World'