Ressources numériques en sciences humaines et sociales OpenEdition Nos plateformes OpenEdition Books OpenEdition Journals Hypothèses Calenda Bibliothèques OpenEdition Freemium Suivez-nous

Blind and mute in the Middle Ages: traces of disability throughout history

In the Middle Ages, monks who weren’t mute, but who had taken a vow of silence, used sign language to communicate within the monastery. However, according to historical works produced in the 19th century, people who were blind or mute seemed to be marginalised from medieval society, excluded, the subject of a divine anger that would “justify” their disability. But what do researchers working on textual and material sources from the Middle Ages have to say about this? We feel it is important to update the historical and archaeological research on these disabilities.

A different approach to disability

Researchers Ninon Dubourg and Megan Kateb have examined the medieval conceptions of sensory disability and the place that those with such disabilities occupied in society from the 5th to the 15th century. The blind and mute members of society left few material traces. Nevertheless, the article by Dubourg and Kateb allows us to better understand their existence, as well as the sources available to us. It is therefore vital that we explore our perception of the subject, and broaden it, if we can. Considering and reading disabilities differently helps us to better understand and document them in relation to our history.


  • Dubourd N., et Kateb M., 2021, « Témoignages médiévaux de la privation des sens. Empreintes matérielles de la cécité et de la mutité à l’époque médiévales », Les Nouvelles de l’Archéologie, n°165, p.62-67. 

    Juliette Krajeski is a student in Master 2 Culture and Communication – Scientific, Technical and Heritage Mediations, and a member of the master’s network

  • The publication of this article is part of a partnership with the 8th edition of the festival L’histoire à venir (15-18 May, 2025 in Toulouse)

Gaining insight into disability in the Middle Ages

In the Middle Ages, disabilities, and especially sensory disabilities, were commonly believed to be the result of parental sin. In fact, the link between punishment and disease has been omnipresent since the 19th century, when research into medieval history began. People with disabilities were depicted as rejected members of society. Inheritance exclusions and prohibitions from practising certain professions are cited as evidence of the marginalisation of these people, who were deemed to be ill.

This vision of disability seen as something resulting from individual fault began in religious texts from the middle and late Middle Ages, but it by no means represents a systemic reality in the society of the time. Over the last twenty years, another perception of mute or blind people has developed, making it possible to update the work. Distancing ourselves from this paradigm of exclusion makes it easier to look for (and sometimes even find!) the traces left by disabilities that are often invisible to archaeology and history due to their sensory, rather than physical, nature.

Some conditions, such as leprosy, have been extensively studied thanks to the marks they left on bodies but also the many textual sources that refer to them. However, this is a whole new challenge for medievalists studying blindness and muteness. Thanks to the renewal of work in human sciences, especially in anthropology, our knowledge on this subject can be updated. With a renewed analysis of the available sources and a scientific paradigm shift in terms of the representations, a new history of these disabilities is possible. In fact, they were better understood, better catered for and better integrated than depicted in the written history of the 19th century.

Which medieval organisation cared for those with disabilities?

Muteness and blindness are not mentioned in medieval legal or theological texts for the purpose of exclusion or prevention against potential divine punishment. As a matter of fact, there are many traces of the implementation of legal protection for people with these disabilities. For example, their consent being required for certain legal actions or marriage to avoid what appears to be the ancestor of what we now know as “abuse of weakness”, a process that is even included in some well-known medieval laws.

Beyond legislative and judicial arrangements, there were also places dedicated to the care or reception of mute or blind people in the Middle Ages. Religious communities were largely devoted to the sanitary, curative and social management of medieval society. The Christian concept of charity meant that many monasteries were created, both male and female, where people with disabilities could find help or live a life adapted to their needs. Some centres even specialised in specific disabilities in the late Middle Ages, such as the Abbey of Bouxières-aux-Dames (near Nancy) which gave mute people access to an accessible education through sign communication.

In textual or visual sources, we can find testimonies of the social integration of mute and blind people. The latter are regularly described as being cared for by their relatives or living on alms and public charity. The solidarity nature of medieval society was built on collective dynamics which, far from marginalising individuals likely to require special care, instead took on the responsibility of integrating them into the community.

Testimonies and representations

Violence was ever present in the Middle Ages. Many people – often those who held military positions – therefore suffered from accidental, sometimes temporary, disabilities caused by physical trauma. Old age was also a widespread cause of disabilities such as muteness or blindness. Consequently, the multiplicity of personal circumstances and disabilities left many medieval testimonies of people with sensory disabilities.

We find an ambivalent symbolism of disability in the (notably biblical) texts produced since Antiquity. In fact, it is sometimes valued and even seen as proof of piety. In the myths and dramas of Ancient Greece, the mute and blind often play a positive role. For example, such is the case for the Oracle of Delphi, affected by blindness, who delivered prophecies as the messenger of Apollo. The best known is the one issued to Oedipus, warning him of his fatal destiny. In the Middle Ages, there are other examples of similar disabilities that were in fact valued, as in the clerical account of La Vie de Saint Omer which enjoyed widespread circulation and was therefore highly influential in the 13th century. It granted moral virtues to the blindness of the saint in question.

Non-fictional textual testimonies also addressed these disabilities. For example, epistolary correspondence provides valuable testimonies for historians, as do descriptions of political figures with one or several disabilities. Princess Jeanne Stuart (15th century) is described positively in testimonies despite her muteness which hindered neither her education nor marriage, which was required due to her status of royal child.

The established practices

The medical treatises produced at the time give us an understanding of the range of support offered by medieval medicine. There were many facilities. However, it remains impossible to get a sense of an overall structural organisation as there were so many and they depended on the social, political and economic context of the individual concerned.

Medieval manuscripts provide precious accounts of the existence of sign communication, which was vital to the inclusion of mute people. In fact, throughout the Middle Ages, the monks used a signed language to communicate on a daily basis so as not to break their vows of silence. While its primary destination was religious, sign language was also used in monastic places as a means of communication for mute people. Cluny Abbey, one of the key places for the production and dissemination of clerical knowledge from the central Middle Ages, listed and recorded over 365 signs and their (Latin) translations from the end of the 11th century.

Le Roman d’Alexandre (Jehan de Grise, 1338-1344) contains an illumination illustrating the sign signifying “love”, which is very similar to the sign in current French Sign Language (FSL). Medieval signed communication is however not directly comparable to FSL, which was only unified from the 18th century. These sources nevertheless highlight a reflection on disabilities and a certain willingness for social integration.

Clearly visible archaeological evidence

Archaeology is no exception in this quest to find traces of disability in the Middle Ages. For example, the material culture uncovered by excavations or surveys testifies to the existence of magnifying glasses or glasses to help with potential visual defects. What’s more, some sensory impairments can leave physical marks on the person concerned. In this line, German excavations have shown that over 75% of the corpses in some 8th-century cemeteries present marks from injuries that could have caused disabilities like muteness or blindness, sometimes partial and temporary.

Ecclesiastical reception sites, which oversaw the evolution of many people with disabilities, are valuable sources of information for building archaeologists. Archaeologists are also aware of secular care centres which are extensively documented, such as the Hospital of the Blind, founded in 1356 in Meaux, or the Quinze-Vingt Parisian Hospital (13th century), also for people who were blind. These two institutions stemmed from private or royal initiatives and endowments (Jean Rose, a bourgeois, was behind that of Meaux, and Louis IX was responsible for the Quinze-Vingt Hospital). The Church wasn’t the only place that cared for people with disabilities and gave them somewhere to live.

Putting disability in perspective

Research in the humanities and social sciences is increasingly focusing on people with sensory disabilities, particularly on making it accessible to those affected. Interestingly, Megan Kateb, one of the two authors, was raised by deaf parents. In order to better understand disability, we also need to gain a better understanding of how it was in the past. Thus, medieval history and archaeology are becoming detached from their old representations, and these works are allowing us to understand how these disabilities were integrated and even supported by medieval society.

These discoveries may invite us to put our own inclusion of mute and blind people into perspective, as well as our overall approach to disability. Examining this history also means addressing the question of representations, largely influenced by the 19th century, which are often exclusionary or punitive regarding these sensory disabilities. For example, signed communication seems to have been more widespread in the monks’ time than it is today, when it is rarely learned and practiced outside the sphere of those affected and their relatives. Without making vows of silence, we can also start to learn how to communicate using signs!


Illustration by Adèle Huguet for Mondes Sociaux : licence CC BY-NC-ND

To see more of her drawings, https://adelehuguet.wordpress.com/

Credits : Freepik, Flat Icons, Smashicons – Flaticon, Desbenoit – Noun Project

 For other articles in in english


OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
Juliette Krajeski (12 mai 2025). Blind and mute in the Middle Ages: traces of disability throughout history. Mondes Sociaux. Consulté le 16 juin 2025 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/13wlc


Juliette Krajeski

Juliette Krajeski est étudiante en master 2 Culture et Communication Parcours Médiations Scientifiques, techniques et patrimoniales et membre du réseau de masters : juliette.krajeski@hotmail.fr

Vous aimerez aussi...

Laisser un commentaire

Votre adresse e-mail ne sera pas publiée. Les champs obligatoires sont indiqués avec *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.