CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2011
| Author | Krolikoski, Courtney A |
|---|---|
| Title | MALADY OR MIRACLE? THE INFLUENCE OF ST FRANCIS ON THE PERCEPTION OF LEPROSY IN THE HIGH MIDDLE AGES |
| Summary | Two understandings of leprosy prevailed at the turn of the thirteenth century. The dominant perception of leprosy since pre-Christian times was as a disease of the vile and sinful. The view that lepers were in fact the blessed of God began to gain ground in the late twelfth century. This thesis considers one of the key factors in this change - namely, the influence of charismatic religious figures. Previous scholarship on the history of leprosy in the high Middle Ages has not sufficiently considered the role played by such figures in reforming, or at least offering an alternative to, the reigning popular perception. This thesis presents the exemplary case of Saint Francis of Assisi, highlighting the role that one man may have played in the evolving religious and social understandings of medieval leprosy after the turn of the thirteenth century. Saint Francis’s interactions with the lepers constituted unprecedented transgressions of social boundaries and taboos. While Francis’s vitae followed in a long tradition of saints interacting with lepers for highlighting their piety, his actions were not merely a hagiographic topos. The kiss Francis bestowed upon a leper in the plains below Assisi came at a decisive moment in the Middle Ages where society was at a crossroads between the two societal perceptions of the disease. By examining the changes after the turn of the thirteenth century in the care of the leprous, the rise in saints who cared for the lepers, and the changes in the attitudes of the Church towards the leprous, this thesis argues that Francis’s effect on the social perception of leprosy is undeniable. |
| Supervisor | Klaniczay,Gábor |
| Department | Medieval Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2011/krolikoski_courtney.pdf |
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