Cadere in malattia: uomini e donne di fronte alla lebbra (secoli XII-XIV). Da un'indagine sulla documentazione italiana

Mariaclara Rossi, Falling Ill: Men and Women living with Leprosy (XII-XV centuries). A Study of Italian Documents This essay aims to look at what leprosy meant for men and women during the middle ages: what existential changes they were faced with, but especially what kind of awareness and what feelings accompanied the fact of “falling ill” and how the ill bore the consequences. Finally, what forms of material and psychological adaptation were mobilized to deal with this “fall”. The identity of people living with leprosy underwent a transformation that affected not only their physical appearance but also the way they went about their daily lives, on their possibility to move freely, to practice a profession (the transfer to a leprosery at a certain point conferred almost a religious status). At the same time, people afflicted with leprosy also retained important aspects of their previous identity – such as being part of a network of family or friends, or belonging to a certain social class – and they still desired to lead a “normal” life. This contribution devotes particular attention to sources taken from XIII and XIV century trials where those who were ill with leprosy gave testimony and so made their voices heard.