Calendar

We would like to cordially invite you to a lecture series titled Premodern Perspectives on Disabilities, taking place on October 8, 15, and 22, 2026, at the Faculty of Humanities (FHS), Charles University. The series is organized by the Institute of History of the Czech Academy of Sciences in cooperation with the Faculty of Humanities' Department of Applied Social Sciences and the Institute of the History of Medicine and Foreign Languages ​​(First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University).

On October 15, Jenni Kuuliala will give a lecture at FHS titled "Disability, Sainthood, and the Miraculous in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe". Detailed information about the lecture can be found in the invitation at this link.

Lecture description:

One of the most visible and widely recognized roles of saints in medieval and early modern Europe was their ability to perform miracles, the vast majority of which involved the healing of acute and chronic illnesses and disabilities. At the same time, saints themselves were frequently portrayed as showing great patience, even gratitude, in times of their own bodily suffering, thus following the example of Christ and the early Christian martyrs. Sainthood and disability were therefore deeply intertwined, and the central role of saints and their miracles in the lived religion of the period often placed the disabled body at the centre of religious life.

Drawing on late medieval and early modern canonization processes and miracle collections, this lecture will demonstrate the kinds of evidence that hagiographic texts provide regarding premodern understandings of bodily and mental difference and normativity. These rich source materials reveal not only a desire for cures but also the lived realities and inclusion of disabled people. They show that medieval and early modern attitudes towards impaired body‑minds were fluid and multifaceted.

About the lecturer:

Dr. Jenni Kuuliala, author of Saints, Infirmity, and Community in the Late Middle Ages, is currently working as a senior lecturer at the University of Turku. Her research focuses on late medieval and early modern disability, cultural history of medicine, sainthood, and inquisitions. She also runs a Research Council of Finland funded project on the representation of disability in heritage organizations.

We Look forward to seeing you!