"SED NEQUE SILENTIO PRETEREUNDUM": AN ANALYSIS OF THE MIRACLES OF SAINT WILLIAM OF NORWICH

<p>William of Norwich was born around 1132, and, according to his biographer Thomas of Monmouth, he was killed by Jews during Easter week of 1144. Consequently, whenever William is mentioned in modern scholarship, it is almost always in relation to Jewish ritual murder and the blood libel legend. To date, no scholarship has systematically categorized or analyzed the miracles and visions contained in The Life and Passion of William of Norwich nor discussed what these stories suggest about the pilgrims who visited his tomb. Using disability theory, this thesis analyzes eighty medical miracles performed by the boy saint. I begin by categorizing and analyzing the miracles according to the impairments that the pilgrims suffered. Because the cures took place within the social context of a crowd gathered at Williams tomb, I argue that it was society that determined whether or not a cure was efficacious. I then look at the practical considerations of these journeys by examining the pilgrims' familial support systems, technological aids such as crutches or handbarrows, and modes of transportation. In these ways, I propose that people with impairments and disabilities were far from the outskirts of society, but, rather, that their presence helped to construct and reaffirm the core beliefs upon which medieval society was built.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

History

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

History

Year dc:date.available

2016

Author dc:creator

• Edwards Obenauf, Sarah Rose

Contributors dc:contributor

• Davis-Secord, Sarah
• Graham, Timothy
• Gibbs, Frederick
• N/A

• History

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/hist_etds/26

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalrepository.unm.edu:hist_etds-1025