Disability in Middle and Late Byzantium: DO Colloquium 2024

Disability is central to Byzantine history. From emperors like Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081-1118) who spoke with a stutter, to scholars like Gregorios Antiochos whose chronic illness left him with a weakened  body, to all those who were punished with mutilation and blindness, disabled people were present and visible across Byzantine society. Impaired bodies also feature prominently in Byzantine accounts of miraculous cures performed by holy figures in both saints’ lives and visual art. Indeed, a careful examination of literary, artistic, and medical evidence reveals the Byzantines’ notable openness to explore the disabled body as a subject in creative media and a topic of scientific study. Yet, within broader studies of disability in ancient and medieval societies, historical surveys either ignore Byzantium altogether or express the view that east Roman society and law marginalized and even punished disability.

By bringing together scholars from history, art history, material culture, and literature, this colloquium aims to be the first decisive step towards a more nuanced and complex understanding of Byzantine disability as a social construct. To do so, we will examine how literary, physical, and visual representations of disability, including restricted mobility, blindness, and leprosy, were constructed depending on their intersection with other identity markers, such as the gender, social rank, and religious status of the individuals involved. In drawing attention to this much neglected, yet urgent, topic the colloquium will illustrate that integrating disability as an analytical category and a system of representation can deepen and challenge our understanding of Byzantine history.