Table of Contents

1.Introduction: Writing and Reading about Medieval Disfigurement.2. The Face, Honor and 'Face'.3.  Disfigurement, Authority and the Law.4. Stigma and Disfigurement: Putting on a Brave Face?.5. Defacing Women: the Gendering of Disfigurement.6. Ways of Seeing: Staring at and Representing Disfigurement.7. Paths to Rehabilitation? The Possibilities of Treatment.8. Conclusion.- Appendix I.- Appendix II.- Bibliography.- Index.

Promotional Information

"In this uncommonly refreshing contribution to the vibrant historical discourse on marginalisation, Skinner engages with current concerns beyond her chronological and thematic focus, while eschewing anachronism and reductionism. With ample evidence and spirited argument, she challenges widespread generalisations about past attitudes-and exposes persistent prejudices-towards the physically different." (Luke Demaitre, Visiting Professor, Center for Biomedical Ethics and Humanities, University of Virginia, and author of "Leprosy in Premodern Medicine: A Malady of the Whole Body")

About the Author

Patricia Skinner is Research Professor in Arts and Humanities at Swansea University, UK. She is the Director of the Effaced from History project, sponsored by the Wellcome Trust, and has previously published books on gender, medicine, and health, in addition to the social history of southern Italy.