Overview

The first comprehensive study of medieval changelings and associated attitudes to the health and care of children in the period. The changeling - a monstrous creature swapped for a human child by malevolent powers - is an enduring image in the popular imagination; dubbing a child a changeling is traditionally understood as a way to justify the often-violent rejection of a disabled or ailing infant. Belief in the reality of changelings is famously attested in Stephen of Bourbon's disapproving thirteenth-century account of rites at the shrine of Saint Guinefort the Holy Greyhound, where sick children were brought to be cured. However, the focus on the St. Guinefort rituals has meant some scholarly neglect of the wealth of other sources of knowledge (including mystery plays and medical texts) and the nuances with which the changeling motif was used in this period. This interdisciplinary study considers the idea of the changeling as a cultural construct through an examination of a broad range of medical, miracle, and imaginative texts, as well as the lives of three more conventional Saints, Stephen, Bartholomew and Lawrence, who, in their infancy, were said to have been replaced by a demonic changeling. The author highlights how people from all walks of life were invested in both creating and experiencing the images, texts and artefacts depicting these changelings, and examines societal tensions regarding infants and children: their health, their care, and their position within the familial unit.

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9781843846512

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This is a fascinatingly macabre work with captivating content on belief systems surrounding the concept of medieval changelings with a health-centred focus. A brilliant and incredibly engaging read and will be of great interest to anyone who is interested aspects of childhood heath, care, and familial and community responses to impaired children. * CHILDHOOD IN THE PAST * Here is a recipe for shaking up the study of a topic... Done in a workaday fashion this is a fruitful approach, and done exceptionally, as in The Medieval Changeling, it can be transformative. * FOLKLORE *

This is a fascinatingly macabre work with captivating content on belief systems surrounding the concept of medieval changelings with a health-centred focus. A brilliant and incredibly engaging read and will be of great interest to anyone who is interested in aspects of childhood health, care, and familial and community responses to impaired children. * CHILDHOOD IN THE PAST * Here is a recipe for shaking up the study of a topic... Done in a workaday fashion this is a fruitful approach, and done exceptionally, as in The Medieval Changeling, it can be transformative. * FOLKLORE *

Author Information

Rose A. Sawyer received her PhD in Medieval Studies from the University of Leeds and now teaches medieval literature at Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf. Her research focuses on medieval childhood, particularly discourses of care, health, and development, with a supernatural twist.

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