Performing Dis/ability? Constructions of ‘Infirmity’ in Late Medieval and Early Modern Life Writing

Abstract

The wounds of Christ and the marks of these wounds, the stigmata , have had various meanings at different times, in different contexts. The meaning of the stigmata in the crusading context is fairly unknown and has been examined only by few modern scholars. 1 The present chapter will consider the motif of stigmata in the crusade ideology and crusade propaganda. I will explore how the crusade preachers utilized the theme in their sermons, focusing particularly on the imitation of the Passion of Christ and on the concept of infirmity related to this theme. What was the relationship between Christ’s sufferings and the crusader’s sufferings, or the wounds of Christ and the torment of the crusader? How was the human condition of infirmity used in the crusade ideology of the thirteenth century?

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