Disability and the Tudors: All the King's Fools Contributor(s): Connolly, Phillipa Vincent (Author) |
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ISBN: 1526720051 ISBN-13: 9781526720054 Publisher: Pen and Sword History OUR PRICE: $31.46 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: December 2021 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - History | Europe - Great Britain - Tudor & Elizabethan Era (1485-1603) - Social Science | People With Disabilities |
Physical Information: 1.5" H x 6.3" W x 9.3" (1.55 lbs) 352 pages |
Themes: - Cultural Region - British Isles |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Throughout history, how a society treated its disabled and infirm can tell us a great deal about the period. Challenged with any impairment, disease or frailty was often a matter of life and death before the advent of modern medicine, so how did a society support the disabled amongst them? For centuries, disabled people and their history have been overlooked. Very little on the infirm and mentally ill was written down during the renaissance period. The Tudor period is no exception, and presents a complex story and unparalleled. The sixteenth century was far from exemplary in the treatment of its infirm, but a multifaceted and ambiguous story emerges, where society's 'natural fools' were elevated as much as they were belittled. Meet characters like Will Somer, Henry VIII's fool at court, whom the king depended upon, and learn of how the dissolution of the monasteries contributed to forming an army of 'sturdy beggars' who roamed Tudor England without charitable support. From the nobility to the lowest of society, Phillipa Connolly casts a light on the lives of disabled people in Tudor England and guides us through the social, religious, cultural and ruling classes' response to disability as it was then perceived. |
Contributor Bio(s): Connolly, Phillipa Vincent: - Phillipa Vincent-Connolly is a secondary school teacher and historian has published both fiction and nonfiction and is currently working towards her Masters in history. She lives in Poole, Dorset with her two children. |