The Saint-Lazare Leprosarium in Beauvais, between Exclusion and Inclusion, for the Foundation of a New Type of City
(2025) Inclusion and Exclusion in Medieval Central Europe — Location: LMU University Munich, Germany (19.February.2025)
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- Abstract
- In 12th-century Europe, with rising leprosy cases and no definitive medical solutions, distancing measures were implemented to limit the disease’s spread, as cities had long been seen as potential contagion vectors. Specifically built to accommodate lepers outside the city, the Saint-Lazare Leprosarium in Beauvais aimed to create a new form of sociality based on ambivalence between social exclusion and inclusion, made possible by the configuration of its spaces. This duality, rooted in biblical texts, gave lepers a dual image: marked individuals associated with ‘impurity’ and figures embodying Christ-like suffering and sacrifice. As a result of this tension, the leprosarium developed its own identity, shaping the contours of a self-governing city with its own laws, religion, and customs that reproduced the unequal social structures of medieval society. Lepers were required to be Catholic and from higher social classes to be admitted, integrated into a religious community that maintained traditional gender hierarchies while promoting their inclusion through physical and spiritual care. From the 14th century onwards, perceptions of lepers underwent a radical transformation, profoundly affecting their treatment and social and religious status. Leprosarium gradually became a model of exclusion and isolation, marking a shift towards collective and individual stigmatization of lepers. Their social difference was accentuated by the severity of their skin lesions, no longer evoking compassion as they once did. Through the study of original archival documents containing writings on the economy, administration, and daily life of leprosarium, as well as iconographic documents and photographs, this proposal analyzes leprosarium to shed light on the complex dynamics of medieval society. It explores parallels between the treatment of lepers and other forms of social marginalization.
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Ferrari, E. (2025, February 20). The Saint-Lazare Leprosarium in Beauvais, between Exclusion and Inclusion, for the Foundation of a New Type of City. Inclusion and Exclusion in Medieval Central Europe, LMU University Munich, Germany. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/279205