A Material Culture of Medieval Disability: Contextualising Norwegian Votive Offerings

Abstract

In this paper, the potential for material culture studies within the history of disability is explored through a study of preserved anatomical votives from medieval Norway left in connection with miraculous healing practices. The Norwegian votives, which include wooden body parts of hands, arms, finger, feet and legs as well as mobility aids, are here related to the lived experience of the physically impaired. Anatomical votives have been interpreted as meaningful depictions of how an individual conceptualised the body part in question, which they sought healing for. Through a posthumanist approach, anatomical votives can, however, not only be seen as solely representational of a body part but as material extensions of the body. Preserved mobility aids, here identified as hand-trestles and a knee-brace, provide insight into the availability of aids for individuals with lower limb impairments in the medieval North. The study of the material culture of disability can elucidate cultural notions of disability in relation to physical impairment. While written miracle accounts have been identified as important sources for the study of medieval disability, their associated material culture is here presented as important data for the embodied experience of the physically impaired in medieval Norway.

INTRODUCTION

It happened in Þrándheimr [Trondheim, Norway], at the farmstead called Grábaksgarðr that a woman named Gunnhildr was setting out to matins one morning, and as she was going down the steps her foot gave way and she fell, breaking her hand and foot in the fall. Then she promised the holy Bishop Þorlákr to have a hand and foot made out of wax and promised a further six marks’ worth of wax to the holy Bishop Þorlákr. This woman recovered so quickly that she was well within a month. She was in her 60s.

The ‘Youngest’ Saga of St Þorlákr, AM 380 4to (the 17th century), translated to English by Whaley and Elliot (1994, p. 668).

One facet of healthcare undertaken in medieval Europe was that of holy healing (Salter 2021), sought for a myriad of health problems, from terminal illness, infectious disease, to mental disorders and physical impairments (Whaley 1994, p. 856, Metzler 2006). Miraculous healing was often sought in conjunction with medical treatment or after the patient had been turned away by doctors due to the condition being deemed incurable – making the patient’s later recovery a miraculous event (Whaley and Elliot 1994, p. 670, Metzler 2006). In fact, miraculous healing has often been interpreted as the only venue available to seek aid for physical impairment (Metzler 2006, p. 139). A devotee seeking miraculous healing would in some cases provide an anatomical votive, i.e. a replica of their affected body part, to be left at a shrine, as described in the above passage from Þorláks saga C, detailing the life and miracles of the 12th century Icelandic saint Þorlákr Þórhallsson.

By giving a wax mimesis of her injured hand and foot, Gunnhildr recovered miraculously. While miracle accounts describe the practice of votive giving, very few examples of medieval anatomical votives have been preserved to this day, with a notable exception of an English collection of wax votives from Exeter (Radford 1949). A number of medieval anatomical votives are furthermore preserved from Norway, which have been connected with a late medieval veneration of miracle working crucifixes (Hagen 2024). The Norwegian examples include votives of legs and hands as well as mobility aids. Miracle accounts have been identified as an important source for the study of medieval disability (Metzler 2006, p. 127), but what can the study of preserved votive offerings add to our understanding of the lived experience of individuals with physical impairments in medieval society?

THEORY AND METHODS

Medieval Disability Studies

The study of medieval disability concerns itself with questions such as whether the physically impaired were viewed as disabled or whether their condition was a meaningful aspect of their identity or not (Metzler 2006, p. 1, 2011, p. 48). As a social construct, disability is attached to a physical condition of impairment, with the interconnection between disability and impairment being comparative to that of biological sex and gender (Metzler 2011, p. 45). As emphasised by intersectional research, experiences of disability are not universal but can intersect with other facets of identity, including age, gender, ethnicity, class etc. (Goethals et al. 2015). Furthermore, notions of disability are not stable but vary between cultures and time, which disability history aims to address (Metzler 2011, p. 45).

The work of Metzler has been fundamental in reconsidering pre-conceptions of physically impaired individuals in medieval society as being solely marginalised to the roles of jesters or beggars (Metzler 2006). Consequently, Old Norse disability studies have become a growing field (Jakobsson et al. 2020, p. 443). While this work has primarily focused on Old Norse literary evidence, interdisciplinary studies have recently been undertaken. An example of this is the Disability before Disability project focused on historical Iceland, which included archaeological studies of an osteobiographical nature (Haraldsson 2022, Kristjánsdóttir and Walser 2022). The potential of the use of archaeological data to study medieval disability is a great one, including that of human skeletal remains (Metzler 2011, p. 54, Southwell-Wright 2013). For example, recent works have compared osteological remains with burial treatment in funerary contexts in order to explore social attitudes towards impairment (Jonsson 2009 pp. 100−102, Bohling et al. 2022, 2023). Disability studies which include the study of archaeological artefacts have, however, remained limited, which this paper aims to address.

Posthumanism, Things and Lived Experience

Posthumanism has not only encouraged research of the more-than-human world, but furthermore a reconsideration of how we approach past human experiences (Crellin and Harris 2021). This has included acknowledging previous bias towards a single human experience as being male, white and able-bodied, and therefore calling for further emphasis on the multiplicity of bodily experience (Braidotti 2019, Harris 2020, p. 125). This article takes as its starting point a posthuman aim and emphasis, to elucidate the lives of impaired individuals through a consideration of human-object interactions. In this paper, posthuman theory is used to provide a nuanced exploration of human-object relationships. Here, posthumanism will be used as a framework for merging the fields of study of disability and material culture.

In particular, Alaimo’s notion of ‘trans-corporeality’, which views the human body as intertwined with the more-than-human world, allows for a consideration of how materiality and environment affect health and bodily ability, both positively and negatively (Alaimo 2010, pp. 2, 12).

Through new materialism, posthuman archaeology moves from an understanding of objects as simply cultural expressions, to an exploration of material culture as playing an active role in its historical context (Harris 2020, p. 126). Rather than solely the source material, things are seen as important aspects of the human experience (Olsen et al. 2021, p. 6). Certain criticism of how new materialism has emphasised objects as overlooked is, however, difficult to disregard. In particular, things being described as ‘subaltern members’ or ‘enslaved’ (Olsen 2003, p. 100, 2012, p. 16) has the unfortunate consequence of putting oppressed groups in the same category as objects, further adding to the dehumanizing rhetoric of a colonial ideology (Marín-Aguilera 2021, pp. 135–136). Furthermore, posthuman study has in some cases been viewed as clashing with that of a social archaeological aim. For example, Webmoor and Witmore are critical of things being defined as ‘socially produced’, as a reduction of material to a place of being secondary to the social, and therefore passive (Webmoor and Witmore 2008, pp. 56–58). However, new materialism, in its aims to uplift things, has to be careful not to forgo the people who made and used objects (Harris 2018). Rather, social archaeology has the possibility to cross-fertilise with posthuman theory (Kay and Eriksen 2023).

METHODOLOGY

The methodology of artefact studies centres the human-object relationship as the subject of study, through an analysis of finds (Appadurai 2009, p. 5). Historical archaeology has in particular recently put a focus on the social context of artefacts and their use (Beaudry et al. 1996, p. 273). In the context of this study the preserved anatomical votives and mobility aids left at places of healing will be contextualised within their social and archaeological context through an interpretive approach (Beaudry et al. 1996, pp. 274–275). In order to reflect on the social context of their use, the objects will be compared with written evidence, primarily medieval miracle accounts, and art historical sources. Taking into account the cultural context of the use of medieval anatomical votives is particularly fitting when it comes to the application of the theoretical framework of disability history, where emic approaches have been encouraged (Metzler 2011, p. 47). By adopting an emic approach, and exploring votive giving within its cultural context, the aim of this paper is not to question whether the owners of these objects were in fact miraculously healed or not, but rather to explore the human-object relationship involved in the practice.

Following the example of Metzler, the term ‘physical impairment’ will here be used as a way of distinguishing from illness on the one hand and on the other from the socially constructed notion of disability (Metzler 2011, p. 1). A social model of disability is here adopted, where transferring modern medical diagnosis onto the medieval accounts is avoided (Metzler 2006, p. 127, Shakespeare 2021). Rather than provide a medical diagnosis to the people who used these artefacts, the aim is to explore what can be inferred about their lived experience.

PRESERVED ANATOMICAL VOTIVES AND MOBILITY AIDS

Overview

The use of anatomical votives is known from religious practices worldwide, from antiquity up until the present day (Weinryb 2016b, 2018). As models of the ill body part, anatomical votives were meant to be presented to a deity for healing through a sort of sympathetic magic, either in accordance with a vow given or as an expression of gratitude after the fact (Weinryb 2016c). In many polytheistic religions, pilgrimages were undertaken to holy places, such as springs, as well as shrines, such as in the ancient Greco-Roman religion where votive offerings were left at temples visited for their curative powers (Dyas 2014, p. 3, Weinryb 2016a, Hughes 2017). Viking age votive feet have been found in Scandinavia, including of amber from Kaupang (Fig. 1) and Hedeby¹ and of bone or antler from Birka (Resi 2011, pp. 115–116). While the interpretation of these have been different to the use of the later Christian votives, being associated with the veneration of the Norse god Vidar (Solli 2002, pp. 34−35, Resi 2011, p. 116), they provide an interesting counterpart. The use of anatomical votives in medieval Europe and miraculous healing practices in general have often been identified as belonging to folk or popular culture (Weinryb 2016c, Salter 2021, p. 1). This notion is strengthened by the frequent criticism the practice of leaving anatomical votives received by theologians, such as the eight-century Indiculus superstitionem et paganiarem which condemns the use of ‘wooden hands and feet’ as pagan superstition (Weinryb 2016b).

Fig. 1. A Viking Age amber foot (C52519/15942) from Kaupang (measuring 3 x 2.3 x 0.75 cm). © Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The belief in miraculous healing within early Christianity can be traced back to the absorption of pagan religious practices adopted to the cult of saints in late antiquity, particularly during the 4th century (Finucane 1995, p. 25). In the Nordic countries, as elsewhere with the adoption of Christianity, universal saints, such as St. Clement or St. Margaret of Antioch were venerated, and with time local holy figures were given saintly status (the cult of the earliest local saints in Norway – the Selja saints, St. Olav and St. Hallvard – had been established by the middle of the 11th century) (Ommundsen 2010, pp. 67–71). Miraculous healing was commonly achieved by undertaking a pilgrimage to a saint’s shrine, such as that of St. Ólafr in Nidaros, and interacting with their relics. Another source of miraculous healing was through a holy well or spring associated with a saint. In Norway, this includes St. Sunniva’s well on Selja and Hallvarðr’s well in Drammen along with numerous wells and springs association with St. Ólafr (Sparre 2022, pp. 173–175).

The importance put on fulfilling a vow in order to receive healing is referenced in Old Norse miracle accounts of saints, for example, emphasised in the Icelandic Þorláks saga where a young man’s painfully swollen hand is not healed until he fulfils his vow after Bishop Þorlákr reminded him in a dream that ‘You are quick to make promises but not to fulfil them’ (Jakobsson and Clark 2013, p. 29). The ways in which vows were fulfilled are seemingly diverse in Old Norse miracle accounts, from prayers, pilgrimage, or giving valuables such as money, wax, candles or jewellery (Whaley 1994, p. 854, Bø 2019). Apart from the Old Norse reference to anatomical votives given to receive healing, referred to in the introduction (Helgason 1938, pp. 364–365), a practice similarly involving a representation of the individual’s body is additionally commonly described in the offering of candles which had been measured around the individual – such as around the head of women suffering from an excruciating headache (Vigfússon and Sigurðsson 1858, Whaley 1994, p. 854). Furthermore, a number of references to anatomical votives are made in Swedish miracle accounts (Liepe 2022).

The Norwegian Collection

In the High Middle Ages, new pilgrim destinations for healing had accrued in Norway around miracle-working crucifixes at Fana, Røldal, Oppdal, Austdal and Borre (c. 1150–1350) (Nedkvitne 2009, p. 145). Kaja M. H. Hagen, in her study of wonderworking crucifixes in late medieval and early modern Norway, identified a number of preserved anatomical votives associated with their veneration – a finger likely made of a composition of silver and lead from the medieval cathedral of Hamar, a wooden hand and leg found underneath the floor of Urnes stave church during restoration, as well as wooden votives from Røldal stave church (Hagen 2021, pp. 133, 278–279) (Table 1). In the late medieval North miraculous healing was commonly associated with specific crucifixes or statues of Mary or other religious figures considered to have healing powers (Nygaard et al. 2000, p. 65). A miracle working crucifix was venerated at Hamar, where the silver finger was found, and possibly at Urnes church as well (Hagen 2021, p. 158). The practice of leaving votives at the Røldal church can be explained by the belief that the church‘s crucifix (c. 1240–1255) would sweat a healing sweat on Midsummer night (Sankt Hans natt) (Nygaard et al. 2000, p. 65, Hagen 2021, p. 23). The Røldal assemblage includes two hands, an arm, a foot and a leg as well as mobility aids kept at the University Museum of Bergen (Fig. 2) (Hagen 2021, p. 279). Furthermore, a small wooden leg from Røldal is kept at the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo (Fig. 3), which was recently radiocarbon dated to 1322–1410 AD (Hagen 2021, p. 126). A small hook is present at the top of the leg, which the object could be hung up on in the church but anatomical votives are similarly shown hanging in a row in art historical depictions (Weinryb 2016b).

Table 1. Preserved anatomical votives and mobility aids from Norwegian churches.

Artefact	Museum no.	Site	Material	Period	Dating
Votive finger	HHD-03386-13	Hamar cathedral	Silver	Medieval	Unknown
Votive hand	DHS.02426	Urnes church	Wood	Medieval	Unknown
Votive leg	DHS.02426	Urnes church	Wood	Medieval	Unknown
Votive leg	C2311	Røldal church	Wood	Medieval	1322–1410 AD
Votive hand	B5141	Røldal church	Wood	Medieval?	Unknown
Votive hand	B5141	Røldal church	Wood	Medieval?	Unknown
Votive arm	B5141	Røldal church	Wood	Medieval?	Unknown
Votive foot	B5141	Røldal church	Wood	Medieval?	Unknown
Votive leg	B5141	Røldal church	Wood	Medieval?	Unknown
Hand-trestles	B5141	Røldal church	Wood	Medieval?	Unknown
Knee brace	B5141	Røldal church	Wood	Medieval?	Unknown

Fig. 2. Wooden votive offerings (B5141) from Røldal stave church. © University Museum of Bergen, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Fig. 3. A votive wooden leg (C2311) from Røldal church dated to 1322-1410 AD (measuring 24.5 x 7.7 x 3.6 cm). © Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, CC BY-SA 4.0.

As medieval votives were generally made of organic materials, such as wax or wood, their preservation is most common in those cases when they have been kept in churches or shrines (Weinryb 2016c). The Norwegian collection (Table 1) is noteworthy as the only preserved assemblage of anatomical votives from the Nordic countries. While only one of these objects has been dated, the wooden leg from Røldal dated to 1322–1410, it can be considered likely that the use of anatomical votives in Norway was a late medieval phenomenon, connected with the veneration of miracle working crucifixes (for a detailed discussion on miracle working crucifixes see Hagen 2024). A notable comparative assemblage to the Norwegian material is that of wax votives found in 1943 by the tomb of Bishop Edmund Lacey (d. 1455), in Exeter Cathedral in England (Radford 1949). These wax votives depict arms, legs, heads, hands, feet and fingers as well as a female figure and animals (Figs. 4 and 5), which were meant to be hung up in a similar way to the aforementioned Røldal votive leg (Radford 1949).

Fig. 4. Wax votives from Exeter Cathedral. Fragmented anatomical and animal votives of wax from Exeter Cathedral. © The Dean and Chapter of Exeter Cathedral.

Fig. 5. Wax votives from Exeter Cathedral. A complete female figure in a prayer position. © the Dean & chapter of Exeter Cathedral.

The Making and Use of Votives

While no written evidence attests to the making of anatomical votives in late medieval Norway, considerable insight can be gleamed about their production from the objects themselves. The choice of material for an anatomical votive could depend on availability as well as on the socio-economic status of the individual in question. Different materials would demand particular treatments by diverse makers. While a wooden leg had to be carved, wax or silver votives could be cast in moulds. The same mould for a wax hand could cast many seemingly identical models of votive hands (Laven 2019). A wooden representation could, however, not be reproduced so easily, each being carved anew. A silver votive could furthermore have been molten down from other objects.

Although in rare cases the votive might have been made by its future user, more commonly we can assume that, unless gifted, the devotee chose the particular object themselves when bought. In other circumstances, the devotee might have had a votive specifically made for them. Specific requests for anatomical votives to craftspeople are mentioned in miracle accounts (Liepe 2022). An example of this is recorded in the Scriptores rerum Svecicarum medii aevi (medieval Swedish chronicles published in the 19th century), where a goldsmith is sought who ought to make silver eyes for a blind man (Annerstedt 1871, p. 171). A personal relationship is likely to have ensued after a devotee acquired an anatomical votive, where the particular object took on the role of a meaningful likeness for the individual’s own body part. While models of body parts could be given in the hope of a cure, the leaving of mobility aids was seemingly always given as thanks for miraculous healing already acquired. The relationship a giver of a mobility aid had with the object can, however, be inferred as quite different to that of an anatomical votive. A mobility aid had likely been used by an individual for a considerable time and been an important aspect to their daily life, before being left behind at a shrine.

By giving a votive, its role in the healing ritual was complete – and the givers relationship with it would, in theory, end. Votive gifts, as representations of the pilgrims that visited the place of worship, however provided a continued physical presence of their devotion (Weinryb 2018, p. 34). The church in question became at this stage responsible for the object, and there it could have significant value, including monetarily. Anatomical votives of wax and silver were especially useful, as they could be reshaped and used as candles on the one hand and on the other as currency for the church (Weinryb 2018, pp. 46–50). The number of wooden votives preserved in comparison with wax or silver might reflect the repurposing of votives of the latter materials upon donation. In this way, votives could become commodities for a church in the stage after deposition, with both use and exchange value (Kopytoff 2009, p. 64).

A donated votive was, however, not only interacted with by the clergy but could furthermore have an effect on visiting pilgrims. After deposition, votives played an important role as physical manifestations of the healing power of the pilgrimage site (Bugslag 2016, p. 261). A newly donated object became part of a collection of other offerings, a new limb added to rows of models of body parts and crutches on display (Weinryb 2016b). The presence of mobility aids was likely to be an especially striking vision for a visiting pilgrim – attesting to the life-changing healing performed by a miraculous crucifix or statue.

Through its social life, a votive could prove meaningful in various ways to numerous individuals – from their maker, their user, and finally to the members of the clergy where they were left behind as well as the visiting pilgrims who encountered them. The use of these votives, however, did not end in the late medieval period, as they became symbols of prohibited practices after the Reformation, when numerous mobility aids and votives were burned (Hagen 2021, p. 386). Even in modern times, these objects have seemingly not lost a certain ascribed agency. A superstition arose around the silver finger from Hamar (Fig. 6) after its discovery in the early 20th century, where the object was rumoured to have bestowed an ill fate on those who removed it from the cathedral, or were in possession of it until it was returned (Resløkken 2020).

Fig. 6. Silver finger from the medieval cathedral of Hamar. © Anno Domkirkeodden.

DISCUSSION

Towards a Material Culture of Medieval Disability

The relationship between material culture and disability can be viewed as a fundamental one, as material culture does not only provide aids, but it can furthermore contribute to cultural conceptions around disability (Ott 2018). Take for example, the current symbolic role of the wheelchair as a universal emblem for disability access (International Symbol of Access) or the effects of a wider access to eyeglasses to a changed perception of visual impairment (Ott 2018, p. 126). The potential of material culture studies within the history of disability has, however, up until recently, received little attention (Ott 2018, p. 125).

Roberta Gilchrist has suggested that objects placed in late medieval graves in England could in some cases have been deposited to heal a corpse of its illness or impairment before judgement day (Gilchrist 2008, pp. 149–150). The use of healing objects after death could be related to the medieval notion, suggested by St. Anselm in the 11th century that all who enter heaven would be healed of physical impairment (Metzler 2011, p. 48). This cultural understanding of physical impairment as temporary has led Metzler to question if physical impairment was even considered an aspect of a person’s identity in medieval society (Metzler 2011, p. 48). Cultural understanding of disability in medieval society requires further investigation, and it is clear that archaeological evidence, including that of material culture, can here prove to be a valuable source.

Written accounts of miraculous healing can provide a valuable insight into both the ‘lived experience and conditions’ of medieval individuals with physical impairments (Metzler 2011, p. 47). But what can the study of the anatomical votives themselves reflect on the embodied experience involved in seeking miraculous healing for physical impairment? Interestingly, the preserved Norwegian anatomical votives all represent legs, feet, arms, hands or fingers. While the reason behind the choice of a votive could be varied, feet have commonly been connected with the healing of injuries or mobility impairments (Graham et al. 2020, p. 214). This correlates with miracle accounts describing the healing of such physical impairment identified by Ronald C. Finucane in his work Miracles in medieval England as cures that ‘involved impaired locomotion or articulation of the limbs, hands or fingers’ (Finucane 1995, p. 104). Similarly, such miracles are frequently described in the Nordic material, with mobility impairments, most notably related to legs, being the most common healing miracles in Norwegian sources (Sparre 2022, p. 187). Even though anatomical votives were used for a variety of reasons, beyond that of physical impairment, they nonetheless provide a unique access to the healing practices undertaken by the physically impaired in the medieval North.

Anatomical votives have been interpreted as meaningful depictions of how an individual conceptualised their body part (Weinryb 2018, p. 40). Interestingly, anatomical votives commonly depict a complete body part, without pathological changes, perhaps as a way of presenting the body part as healed. Some of the Norwegian anatomical votives are, however, fragmented, included missing fingers on wooden arms from both Urnes (Fig. 7) and Røldal as well as a thumb from one of the Røldal hands. These changed nonetheless seem to have occurred after the objects were crafted, and it is therefore difficult to assess whether they broke accidentally or were deliberately damaged to reflect the individual’s condition. Weinryb considers that the anatomical votive functions as a surrogate for the devotee when left at a shrine strengthened by the object’s reflection of the physical characteristics of their body part (Weinryb 2018, pp. 34, 56).

Fig. 7. A votive arm and leg (DHS.02426) from the medieval cathedral of Hamar. The arm has missing fingers. © Sogn Folkemuseum.

The socio-cultural identity of the givers is not easily identifiable from the archaeological material or whether they experienced social exclusion based on their condition or not. However, access to certain materials, such as silver in the votive finger from Hamar, does indicate a certain economic status. Cornelia Spjelkavik Sparre has noted that while Norwegian miracle stories disproportionately relate to kings and have a higher gender disparity (61% male, 11% women, 16% groups and 12% children), the healing miracles recounted have a closer gender balance, in keeping with the European tradition, and mostly relate to individuals of lower classes (Sparre 2022, pp. 181–190). Only one healing miracle is recorded involving a Norwegian king, who is kept anonymous in the account but was cured of a swollen knee by touching it to a relic of St. Ólafr (Sparre 2022, p. 186).

Preserved mobility aids give us a unique glimpse into the lived experiences of individuals with physical impairments in the medieval North, including the mobility aids that would have been available to them. The examples from Røldal stave church (Fig. 9) are here interpreted as hand-trestles, and a perhaps accompanying, knee-brace. Hand-trestles are commonly mentioned mobility aids in medieval European miracle accounts, similar to crutches and walking sticks, and were used by individuals with lower limb impairments which affected their mobility (Metzler 2006, p. 173). Hand-trestles provide a support and elevation for the arms, while the individual pulls themselves forwards by their upper body strength. Art historical depictions furthermore show hand-trestles in use (see Fig. 8). Interestingly, the Røldal examples differ slightly from art historical depictions, as rather than the handle being supported by individual wooden poles, it has a flat underlying surface, which would have affected the trestle’s grip. The knee brace could have been used in conjunction with hand-trestles to provide protection for the knee from friction with the ground during the movement. Alternatively, it could have been used in connection with other mobility aids, including crutches as seen in art historical depictions (Fig. 10). Two perforations on either side of the brace’s wooden surface attest to how it was bound around the leg, likely with a textile band or leather strap. The preservation of the Røldal mobility aids is especially fortunate as accounts describe how the priest in Fana, where similarly a miracle working crucifix was kept, burned six carriages of crutches and staffs after the Reformation (Hagen 2021, p. 386). Evidently, based on such descriptions, mobility aids were commonly left behind at these late medieval sites of healing. Old Norse miracle accounts furthermore describe people leaving behind their mobility aids after being miraculously healed, such as in the Younger Þorláks saga (late 13th century), where a man named Jón is carried over the shoulders of the crowded cathedral of Skálholt when the saint Þorlákr’s relics were exhumed. Once at the front, Jón was miraculously healed of his mobility impairment after touching a cloth draped across the saint’s coffin, no longer requiring the use of his wooden leg (Sigurðsson et al. 1858, p. 311). The Røldal hand-trestles are in fact rare examples of preserved mobility aids, with a comparison in wooden hand-trestles at the Wellcome collection in London from the 18th century (Fig. 11). While the dating of the Røldal mobility aids remains uncertain, they could be contemporary to the 14th century votive leg (Fig. 3) from the same church, or younger. Crutches have furthermore been retrieved archaeologically, such as a great number from St. Anne’s hospital in Magdeburg, Germany, dated to the 13–16th centuries (Kahlow 2009, p. 218, Metzler 2011, p. 58). Further research into medieval mobility aids could prove a fruitful addition to the discourse on medieval disability, in particular through the use of a variety of data from written and art historical sources to archaeological artefacts.

Fig. 8. Hand-trestles depicted in use. Early 13th century. (Royal 13 B VIII f. 30 v). © British Library Board.

Fig. 9. Preserved wooden hand-trestles and knee-brace (B5141) from Røldal stave church. © University Museum of Bergen, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Fig. 10. An individual with knee-braces and crutches situated to the left of Martin of Tours. Egerton (MS 3018 f.117 r. 1375 AD − 1425 AD). © British Library Board.

Fig. 11. Pair of wooden crutches, England, (1701–1800. A635024). © Science Museum Group/Wellcome Collection.

Thinking Through Trans-Corporeality

As has here been explored, anatomical votives can be seen as a noteworthy source material for disability history. But how can we define the relationship between these objects and the body parts in question? In the following section, a posthuman reading of the collection will be applied to elucidate the boundary between human and object.

Posthumanism emphasizes multiplicity of bodily experiences and allows for a critical consideration of the interaction between both human and non-human capacity (Harris 2020, p. 129, Crellin and Harris 2021). Its application for material culture studies is pertinent in its reconsideration of human-object boundaries (Crossland 2010, pp. 391–392). Alaimo’s concept of trans-corporeality springs from a posthuman and new materialist framework to map the interconnection between human bodies, the environment, animals and the material world (Alaimo 2012, p. 476). Rather than viewing human bodies as separate, this concept allows for a consideration of how bodies are constantly in flux with their wider environment, including material culture (Alaimo 2010). Such an approach allows us to reconsider the human-object boundaries involved in votive giving.

The ways in which anatomical votives could be trans-corporeal in nature is perhaps best reflected through their materiality. The material properties of anatomical votives emphasise their resemblance to the human body, such as the choice of wax as a material due to its flesh-like countenance and soft texture (Laven 2019, p. 36). A similarity between the object and devotee can be seen in written accounts of wax which should be measured around the individual or weigh the same as them (Weinryb 2018, pp. 50–51). A symbolic use of wood in religious practices has been noted in the case of burial rods found in medieval graves in Scandinavia, Britain, France and Germany (Jonsson 2009, pp. 111–112). Jonsson has suggested that these rods were used to measure the corpse or grave, providing a comparative religious practice of measuring the body to the one here studied (Jonsson 2009, p. 116). Laven has connected the choice of wood for votives with the symbolic importance ascribed to wood within Christianity as the material of the True Cross (Laven 2019, p. 46), an association that seems particularly fitting when it comes to wooden votives given to miracle working crucifixes in the Norwegian examples. Wood can, however, furthermore be explored in connection with its use in replicas of body parts. The material properties of the worked wood in the Norwegian votives are noteworthy, such as the textual variety of the natural wood grain, being reminiscent of human veins, and the skin-like smoothness of the highly polished objects (see Figs. 12 and 13). The use of metals could furthermore allow for votives cast with great precision to the likeness of the body part in question, as seem on the visible grooves and minuscule details of the silver-lead finger from Hamar (Fig. 6). While cold to the touch, a votive of precious metals would warm up when held, acquiring a temperature similar to that of the person itself. The material properties of anatomical votives are here essential in emulating their body-like qualities.

Fig. 12. Details of anatomical votive leg (C2311). Photographed by author.

Fig. 13. Details of anatomical votive leg (C2311). Photographed by author.

Mauss has suggested that through sympathetic magic, where like can cure like, human and object can become fused together, one acting as a contiguity of the other (Mauss 2001, pp. 81, 84–85). Through a trans-corporeal lens, anatomical votives can be seen as not merely representational for a body part, but how they could act as a material extension of the body. This opens up a consideration of human-object boundaries in a late medieval context. The ways in which body parts could become objects in a medieval context have been explored through the veneration of saints’ relics, where body parts became commodities through the medieval relic trade (Geary 1986, p. 169). Anatomical votives, on the other hand, provide an example of the opposite – objects becoming bodies. Through a post-humanistic lens, medieval trans-corporeality can be seen as extending to objects through votive giving.

If anatomical votives served as material extensions of the body when deposited at a shrine, mobility aids in a similar way bridge the object-human boundary by facilitating movement and physical capacity in everyday life. Mobility aids are here not solely addressed as representational of a certain social identity, but as playing an active role in the capacity of individuals with physical impairments. Moving from agency, Crellin and Harris have suggested that posthuman archaeology should focus on affect, including the bodily capacities that emerge through object-human interactions (Crellin and Harris 2021, pp. 471–472). In this context, how would using hand-trestles have both positively and negatively affected the mobility of an individual with lower limb impairment? While the specific application of hand-trestles might seem unfamiliar to a modern viewer, their affordance most easily recognised is providing a stable handle for a person to grip in order to pull their body forward by relying on the strength of their upper body. As previously mentioned, the Røldal hand-trestles are unusual due to their smooth surface which would have affected their application – making a gliding movement when in use. Perhaps, this design reflects a personalised request to the maker for hand-trestles that would fit the individual requirements, due to the specifics of their condition or simply preference.

The use of hand-trestles emphasises a certain phenomenological experience – as being in close proximity to the ground. This would have had considerable effects on the daily life of an individual, whose head would be at the height of other people’s legs. The sensory experience of such closeness with the floor would have likely included an interaction with debris, puddles or odours more easily avoidable by others. The hand-trestles serve another purpose here, such as putting distance between the hands and an unclean surface. These sensory experiences, while different, might, however, not always have been negative, as proximity to the earth might also heighten pleasant sensations, such as the smell of flowers. The experience of using hand-trestles would therefore have differed with the seasons, as well as depending on the accessibility of buildings, landscape, etc. Intersections with the environment are here an important factor, as this human-object interaction did not exist in a vacuum but was affected by the context it took place in.

The significant relationship between mobility aids and the social construction of disability has been emphasised by Metzler, who considers access to mobility aids as an element which can – or cannot – ‘make the individual disabled’ (Metzler 2011, p. 45). While the social construction around medieval mobility aids, such as hand-trestles, is difficult to ascertain, we can deduct from the objects themselves their effect upon the lived experience of their user. In a trans-corporeal framework, the bodily experience of an individual using hand-trestles is tightly wound up with the material properties and affordances of the objects themselves, and how that would intersect with their environment at a given point.

CONCLUSION

A posthuman reading of miraculous healing does not only allow for a reconsideration of human-object boundaries but furthermore a reframing of the practice itself as one that does not fit a dualism of secular versus sacred. Trying to define a medieval healing practice by the modern notions of magic, religion or medicine is a futile task. In fact, medieval medicine commonly bridged the boundary between sacred and secular practices, as aspects of magic or religion complimented those of secular medicine (Jones 2016, p. 3). Miraculous healing exemplifies this, as miracle accounts often refer to saints as acting as physicians (Metzler 2006, p. 136, Krötzl 2015, pp. 259–260). Metzler has suggested that the reason why miraculous healing was commonly sought by individuals with physical impairments in medieval Europe was the lack of medical remedies available for the treatment of such conditions (Metzler 2006, p. 139). The type of votive offerings preserved in the Norwegian collection both in terms of anatomical votives of legs and hands as well as mobility aids provide a strong indication that mobility impairment, whether congenital or acquired through injury or ailments, was a leading reason why miraculous healing was sought in late medieval Norway. While the preservation of anatomical votives and mobility aids from the period can be regarded as circumstantial, as many votive offerings were deliberately destroyed after the Reformation, the correlation with physical impairments is furthermore reflected in written miracle accounts, where they make up the most common type of healing miracle described (Sparre 2022, p. 187). While the relationship between the medieval church and the physically impaired is commonly viewed as negative, with a common misconception of the disabled having been excluded from religious rites (Bredberg 1999, p. 193), the Norwegian votive collection suggests the opposite – the importance religion could play in the lives of people with physical impairments.

Historical archaeology has been uplifted as a way to explore the lived experience of marginalised people, often neglected in written evidence (Tarlow 1999, p. 263, Moreland 2003, p. 19). Historical archaeological studies of disability can prove a fruitful contribution to disability history, in particular, as they expand on the limited collection of sources for the study of medieval disability which has been a central issue to the field (Metzler 2011, p. 48). Archaeological material can provide valuable insight into past social identities, especially through intersectional approaches (Lund and Moen 2019, p. 144). Such a framework would be beneficial to the archaeology of disability, where intersecting facets of identity can be taken into account. While human remains provide valuable insight into physical impairment in the past from a biological standpoint, material culture can shine a light on cultural practices surrounding impairment, such as the seeking of miraculous healing.

The associative material culture to miraculous healing practices, in this case anatomical votives and mobility aids left at healing shrines, can provide useful comparative data to miracle accounts for the embodied experiences of the physically impaired. In a similar way to how miracle accounts contribute incidental information about physical impairment (Metzler 2006, p. 127), the material culture provides an insight into the everyday life of the physically impaired, including the mobility aids accessible to them. The material culture of votive offerings reflects a cultural understanding of human-object boundaries, where the anatomical votive does not simply replicate the body part in question but acts as a material extension of the human body when deposited. Through the practice of votive giving, the specific body part in question could be replicated in wood, silver, wax or other material – providing an insight into how the devotee conceptualised the body part in question. While we don’t have access to a top-down societal understanding of physical impairment in medieval Norway through this assemblage of wooden and silver body parts, they each reflect a personal expression of an individual’s physical condition. Furthermore, preserved mobility aids like hand-trestles provide an insight into the embodied experience of individuals with lower limb impairment through the material affordances of these objects. In this way, material culture provides a rare personal glimpse into medieval disability, not as texts or artistic depictions, providing incidental information about a social group from an outsider’s point of view – but as the preserved objects which were themselves meaningful to their users, whether used in everyday life to facilitate mobility or temporarily in order to seek miraculous aid.

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Notes

¹ Furthermore, an L-shaped artefact of amber was found at Paviken, a possible votive leg, and a round plate with three protruding legs at Wolin, which could furthermore be interpreted as votives (Resi 2011, p. 115).