Very little was written or recorded about a general disabled community at the time, but their existence has been preserved through religious texts and some medical journals.
"[2] : 67 Due to the intensive labor that constituted agriculture during this time period, many peasants and serfs have been found with extensive spinal and limb injuries, as well as stunted growth, malnutrition and general deformity.
[3] Some Medieval priests and scholars believed that a body would be corrupted by sin and therefore divine punishment took the form of physical illnesses.
However, opposing schools of thought revolved around the concept that those with disabilities showed a higher form of piety than those who did not have physical impairments.
[3] In the Old Testament, God gave people disabilities as a form of divine punishment, with the root of it being a payment for the sins they have committed.
Generally, Medieval physicians attributed much of their work to a combination of the ability to treat illness, such as fever and blisters, and religious faith.
To stop the spread of the horrifying disease, officials put individuals displaying symptoms and sometimes family members into leper houses.
[7] Though disability was present throughout the Middle Ages, very few cases were documented during the Early and High Medieval periods, as few physicians could properly diagnose many conditions.