The beginnings of education of the deaf persons: Renaissance Europe (XIV-XVI century)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to indicate a turnover of the society towards deaf persons which was brought by the historic Renaissance period, from the XIV to XVI century. It is well known fact that handicapped persons were marginalized in the Middle Ages by the broader social community and that charitable care within churches and monasteries was considered to be the only legitimate form of help to those who were designated by God to expiate the sins of their ancestors. The weakening of the church authority and the improvement of science in the XV century lead to increased interest in medicine, that has also reflected on the attitudes of experts towards deaf people who started to be more actively interested in them. The Renaissance has begotten the first teachers of the deaf, as well as the first deaf artists who have been recognized and revered by society, and that had a crucial impact on the change of comprehension of deafness and attitudes towards the possibilities of the deaf. All this contributed to laying the foundations for more organized work with the deaf, which has occurred in Europe in the XVIII century.