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history
‘Idiocy’ in early modern England

Is it true that so-called ‘idiots’ were abused and hidden away highly localised and had the family firmly
before the asylum came to their rescue? What sort of lives did at its centre.
The immediate family was expected to
they really lead? Susanna Shapland investigates care for their idiot relative, with the parish

stepping in to provide relief if they were
uch of what is commonly driven into poverty or if there were no
understood about the lives of family members alive or capable of
Mpeople with learning disabilities looking after the individual in question.
in early modern England (circa 1500-1800) In the latter situation, the parish could
is skewed by preconceptions about pay for the idiot to lodge for a period of
that period. time with a “nurse” or keeper, usually in
There is the romantic vision that the same parish but occasionally nearby.
confused and conflated those who were The courts could enforce their judgment if
commonly referred to as “idiots” an appointed guardian proved reluctant
with “lunatics”. to provide the agreed care or support.
Popularised in the 19th century by the This shows that, although parochial
poet William Wordsworth and others, this support was highly localised and could be
view focused on the idea of figures such somewhat rudimentary, there was a
as the village idiot and Tom o’Bedlam. system in place to support idiots in their
Believed to be embraced by their communities and this was an accepted
pre-industrial societies, these characters part of parish life.
were seen as being financially kept by Showing there was an idiot in the
their community while simultaneously An “idiot” servant holding “Vaccine Pock hot from family could be used to support
having the freedom to exist exactly as ye Cow” helps Edward Jenner with vaccination applications for poor relief as it was
they were, before they were confined efforts, depicted by James Gillray in 1802 unlikely that they could work and thus
in the asylum with the advent of supplement the family’s income. However,
mass institutionalisation. There was scope for those whose there is evidence that some idiots were
More persistent is a contradictory view memory and reasoning had been affected gainfully employed.
espoused by some historians today. Based by injury or age to be included under the Idiot servants can be found in cartoons
on the general absence of idiots from the umbrella of idiocy, but the condition was and paintings from this period, and they
records kept by asylums and workhouses, generally considered to be present also appeared in criminal courts, their
and a perception of the early modern from birth. employers and neighbours frequently
period as one of swirling pre-scientific interceding on their behalf in an effort to
superstition, this argument holds that Why no records? save them from the gallows for some
idiots were hidden from view within their This distinction is part of the reason why minor theft.
communities, chained, beaten and idiots are largely absent from institutional That is not to say the early modern
starved in cellars. records in this period; “keepers” of period was a golden age of tolerance and
They were then rescued by the asylum institutions (as they were known) did not acceptance for learning-disabled
movement, thus escaping these privations want to give room to the incurable. individuals or, indeed, one of exceptional
while at the same time becoming visible The tests to determine idiocy were welfare support but that the idiot was
in the historical record. not rooted in superstition but in the present in their local community.
What is far more likely is that idiots practicalities of everyday life. Individuals They were not the extraordinary
were an accepted part of early modern were asked to show they had the necessary figures roaming free on the periphery of
society. They were usually (though not skills to thrive in their communities, society nor the family secret locked out of
always) looked after in their parishes by through questions on general orientation sight in the cellar but, instead, they lived
their families, and were known to their (their name, location etc), farming perfectly mundane lives among the rest of
neighbours and their communities. knowledge and basic numeracy. their parish. n
This distinction and definition were
Defining the ‘incurable’ hugely important in administering Further reading
Early modern societies actually had a strong legal decisions, and some of the Andrews J. Identifying and providing for the
and fairly consistent grasp of the difference clearest evidence that the idiot was an mentally disabled in early modern London;
between the idiot and the lunatic. unremarkable part of their community is Rushton P. Idiocy, the family and the
The difference was based on a 13th found in court records. community in early modern north-east
century legal understanding of idiocy England; in: Digby A, Wright D, eds (1996).
From Idiocy to Mental Deficiency: Historical
that recognised it as a permanent Part of the parish Perspectives on People with Learning
condition. This was in contrast to lunacy, Parochial records from this period show Disabilities. London: Routledge
which could strike at any time, and could that not only were idiots present and Jarrett S (2020) Myths of marginality. Idiocy in Wellcome Collection
also recede, leaving the afflicted with known in their community but also they Britain in the long eighteenth century.
moments of lucidity. benefited from a welfare system that was Frühneuzeit 31:1-14

30 Vol 34 No 4 | Summer 2021 Community Living www.cl-initiatives.co.uk