2 - Care of Changelings
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 June 2023
Summary
In BrB, MS 1116, MD, the Middle Dutch version of the Bartholomew legend, the demonic changeling, a ‘swaert lelijc kint’ (black, ugly child), lies ‘screyen ende huylen in der wyeghen’ (screaming and crying in his crib) no bigger than the day, three years earlier, when he was substituted for the infant saint Bartholomew. Initially, swarms of people gathered to gawp at the strange child, but the noble banneret, saddened and shamed by his supposed son, ordered a small dwelling to be constructed underground in order to raise the changeling away from prying eyes and, seemingly, his parents. Despite this, news of the changeling has spread far and wide, eventually reaching the ears of the rabbi who found and raised Bartholomew. The saint, by explicit contrast, has grown into ‘schoenen, bevallijken, lief elyken kint’ (a handsome, charming, sweet child) who is ‘minliken [ ] in allen manieren’ (in all ways amicable). While the saint may have developed in a superlative rather than normative fashion, as established in the previous chapter, the description of his changeling draws on medieval understandings of non-normative development and can easily be read as engaging with discourses on chronic illness or severe impairment. With this established, it is notable that the changeling and the saint receive very different treatment at the hands of their carers. Bartholomew is raised by the rabbi ‘met allen zeer eerlijken binnen sijnen huyse’ (with all [other members of the household] in a very honorable way), by contrast, the changeling is taken to a specially constructed, small, underground dwelling to be raised in isolation, presumably by servants. This enforced concealment is a severe reaction, but this treatment is not as extreme as it might have been. When Bartholomew is found on the mountainside, his rescuers assume he is a bastard baby abandoned by his unmarried mother out of shame. Thus, the text makes it clear that parental shame could lead to the active endangerment of the child. Despite this, while the changeling is certainly treated differently to Bartholomew, there is no suggestion that this noble couple even consider actively endangering or killing the changeling. Instead, they make special provisions for his care and pray to God for a miracle, which, in due course, he grants.
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- Information
- The Medieval ChangelingHealth, Childcare, and the Family Unit, pp. 65 - 106Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2023