ABSTRACT
Compared to eye problems, skin diseases, deafness, or speech impairment, mobility impairment is a vague concept, especially in times when moving around freely wherever one wanted was never the ideal as it is cherished. Generally, historians of disabilities opt for a practical solution when studying mobility impairment. When archaeologists find bones of people which reveal traces of hard work and at the same times conditions which must have led to mobility impairment, such finds mostly confirm a general picture which is already well known. In large samples, mobility problems and paralysis comprise about 25–30% of the total number of instances in the evidence. Literary texts of the Merovingian period surely have a greater potential for the topic of mobility impairment, but again the nature of the texts needs to be considered. For Merovingian Gaul, the rules concerning female monastics by Donatus of Besancon might come to mind.
