Accidents among medieval children as seen from the miracles of six English saints and martyrs.

Accounts of recoveries from accidental injuries in medieval children recorded among the posthumous miracles of saints are a particularly valuable source of information about childhood during an age for which such material is scarce. Whereas reports of miraculous healing of chronic illnesses or handicaps often emphasize the prayers offered and the sudden joyous return to health at the shrine in front of astonished worshippers, those describing recoveries from accidents, especially numerous among children, also set down the events leading to the catastrophe. These circumstances, often described in detail, provide excellent evidence about children's behaviour. In addition, the responses ofparents, bystanders, and the community to the crises tell us a great deal about family relationships and the status of children in medieval society. These accounts, therefore, reveal the world of medieval childrentheir upbringing, their play and playmates, their work, and their families. In an age when access to any kind of physician was non-existent for many people, recourse to celestial aid, a natural reaction of pious folk, was the primary form of therapy. People invoked the aid of saints as intercessors for acute and chronic illnesses, disabilities, emotional disorders, and accidental injuries. Those with chronic illnesses or disabilities usually went to the shrine with an offering and often spent one or more nights in prayer. On the other hand, victims of accidents and sudden illnesses, or their families and neighbours, prayed for the saint's aid on the spot or at home, often vowing a pilgrimage and a gift in return for recovery. After a return to health had confirmed the saint's awesome power, the grateful beneficiaries, often accompanied by witnesses, related their experience to a custodian presiding at the saint's shrine or tomb. In accounts of long-standing illnesses or handicaps the custodians who recorded the pilgrims' recitals often pointed out the superiority of the saint's powers over those of earthly practitioners. In some cases religious appeals for help came only after standard medical treatment had failed. In the vast majority, however, recourse to the saints was the only therapy described. Although some descriptions of acute and chronic illnesses contain medical information, many of the records of miraculous recoveries from