My research will be looking at the lived experience of Hansen's Disease (colloqually known as leprosy) sufferers in medieval England. Many laws and decrees from this period imply that ‘lepers’ were shunned to the edge of society. Recent research has however shown the possibility of more varied experiences among sufferers.

This study will take a multidisciplinary approach to analyse the differences in biological markers between individuals from various leprosaria and parish cemeteries from Anglo-Saxon to medieval times. Methods include: 1) osteoarchaeological analyses to obtain estimations of demographic data and pathology; 2) isotopic data to hint towards varying dietary and status patterns; and 3) aDNA to confirm leprosy infection independent of skeletal expression. The obtained data allows for a population-level approach, as well as reconstruction of individual life histories through their osteobiographies, and will be used to provide insight into the social treatment and life experience of those infected.