History of the Deaf (1500-1700)

This article deals with the history of the Deaf in the 16th and 17th centuries. It contains introductory notes and the first known events and dates from the 16th and 17th centuries from Melchior de Yebra in Spain to Jonathan Lambert on Martha's Vineyard in New England .

First educational efforts in the 16th and 17th centuries

The small size and above all the direction of the records that have been preserved from the past centuries means that the history of the pigeons can largely only be reported from the perspective of their pedagogical recording.

With the first establishment of schools for children, there were also educationally active people who tried to teach deaf children, be it for humanistically or religiously motivated reasons or for the sake of the money or the perks that socially better-off parents were willing to give.
It should be noted here that at that time monks of the Christian Church, despite the reservations about the "human" status of deaf people, were most likely able to communicate with them, as special gestures for silent communication were invented in monasteries due to the prevailing confidentiality .

Dates and events from 1500 to 1700

Around 1550

The Spanish monk Melchior De Yebra, who lived from 1526 to 1586, allegedly used a finger alphabet to communicate with pigeons . It is not known what form this took and whether it developed from the finger alphabet that was known 900 years earlier. It is not known to what extent the mostly illiterate pigeons were able to understand the finger alphabet.

Around 1550, three deaf sons were born one after the other to the Spanish nobleman Juan Fernández de Velasco y Tovar. Based on the views of the time, de Velasco y Tovar had to fear that his sons would not be recognized as heirs to his possessions due to a lack of command of the language . Therefore he commissioned the Benedictine monk Fray Pedro Ponce de León (1500–1584) from the monastery of San Salvador de Ona to teach his sons Pedro and Francisco. Thus, the first educational efforts for the deaf in Spain were motivated to secure the property and privileges of a family. As for Fray Ponce de León, due to the unusual lack of information about his origin, it is assumed that he was an illegitimate child of nobles and that he tried to regain some of the privileges that were lost by teaching children in noble houses.
Fray Ponce de León was apparently able to successfully teach the noblemen's sons and thus provided early evidence that deaf people can read, write, think and talk.

Around 1600

Manuel Ramírez de Carrión (1579-1652) continued the work of Ponce de León by teaching the third son Luis of Juan Fernández de Velasco y Tovar. In his book “Miracles of Nature”, which was first published in 1599 in Madrid, then again in 1622 in Montilla in the printing works of the Marques de Priego and in 1629 in Cordoba , de Carrión described “Two thousand secrets of nature”, which he presented in alphabetical order. It was here that he first developed the thought, which was probably revolutionary for the time, that “deaf and dumb people” are only mute and not produce sounds because they cannot hear them themselves. Therefore, he wrote, it was possible to teach them to speak with a special technique. What this technique consisted of was not revealed in the work.

Like later de Carrión, Ponce de León did not reveal anything about the methods that made him successful. It is believed that if his methods were adopted and used by others, he feared the loss of his privileged position and reputation. For de Carrión's motives it is assumed that he wanted to reserve himself with the preservation of his position as the only suitable teacher to keep the price for his achievements high. For lack of role models, Ponce de León and de Carrión had almost complete freedom in the choice of their methods, which in some cases are said to have included harsh treatment and the development of psychological dependence on their young subordinates.

Juan Pablo Bonet
1579 - 1633, first known work on education for the deaf and mute
John Wallis
1616-1703 Studies of Phonetics; taught two deaf people in 1661/62
Johann Konrad Ammann
1669 - 1724 Author of instructions for the education of "deaf and dumb"

1620

De Carrión's method was, however , plagiarized in 1620 by Juan Pablo Bonet (1579-1633), who lived as a secretary in the household of de Velasco y Tovar, in “Reducción de las letras y arte para enseñar a ablar los mudos” as his own work. Bonet himself is said to have had little direct experience with pigeons and apparently counted on recognition with the mere publication of his work. Nevertheless, this is the first written work on the subject. In 1623 the Dominican monk, missionary and Jesuit persecutor Juan Bautista Morales de Carrión's methodology is said to have published in “Pronunciaciones Generales de Lenguas, Escuela de Escribir y contar y significación de letras por las manos”.

1630

1634

Settlers from the Weald of Kent, England, immigrate to Massachusetts . Among them are some who - as later history will show - have a recessive genetic make-up for deafness.

1660

around 1660

The cleric and mathematician John Wallis will receive an annual amount of £ 100 for a certain period of time for the upbringing of the deaf Alexander Popham. Wallis was (then or later?) Aware of the work of Johann Conrad Ammann .

1666

Sir George Downing , the namesake of the street that is now the official residence of the British Prime Minister , organizes networks of agents for the government, including several pigeons. When asked how he could understand their "strange signs", Downing is reported to have replied: "You only need a little practice, then you will understand and make yourself understood, all as easily and simply as you can imagine can ". This anecdote, along with observations on Martha's Vineyard in New England , suggests that there were enclaves in the population in ancient times where fully-fledged sign language already existed. Downing incidentally also came as mentioned later colonizers of Martha's Vineyard from the Kentish Weald .

1664

Under the direction of the logic professor Johann Lavater , pastor in Uitikon and professor at the Carolineum in Zurich , Switzerland , (not to be confused with Johann Caspar Lavater , 1741-1801) a scientific work under the name "The Lavater'sche deaf-mute school" on the physiological , theological and pedagogical aspects of the "deaf-mute problem" presented as a dissertation for examination.

1670

1670

Seven families of the settlers who moved from Kent in 1634 immigrate to Martha's Vineyard .

1674

Etienne de Fay (1669–1749), deaf from birth , was placed in the care of the Premonstratensian Abbey of Saint Jean d'Amiens at the age of five . He worked there all his life as an architect, sculptor, librarian, procurator and gave lessons to four “deaf and dumb” students, including Francois Meusnier and Azy d'Etavigny.

1690

1690

The deaf captain Jonathan Lambert, descendant of immigrants from Kent, transfers prisoners of the Quebec expedition to the New England states on the brigantine "Tyrel". He receives a reward for his war effort.

1692

The deaf carpenter, cooper and captain Jonathan Lambert moves to Martha's Vineyard Island and buys land there. This section of the island is still called "Lambert's Cove" today.

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See extensive information in the Literature and Media section in the “Overview Article” History of the Deaf .