Midwives as Agents of Social Control: Ecclesiastical and Municipal Regulation of Midwifery in the Late Middle Ages
Rather than the oft-claimed argument that midwifery regulation occurred as a result of midwives’ ignorance and lack of skill, both ecclesiastical and secular authorities in fact used midwives to their advantage to harness the ‘tremendous social power of medicine’.
Abortions in Byzantine times (325-1453 AD)
All legislation of Byzantium from the earliest times also condemned abortions. Consequently, foeticide was considered equal to murder and infanticide and the result was severe punishments for all persons who participated in an abortive technique reliant on drugs or other methods. The punishments could extend to exile, confiscation of property and death.
Reconsidering obstetric death and female fertility in Anglo-Saxon England
Little has been written about female fertility and maternal mortality from an archaeological perspective. Typically debates focus on the physical aspects of childbirth, ignoring an obvious truth: the biggest single cause of death for women was childbirth.
Neonatal care and breastfeeding in medieval Persian literature
The present article is a review of the Jorjani’s teachings on the neonatal care, breastfeeding, weaning and teething along with comparisons between the Treasure and modern medicine in this regard.
Medieval Obstetrics, or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Womb
The practice of gynecology was a unique brand of medicine, which drew stark boundaries based on gender of both practitioner and patient. Midwives were responsible for the treatment of feminine maladies and the care of expectant mothers.
En/gendering representations of childbirth in fifteenth-century Franco-Flemish devotional manuscripts
Late-medieval representationsof the births of holy and heroic children invariably show a domestic interior with the new mother lying in bed attended
by female assistants.These images thus appearto show a `genderedspace’ in which women cared for each other and from which men were marginalized.
Fruit of the Womb: Prenatal Food in Renaissance Italy
One of the crucial tenants of humoral theory is the belief that females are of a colder and wetter disposition than the hotter, drier nature of males. To achieve optimal health the humors needed to be in perfect balance, as seen in all recommendations for food, drink, preparation and even environment.
The Rooster‘s Egg: Maternal Metaphors and Medieval Men
This dissertation will explore the symbolism surrounding women‘s bodies, particularly menstruating, lactating, and pregnant bodies, which concerned theologians, moralists, and medical writers alike.
Research examines the ‘abortionist saints’ of medieval Ireland
A recent article on sexuality and childbirth in early medieval Ireland reveals some surprising attitudes towards abortion held among the Christians during this period, and that hagiographical texts recount four Irish saints performing abortions.
Flowers for the Book-binder’s Wife: An Investigation of Florilegia and Early Modern Women’s Writing
To an early modern, nothing could be fully learned through a “hands off” approach. Heidi Brayman Hackel corroborates this with her book, Reading Material. Critical to early modern thoughts on comprehension was “taking note,” a phrasing that carried the double implication of both noticing and annotating…
Childbirth Prayers in Medieval and Early Modern England: “For drede of perle that may be-falle”
Childbirth prayers and rituals from the medieval period and early modern era shall be analyzed and compared with childbirth prayers and rituals in post-Reformation England.
The art of medicine: Midwives and obstetric catastrophe: retrieving the past
For the historian, however, and for any healer with an eye for the human dimensions of medicine, the story has just begun. For Floreta is, in fact, the first known European midwife to be put on trial for the death of a mother in childbirth. Indeed, she is charged not with simple medical negligence, but with premeditated murder.
Fossils as Drugs: pharmaceutical palaeontology
The present paper surveys the medicinal applications of a number of fossils which were well known in classical, mediaeval and renaissance times….
“To all grave and modest matrons”: Practical Midwifery and Chirurgery in De conceptu et generatione hominis (1580)
If previous manuscripts offered helpful remedies to soothe women’s suffering, these new works studied reproduction for theoretical gain, not practical application.
Midwives, Medicine, and the Reproductive Female Body in Manosque, 1289-1500
Despite the significant role that midwives played in medieval society, surprisingly few studies have sought to discern who they were and what they did.
Mother, wife, temptress, virgin and tyrant: defining images of feminine power in medieval queenship and modern politics
Mother, wife, temptress, virgin and tyrant: defining images of feminine power in medieval queenship andmodern politics Curwen, Emma B.A. Thesis, Regis University, May (2009)…
Birgitta of Sweden and the Divine Mysteries of Motherhood
Birgitta of Sweden and the Divine Mysteries of Motherhood Stjerna, Kirsi Feminist Forum, 24, no. 1 (1997) Abstract St. Birgitta of Sweden is…
Gender, religion and society : a study of women and convent life in coptic orthodox Egypt
Gender, religion and society : a study of women and convent life in coptic orthodox Egypt Jeppson, Karolina M.A. Cultural Anthropology Thesis,Uppsala University,…
Women ben purifyid of her childeryn, the purification of women after childbirth in medieval England
This study of the purification of women after childbirth in medieval England undertakes two tasks. First, it recovers and documents the rite of post-partal purification, and the customs surrounding it, as it was practised in England
The Indexing Of Medieval Women: The Feminine Tradition Of Medical Wisdom In Anglo-Saxon England And The Metrical Charms
The Indexing Of Medieval Women: The Feminine Tradition Of Medical Wisdom In Anglo-Saxon England And The Metrical Charms Sanburn, Keri Elizabeth Master’s Thesis, Florida State…
Concepts of Childhood: What We Know and Where We Might Go
They have explored such issues, among others, as the varieties of European household structure; definitions of the stages of life; childbirth, wetnursing, and the role of the midwife; child abandonment and the foundling home; infanticide and its prosecution; apprenticeship, servitude, and fostering; the evolution of schooling; the consequences of religious diversification; and the impact of gender
The Professionalization of Midwifery in the Late Middle Ages
The unique role of women who practiced as assign midwives is neglected in the historical record of the late Middle Ages.
Byzantine attitudes towards foetuses, newborn babies and infants: a multidisciplinary approach
Looking at hagiographies, histories, legal codes and examples of material culture, there is a substantial quantity of evidence which exposes Byzantine perceptions of the lived experience of infants too.
Capturing the Wandering Womb: Childbirth in Medieval Art
In the Middle Ages, the event of childbirth was a process witnessed and experienced almost exclusively by women, as the birthing chamber was the only secular space from which men were systematically absent.