Divisions of Labor

Gender, Power, and Later Medieval Childbirth, c. 1200–1500

Bibliographic Data

ID12732197
AuthorsRebecca Wynne Johnson (Flint Community Schools, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume14
Issue9
Pages383-396
Publication date2016-09-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHistory Compass (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1478-0542 • E-ISSN: 1478-0542
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/hic3.12335
OpenAlexW2526283689
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited38

In the past generation, a substantial amount of scholarship has emerged in connection with the once‐neglected subject of childbirth in the later Middle Ages. While engaging with a wide variety of sources, its historians have shown a consistent interest in childbirth's role in gender relations that draws strength from contemporary debates in women's history and gender history. Over the past 30 years, their work has generally shifted from idealization of medieval childbirth as a realm of female autonomy to a more nuanced consideration of the roles and interests of men in the birthing chamber. However, the field remains fragmented, with scholars often reaching contrary conclusions depending on the sources they utilize. This article surveys academic work on later medieval childbirth published over the past three decades. It reviews research from five major areas of inquiry: medical practitioners and knowledge, secular and canon law, art and material history, texts and ritual, and miracle accounts. By way of conclusion, it considers both the prospects for reuniting these areas into a synthetic whole and the role gender might play in doing so

Autonomy · Childbirth · Field (mathematics · Idealization · Political science · Power (physics · Pregnancy · Realm · Scholarship · Sociology · Variety (cybernetics · Gender Studies · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · History · Law · Psychology · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity