Maternal Influences in the Medieval and Early Modern World
Maternal Influences in the Medieval and Early Modern World: Call for Participants
4 November 2019
Queen Mary University of London
We are seeking participants for a workshop on medieval and early modern motherhood. In recent years, scholarship has sought to illuminate motherhood in the medieval and early modern world as a distinct category of experience in the lives of women. This workshop will consider the various ways in which pre-modern motherhood was medicalised, moralised, theorised and visualised from conception and pregnancy through to childbirth, child-rearing and other ‘alternative’ ways of mothering.
Topics may include, but are not limited to:
- Rituals of motherhood such as churching or lying-in ceremonies
- Breastfeeding and infant feeding
- Midwives and mothers; wet-nurses and mothers
- Advice to mothers
- Women’s writings about motherhood
- Religion and motherhood (including saints and spiritual motherhood)
- Maternal authority, particularly over children
- Relationships between mothers and fathers
Abstracts of no more than 250 words should be sent to maternalinfluences@gmail.com by 14 June. Please indicate in your email whether you would like to present a traditional 20-minute paper or a 5-10-minute overview of your research. We especially welcome PhD students and ECRs.
If you have any questions, please contact Catherine Maguire (c.maguire@qmul.ac.uk) or Lauren Cantos (l.cantos@qmul.ac.uk).