 | Ritual and Conflict: The Social Relations of Childbirth in Early Modern England Subjects: Humanities; History; British History; Early Modern History 1500-1750; Women''s & Gender History; History of Medicine; Social & Cultural History; This book places childbirth in early-modern England within a wider network of social institutions and relationships. Starting with illegitimacy - the violation of the marital norm - it proceeds through marriage to the wider gender-order and so to the 'ceremony of childbirth', the popular ritual through which women collectively controlled this, the pivotal event in their lives. Focussing on the seventeenth century, but ranging from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, this study offers a new viewpoint on such themes as the patriarchal family, the significance of illegitimacy, and the structuring of gender-relations in the period. Adrian Wilson is Senior Lecturer in History of Medicine at the School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science, University of Leeds, UK. |
