English Birth Girdles : Devotions for Women in Travell of Childe / Mary Morse.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Morse, Mary, author.

Series:

Research in Medieval and Early Modern Culture Series

Research in Medieval and Early Modern Culture Series ; Volume 38

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Devotional objects.

Parturition--Philosophy.

Parturition.

England--Social life and customs--1066-1485.

England.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (482 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Berlin, Germany : Walter de Gruyter GmbH, [2024]

Summary:

"In medieval England, women in labor wrapped birth girdles around their abdomens to protect themselves and their unborn children. These parchment or paper rolls replicated the "girdle relics" of the Virgin Mary and other saints loaned to queens and noblewomen, extending childbirth protection to women of all classes. This book examines the texts and images of nine English birth girdles produced between the reigns of Richard II and Henry VIII. Cultural artifacts of lay devotion within the birthing chamber, the birth girdles offered the solace and promise of faith to the parturient woman and her attendants amid religious dissent, political upheaval, recurring epidemics, and the onset of print." -- From back cover.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Acknowledgements

Contents

List of Illustrations

Introduction

Chapter 1 Philadelphia, Redemptorist Archives, olim Esopus

Chapter 2 London, British Library, Harley Charter 43.A.14

Chapter 3 New Haven, Yale University, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Takamiya Depository, Takamiya MS 56

Chapter 4 New Haven, Yale University, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Beinecke MS 410

Chapter 5 New York, Morgan Library & Museum, Glazier MS 39

Chapter 6 London, British Library, Additional MS 88929 (Prince Henry’s roll)

Chapter 7 London, British Library, Harley Roll T.11

Chapter 8 London, Wellcome Collection, Wellcome MS 632

Chapter 9 London, British Library, STC 14547.5

Conclusion From Orthodoxy to Heresy

Appendix 1 Two Childbirth Units in the Birth Girdles

Appendix 2 New Haven, Yale University, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Takamiya Depository, Takamiya MS 56

Appendix 3 New Haven, Yale University, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Beinecke MS 410

Appendix 4 London, British Library, STC 14547.5

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 401-452) and index.

ISBN:

1-5015-1390-7

OCLC:

1463359530