Infertility in Early Modern England

2017
ISBN: 978-1-137-47667-8
Verlag: Palgrave Macmillan UK

Buch, Englisch, 196 Seiten, HC runder Rücken kaschiert, Format (B × H): 153 mm x 216 mm, Gewicht: 3796 g

Reihe: Early Modern History: Society and Culture

This book explores the experiences of people who struggled with fertility problems in sixteenth and seventeenth-century England. Motherhood was central to early modern women’s identity and was even seen as their path to salvation. To a lesser extent, fatherhood played an important role in constructing proper masculinity. When childbearing failed this was seen not only as a medical problem but as a personal emotional crisis. Infertility in Early Modern England highlights the experiences of early modern infertile couples: their desire for children, the social stigmas they faced, and the ways that social structures and religious beliefs gave meaning to infertility. It also describes the methods of treating fertility problems, from home-remedies to water cures. Offering a multi-faceted view, the book demonstrates the centrality of religion to every aspect of early modern infertility, from understanding to treatment. It also highlights the ways in which infertility unsettled the social order by placing into question the gendered categories of femininity and masculinity.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Oren-Magidor, Daphna

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Gender Studies, Geschlechtersoziologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder England, UK, Irland: Regional & Stadtgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: Experiencing Infertility.- Chapter 3: Explaining Infertility.- Chapter 4: Infertility and Society.- Chapter 5: Treating Infertility.- Chapter 6: Conclusion.- Bibliography.- Index

Über Autor(innen)

Daphna Oren-Magidor is Postdoctoral Fellow at the Martin Buber Society of Fellows at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, where she is working on the histories of gender, sexuality, medicine and the family in Early Modern England.