1st Student's Major
Other Institution Department
1st Student's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Students' Professional Biography
Jenny Liang is a recent graduate of the University of Northwestern – St. Paul. Her book, “The Curtain Between Us,” will be published with the Potter’s Wheel Publishing House. In addition, she has published pieces with Inkstone literary magazine and has an undergraduate research piece in process of publication with the Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History. In her free time, Jenny enjoys composing and performing on the Chinese classical erhu.
Mentor's Name
Matthew Miller
Mentor's Email Address
mlmiller@unwsp.edu
Mentor's Department
Other Institution Department
Mentor's College
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Abstract
In a patriarchal society that elevated lineage through male heirs, children were great blessings. However, a long history of nightmarish parturition, namely the process of delivery, developed a systemized process steeped in trepidation, with rituals influenced by culture, tradition, and society alike. In this approach, European Renaissance childbirth, with Italy as a hearth, was a male-centric elevation of childrearing as a divine command. This pressure, combined with large age-gap marriages, ill health, and back-to-back pregnancies formed a highly lethal atmosphere.
As this paper argues, within the historical expanse of human reproduction, the Renaissance childbirth scene was made distinct by the societal desire for dominion over fertility and the trepidation of parturition by appealing to medieval tradition and patrilineal customs. This can be seen in several practices: cultivating specific rituals and objects to alleviate distress and provide comfort; continuing medical advancements through refuting ancient speculative methodology, advancing caesarean section, along with replacing midwives with male physicians; and controlling fertility through contraceptive and abortive mechanisms. These developments heralded from the devastation of the Black Plague, which served as the link between the sunset of the Medieval Age and dawn of the European Renaissance.
Recommended Citation
Liang, J. (2025). A thistle from the womb: The Renaissance experience of childbearing and its distinctive contributions to modern society. Journal of Undergraduate Research, 25(1) 133-175. https://doi.org/10.56816/2378-6949.1235
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