Alessandra Foscati – författare

Childbirth has long been a subject that defies easy historical investigation—elusive, painful, enveloped in modesty and mystery, and resistant to disclosure. This book outlines how childbirth was described and represented in the West from the Middle Ages through the early modern period to the seventeenth century, before the medicalisation of obstetrical practice and the emergence of clinics.Drawing on a wide and varied body of sources—including medical, legal, religious, and literary texts—the author reconstructs the practices associated with women in labour. As the focal point of collective attention, the parturient was surrounded by other women—a midwife, relatives, and neighbours—reflecting the strong female solidarity fostered by childbirth, while also being attended by men such as her husband, a priest, and, in later periods, a surgeon. Adopting a broad diachronic perspective, the book highlights both elements of long-term continuity and the most significant changes in the early modern period. The book is intended for a wide readership, while also serving the interests of scholars and students. Beyond those concerned with the history of childbirth, midwifery, and women, it will be relevant to readers engaged in the history of medicine, cultural anthropology, and cultural history.

Childbirth has long been a subject that defies easy historical investigation—elusive, painful, enveloped in modesty and mystery, and resistant to disclosure. This book outlines how childbirth was described and represented in the West from the Middle Ages through the early modern period to the seventeenth century, before the medicalisation of obstetrical practice and the emergence of clinics.Drawing on a wide and varied body of sources—including medical, legal, religious, and literary texts—the author reconstructs the practices associated with women in labour. As the focal point of collective attention, the parturient was surrounded by other women—a midwife, relatives, and neighbours—reflecting the strong female solidarity fostered by childbirth, while also being attended by men such as her husband, a priest, and, in later periods, a surgeon. Adopting a broad diachronic perspective, the book highlights both elements of long-term continuity and the most significant changes in the early modern period. The book is intended for a wide readership, while also serving the interests of scholars and students. Beyond those concerned with the history of childbirth, midwifery, and women, it will be relevant to readers engaged in the history of medicine, cultural anthropology, and cultural history.

After the discovery of the ergotism epidemics (poisoning caused by ingesting the fungal toxin of rye) and its etiology, eighteenth-century physicians interpreted medieval chronicles in their medical texts in order to recognize the occurrences of ergotic diseases through retrospective diagnosis. They assumed that St. Anthony's fire and ignis sacer (sacred fire) recorded in medieval texts represented the same disease, ergotism. This interpretative method, lacking a textual basis in the sources, has been incorrectly followed by historians till now. This book examines this historical prejudice through textual analysis, comparing diverse medieval and early modern sources. A striking semantic complexity emerges that changes the concept of St. Anthony's fire and modifies our understanding of diseases in general. This research illuminates aspects of the history of medicine, society, and hospitals.