𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗟𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗲𝘅𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀, 𝗰. 𝟯𝟬𝟬–𝟭𝟰𝟬𝟬 Edited by Kirsty Bolton, and Lauren Sisson

Info: https://bit.ly/430z5u0 From Eve to Mary to Eleanor of Aquitaine, and many others, medieval depictions of mothers in literature and historical record reveal the significance of conceptions and performances of motherhood during the Middle Ages. Discourses surrounding mothers, maternity, and motherhood during the medieval period were complicated and had far-reaching implications in all areas of medieval life. Drawing upon medieval literature, politics, medicine, and religion, this book explores the importance of mothers and motherhood to every facet of medieval society. Throughout the volume, each chapter illuminates a particular mother or act of maternity, coming together to show how literature elucidates mothers and motherhood as integral to the construction of societies and cultures spanning across the length of the medieval period in the West. Together, the diversity of the topics addressed in each of the essays contributes a rich and intricate portrait of the theme which unites them: motherhood in the medieval world. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction: Motherhood in the Medieval World Part 1: Encountering Motherhood Bradley Phillis, Richilde of Hainaut, Motherhood, and the Historiography of the Flemish Civil War of 1071 Diana Myers, Best Mom Ever: Defining the Maternal Sanctity of St. Anne in High Medieval Liturgy Part 2: Maternal Identities in Religious Context Mary Hitchman, Martyred Mothers: Augustine’s Sermons on Perpetua and Felicitas Harley Campbell, Eve (Un)Bound: Bounding the Maternal Body in the Middle English Lives of Adam and Eve Part 3: Maternal Bodies Dana Oswald, Pregnancy and Knowledge in the Old English Medical Tradition Kaitlin Sager, Physiognomy and Filiation in Coudrette's Roman de Mélusine Lauren Sisson, Consuming Mothers, Incorporated Sons Part 4: Questioning Maternity Sara Ameri, Undecidable Borders: The Readerly Construction of Julian of Norwich’s Motherhood Kirsty Bolton, Guinevere’s Lack of Maternity in Arthurian Literature Index #medieval #IMC2026 #motherhood #genderstudies #womenstudies