@article{Delimata-Proch_2015, title={Ciąża, poród oraz połóg w świetle polskich ksiąg cudów i łask (od średniowiecza do XVIII w.)}, volume={63}, url={https://journals.iaepan.pl/khkm/article/view/860}, abstractNote={<p><span style="left: 107.46px; top: 815.41px; font-family: serif; font-size: 14.16px; transform: scaleX(0.995381);">PREGNANCY, CHILDBIRTH AND CONFINEMENT IN THE LIGHT OF POLISH BOOKS </span><span style="left: 186.16px; top: 832.62px; font-family: serif; font-size: 14.16px; transform: scaleX(0.987982);">OF MIRACLES (FROM THE MIDDLE AGES TO THE 18TH C.)</span></p> <p><span style="left: 123.5px; top: 880.44px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.955625);">The author used a previously unexplored type of source, namely mediaeval and early</span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 899.66px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(1.02777);">-modern books of miracles, to study the topic of diffi</span><span style="left: 434.14px; top: 899.66px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(1.03233);">cult childbirth and the condition of the </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 918.87px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(1.01726);">mother and child, at the same time formulating a number of research problems. The material </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 938.09px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.985859);">proved very informative; for instance, the analysis and the chart included in the article (table 1) show<span style="left: 93.5px; top: 105.28px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.995253);">s how that mothers were considered in need of supernatural intervention twice as often as new-</span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 123.95px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.999894);">born babies. </span><span style="left: 123.5px; top: 142.62px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.993635);">The analysis of cases of pregnancy and childbirth described in books of miracles revealed </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 161.28px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(1.01859);">that delivery complications were much more frequent than post-natal complications or preg</span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 179.95px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(1.01006);">nancy problems (table 2). The author also attempted to identify some of the ailments referred </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 198.62px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(1.02095);">to, although this proved to be possible in a limited number of cases, due to the character and </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 217.29px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.985958);">purpose of the texts in question. Nevertheless, miracle books testify to cases of puerperal fever, </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 235.95px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.999847);">toxaemia and intrauterine infections. </span><span style="left: 123.5px; top: 254.62px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(1.0002);">The examined books of miracles contain data on live births and stillbirths (table 3). Their </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 273.29px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(1.00546);">analysis showed that over 1/3 of babies delivered with some complications died. It is diffi</span><span style="left: 660.63px; top: 273.29px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(1.02756);">cult </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 291.95px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(1.00118);">to judge whether the alleged miracles involved cases of real death or misdiagnosis. Due to the </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 310.62px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(1.01014);">character of the source, we also do not know what (if any) methods were used to revive new-</span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 329.28px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.983766);">born babies. It is certain, however, that some women in labour were attended by physicians and </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 347.95px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.994142);">midwives, or experienced women, who probably followed established routines. If those failed, </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 366.62px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.993231);">they prayed for a miracle to the Holy Virgin, Jesus or saints, and instructed the woman and her </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 385.28px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.999755);">relatives to make vows and offerings.</span><span style="left: 123.5px; top: 403.95px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.943126);">Miracle books rarely mentioned the sex of the newly-born (table 4); nevertheless, their </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 422.61px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.984856);">authors primarily noted the birth or complications connected with the birth of boys (16 cases of </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 441.28px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.9854);">boys and 4 of girls in the material examined). The data are not suffi</span><span style="left: 510.07px; top: 441.28px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.988971);">cient to support a claim that </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 459.95px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.944933);">parents were more concerned with boys than with girls, since prayers for intervention were </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 478.62px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(1.02326);">usually started during the labour, when the sex of the child was still unknown. The discrep</span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 497.28px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.926141);">ancy should rather be attributed to the fact that the birth of a boy was more often noted by </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 515.95px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.99688);">writers, which resulted from the parents’ pride in having a son.</span><span style="left: 123.5px; top: 534.62px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(1.00544);">The area of research is further extended to cover issues of parental love, refl</span><span style="left: 603.64px; top: 534.62px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(1.0128);">ected among </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 553.28px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.981166);">other things, in parents’ fear of “children’s limbo” (</span><span style="left: 414.1px; top: 553.2px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.978169);">limbus infantium</span><span style="left: 520.37px; top: 553.28px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.978762);">) if a baby dies unbaptized, </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 571.95px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.966069);">as well as of family and marital links. In connection with the fi</span><span style="left: 473.65px; top: 571.95px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.955624);"> rst issue, the analysis has revealed </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 590.62px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(1.00032);">that parents did not always show despair when their child was stillborn or died just after birth. </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 609.28px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.976024);">Mothers were sometimes greatly worried about their own life and health, which might have also </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 627.95px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.932479);">been a sign of concern for their living children, who were in danger of losing their mother. </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 646.61px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(1.02469);">Fathers, on the other hand, fi</span><span style="left: 276.11px; top: 646.61px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(1.03834);">rst of all tried to help their wives who were in labour, not their </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 665.28px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.99964);">children whom they did not yet know. </span><span style="left: 123.5px; top: 683.95px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.97754);">Furthermore, the article refl</span><span style="left: 290.98px; top: 683.95px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.965538);"> ects on votive gestures recorded in books of miracles. The most </span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 702.61px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.998134);">common ones were: prayers, thanksgiving pilgrimages, promises of sacrifi</span><span style="left: 560.55px; top: 702.61px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(1.00341);"> ce and votive offer</span><span style="left: 93.5px; top: 721.28px; font-family: serif; font-size: 15.83px; transform: scaleX(0.999773);">ings of material and sentimental value. </span></span></p>}, number={3}, journal={Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej}, author={Delimata-Proch, Małgorzata}, year={2015}, month={sty.}, pages={433–449} }