Introduction to the special issue mothers and fathers in medieval and early modern Europe

Abstract

This special issue explores lives and experiences of mothers and fathers from across medieval and early modern Europe, c.1000 to 1800. It investigates mothers and fathers from a parent-focused perspective, rather than one that concentrates on how parenting affected the child. This introduction briefly sketches the historiography of parenting and provides our definition of ‘parent’ for the purposes of this special issue. It then considers the innovative ways that this issue’s contributors utilise sources, and what these sources can reveal about the social status of medieval and early modern parents. Overall, this issue argues that mothering and fathering were not just caregiving labour. Motherhood and fatherhood were also cultural identities which provided status and significance in wider society.