Imagining the pain and peril of seventeenth-century childbirth: Travail and deliverance in the making of an early modern world

Social History of Medicine

Volumn 16, Issue 3, 2003, Pages 367-382

  Howard, Sharon ^a  

^a ABERYSTWYTH UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Childbirth; Civil Wars; England; Pain; Piety; Pregnancy; Providentialism; Spiritual autobiography; Torture; Women's writing

Indexed keywords

EID: 3843152547     PISSN: 0951631X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/shm/16.3.367     Document Type: Review

References (113)

1. The Autobiography of Mrs Alice Thornton of East Newton, Co. York, ed. by C. Jackson (Surtees Society, Edinburgh, 1875), p. 95. Published as a single volume in the nineteenth century, the memoirs originally consisted of three volumes covering Alice Thornton's life from the age of three years (1629) to the troubles that followed her husband's death in 1668. Additionally, she wrote yet another version, a 'Book of Remembrances' in a much shorter notebook form, which is extensively quoted in E. Graham et al. (eds), Her Own Life: Autobiographical Writings by Seventeenth-Century Englishwomen (London and New York, 1989), pp. 147-64.
2. The Autobiography of Mrs Alice Thornton of East Newton, Co. York, ed. by C. Jackson (Surtees Society, Edinburgh, 1875), p. 95. Published as a single volume in the nineteenth century, the memoirs originally consisted of three volumes covering Alice Thornton's life from the age of three years (1629) to the troubles that followed her husband's death in 1668. Additionally, she wrote yet another version, a 'Book of Remembrances' in a much shorter notebook form, which is extensively quoted in E. Graham et al. (eds), Her Own Life: Autobiographical Writings by Seventeenth-Century Englishwomen (London and New York, 1989), pp. 147-64.
3. See, for example, S. Mendelson, 'Stuart Women's Diaries and Occasional Memoirs', in M. Prior (ed.), Women in English Society 1500-1800 (London, 1985), 181-210, p. 196; P. Crawford, 'The Construction and Experience of Maternity in Seventeenth-century England', in V. Fildes (ed.), Women us Mothers in Pre-industrial England (London, 1990), 3-38, p. 21; L. A. Pollock, 'Embarking on a Rough Passage: The Experience of Pregnancy in Early Modern Society', in ibid., 39-67, pp. 46, 55; O. Hufton, The Prospect Before Her: A History of Women in Western Europe, Vol. 1, 1500-1800 (London, 1995), p. 182; A. Wilson, 'The Perils of Early Modern Procreation: Childbirth with or without Fear?', British Journal of Eighteenth Century Studies, 16 (1993), 1-19, pp. 9-12; Cressy, Birth, Marriage and Death: Ritual, Religion and the Life-cycle in Tudor and Stuart England (Oxford, 1997), pp. 17-18, 22.
4. See, for example, S. Mendelson, 'Stuart Women's Diaries and Occasional Memoirs', in M. Prior (ed.), Women in English Society 1500-1800 (London, 1985), 181-210, p. 196; P. Crawford, 'The Construction and Experience of Maternity in Seventeenth-century England', in V. Fildes (ed.), Women us Mothers in Pre-industrial England (London, 1990), 3-38, p. 21; L. A. Pollock, 'Embarking on a Rough Passage: The Experience of Pregnancy in Early Modern Society', in ibid., 39-67, pp. 46, 55; O. Hufton, The Prospect Before Her: A History of Women in Western Europe, Vol. 1, 1500-1800 (London, 1995), p. 182; A. Wilson, 'The Perils of Early Modern Procreation: Childbirth with or without Fear?', British Journal of Eighteenth Century Studies, 16 (1993), 1-19, pp. 9-12; Cressy, Birth, Marriage and Death: Ritual, Religion and the Life-cycle in Tudor and Stuart England (Oxford, 1997), pp. 17-18, 22.
5. See, for example, S. Mendelson, 'Stuart Women's Diaries and Occasional Memoirs', in M. Prior (ed.), Women in English Society 1500-1800 (London, 1985), 181-210, p. 196; P. Crawford, 'The Construction and Experience of Maternity in Seventeenth-century England', in V. Fildes (ed.), Women us Mothers in Pre-industrial England (London, 1990), 3-38, p. 21; L. A. Pollock, 'Embarking on a Rough Passage: The Experience of Pregnancy in Early Modern Society', in ibid., 39-67, pp. 46, 55; O. Hufton, The Prospect Before Her: A History of Women in Western Europe, Vol. 1, 1500-1800 (London, 1995), p. 182; A. Wilson, 'The Perils of Early Modern Procreation: Childbirth with or without Fear?', British Journal of Eighteenth Century Studies, 16 (1993), 1-19, pp. 9-12; Cressy, Birth, Marriage and Death: Ritual, Religion and the Life-cycle in Tudor and Stuart England (Oxford, 1997), pp. 17-18, 22.
6. See, for example, S. Mendelson, 'Stuart Women's Diaries and Occasional Memoirs', in M. Prior (ed.), Women in English Society 1500-1800 (London, 1985), 181-210, p. 196; P. Crawford, 'The Construction and Experience of Maternity in Seventeenth-century England', in V. Fildes (ed.), Women us Mothers in Pre-industrial England (London, 1990), 3-38, p. 21; L. A. Pollock, 'Embarking on a Rough Passage: The Experience of Pregnancy in Early Modern Society', in ibid., 39-67, pp. 46, 55; O. Hufton, The Prospect Before Her: A History of Women in Western Europe, Vol. 1, 1500-1800 (London, 1995), p. 182; A. Wilson, 'The Perils of Early Modern Procreation: Childbirth with or without Fear?', British Journal of Eighteenth Century Studies, 16 (1993), 1-19, pp. 9-12; Cressy, Birth, Marriage and Death: Ritual, Religion and the Life-cycle in Tudor and Stuart England (Oxford, 1997), pp. 17-18, 22.
7. See, for example, S. Mendelson, 'Stuart Women's Diaries and Occasional Memoirs', in M. Prior (ed.), Women in English Society 1500-1800 (London, 1985), 181-210, p. 196; P. Crawford, 'The Construction and Experience of Maternity in Seventeenth-century England', in V. Fildes (ed.), Women us Mothers in Pre-industrial England (London, 1990), 3-38, p. 21; L. A. Pollock, 'Embarking on a Rough Passage: The Experience of Pregnancy in Early Modern Society', in ibid., 39-67, pp. 46, 55; O. Hufton, The Prospect Before Her: A History of Women in Western Europe, Vol. 1, 1500-1800 (London, 1995), p. 182; A. Wilson, 'The Perils of Early Modern Procreation: Childbirth with or without Fear?', British Journal of Eighteenth Century Studies, 16 (1993), 1-19, pp. 9-12; Cressy, Birth, Marriage and Death: Ritual, Religion and the Life-cycle in Tudor and Stuart England (Oxford, 1997), pp. 17-18, 22.
8. See, for example, S. Mendelson, 'Stuart Women's Diaries and Occasional Memoirs', in M. Prior (ed.), Women in English Society 1500-1800 (London, 1985), 181-210, p. 196; P. Crawford, 'The Construction and Experience of Maternity in Seventeenth-century England', in V. Fildes (ed.), Women us Mothers in Pre-industrial England (London, 1990), 3-38, p. 21; L. A. Pollock, 'Embarking on a Rough Passage: The Experience of Pregnancy in Early Modern Society', in ibid., 39-67, pp. 46, 55; O. Hufton, The Prospect Before Her: A History of Women in Western Europe, Vol. 1, 1500-1800 (London, 1995), p. 182; A. Wilson, 'The Perils of Early Modern Procreation: Childbirth with or without Fear?', British Journal of Eighteenth Century Studies, 16 (1993), 1-19, pp. 9-12; Cressy, Birth, Marriage and Death: Ritual, Religion and the Life-cycle in Tudor and Stuart England (Oxford, 1997), pp. 17-18, 22.
9. Wilson, 'Perils of Procreation', p. 2.
10. See E. Scarry, The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World (Oxford, 1985), on the difficulties of expressing physical pain in language and the strategies used to overcome this.
11. Wilson, 'Perils of Procreation', p. 1; Mendelson, 'Stuart Women's Diaries', p. 197; L. A. Pollock, 'Childbearing and Female Bonding in Early Modern England', Social History, 22 (1997), 287-306, pp. 290-1.
12. Wilson, 'Perils of Procreation', p. 1; Mendelson, 'Stuart Women's Diaries', p. 197; L. A. Pollock, 'Childbearing and Female Bonding in Early Modern England', Social History, 22 (1997), 287-306, pp. 290-1.
13. Wilson, 'Perils of Procreation', p. 1; Mendelson, 'Stuart Women's Diaries', p. 197; L. A. Pollock, 'Childbearing and Female Bonding in Early Modern England', Social History, 22 (1997), 287-306, pp. 290-1.
14. R. Schofield, 'Did the Mothers Really Die? Three Centuries of Maternal Mortality in "The World We Have Lost'", in L. Bonfield et al., The World We Have Gained (Oxford, 1986), 230-60, pp. 259-60.
15. Wilson, 'The Perils of Procreation', p. 8.
16. H. Roodenburg, 'The Maternal Imagination. The Fears of Pregnant Women in Seventeenth-century Holland', Journal of Social History 21 (1988), 701-16, p. 703.
17. S. Clark, 'French Historians and Early Modern Popular Culture', Past and Present, 100 (1983), 62-99, pp. 73, 88.
18. T. Cosslett, Women Writing Childbirth: Modern Discourses of Motherhood (Manchester, 1994), p. 3.
19. See especially, E. Shorter, A History of Women's Bodies (New York, 1982).
20. Wilson, 'The Perils of Procreation', p. 14.
21. Recent studies have begun to explore the birth experiences of the less privileged, particularly through court records. See U. Rublack, 'Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Female Body in Early Modern Germany', Past and Present, 150 (1996), 84-110; L. Gowing, 'Secret Births and Infanticide in Seventeenth-century England', Past and Present, 156 (1997), 87-115, describes a very different set of meanings for birth from those explored here.
22. Recent studies have begun to explore the birth experiences of the less privileged, particularly through court records. See U. Rublack, 'Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Female Body in Early Modern Germany', Past and Present, 150 (1996), 84-110; L. Gowing, 'Secret Births and Infanticide in Seventeenth-century England', Past and Present, 156 (1997), 87-115, describes a very different set of meanings for birth from those explored here.
23. Thornton, Autobiography, preface.
24. Mendelson, 'Stuart Women's Diaries', p. 185.
25. A number of historians have questioned perceptions that English protestantism was the preserve of a godly 'élite' in opposition to a world of plebeian misrule. See, for example, E. Duffy, 'The Godly and the Multitude in Stuart England', The Seventeenth Century, 1 (1986), 31-55; P. Collinson, The Religion of Protestants: The Church in English Society, 1559-1625 (Oxford, 1982); A. Walsham, Providence in Early Modern England (Oxford, 1999), emphasizes that providentialism was widely shared across social ranks and confessional divides.
26. A number of historians have questioned perceptions that English protestantism was the preserve of a godly 'élite' in opposition to a world of plebeian misrule. See, for example, E. Duffy, 'The Godly and the Multitude in Stuart England', The Seventeenth Century, 1 (1986), 31-55; P. Collinson, The Religion of Protestants: The Church in English Society, 1559-1625 (Oxford, 1982); A. Walsham, Providence in Early Modern England (Oxford, 1999), emphasizes that providentialism was widely shared across social ranks and confessional divides.
27. A number of historians have questioned perceptions that English protestantism was the preserve of a godly 'élite' in opposition to a world of plebeian misrule. See, for example, E. Duffy, 'The Godly and the Multitude in Stuart England', The Seventeenth Century, 1 (1986), 31-55; P. Collinson, The Religion of Protestants: The Church in English Society, 1559-1625 (Oxford, 1982); A. Walsham, Providence in Early Modern England (Oxford, 1999), emphasizes that providentialism was widely shared across social ranks and confessional divides.
28. Thornton, Autobiography, p. 50.
29. Ibid., p. 51.
30. R. A. Houlbrooke, Death, Religion and the Family in England, 1480-1750 (Oxford, 1998), p. 183.
31. Thornton, Autobiography, p. 145.
32. Houlbrooke, Death, Religion and the Family, pp. 218-19.
33. D. Harley, 'The Theology of Affliction and the Experience of Sickness in the Godly Family, 1650-1714: The Henrys and the Newcomes', in O. P. Grell and A. Cunningham (eds), Religio Medici: Medicine and Religion in Seventeenth-century England (Aldershot, 1996), 273-92, p. 286.
34. J. Hensley (ed.), The Works of Anne Bradstreet (Cambridge, MA, 1967), p. 224; Wilson, 'Perils of Procreation', p. 6.
35. J. Hensley (ed.), The Works of Anne Bradstreet (Cambridge, MA, 1967), p. 224; Wilson, 'Perils of Procreation', p. 6.
36. Hensley (ed.), Works of Anne Bradstreet, p. 222.
37. Harley, 'Theology of Affliction', p. 286.
38. D. Hatley, 'Spiritual Physic, Providence and English Medicine, 1560-1640', in O. P. Grell and A. Cunningham (eds), Medicine and the Reformation (London, 1993), 101-19, p. 101. On illness and attitudes toward it, see also Harley, 'Theology of Affliction'; R. Anselment, The Realms of Apollo: Literature and Healing in Seventeenth-century England (Cranbury, NJ and London, 1995).
39. D. Hatley, 'Spiritual Physic, Providence and English Medicine, 1560-1640', in O. P. Grell and A. Cunningham (eds), Medicine and the Reformation (London, 1993), 101-19, p. 101. On illness and attitudes toward it, see also Harley, 'Theology of Affliction'; R. Anselment, The Realms of Apollo: Literature and Healing in Seventeenth-century England (Cranbury, NJ and London, 1995).
40. D. Hatley, 'Spiritual Physic, Providence and English Medicine, 1560-1640', in O. P. Grell and A. Cunningham (eds), Medicine and the Reformation (London, 1993), 101-19, p. 101. On illness and attitudes toward it, see also Harley, 'Theology of Affliction'; R. Anselment, The Realms of Apollo: Literature and Healing in Seventeenth-century England (Cranbury, NJ and London, 1995).
41. See Harley, 'Spiritual Physic' and 'Theology of Affliction'. Much of J. Sharp's The Midwives Book; Or the Whole Art of Midwify Discovered (1671), ed. by E. Hobby (Oxford, 1999), is devoted to detailing ways in which the discomforts of both pregnancy and birth may be alleviated.
42. See Harley, 'Spiritual Physic' and 'Theology of Affliction'. Much of J. Sharp's The Midwives Book; Or the Whole Art of Midwify Discovered (1671), ed. by E. Hobby (Oxford, 1999), is devoted to detailing ways in which the discomforts of both pregnancy and birth may be alleviated.
43. Genesis 3:1-16.
44. [T. Bentley], The Fift Lampe of Virginitie: Conteining Sundrie Forms of Christian Praiers and Meditations (London, 1582), p. 96.
45. Sharp, Midwives Book, pp. 129-33;
46. Thornton, Autobiography, p. 96.
47. 1 Tim. 2:14-15.
48. L. Roper, Oedipus and the Devil: Witchcraft, Sexuality and Religion in Early Modern Europe (London, 1994), pp. 18-19.
49. J. R. Knott, Discounts of Martyrdom in English Literature 1563-1694 (Cambridge, 1993); J. M. Mueller, 'Pain, Persecution and the Construction of Selfhood in Poxe's Acts and Monuments', in C. McEachern and D. Shuger (eds), Religion and Culture in Renaissance England (Cambridge, 1997), 161-87.
50. J. R. Knott, Discounts of Martyrdom in English Literature 1563-1694 (Cambridge, 1993); J. M. Mueller, 'Pain, Persecution and the Construction of Selfhood in Poxe's Acts and Monuments', in C. McEachern and D. Shuger (eds), Religion and Culture in Renaissance England (Cambridge, 1997), 161-87.
51. M. Chudleigh, 'On the Death of my Dear Daughter Eliza Maria Chudleigh', Poems on Several Occasions, Together with the Song of the Three Children Paraphras'd (London, 1703), p. 95.
52. R. E. Pritchard (ed.), Poems: a Modernized Edition (Keele, 1996), p. 161.
53. J. Bunyan, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (1666) (Menston, 1970), pp. 38, 41.
54. Knott, Discourses of Martyrdom, p. 193.
55. A. Collins, Divine Songs and Meditations (London, 1653), pp. 10-11.
56. British Library, Egerton MS 607, 'Devotional Pieces by Elizabeth, Countess of Bridgewater", fol. 31; see also fols 22v-49v, 65v-71r, 109v-111v.
57. Ibid., fols 25r-25v, 30r.
58. [Bentley], Fift Lamp of Virginitie, p. 115.
59. C. F. Otten, 'Women's Prayers in Childbirth in Sixteenth-century England', Women and Language, 16 (1993), 18-21.
60. C.B. Atkinson and W. P. Stoneman, '"These Griping Greefes and Pinching Pangs": Attitudes to Childbirth in Thomas Bentley's The Monument of Matrones (1582)', Sixteenth-century Journal, 21 (1990), 193-203, p. 197.
61. J. Cosin, A Collection of Private Devotions (1627), ed. by P. G. Stanwood (Oxford, 1967), pp. 287-8.
62. See J. H. Langbein, Torture and the Law of Proof (Chicago and London, 1976).
63. Thornton, Autobiography, p. 90. See Knott, Discourses of Martyrdom; Mueller, 'Pain, Persecution and Selfhood'.
64. Thornton, Autobiography, p. 90. See Knott, Discourses of Martyrdom; Mueller, 'Pain, Persecution and Selfhood'.
65. Thornton, Autobiography, p. 90. See Knott, Discourses of Martyrdom; Mueller, 'Pain, Persecution and Selfhood'.
66. Knott, Discourses of Martyrdom, pp. 55-9; E. V. Beilin, Redeeming Eve: Women Writers of the English Renaissance (Princeton, 1987), ch. 2.
67. Knott, Discourses of Martyrdom, pp. 55-9; E. V. Beilin, Redeeming Eve: Women Writers of the English Renaissance (Princeton, 1987), ch. 2.
68. J. Foxe, Actes and Monuments of Matters Most Speciall and Memorable (London, 1610), pp. 1129-30.
69. Mueller, 'Pain, Persecution and Selfhood', p. 162; Scarry, Body in Pain, ch. 1. See also E. Hanson, 'Torture and Truth in Renaissance England', Representations, 34 (1991), 53-84;
70. Mueller, 'Pain, Persecution and Selfhood', p. 162; Scarry, Body in Pain, ch. 1. See also E. Hanson, 'Torture and Truth in Renaissance England', Representations, 34 (1991), 53-84;
71. Mueller, 'Pain, Persecution and Selfhood', p. 162; Scarry, Body in Pain, ch. 1. See also E. Hanson, 'Torture and Truth in Renaissance England', Representations, 34 (1991), 53-84;
72. P. Lake and M. Questier, 'Agency, Appropriation and Rhetoric Under the Gallows: Puritans, Romanists and the State in Early Modern England', Past and Present, 153 (1996), 64-107. (These latter two articles also serve as a reminder that the discourses of martyrdom were not the exclusive property of protestants.)
73. Knott, Discourses of Martyrdom, pp. 8, 9.
74. Ibid., p. 15.
75. Time is also quite precisely delineated in the account, and a number of seventeenth-century accounts of particularly difficult and painful births, while less striking in their descriptions of the pain itself, pay considerable attention to its duration. See, for example, 'Mrs Elizabeth Freke her Diary, 1671-1714', Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, 27 (1911), p. 4 ; The Diary of Ralph Josselin 1616-1683, ed. by A. Macfarlane, British Records of Social and Economic History, n.s. 3 (1976), p. 415.
76. Time is also quite precisely delineated in the account, and a number of seventeenth-century accounts of particularly difficult and painful births, while less striking in their descriptions of the pain itself, pay considerable attention to its duration. See, for example, 'Mrs Elizabeth Freke her Diary, 1671-1714', Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, 27 (1911), p. 4 ; The Diary of Ralph Josselin 1616-1683, ed. by A. Macfarlane, British Records of Social and Economic History, n.s. 3 (1976), p. 415.
77. Cosslett, Women Writing Childbirth, pp. 140-1.
78. Mueller, 'Pain, Persecution and Selfhood', p. 180.
79. Most recently and extensively, Walsham, Providence in Early Modern England . See also K. Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic (Harmondsworth, 1973), ch. 4 ; B. Worden, 'Providence and Politics in Cromwellian England', Past and Present, 109 (1985), 55-99 ; J. Spurr, '"Virtue, Religion and Government": the Anglican Uses of Providence', in T. Harris et al (eds), The Politics of Religion in Restoration England (Oxford, 1990), 29-47 ; Harley, 'Spiritual Physic' ; M. Gaskill, Crimes and Mentalities in Early Modem England (Cambridge, 2000), ch. 6.
80. Most recently and extensively, Walsham, Providence in Early Modern England . See also K. Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic (Harmondsworth, 1973), ch. 4 ; B. Worden, 'Providence and Politics in Cromwellian England', Past and Present, 109 (1985), 55-99 ; J. Spurr, '"Virtue, Religion and Government": the Anglican Uses of Providence', in T. Harris et al (eds), The Politics of Religion in Restoration England (Oxford, 1990), 29-47 ; Harley, 'Spiritual Physic' ; M. Gaskill, Crimes and Mentalities in Early Modem England (Cambridge, 2000), ch. 6.
81. Most recently and extensively, Walsham, Providence in Early Modern England . See also K. Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic (Harmondsworth, 1973), ch. 4 ; B. Worden, 'Providence and Politics in Cromwellian England', Past and Present, 109 (1985), 55-99 ; J. Spurr, '"Virtue, Religion and Government": the Anglican Uses of Providence', in T. Harris et al (eds), The Politics of Religion in Restoration England (Oxford, 1990), 29-47 ; Harley, 'Spiritual Physic' ; M. Gaskill, Crimes and Mentalities in Early Modem England (Cambridge, 2000), ch. 6.
82. Most recently and extensively, Walsham, Providence in Early Modern England . See also K. Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic (Harmondsworth, 1973), ch. 4 ; B. Worden, 'Providence and Politics in Cromwellian England', Past and Present, 109 (1985), 55-99 ; J. Spurr, '"Virtue, Religion and Government": the Anglican Uses of Providence', in T. Harris et al (eds), The Politics of Religion in Restoration England (Oxford, 1990), 29-47 ; Harley, 'Spiritual Physic' ; M. Gaskill, Crimes and Mentalities in Early Modem England (Cambridge, 2000), ch. 6.
83. Most recently and extensively, Walsham, Providence in Early Modern England . See also K. Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic (Harmondsworth, 1973), ch. 4 ; B. Worden, 'Providence and Politics in Cromwellian England', Past and Present, 109 (1985), 55-99 ; J. Spurr, '"Virtue, Religion and Government": the Anglican Uses of Providence', in T. Harris et al (eds), The Politics of Religion in Restoration England (Oxford, 1990), 29-47 ; Harley, 'Spiritual Physic' ; M. Gaskill, Crimes and Mentalities in Early Modem England (Cambridge, 2000), ch. 6.
84. Most recently and extensively, Walsham, Providence in Early Modern England . See also K. Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic (Harmondsworth, 1973), ch. 4 ; B. Worden, 'Providence and Politics in Cromwellian England', Past and Present, 109 (1985), 55-99 ; J. Spurr, '"Virtue, Religion and Government": the Anglican Uses of Providence', in T. Harris et al (eds), The Politics of Religion in Restoration England (Oxford, 1990), 29-47 ; Harley, 'Spiritual Physic' ; M. Gaskill, Crimes and Mentalities in Early Modem England (Cambridge, 2000), ch. 6.
85. Walsham, Providence in Early Modern England, p. 3.
86. Mendelson, 'Stuart Women's Diaries', p. 186.
87. J. E. Booty (ed.), The Book of Common Prayer 1559: The Elizabethan Prayer Book (Charlottesville, 1976), pp. 314-15.
88. Cressy, Birth, Marriage and Death, pp. 27-8 ; and see idem, Bonfires and Bells: National Memory and the Protestant Calendar in Elizabethan and Stuart England (London, 1989) . On nationalistic providential interpretations of the 'deliverance' from the Gunpowder Plot, see also Walsham, Providence in Early Modern England, pp. 243-50.
89. Cressy, Birth, Marriage and Death, pp. 27-8 ; and see idem, Bonfires and Bells: National Memory and the Protestant Calendar in Elizabethan and Stuart England (London, 1989) . On nationalistic providential interpretations of the 'deliverance' from the Gunpowder Plot, see also Walsham, Providence in Early Modern England, pp. 243-50.
90. Cressy, Birth, Marriage and Death, pp. 27-8 ; and see idem, Bonfires and Bells: National Memory and the Protestant Calendar in Elizabethan and Stuart England (London, 1989) . On nationalistic providential interpretations of the 'deliverance' from the Gunpowder Plot, see also Walsham, Providence in Early Modern England, pp. 243-50.
91. L. Hutchinson, Memoirs of the Life of Colonel Hutchinson (Oxford, 1973), p. 86.
92. Thornton, Autobiography, p. 1.
93. Ibid., p. 3.
94. Ibid., pp. 45-7.
95. Ibid., pp. 222-3.
96. See Harley, 'Spiritual Physic', p. 103, on condemnations of the 'tendency to judge others on the basis of their afflictions'.
97. Beilin, Redeeming Eve, pp. xx-xxii; E. Hobby, Virtue of Necessity: English Women's Writing 1646-1688 (London, 1988), pp. 26-75, on the impetus and justification that piety and religious duty provided for sixteenth- and seventeenth-century women writers.
98. Beilin, Redeeming Eve, pp. xx-xxii; E. Hobby, Virtue of Necessity: English Women's Writing 1646-1688 (London, 1988), pp. 26-75, on the impetus and justification that piety and religious duty provided for sixteenth- and seventeenth-century women writers.
99. R. Gagnier, Subjectivities: A History of Self-Representation in Britain, 1832-1920 (Oxford, 1991), p. 7.
100. Alice Thornton, it should be remembered, never wrote 'an autobiography' (see n. 1 above). Her nineteenth-century editor, consciously or otherwise, succeeded in drawing attention to this, even though he chose to create a single chronological narrative from the three manuscript volumes: he frequently juxtaposed versions of the same events from different volumes, bringing to view revisions and changes of emphasis, an ongoing writing process. For example, Thornton, Autobiography, pp. 146-7, cf. main text and footnote.
101. M. J. Ezell, Writing Women's Literary History (Baltimore & London, 1993), pp. 34-5.
102. On the power of prayer, see Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, pp. 133-46.
103. See, for example, Elizabeth Jekyll and Isabella Twysden: E. Clarke, 'Elizabeth Jekyll's Spiritual Diary: Private Manuscript or Political Document', in P. Beal and M. J. Ezell (eds), Writings by Early Modern Women (London, 2000), 218-37; F. W. Bennitt (ed.), 'The Diary of Isabella Twysden, Wife of Sir Roger Twysden, Baronet, of Royden Hall, East Peckham, 1645-1651', Archaeologia Cantiana, 51 (1939), 113-36.
104. See, for example, Elizabeth Jekyll and Isabella Twysden: E. Clarke, 'Elizabeth Jekyll's Spiritual Diary: Private Manuscript or Political Document', in P. Beal and M. J. Ezell (eds), Writings by Early Modern Women (London, 2000), 218-37; F. W. Bennitt (ed.), 'The Diary of Isabella Twysden, Wife of Sir Roger Twysden, Baronet, of Royden Hall, East Peckham, 1645-1651', Archaeologia Cantiana, 51 (1939), 113-36.
105. Wilson, 'Ceremony of Childbirth' ; Cressy, Birth, Marriage and Death, ch. 4.
106. Wilson, 'Ceremony of Childbirth' ; Cressy, Birth, Marriage and Death, ch. 4.
107. Rublack, 'Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Female Body'.
108. Thornton, Autobiography, pp. 259-60. For the developing power struggle with Anne Danvers, see pp. 167, 221-39, 255-60.
109. Thornton, Autobiography, pp. 259-60. For the developing power struggle with Anne Danvers, see pp. 167, 221-39, 255-60.
110. See, for example, Anne Halkett: J. Loftis (ed.), Memoirs of Anne, Lady Halket and Anne, Lady Fanshawe (Oxford, 1981).
111. Roper, Oedipus and the Devil, p. 17.
112. B. Duden, The Woman Beneath the Skin: A Doctor's Patients in Eighteenth-century Germany (Cambridge, MA and London, 1991), p. 6.
113. Scarry, Body in Pain, p. 22.