What was the Best for an Infant from the Middle Ages to Early Modern Times in Europe?: The Discussion Concerning Wet Nurses

Abstract

ho was the appropriate woman to care for a nursing infant: the wet nurse or the biological mother? This was a very important question for parents in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Times. Parents found themselves amidst the conflict of theological and medical views and their own opinions concerning thoughtful baby care. These opinions might have been influenced by books about childcare especially addressed to parents in their language, marriage guides, or variously formulated statements in several other treatises. The following presents preliminary results of a larger research-project focussing wet nurses in the German-speaking Europe. W