Raising the Tudors

For the vast majority of women in sixteenth-century England, motherhood was more than a choice. Tobecome a mother was a duty to one's husband, an expectation by society, and a defining facet of herfemininity and value to the world in which she lived. In a time when nearly all women were expectedand encouraged to have children, and raise them according to strict religious and societal standards, therole of motherhood was arguably one of the most important and discussed topics by females of theTudor period. Many of them spent half their lives conceiving, bearing, and raising children - whether tojoin the humble ranks of workers, to inherit grand lands and titles, or even to sit upon the throne ofEngland. Sixteenth-century mothers across social ranks were connected by the societal pressures,judgments, and expectations placed upon them - but what did the job of mothering actually entail? 'Raising the Tudors' explores the life of the sixteenth-century woman - from the onset of fertility inadolescence through the end of her childbearing years. From the prevailing medical theory of the fourhumours to the way Tudor physicians understood female reproductive anatomy and the process ofconception, from the societal and romantic ideals of marriage to the experience of pregnancy andthetravails of childbirth. It uncovers the role of the Tudor mother and the bonds she shared with herchildren through all stages of life - through infancy and toddlerhood, into adolescence and adulthood. Itquestions how she engaged with her children - how she cared for, taught, disciplined, and played withthem. And finally, it examines her role in her adult children's - and their children's - lives and how herresponsibilities and identities shifted as she aged. This book offers a comprehensive, thought-provoking,and at times sentimentally relatable view of the Tudor woman as she has never quite been viewedbefore. This is the story of motherhood in sixteenth-century England.