A Wet Nurse Debate: Jews, Christians, and Later Medieval “Racism”
In: Medieval EncountersSearch for other papers by Irven M. Resnick in
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Abstract
It is clear that medieval Jews employed Christian wet nurses, as well as other Christian domestic servants, and that ecclesiastical condemnations did not prevail against social and economic interests. In Etsi Judeos Pope Innocent III, who had earlier complained loudly that Jews across France are unscrupulous usurers, thieves, blasphemers, and secret murderers of Christians, added the unsubstantiated complaint that “on the day of the Lord’s Resurrection,” i.e., Easter, after they have received the Eucharist, “the Jews make these women,” that is, Christian wet nurses, “pour their milk into the latrine for three days before they again give suck to the children.”
This paper surveys both the ecclesiastical and medical or natural-philosophical sources that contributed to a protracted medieval debate over maternal nursing versus the employment of wet nurses; examines Innocent III’s allegation that Jews force their Christian wet nurses to pour out their milk for three days after having received communion, and its novel implications; investigates complaints of cross-confessional nursing (whether of Christians nursing Jewish infants, or Jewish or Muslim wet nurses in Christian households); and explores a shift in later medieval and early modern Christian texts away from concerns over Christian wet nurses caring for Jewish infants toward racialized fears of Jewish women nursing Christian children.
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| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
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| Abstract Views | 337 | 337 | 24 |
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| PDF Views & Downloads | 97 | 97 | 9 |
A Wet Nurse Debate: Jews, Christians, and Later Medieval “Racism”
In: Medieval EncountersSearch for other papers by Irven M. Resnick in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
It is clear that medieval Jews employed Christian wet nurses, as well as other Christian domestic servants, and that ecclesiastical condemnations did not prevail against social and economic interests. In Etsi Judeos Pope Innocent III, who had earlier complained loudly that Jews across France are unscrupulous usurers, thieves, blasphemers, and secret murderers of Christians, added the unsubstantiated complaint that “on the day of the Lord’s Resurrection,” i.e., Easter, after they have received the Eucharist, “the Jews make these women,” that is, Christian wet nurses, “pour their milk into the latrine for three days before they again give suck to the children.”
This paper surveys both the ecclesiastical and medical or natural-philosophical sources that contributed to a protracted medieval debate over maternal nursing versus the employment of wet nurses; examines Innocent III’s allegation that Jews force their Christian wet nurses to pour out their milk for three days after having received communion, and its novel implications; investigates complaints of cross-confessional nursing (whether of Christians nursing Jewish infants, or Jewish or Muslim wet nurses in Christian households); and explores a shift in later medieval and early modern Christian texts away from concerns over Christian wet nurses caring for Jewish infants toward racialized fears of Jewish women nursing Christian children.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 337 | 337 | 24 |
| Full Text Views | 37 | 37 | 4 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 97 | 97 | 9 |
