Midwife Detective

I recently finished reading The Midwife's Tale by Sam Thomas, and it was a good story. I thought his descriptions of the midwife's activities might be insightful since lovely Renata in book 3 of our series will be apprenticed to a midwife. The time periods and the cultural background between the two differ, but the job, I believe, remains pretty much the same. What was most curious to me was the multiple roles played by a licensed midwife. First, she was helper, healer and educator to the pregnant woman. She not only delivered the baby but also provided pre-natal care and then taught the mother how to nurse and care for the child during the first few months. Second, the midwife, had a role in the baptism of the child. The mother, being confined to her home for 40 days after birth, could not attend the child's baptism, so the midwife carried the child to the church and told the priest what it's name would be. Of course, she likely consulted with the family about that. Thirdly, the midwife was an agent of the crown, at least in 1600's England, because it was her job to drag the name of the father out of an unwed mother. In fact, she may have refused her services until the name was revealed. Then the government could make the father pay child support so the burden of another mouth to feed did not fall upon the very limited social resources of the time. So midwife as private detective.... Too many cases in which she could not get the father's name and she may have had her license revoked.

Medieval beekeeping

Anyone interested in honey or bees should check out medieval beekeeping.  Just google that and the images that come up are incredible. 


The source I read tonight was a 10th century Byzantine agricultural work, the Geoponika.  In Sicily and the Roman world, Virgil's widely read work on agriculture would have been the source for any beekeeper, provided, of course, he or she could read Latin.


The Byzantine work indicates that beechwood, fig or Valonia (where is that?!) oak should be used for the hive and rubbed with ash and cow dung.  Ash - okay, cow dung - I just don't know about that ...


Basins of wine mixed with honey should be put out to feed young bees and the beekeeper should be sure to put leaves (the source says of savory, but I imagine any leaves will do) in the bowl so that the bees have something to crawl on and won't drown.


Honey should be harvested three times a year - in early May, summertime, and finally around October.  Of course, some honey needs to be left in the hive.


To avoid being stung, smoke was used.  The medieval images also show masks and protective clothing and also smearing oneself with the juice of the male wild mallow.  Do not ask me where that would grow or how to recognize male from female!

The Palio, contrade, medieval and modern mutual aid society and social club, Siena

Everyone knows about Siena's famous 90 second horse race, the Palio.  Who has been to Siena?  Who has seen the Palio raced?  There are 17 contrade or districts in Siena, and all of them have their own flags, symbols, saints, churches and organizations.  Like in the Vespers Trilogy, where the de Rogerios live in the Porta Patitellorum, one of Palermo's five districts, the Palio encompasses a fierce rivalry between the districts every August.


For the best source on this wild race, check out www.thepalio.com


As in medieval times, each contrade has its own organization.  It reminds me very much of my hometown, Chicago, whose wards and districts were under the supervision of an alderman.  The alderman knew every household, every street, and everything that went on in his district.  Italian contrade and Chicago wards function in exactly the same way - mutual aid society and social club.  Each contrade has its own church - all wards and districts have their own churches in Chicago.  When my mother was growing up, she would give directions by saying, go to such and such a parish.  If you were Methodist or Baptist, you were bewildered and SOL!