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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Not necessarily a head! Any limb. Especially in a “breeches” presentation, the survival of the baby (and indeed of the mother) was problematic. However, if the extruded foot or hand was baptised, then the child became a Christian and was deemed saved even if it was dead when finally born (strangled by the umbilical cord was not unusual). Additionally, I believe there was provision for baptising the child in a gender neuter name if it’s sex was not obvious. ‘they were given neuter names such as Vitalis, Creature, Chylde-of-God.’ The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, ed. E.G. Withycombe. 3rd ed. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977.) And this could be done by the mid-wife or indeed any competent woman in the birthing chamber. It was the one exception to the masculine sacerdotal monopoly – and one of the reasons that mid-wives could be viewed with suspicion. Brenda M C From: Thomas Izbicki Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2015 8:51 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [M-R] baptism medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Even a head protruding from the womb could be baptized. Manuals for pastors often included such instructions. I can share some information on this later today. Tom Izbicki -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: subscribe medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: unsubscribe medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/medieval-religion