At one remove, the Virgin might be viewed as midwife through the miraculous
powers attributed to her "tunic"/veil given to Chartres in 876 by Charles the
Bald and still preserved there. It, and its late-medieval shrine, were both
invoked by those seeking aid in conceiving, and an easy childbirth. The
shrine used on occasion to be taken to the actual house where a suppliant was
in labor, and was believed to ward off complications, excessive pain, etc.
Elizabeth Parker McLachlan, Art History, Rutgers
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