Pregnancy and childbirth are life-changing events, but even with the best medical care, they are not without risk. For Medieval women, childbirth was even more precarious, and they relied on a combination of prayer, protective amulets and community in combination with the expertise of the midwife to deliver mother and newborn safely.
Wellcome MS.362(view in catalogue) is a 500-year-old medieval birth scroll, an example of a textual amulet that was used for divine protection during childbirth. This remarkable 3-metre-long, ribbon of rolled parchment has survived centuries of handling and physical manipulation in rituals of prayer and healing. It has been the focus of intense emotions, from hope and fear to sorrow or joy.
In this series of articles, 21st-century people respond to their encounters with this fragile link to the past. For the researcher privileged to handle it for themselves, the Medievalist who explains its significance for Medieval communities, the 21st century mother who understood that the birth room could be a battlefield and the artist who related it to the modern experience of infertility, the conservator who now protects the protective amulet, this curious object still has the power to evoke strong emotions.
