outlined in the first part of the chapter reveals the value system of medieval
Jews. We will examine one additional and rather extraordinary facet of this
question—the killing of children during times of persecution in sanctification
of the name of God.
A Different Mode of AbandonmentWe have witnessed the competing interests that could obstruct parental love
and devotion and at times endanger children. Because women gave birth and
because care of young children was the mothers’ responsibility, many of the
instances discussed above had to do with neglect or lack of care on the moth-
ers’ part. These competing interests may be illuminated by examining another,
very different category of actions.
Some scholars who have discussed maternal “cruelty” in medieval Christian
society have not limited their study to infanticide practices, but also to the cases
of mothers who wished to enter convents and abandoned their children, either
to relatives or elsewhere. Some suggested that this willingness to leave children
so the mothers could enter a holier way of life was additional proof that me-
dieval parents did not care for their children.^122 In two studies on women and
motherhood written during the last decade, Clarissa Atkinson and Barbara
Newman have suggested a different way of looking at such cases. They have
argued that mothers who left their children in order to enter a convent, or even
expressed joy at the death of their children, did not do so out of cruelty. Rather,
they saw their sacrifice as a way of advancing their spirituality. Martyrs such as
St. Felicitas and St. Perpetua, who preferred martyrdom even when they were
forced to abandon their nursing infants, served as role models and sources of
encouragement. Three additional figures that were popular in medieval Ger-
many were St. Julita, St. Felicitas, and St. Symphorosa (fig. 9). They are almost
mythological figures, each of whom was killed with a number of infants.^123
Biblical models were also called upon in this context. The Virgin Mary, who
sacrificed her son, was one, as were biblical stories such as the sacrifice of Isaac,
the dedication of Samuel to the Temple, and the story of Jepthe’s daughter.^124
According to Newman and Atkinson, these role models enabled medieval
women to express their grief over parting from their children, while arguing
that they had sacrificed their most precious possessions—their children—to
serve the Lord.^125 According to Newman’s interpretation, Chaucer’s Griselda
serves as an example of such behavior and response. Griselda, who was told of
the death of her children, responded without tears and with meekness. How-
ever, when she discovered that her children were alive, she wept like a
mother.^126 Newman interprets her weeping “like a mother” as a description of
expected motherly behavior, in contrast to her previous behavior that ex-
pressed, not cruelty, but her devotion to her husband and to God. In this light,