INDEX
Ah.ai Gaon, 230n.156
Aaron, 27, 173
abandonment of children, 152, 165, 169,
172–74, 178, 180, 236n.97, 237n.122
Abelard, Peter, 1, 177
abortion, 175
Abraham b. David of Posquières (Ra’abad:
Sefer Ba’alei haNefesh), 26–27
Abrahams, Israel, 10, 15
Adam, 93, 117
adolescence, 187
adultery, 148–49, 174–75
aetitites, 48
Alexander III (pope), 136
Alexandre-Bidon, Danièle, 2
Amram Gaon, 57
amulets and charms, 9, 31, 43, 48–49, 53, 98,
107, 109
Anna (mother of Mary), 238n.124
Ariès, Philippe, 2, 14–15, 121, 164–65, 169
Aristotle, 41
Asher b. Yeh.iel, 129–30
Ashkenazic culture, 4–7, 10–12, 18, 39, 49–
50, 56, 64–65, 68–69, 80, 91–92, 96, 100,
105, 116, 124, 128–29, 133, 147–49, 155,
158, 169, 177, 184, 189, 215n.7
Atkinson, Clarissa, 2, 178
atonement, 104, 108, 110, 115, 165–66, 186
Austria, 6
ba’al brit(masc. sing.), 65–70, 80–81, 99;
and alternative names, 80; changing roles
of, 70–72, 73–76, 86; and choice of, 67–
68, 85; and importance of role, 67, 70; and
origin of role, 68–70
ba’alat brit (fem. sing.), 70–75, 85–88
ba’alei brit (plural), 65–67
Babylon, 223n.27
Babylonian Talmud, 123, 170
baptism, 52, 55–56, 58, 92, 97, 98, 100, 110,
116, 181, and circumcision, 59–60; in
emergency, 58, 97–98; history of, 57–59;
women’s roles, 88–89
Barkai, Ron, 38–39
Baron, Salo, 10
Bartholomaeus Anglicus, 155, 119, 221n.3
Barukh b. Isaac (Sefer haTeruma), 141–42
Befania, 97
Beila (the midwife), 204n.125
Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai, 29, 123, 148
Beller, Kathy, 225n.76
Bellete, 233n.31
Benjamin b. Abraham Selnik, 237n.118
Berla (the midwife), 204n.125
Bernard of Clairvaux, 134
Berthold of Regensburg, 234n.40
bible moralisée, 59
birth, 7, 9, 13, 20, 22–24, 37–39, 42, 112,
115, 161, 178, 186, 200n.45, 233n.21; and
death, 39–41, 202n.91; as metaphor, 39–
40; as perilous, 39–41; rituals of, 92, 101–
16, 185
birth control, 124, 127
birthing chamber, 49. See also Kindbett
Black Death, 5, 230n.150
blood, 125
Bohemia, 6
Bologna, 27
Bonfil, Robert, 9
Bossy, John, 81–82, 84
Boswell, John, 172, 174, 236 nn. 91 and 97,
237n.122
Bourdieu, Pierre, 61–62
Bourlon, 134
breast-feeding, 18, 20, 29, 154, 225n.77; an-
thropology of, 120, 144; as contraceptive
method, 145; divorcée’s obligation for,
123–24; duration of, 123, 124, 126–28,
170, 223n.31; and infant mortality, 119–
20, 229n.135; maternal, 120, 121–22; 124,
133–34, 144, 164; in mishnaic and talmu-
dic era, 122–25; widow’s obligation for,
122–24. See also wet nurses
Burchard of Worms, 37, 97–98
burial practices, 168
business, 6, 8–9, 19
Bynum, Caroline, 25
Byzantine Empire, 58, 70, 106Caesarius of Heisterbach, 175
candles, 101, 106–7, 115, 217n.46
canon law, 121, 176