1. Renaissance Women Renaissance Mother
Renaissance Childbirth & Child Mortality
Unmarried Women & Illegitimate Children and Widows
Convents
Witch Hunts
The Education of Renaissance Women

2. Topic – Renaissance Mother
What occupied the lives of most Renaissance women?
Motherhood
Why were wealthy women able to have more children?
Wealthy women married earlier and did not breastfeed.

3. Topic – Renaissance Childbirth & Child Mortality
What percent of women died from childbirth?
10%
Name three diseases that children died of during the Renaissance.
Tuberculosis
Influenza
Diarrhea
*Chronic malnutrition; starvation and neglect also led to a high infant mortality rate.

4. Topic – Unmarried Women & Illegitimate Children and Widows
What happened to a woman who had an illegitimate child?
She was taxed, imprisoned or banished from the community.
What is infanticide?
The killing of a baby.
Describe advantages and disadvantages of being a widow.
Advantages:
Economic independence: inherited property; carry on husband’s trade
Disadvantages:
Responsible for husband’s debt
If childless, the woman could be returned to her father, uncle or brother’s care
Poor women were left destitute

5. Topic – Convents
List two reasons why families put their daughters in convents.
Families had to supply a dowry for the daughter
A dowry could make a family bankrupt
Describe what happened to girls who were forced into convents.
They were forced to obey the law of poverty, obedience and chastity
Their hair was cut, legs shaved and forced to where a habit.
What were the advantages of becoming a nun?
They could become educated.
They could care for the poor, sick or insane.
They could teach and / or write.
They could preach or write letters to powerful church or government members.
Describe the family background of most nuns.
Most women were the daughters of the nobility or wealthy.
Nuns in a choir. From Shakespeare's England

6. Topic - Witch Hunts What is a witch hunt?
A witch hunt is an investigation to search for and harass dissenters (those who disagree with popular opinion)
What kind of woman was accused of being a witch?
Women who practiced folk medicine, chanted or who were outspoken or challenged the authority of men or the church or women who just didn’t fit in.
For what were they accused?
They were accused of meeting regularly with the devil, dancing naked, killing infants and flying on broomsticks.
What was the punishment for witchcraft?
Punishment was death.
How many women were persecuted during the witch hunts?
Conservatively – 100,000
Other estimates – 900,000

7. Topic – The Education of Renaissance Women
What were the goals of education for a middle or upper middle class girl?
To guide the young women to develop a concept of marriage in which the man was boss
To train her to run a home and raise children.
What skills did these women learn?
How to look after a home and raise children.
What kind of education did poor girls get?
They received no formal education but some were trained in crafts.