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In one of his sermons, the medieval preacher Bernardino of Siena
listed seven 'fathers' to whom one owed obedience: God, one's
natural father, godfather, confessor, benefactor, a government
official, and any elderly man. This book seeks to answer the
question of why medieval Europeans saw the need for so many
'fathers.' Why was fatherhood so appealing as a metaphor? Situated
at the intersection of social and cultural history, the study draws
upon a variety of late-medieval and early-modern sources including
witness depositions, personal letters and pedagogical treatises
from the city of Basel, Switzerland. It focuses on how people from
different walks of life invoked ideas about fatherhood in the
pursuit of various goals - not only the ideological agendas of
scholarly elites, but also the more pragmatic problems of closing a
business deal, claiming an inheritance, or choosing sides in a
fistfight - before turning to what these ideas reveal about
fatherhood 'on the ground.' The book argues that it was precisely
fatherhood's basis in lived experience that gave it a familiar
'shape' in the several roles that fathers played, including
provision, affection, disciplinary authority, and education. The
most potent rhetorical aspect of fatherhood, however, was not as a
static image or shape, but rather the possibility of invoking
connections between one role and another. The most potent
connection between roles was the idea that fathers were
'affectionate authorities,' combining power over subordinates with
desire for their well-being. Tracing the connections and
contradictions of these identities, this study provides a nuanced
view of concepts of fatherhood on the eve of the Reformation.
In one of his sermons, the medieval preacher Bernardino of Siena
listed seven 'fathers' to whom one owed obedience: God, one's
natural father, godfather, confessor, benefactor, a government
official, and any elderly man. This book seeks to answer the
question of why medieval Europeans saw the need for so many
'fathers.' Why was fatherhood so appealing as a metaphor? Situated
at the intersection of social and cultural history, the study draws
upon a variety of late-medieval and early-modern sources including
witness depositions, personal letters and pedagogical treatises
from the city of Basel, Switzerland. It focuses on how people from
different walks of life invoked ideas about fatherhood in the
pursuit of various goals - not only the ideological agendas of
scholarly elites, but also the more pragmatic problems of closing a
business deal, claiming an inheritance, or choosing sides in a
fistfight - before turning to what these ideas reveal about
fatherhood 'on the ground.' The book argues that it was precisely
fatherhood's basis in lived experience that gave it a familiar
'shape' in the several roles that fathers played, including
provision, affection, disciplinary authority, and education. The
most potent rhetorical aspect of fatherhood, however, was not as a
static image or shape, but rather the possibility of invoking
connections between one role and another. The most potent
connection between roles was the idea that fathers were
'affectionate authorities,' combining power over subordinates with
desire for their well-being. Tracing the connections and
contradictions of these identities, this study provides a nuanced
view of concepts of fatherhood on the eve of the Reformation.
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