Motherhood and Mothering in Anglo-Saxon England sifts through the historical evidence to describe and analyze a world of violence and intrigue, where mothers needed to devise their own systems to protect, nurture, and teach their children. Mary Dockray-Miller casts a maternal eye on Bede, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and Beowulf to reveal mothers who created rituals, genealogies, and institutions for their children and themselves. Little-known historical figures--queens, abbesses, and other noblewomen--used their power in court and convent to provide education, medical care, and safety for their children, showing us that mothers of a thousand years ago and mothers of today had many of the same goals and aspirations.

“Dockray-Miller's work is original and ambitious...” —American Historical Review

“After reading this book, any but the most traditional medievalist will be able to see once-obscured mothers in all sorts of documents and to rethink the aims of mothering in early medieval Europe.” —The Medieval Review

...an exciting and original topic whose exploration raises awareness of motherhood in an early culture...
-Arthuriana