2012/01/01 by Jo Eldridge Carney · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Art #Biology #Daughter #Ecology #Family Dynamics and Relationships #Genealogy #History #Imperfect #Irish and British Studies #Law #Literature #Marriage and Sexual Relationships #Misfortune #Philosophy #Political science #Reproduction
paper · doi:10.1057/9781137269690_3
openalex publication_date 2012/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Although both of Mary Tudor’s assumed pregnancies turned out to be false, stories still circulated that she had delivered a “shapeless mass.” More egregious rumors claimed that the fetus was a lapdog or a marmot. It was acknowledged misfortune enough that queens, like all women, could miscarry, deliver stillborns, or even give birth to a daughter rather than the son who would provide dynastic security. But there was also a fear manifest at every level of society that mothers—and especially queens—could produce even more imperfect offspring. Likewise, early modern fairy tales abound in queens who deliver monstrous children.