Women's Martyr Bodies. Men's Testimonies at their Wives' Bedsides (XVIth-XVIIIth Centuries).

In a context of high women mortality rate (diseases, hazards connected to pregnancy and difficult births), how were modern day men affected by the ordeal of the loss of their wives ? As they give us a glimpse at the intimacy of their household, their testimonies, which we can access through the reading of their first person writings, help us to understand their anguish at their dying wives' bedsides and to observe, in these tragic circumstances, the care they provide as well as the medical procedures whose efficiency they question. The expression of the grief of these men, who are sometimes devastated, contradicts the assumptions on the supposed insensitivity of the Ancient Regime's men at the death of their close relatives. One can assess the extent of the damage such a loss causes and the concern for the orphans who see their mother die. The farewell scenes, sometimes described at length, conform to the Chritian "belles morts". The wives, described as model figures, are displayed as saints and martyrs in the purest spirit of Baroque piousness.