Récit véritable de la naissance des messeigneurs et dames les enfans de France, Instruction à ma fille, et autres textes (review)

Louise Boursier. Récit véritable de la naissance des messeigneurs et dames les enfans de France, Instruction à ma fille, et autres textes. Critical edition by François Rouget and Colette H. Winn. Geneva: Librairie Droz, 2000. 166 pp. Ill. Sw. Fr. 42.00 (paperbound, 2-600-00460-2).

This compact, but rich, volume contains a number of primary texts written in the first half of the sixteenth century by Louise Boursier (better known as Louise Bourgeois), the midwife who attended the births of all six children of Marie de Medici and Henri IV. The editors provide a well-documented introduction placing the texts in the context of the ideas and practices of Bourgeois's time and relating them to crucial events in her life. The texts are framed by a chronology of historical events, a chronology of early modern obstetrical texts, the Oath of Saint Quentin required of early modern midwives, and a bibliography of relevant primary and secondary sources. According to the catalog of the Bibliothèque Nationale, this edition is the first to be published since the nineteenth century and the only one to assemble this particular selection of texts in a single volume.

The two central texts, Bourgeois's narration of the births of the royal children and her advice to her daughter, are of value for their contribution to the history of mentalities and customs as well as to the social history of medicine. Bourgeois served as Marie de Medici's midwife from 1601 to 1609 and was particularly well placed to observe and divulge secrets of court life that would highlight the humanity of the monarchs and the competence and fortitude of their midwife. The narration provides insight into the intrigue that lay behind her ascent to the position of midwife to the queen at the expense of another midwife, Mme. Dupuis. Dupuis had served as midwife to the king's mistress, and it was his wish that she be the midwife to Marie de Medici as well; the queen was widely rumored to be displeased at this prospect, and Bourgeois describes her own maneuvers to gain the queen's confidence and the acquiescence of the king. Securing recommendations from highly placed clients and medical figures was crucial. Another important step was to assure the queen that her first child would be a boy—a prediction based on the queen's good complexion and Bourgeois's own sense of historical destiny.

Bourgeois goes on to describe many details surrounding the birth of the dauphin, including rivalries among the ladies at court over who would announce the sex of the child, the king's great concern over the queen's twenty-two-hour labor, and the abandonment of the usual protocol at court in the general jubilation over the birth. The editors point out that Bourgeois focuses on emotions and relationships in her account, in contrast to the physician Jean Héroard, who provides more explicit physical details about the birth and about the difficulties that the newborn experienced in nursing.

But if the narration traces Bourgeois's ascent, the other documents show a darker side to the career of even such a distinguished and favored midwife. Bourgeois went into retirement after attending the labor in 1627 of the duchess of Orléans, Mme. de Bourbon Montpensier, who died four days after giving birth. The autopsy, signed by numerous physicians and surgeons, implied that Bourgeois was responsible for Montpensier's death. Bourgeois responded sharply, and the exchange reveals their mutual suspicion. Bourgeois's advice to her daughter, who would also become a midwife, discloses her ambivalence about the career. She notes the close relationship that develops between the prospective mother and the midwife, but also the tension and room for...