Just as various examples of good motherhood pervade our culture today, history is filled with figures held up by different societies as ideals of maternal behavior. One of the most prominent has been the Bible’s Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus of Nazareth. 

A new book by Mary Beth Long, Director of the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program and an assistant professor of English, examines the intense interest in the Virgin Mary throughout 15th-Century England. By analyzing women’s devotional texts from the time, Marian Maternity in Late-Medieval England (Manchester University Press) highlights the various messages mothers received about how the Virgin Mary parented. 

The Honors College and the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program will host “Medieval Motherhood,” a symposium examining the findings in Long’s new book. All on campus are invited to attend the discussion from 5:00-6:30 p.m. on Monday, February 19th, in GEAR 130.