ABSTRACT
One practical reason why extended reports of Early Modern dying women were possible was the domestic setting for most deaths. Certainly most women died within the home, and this provided a stable situation from which to report the process of dying. Early Modern women had specific links with death in all stages of their lives. If a woman outlived the perils of plague and childbirth, she was likely to outlive her husband, and, as Margaret Pelling suggests, this situation brought fresh opportunities, as well as fresh responsibilities, for a woman. The power of midwives during the seventeenth century fluctuated, but their presence at the birthing bed, when it was possible for this to be arranged, was considered to be a blessing for both mother and child. Despite exposure to, and expertise in, the practicalities of death, the process of dying remained a paradoxical activity for women.
