ABSTRACT
This chapter concentrates on the health and illness of one family, seen through the eyes of the head of that family, Reverend Ralph Josselin. The chapter discusses three major categories: the discomforts and dangers relating to childbearing, children's accidents and diseases, and adult disorders, including Ralph Josselin's own. The hazards of childbirth in seventeenth-century England were immense. Complications, such as an unusual presentation of the baby, or the mother's inability to expel the child once it was in the birth canal, were often fatal to both mother and child. Despite the numerous references to ill-health contained in the diary, neither Ralph Josselin nor members of his family often took up a 'sick' role. In most cases Ralph and Jane Josselin relied upon their own medical knowledge and skill to treat their own ailments and those of their children. Their ultimate trust was in God, and they did not expect to feel completely well in any case.
