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History 17th Century

The Trial of Jeanne Catherine

Infanticide in Early Modern Geneva

by (author) Sara Beam

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Feb 2021
Category
17th Century, Women's Studies, Gender Studies, Women
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781487587673
    Publish Date
    Jan 2021
    List Price
    $26.95
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781487587680
    Publish Date
    Feb 2021
    List Price
    $65.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781487587697
    Publish Date
    Feb 2021
    List Price
    $19.95

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

In 1686 in Geneva, a single mother named Jeanne Catherine Thomasset is charged with poisoning two young children: her own illegitimate daughter and the son of a rural wet nurse. So begins a harrowing criminal trial during which authorities interrogate Jeanne Catherine several times, sometimes with torture, to determine the truth.

 

 

The Trial of Jeanne Catherine is a suspenseful historical mystery that offers students the opportunity to learn about motherhood, child rearing, gender, religion, local politics, and the practice of criminal justice in early modern Europe. This edition provides the complete trial transcript as well as the deliberations of the Genevan authorities and relevant correspondence.

About the author

Sara Beam is a professor of History at the University of Victoria.

Sara Beam's profile page

Editorial Reviews

"The real value of this book lies in the transcription, as translated by Beam, who is to be commended for bringing it into print. It offers rare insight into the thinking processes of people involved in a criminal trial three and a half centuries ago, as well as glimpses of the lives of real people trying to represent themselves honestly, or to their own advantage, before the law."

<i>The Ormsby Review</i>