The Work of Many Bodies: Wet Nurses and Dynastic Reproduction at German Courts,c. 1650–1750

Abstract

This article suggests studying princely nurseries as social spaces where important contributions were made to the work of ‘dynastic reproduction’. Given that children born to the ruling house were a highly precious asset for dynastic politics, ensuring their survival was a task of great political impact. The article draws on material from the nurseries of three South German princely courts of different sizes – the imperial court of Vienna, the electoral court of Munich, and the ducal court of Stuttgart – to show how wet nurses engaged in the work of dynastic reproduction at princely courts from c. 1650 to 1750. These women were usually of modest social origin and present in the princely nursery only during the first year of the dynastic offspring's lives. However, they were extremely close to the princely infants and, by sharing their milk with them, were physically involved in their upbringing. This makes the women an interesting focus for a study of the care arrangements established for dynastic offspring. By analysing how court physicians chose the wet nurses of princely children, how courts regulated their work in the princely nursery, and how they remunerated the wet nurses for their service, the article shows that wet-nursing was an important, physical contribution to dynastic continuity at early modern princely courts.