Editing Infanticide (section)

=====Middle Ages=====
Whereas theologians and clerics preached sparing their lives, newborn abandonment continued as registered in both the literature record and in legal documents.<ref name="Ex&Ob"/>{{rp|16}} According to [[William Edward Hartpole Lecky|William Lecky]], exposure in the [[early Middle Ages]], as distinct from other forms of infanticide, "was practiced on a gigantic scale with absolute impunity, noticed by writers with most frigid indifference and, at least in the case of destitute parents, considered a very venial offence".<ref name="InfHisSu">{{cite journal | last = Langer| first = William L.| author-link = William L. Langer|title = Infanticide: a historical survey| journal = History of Childhood Quarterly| volume = 1| pages = 353–66| year = 1974| pmid = 11614564| issue = 3}}</ref>{{rp|355–56}} However the first foundling house in Europe was established in [[Milan]] in 787 on account of the high number of infanticides and out-of-wedlock births. The [[Ospedale di Santo Spirito in Sassia|Hospital of the Holy Spirit]] in Rome was founded by [[Pope Innocent III]] because women were throwing their infants into the [[Tiber river]].<ref>{{cite journal | last = Trexler| first = Richard| author-link = Richard Trexler|title = Infanticide in Florence: new sources and first results| journal = History of Childhood Quarterly| volume = 1| page = 99| year = 1973| issue = 1| pmid = 11614568}}</ref>

Unlike other European regions, in the Middle Ages the German mother had the right to expose the newborn.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Westrup| first = C.W.| title =Introduction to Roman Law| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]| year = 1944| location =London| page = 249}}</ref>

In the High Middle Ages, abandoning unwanted children finally eclipsed infanticide.{{Citation needed|date=August 2013}} Unwanted children were left at the door of church or abbey, and the clergy was assumed to take care of their upbringing. This practice also gave rise to the first [[orphanage]]s.

However, very high sex ratios were common in even late medieval Europe, which may indicate sex-selective infanticide.<ref>Josiah Cox Russell, 1958, ''Late Ancient and Medieval Population,'' pp. 13–17.</ref> The [[Waldensians]], a pre-Reformation medieval Christian sect deemed heretical by the [[Catholic Church]], were accused of participating in infanticide.<ref name="Griesse Barget de Boer 2021 p. 97">{{cite book | last1=Griesse | first1=M. | last2=Barget | first2=M. | last3=de Boer | first3=D. | title=Revolts and Political Violence in Early Modern Imagery | publisher=Brill | series=Brill's Studies on Art, Art History, and Intellectual History | year=2021 | isbn=978-90-04-46194-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vIRSEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA97 | access-date=2023-02-27 | page=97 | archive-date=27 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227230232/https://books.google.com/books?id=vIRSEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA97 | url-status=live }}</ref>