Fatherhood, Masculinity and Lived Religion in Late-Medieval Sweden

Abstract

Patriarchy and gendered power relations have been the focus of scholars of masculinity, but fatherhood, one of the most intimate aspects of masculine identity and an essential element in men's social roles, has gained relatively little attention among medievalists. Elements of being a father, like emotional ties, caregiving and commitment to one's family, form the core of this article. The focus is on the contestants of the traditional concepts linked with masculinity and patriarchy: domination, competition and aggression. The main question is how gendered identity was constructed within lived religion, or, how fatherhood and masculinity were linked. The author argues that collaboration between spouses, commitment to one's children and devotion were important elements in constructing adult lay masculinity in the depositions of canonization processes carried out in late-medieval Sweden. The most important element in being an adult man was not the separation from women but the separation from immature boys. To invoke a saint for one's offspring, even if it required inversion of traditional modes of manifestation of manliness, was a statement of masculine identity: an assurance of respectability, responsibility and commitment.