Maternités autorisées, maternités proscrites

This research analyses the legal, religious and social issues related to contraceptive practices and motherhood outside marriage in France, from the late Middle Ages to the 19th century. The author begins with the central role of the Catholic Church in regulating female sexuality and procreation, a role she puts into perspective with contemporary scandals that have rekindled her interest in these issues. The aim is to understand how canon law and secular law have regulated, sanctioned or tolerated women's strategies for refusing motherhood. The first part traces the influence of canon law between the 12th and 16th centuries. It shows how marriage and motherhood were the pillars of the Church's definition of womanhood, while any contraceptive practice was considered secret, magical or witchcraft. The author also recalls the weight of ancient medical theories and theological debates on the animation of the embryo, which shaped the moral and legal perception of abortion.

After completing a bachelor’s degree in law at the University of Angers in 2011, Marjorie Coulas spent a year studying for a master’s degree at the University of Toruń in Poland as part of the Erasmus programme. Current affairs in Poland in 2011–2012 centred on the likely abolition of the right to abortion, which was already one of the most restrictive in Europe. As this issue resonated with her feminist convictions, she wrote her first-year Master’s research dissertation on a comparison between Polish and French abortion laws. On her return to France, she enrolled at the University of Paris Nanterre to complete her Master’s 2 in legal anthropology. Her research dissertation examined the history of abortion law in France, from the Church Fathers to the present day, viewed through the prism of canon law and secular law, a theme she revisited and explored in greater depth for her PhD, also undertaken at the University of Paris Nanterre, within the Centre for the History and Anthropology of Law (CHAD), which she left in 2023.

Still passionate about history, she left academia and is currently a probate and family genealogist.

• Maïa Mazaurette est une autrice et chroniqueuse spécialiste des questions de genre, de sexualité et des relations femmes-hommes. Elle contribue régulièrement au Monde avec sa chronique « Le sexe selon Maïa » et intervient chaque semaine dans l’émission « Quotidien » sur TMC. Passée par France Inter, elle a écrit de nombreux livres, dont La vulve, la verge et le vibro (2021), Sortir du trou. Lever la tête (2020).