Matthew Gerber: “Bastards.  Politics, Family, and Law in Early Modern France,”  (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012). pp. 274. ISBN 978-0-19-975537-0.

This volume explores the evolving jurisprudence and social customs in Early Modern France with respect to illegitimacy and the political history of the family.  The first two chapters in particular provide fascinating insights into Louise de Marillac’s conflicted status as the acknowledged “natural daughter” of Louis de Marillac born out of wedlock.  Chapter 1: “Bastardy in Sixteenth-Century French Legal Doctrine and Practice.  Chapter 2: “Jurisprudential Reform of Illegitimacy in Seventeenth-Century France.”

Matthew Gerber is an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Colorado at Bolder.