Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Infanticide
(928 words)

1. Definition

The term infanticide (Latin infanticidium) denotes the culpable, usually intentional killing of a child by its motherfather, or both parents. It can involve active violence, neglect, or abandonment of a newborn child [3. 353]. In Europe, however, as a rule it concerns primarily the killing of a newborn illegitimate child (Illegitimacy) at or immediately after childbirth (neonaticide) by its mother. For this narrower definition of the crime, German scholars usua…

Cite this page
Gestrich, Andreas, “Infanticide”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 31 March 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_022127>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20190124



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