The term “house mother” (taken from Latin mater familias) was in widespread use in early modern Europe, primarily in Protestant normative texts and literature (including in marriage- and funeral sermons and in the so-called Hausväterliteratur (“pater familias literature”). In all European countries, the role of the mater familias, complementing that of the pater familias (Pater familias), was inextricably linked with her life and work in th…