"Luther and the Spawn of Satan: Changelings and Infanticide." http://beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com. April 8, 2013. Web. November 9, 2014
<http://beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com/2013/04/luther-and-spawn-of-satan-changelings.html>
"Luther and the Spawn of Satan: Changelings and Infanticide"
Martin Luther was a leader in Christian history in the 16th century. The Lutheran denomination was named after him. Martin Luther was very much a product of his own times with respect to superstitious beliefs and practices. He believed Satan was responsible for the malformed children known as changelings, and that such exchanges took place frequently. In Luther's theological view, a changeling had no soul and as such it was alright to kill this child. He actually encouraged infanticide of such children, whether they be frail physically or mentally challenged and saw nothing morally wrong with doing so.
On another psychosocial front, my own theory pertains to women who had recently given birth being swapped with a changeling. I believe it wasn't a changeling at all but was the result of a woman experiencing postpartum depression. Any sort of mental illness or mental incapacitation was not understood as it is today. While today mental illness still holds a stigma it is much better today than it was in previous centuries.
On another psychosocial front, my own theory pertains to women who had recently given birth being swapped with a changeling. I believe it wasn't a changeling at all but was the result of a woman experiencing postpartum depression. Any sort of mental illness or mental incapacitation was not understood as it is today. While today mental illness still holds a stigma it is much better today than it was in previous centuries.
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