Chapter 1 explores the motherhood in the Vita et passio Willelmi Norwicensis, a mid-twelfth century text composed by a monk of Norwich Cathedral Priory. This was a hagiographical account of the twelve-year-old William's life and his death, as his family claimed, at the hands of Jews. Motherhood was frequently invoked: in foretelling the future martyr's birth, as witness to his precocious religiosity and to enhance the pathos of a child's death. William's mother was not only his intimate nurturer, but also a weak female, whose failure betrayed William to the Jews. The chapter also considers the experience of a feminist scholar as mother: can she draw on experience to further historical understanding?