text: Early Middle Ages During the Early Middle Ages in Europe, the History of European Morals (1869) by Irish historian William Lecky mentions that infant exposure was not punishable by law and was practiced on a large scale and was considered a pardonable offense. In the 8th century, foundling hospitals were opened in Milan, Florence and Rome, among others, to help reduce the deaths of newborns who were subjected to exposure. Church authorities were in charge of this social issue until the 16th century.
  Interpretation
  Otto Rank explores this topic in his book, The Myth of the Birth of the Hero''.  The exposure, especially in water, "signifies no more and no less than the symbolic expression of birth.  The children come out of the water.  The basket, box, or receptacle simply means the container, the womb; so that the exposure directly signifies the process of birth".
  Further, according to Rank, these myths epitomize the natural psychological tension between parent and child.  In all these stories there exists "a tendency to represent the parents as the first and most powerful opponents of the hero .... The vital peril, thus concealed in the representation of birth through exposure, actually exists in the process of birth itself.  The overcoming of all these obstacles also expresses the idea that the future hero has actually overcome the greatest difficulties by virtue of his birth, for he has victoriously thwarted all attempts to prevent it."