A Cultural History Of Childhood And Family In The Middle Ages

The Middle Ages (800–1400) were a rich and vibrant period in the history of European culture, society, and intellectual thought. Emerging state powers, economic expansion and contraction, the growing influence of the Christian Church, and demographic change all influenced the ideals and realities of childhood and family life. Movements for Church reform brought the spiritual and moral concerns of the laity into sharper focus, profoundly shaping attitudes towards gender and sexuality and how these might be applied to family roles. At the same time, the growth of trade, the spread of literacy and learning, shifting patterns of settlement, and the process of urbanization transformed childhood. This volume explores the ideas and practices which underpinned contemporary perceptions of childhood in the medieval West, and illuminates the enduring importance of the family as a dynamic economic, political, and social unit. A Cultural History of Childhood and Family in the Middle Ages presents essays on family relationships, community, economy, geography and the environment, education, life cycle, the state, faith and religion, health and science, and world contexts.

A Cultural History of Childhood and Family presents an authoritative survey from ancient times to the present. This set of six volumes covers 2800 years of history, charting the cultural, social, economic, religious, medical and political changes in domestic life. 1. A Cultural History of Childhood and Family in Antiquity Edited by Mary Harlow and Ray Laurence, both University of Birmingham 2. A Cultural History of Childhood and Family in the Middle Ages Edited by Louise J. Wilkinson, Canterbury Christ Church University 3. A Cultural History of Childhood and Family in the Early Modern Age Edited by Sandra Cavallo, Royal Holloway, University of London, and Silvia Evangelisti, University of East Anglia 4. A Cultural History of Childhood and Family in the Age of Enlightenment Edited by Elizabeth Foyster, University of Cambridge, and James Marten, Marquette University, Milwaukee 5. A Cultural History of Childhood and Family in the Age of Empire Edited by Colin Heywood, University of Nottingham 6. A Cultural History of Childhood and Family in the Modern Age Edited by Joseph M. Hawes, University of Memphis, and N. Ray Hiner, University of Kansas Each volume discusses the same themes in its chapters: 1. Family Relationships; 2; Community; 3. Economy; 4. Geography and the Environment; 5. Education; 6. Life Cycle; 7. The State; 8. Faith and Religion; 9. Health and Science; 10. World Contexts. This means readers can either have a broad overview of a period by reading a volume or follow a theme through history by reading the relevant chapter in each volume. Well illustrated, the full six volume set combines to present the most authoritative and comprehensive survey available on family and childhood through history.

The Middle Ages (800–1400) were a rich and vibrant period in the history of European culture, society, and intellectual thought. Emerging state powers, economic expansion and contraction, the growing influence of the Christian Church, and demographic change all influenced the ideals and realities of childhood and family life. Movements for Church reform brought the spiritual and moral concerns of the laity into sharper focus, profoundly shaping attitudes towards gender and sexuality and how these might be applied to family roles. At the same time, the growth of trade, the spread of literacy and learning, shifting patterns of settlement, and the process of urbanization transformed childhood. This volume explores the ideas and practices which underpinned contemporary perceptions of childhood in the medieval West, and illuminates the enduring importance of the family as a dynamic economic, political, and social unit. A Cultural History of Childhood and Family in the Middle Ages presents essays on family relationships, community, economy, geography and the environment, education, life cycle, the state, faith and religion, health and science, and world contexts.

Drawing on a wide variety of European sources, Childhood in the Middle Ages (1992) examines attitudes towards children, images of childhood, and the concept of the stages of childhood in medieval culture, from the nobility to the peasantry. It makes fascinating and illuminating reading for anyone interested in the social and cultural history of medieval Europe as well as the history of child-rearing and education.

Childhood and families had a ubiquitous and central presence in the ancient world, but one which is often hidden from us. Underlying our understanding of childhood and the family in Antiquity are the key thinkers and writers of the period. Their ideas on children, growing up, and the stages of life have shaped thinking on these subjects right up to the present day. Focusing on the cultures of the Mediterranean from 800 BCE to 800 CE, A Cultural History of Childhood and Family in Antiquity covers the rise of democratic Athens, the Hellenistic World, and the evolution and transformation of the Roman Empire. As with all the volumes in the illustrated Cultural History of Childhood and Family set, this volume presents essays on family relations, community, economy, geography and environment, education, life cycle, the state, faith and religion, health and science, and world contexts.

Examines how childhood and the family was constructed, experienced, understood and represented over time and across different cultures. Growing out of the field of gender history, the history of childhood and family has developed into a sub-specialty of its own rights with list-servs, international organisations, and journals. The time is ripe create a reference set that will put this research into context.

Looks at the lives of children, from birth to adolescence, in medieval England.

The author of this book Ellen Key believed that the status of children in Western society would undergo a dramatic change in the century to come. In this work, she expressed her hope that in the coming 20th century, the situation will change in favor of children. Her ideas became an inspiration for many reformers in the first half of the century.