" " Foran auempe oes out he aie toandexerinc of childhood in real ett 8 Cento, hid nA Saco ‘Endo, 1999) For she argument ha shee wan no comity rane patcesLand ety rem chldod. se 1 Ha, The Renssone Mismnd a Chl: ltd oul Early hdd lorence 10-1600 (Bsiegtoke 198, pp 8-9 180. | Goody, The Desespment of ari and Nari in Ep [eSetitge uth p 83D. Hes, Meinl Hohl Cambri, aero 195). and arty Ameri Hira Reve, 9% Hei Faye. JA Sch, The Knee Cbd in th Geran Mille As ops 380 Papi, 195) ‘Shahar, hl th Mile Ages p 108 BA. Hansa Chiang among ower lass ate mederal nun rl ner decpnary Histor, WI 1977-8 pp. EE Pe Gordon hcses sng nel chen seen om he mas of {ov Enghh int and ory. Mee istry, 38199. p, E456 Tinea, The Res he lamcom: Endangered Che lea nce aioe, 187) es 9-10, 151-63 Se a0 Shoe Chiba the Mae Ags pp 139-84 LeRoy Laurie, Mona: Cathars and Ctols ina Frac Vilas poet i24tHamondsworth, 1980), pp. 210-2 hid pp 218-16 Coleman, nance ans fe Hat Moyen Age’ Als, FSC.29 Fionn ISLS Rc Teel fanigeia Fareed fevsgucand BA Kell, Ince a Elin he Later Mie os yf ld Quarter 1973p. 98-116 367-8% RAL Arehetetond nee Prva of Caner ding he ly eases er of Chien Qn 1974S). p. 379M rHapre® The development of a middle-class ideology of childhood, 1500-1900 the middle of the niece cenury an ideology of chi jc had ecome a powerful force in milelas Exrope and North Amerie, Hs precepts were hyo teas lly negated ito ae dls proces i hi-eaing, and a5 set of bli 1 Was no thos power vay Bur operated as an ideal across wide srtces yest cate, At the heart of his iecogy Lay i sammie deere thar chien should be seared families sonition that dhe vee adhd wan spent was racial in determining che kindof adult hat The cid would comes anda increasing awareness that ldhnod had tithe and piileges fs om Tha detslopment of thi set of belies did nor proceed smoothly along annie wack wha destnaion cal in view. What holds the period together es Beige sene of he portance of chido wish mn ta ii ina wore of ways a bli! in eh importance of aye rrons in a goncern foe the salvation ofthe chil’ souk a owing Semen eke way eh ean and ina sense tha hide were mes eigenen ha childhood was thereon the esttime ot fe Fach rnc cam he ned to mar movements in European and Ameria tons the Renaisance, the Reformation and Courser-Reformation, the Tlgenment and Romanticism: and they ae associazed,r00, within caren wow fame mrethes beyond thee writings about childhood: namin Locks, Rowseau and Wordsworth‘Humanism (Our starcing poine isthe Rensisanse and in particular fifcem-centuy Florence; ins cular cideen held a “special and exalted plat" They were though to old the key tothe fre she ate, an hr proper upbringing was eral ha ature But more han ths te an 3s inf a protoespe ofthe ate, andpropely-ondered and haem ee ‘nonshipr ein wool! themes he manestd in ima ites nthe ste, The state ws dominated by men, and it followed from this that fathers ad a crcl role eo ply nthe family, Hece we sam sce the ist beak with divs hoaghe and practise where ay we ave so, moths were thought to have primary i ut exchaive responsi forthe Rat seven years of ie, The father-child caconship vied with i i dd ot repla the mother-child elanonship 3 the most inch Fall relation ‘hips. "Who wold eee aed Aberin 2 wiley Book nthe family. excepey the experience of is wn etings, how eat and inte inthe love ot father toward hi children?” A faker responsiblit,ond is autority, were uninited: Heong to wat over ad yard he fami from oats, to shock ver and consider the whe company, to examin the practices uf vere omer side and uti he bons ae ta coret and omprone vers fad abit He ought preferably to se resale rather than nda sends amor ater than power. He og neers Hg ase to pr fst the peace and the wanauiity of his ontive fan. Ths should De she andof goaltacard whl, ang is telecon experience, ges the whe fait ite and bur. Iewas the father, in adie hooks ofthis kind, who sould take esprit ie for choosing and hiring wet nore che preferred prion of mar essed wasn followed ~and tere serdence that thes did do this Fathers shold watch ower thoi chien hough interpreting vey Ile action word, and gesture’ so astoundersand the nate probe future destiny ofthe ld, but they sho als en he company ofthe shill who laughs ery happily and changes a thousand mes ee har “The second change Fm medieval advice mts the tes ary lear ings and again i was fathers whu had the primary role, aching chile their eters wo afer weaning, ith liberal use of fut nd cokes bth to form wets and aya reward ~an dea probably taken fom Hora and maingsning the authrity by Tone’ xp punishment ight Be reves, hu tw de-phaied athe filter century proms” Hiscorians are sighly wary of assuming tha adie wasp int pac tie; we might do eter ro assume tha the advice was necessary ony because practice was €© the canerary. Why otherwise would she aie books warn against adults teaching a child to pa yeu berwcen is two Ringers and pone at other, aistadulelaugheer* There ares however two reatons fr taking seriously thse Fleretine ace hooks First tere go evidence tha the were eead and approved within the rest merhant fries and sein, 96 we have sc they math 3 ese fore in sgniane reposts trom medieval advice hooks. Ae deal of ftuk-ciring was beng formalated dhe model fe sing derived fam ‘taser “The ew humanist approach 9 cihood ws mot confine ty Frere for eal Ir found ts mse rss representative north of the Alps inthe Dahman, Devderis Erasmus. lian humanist thought was well known Jn Pais and chewhre in nother Frope the ro he Rent ce ‘uy, and Fras hisl spent te years 16 1508 4 Fal. Uo the 1520s he woot a ser of hooks and pamplets which broughe eogether Iisilong inert in upbringing and sation. Tir common character istic was tha they were Founded on ancient authors, traced, though toa michleser extent with alan humanist writings, and that thes dee ‘ison experience rasmus placed considerable emphasis om exes education, diet arrackng those wh, ou fa fale sprit of tenderness ad compass Bllow children “wo be pampered by ther dear meshes and spied by uses A child ough tombe, a were wth he itt he suckle, the nectar of edoaton’, for “he will mos certainly turn ot te a tprodctve feo unseat once ad wit dela he subected a procs of intesive ntti rasa mich reser erie, he lied, te nose carle easton than to coma tani” Erasmus made {tet ply with the time and rooney people spent on sining their dogs horses compared with he neglect of thir cde, And he bevel that rater had implanted in hire the seeds 3 desice For Knowle, an { power of memory greater than at any otra. But hey coded 0 be Shaped The child hit mature has given you is mothing hata shapes Tum, bur ehe material fil phable capable wf assume an For ana you most so mould hae ees on the Dest posse character Iya eigen, you wal ear am animal bei 0 app yours you el fash io, may use such 3 bold term 2 gike ccare” Like many other ‘wees, Erasmas compare cult wy, to he moulded whe io Ansel in te ewelih century had ao ured the wa age, Dut he hadescnied young children skew which was too nearly liquid to mould Jno shape; one had to watt tl the time of adolescent” ‘The "you" whom Eras addressed was a father. To he 3 re father, he wrote, "you must take absolte control af your son's entre beng ‘mother had a murering oe, but father hat be espe forthe Part ofa boys characte which distinguishes him rm the animals and ‘comes closet to reflecting the divine” Iris tue tha in oer writings rasmus addressed parents when he wa efersingtedaxatioal respons ies, and hae Christin humans did in eneral accord sme ole othe mother in education, but the overriding esponsibility Ly with the father parcularls as in these passages, where the cid was sna ws ‘the education of sons that rasinus concentrated leaving une how fare though daughes shoul shige inthe cation be advenated."| The method of teaching should be one in which the child leaned by encouragement and in which there was an admistte of play. Av eal a 1497 he had writen that a contac element of enjoyment must be mi. sled with our seis 50 that we think of earning asa game rather than {orm of drudgery, for no activity cam be continue fr lg ft does ot Some extent atford pleasure so che parckipan’. A good example wis English father who, noting his sons iki for archery “had beaut set of bow and arrows made, decorate allover with the letters of the lab and wit the Greek and Lai alphabet a herr the by hi the target and pronounced the lee, he might be rewarded with = ‘herp, ora competion might eset up wither boys Teas by means fof this stratagem thar the hoy in quest leant a ew days of fun and Play to entity and pronounce his eters ~ something whch the matory ‘of teachers,withall heir eating, thresteningy and insults coal seaeels ‘hve accomplished in sree years” Erasmus had a horror of beating, arly bk on his own experience, and placed 3 coreesponding emphasis fom the high importance of the eaching rotesson~for he revegie! thit fathers could hardly be expected tobe responsible forthe emi evation ‘oftheir ofspring. To bea schoolmaster he wrote, san oie second it ‘emportance toa king The reality ws frdllerent Scho he amend, “have become torture chambers: ou hea nothing Ba he thing the stick, the swishing ofthe rd, bowing and moaning, ad shouts of bral aus. The curriculum which Erasmus sugested was bu around and largely ‘onfne othe lassi, just sh oven proach ro edcaton was deed from classical authors, for example from Parcs teat On the Education of Children and from the writings of Quintin, who inthe fest ceorry Ao had tresed the importance of ating edition evs bul {ng onthe chil natral wish oleae and who had been usual nthe sncient world in his opposition to corporal punishment Erasmus didnot confine himself the tore formal aspects of cil rearing and sehooling He ao wrote, and it was the pce which evened ‘he widest ciclacion of al is wetng, a guide to manners For chile dressed othe eleven year-old Henty of Burgundy, bat meaner et ot ules forall oys. Erasmus recommended maesty and dsconu in eer thing boy di, ving advice on bad language sneezing ping rina ing, table manners, and om interactions with oners. With ts sires on ‘ean in good manners right from the very eae year’ the tact consonant with Erasmus’ ele it he importance of balanced ection from an early ag, and clue tothe kinds of behaviour which would he setup as model fr children for some centuries forthe book remained ‘Popular in the nineteenth century. rasmus may he ten asthe voe of humanism, but it was a human ‘sm iseparale from Christianity Erasmus himsel was caught up in the struggles ofthe Relormaton oldingon wit some dif odhe Catholic (Church, He was in no doube, as he expressed it inhi aston manners, thar the mostimportan parc of “fashioning the young’ we implanting the sends of piety inthe tender hear God ave us chien ta be ae inthe ven ofreligon’,and to neglect ehat wa more than simpy a vena in’. Erasmus, however, was at puns to seta distance between his own bel and those which pat an emphasis on original sin. Although aknowledng thar we were hom wih s dsposinon to evi’ he thought this was often much exaggerated, and that it was mainly adults who corrupt young, ‘minds with vil before we expos them tothe wood. Ax nether humans John Farle, weoue in 1628, "A childs 4 man in sal eter yet the best copy of Adam before he tasted of Eve othe apple. His soul is yet, white paper unsribled with absration ofthe world he knows no ‘il? Good habits, learned ey, would onda opty. Protestantism Erasmas wrote in Lain, but his works were quickh ranlted into evry main European language, and were enormously nln amg both Catholics and Provestams. Protestants sn pasclarloked to the Bible ‘more han o the classi authorities who were Erasmus main inspiration, ‘ut the conclsios they reached about childrearing were very sila, ‘and drew on Erasmus's authority. Owe historian has vecently conceded‘hae in rpard to the fay, he bblicis of Erasmus le t0 many of she Same conclusions which Protestant hibictm would drive and the come mon classi soures of humanists and protestants proued common {ssumption and ideal! Troe a this i362 poine shout erin and infec it nevertheless fas to give due weight co the sgufcace of the “pntalizaton of the household witha Potestansnm. Ie was Christopher Hil who fst dew sitention to this proses, adhe perhaps ndcrestimsted the fumanist Input 19 But no-one doubes tht he was alenying 9 new emphanis In fauly relationships, nd one which had particule romance within Proestantism, Atthe hear ofthis wast inthe fan 8 crocosm ‘ofthe church andthe tate, br nthe ers that int ncernl goverment it should miroe those lager instittions, an nthe sense shat the aly should bea nrseyof hook church and sate sing the young for ser vice As Jasts Menus putt, The dilgent rearing of chide i the areatest service othe word, both in spiritual and temporal afar, bath forthe present ie and for poster The family was the sem nga sion forall other organisations, and om its good government much depended. Above all in actiely Protestant crt, the amy shouldbe a commanity of worshippers, wih fal prayers and Bible readings uit tm the structure ofthe diy round Tewencalmost without saying hat ahers aed thse fle: "Every man's kingn is own house" Scholae the emphasis they ive to this some seeing in the ideal Prostar fy a patashal sans, ers pointing to pasage in advice books, and even more reports of actual family fe, Which sogest a degre of companionship and Toit rule between hushand and wile What ao one could douby ws that the shilden’s postion wee a subordinate one: Marriage was now pra ‘most famously by Luther, 3¥ 2 ate sper to eslibcy, and one of is rime purposes was procteation, but the child was source of anit 38 well asjoy. According tthe writers of advice hooks, the tempration 9 be avoided was overindlgence ofthe chill. As Conrad Sam wrote about {ln leds ad Junkers ‘As soon asthe bd can muveabiatome thrones ragged frac om him and rats everything he des nthe same unmental ay, Souther sare otbrstsand tantrums, bat these nly dl the od, nce they ome froma dear litle som woh ca dno wrong. Where one sea thorns sand isles in his ay owe cabin ther than eds be expected ogra “Too many parents its aimed, sought childhood “ala wine fo an Jon, and arsemcnt:> There were much more sriovs mates 3¢ sake, or only the frre ua oder fhe church and tate wl he cilen raion of he sbi oul Sass rap a se med he ngs tard we dl prs teh at Tar pean, Sy a ei weedy former os 3 pan, dnd, sr. ahd tend cl? Terewchnc ith ml chlo he Paves ets rt won she yt pe ach org Tange pe fem ac acing ahs The alga metas whch repacing on si of reg out weeds feng yung shout in the bacon ou want them to gos oe they ae of the ssi Jim puppies or cls eft themeles shld will im ot hx. Thr trl mint ebro iba authority cl be od in Peon 2221 "Foolishness sti nthe hese of 3 hid bu he eral dsipline shall Arve tama Soar posible this raining shoul he done analy and tims, br there might henson for ntitng corporal paises if 0, mnt noe he sober, adit must aot he adeistered i ang regres aot the fthor a much as the children Thomas Caton, 3 minster in London and then in Rorerdam, was oe 90 moved eh ups, hater el id so yearn er then ha the tears wuld ticle apace from his ies when he ws Soret the nothing ever rough apn ni ks this ight, which dl plainly convince hisChildeen of ian to chastise, hu hat he es enced Some of thi onvera stemmed fom eit inal sina mate which, ae ee have sen, rast tended don, Bat in he Protest literate was marke, "What chil oro ea cl nko Thos Beco in 1550. ol o ely "A shld Srp a ike man se thats ignorant and no exerci salon” Bs 8 catch for hs feat som which rant 271 an pa” A [Nuremberg ctschivm, ante wer Cranmer authority i Faglan Assered that even unborn atin i the ssom ha! “sil Wists and ‘eden mn wont onto prac nat aa cat craves cea fis bien ab. wolf ab sheep, so oa onan ane ocd tr arts tao desires, ess, ol wap, belie a nail. Dassom, anger aif dsensin fatness, bared ade drankoaess, atin. and mor ston, opie‘What coulda concerned paren do, why indeed would anyone have children? Infant baprsm now offered no sure cout to salvation a8 dd {amongst Catholies, Fit lone could sae. Some aged that Gos might “nfl the gi of faith io the Soul of 3 ei,” bu the concerned Pro restane parent was naturally anions ro bring children a aly as posse roa conscious awareness of the necessity of salvation. John Robinson, the pastor forthe ign Fathers, weote that surely thre in all children. a tb bunnest, and stntnesof mind rswng from mtural pride, which must, theft place, be broken and eat dsen thats the fndaton of thr eduction ing aid on uit and teactablenes, other virtues my tht tne be but thereon. or the ating, and Keping down f this etbboress parents at provide arf» thatthe calomel and uals be restrained and epressed, and that, te.” Printed catechins, question and answer sessions between parent and ‘hil, were the desl way to do this, hough they igh equ be wed by church ministers. They were produced ingest numbers, over 330 in England alone beween 1549 and 1646." It was impowile tsar to carly Ie was an “ile concer insisted Thomas Gaaker, that “Religion a Godinese i not for cide’ he himself prosing 3 catechism for sfulden thar are nor pas the beast ye Ia some, though tll com mentary, only a father could be relied upon to undertake his religious insteacon, mothers being castigated a 00 wnt and ancl Ths “Thomas Cawton ‘ook a great deal of pains to src and techie [hs children} eo bring them up in the nurtze and admonition ofthe Led. ln thei emphasis om orginal inthe Prorextntconkit books were ax some distance trom Erasmas they were mach cloner to im n hei belie in the imporance of ood manners. Convince that outward body Tanguage revealed ined hots and croton they lid es 8