James A Schultz has brought a historiographic approach to nearly two hundred Middle High German texts—narrative, didactic, homiletic, legal, religious, and secular. He explores what they say about the nature of the child, the role of inherited and individual traits, the status of education, the remarkable number of disruptions these children suffered as they grew up, the rites of passage that mark coming of age, the various genres of childhood narratives, and the historical development of such narratives.

This book shows that childhood was an essential element in the arguments and purposes of authors in medieval Poland from 1050-1300 CE. This role of childhood in medieval mindsets has salient parallels throughout Europe and this is also explored in this volume.

Earlier theses on the history of childhood can now be laid to rest and a fundamental paradigm shift initiated, as there is an overwhelming body of evidence to show that in medieval and early modern times too there were close emotional relations between parents and children. The contributors to this volume demonstrate conclusively on the one hand how intensively parents concerned themselves with their children in the pre-modern era, and on the other which social, political and religious conditions shaped these relationships. These studies in emotional history demonstrate how easy it is for a subjective choice of sources, coupled with faulty interpretations – caused mainly by modern prejudices toward the Middle Ages in particular – to lead to the view that in the past children were regarded as small adults. The contributors demonstrate convincingly that intense feelings – admittedly often different in nature – shaped the relationship between adults and children.

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.

An encyclopedia covering the political, social, intellectual, religious and cultural history of the German- and Dutch-speaking medieval world, between 500 and 1500. Entries cover individuals and their deeds as well as broader historical topics.

Childhood & Adolescence in Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture counters the generally received wisdom that early medieval childhood and adolescence were an unremittingly bleak experience. The contributors analyse representations of children and their education in Old English, Old Norse and Anglo-Latin writings, including hagiography, heroic poetry, riddles, legal documents, philosophical prose and elegies. Within and across these linguistic and generic boundaries some key themes emerge: the habits and expectations of name-giving, expressions of childhood nostalgia, the role of uneducated parents, and the religious zeal and rebelliousness of youth. After decades of study dominated by adult gender studies, Childhood & Adolescence in Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture rebalances our understanding of family life in the Anglo-Saxon era by reconstructing the lives of medieval children and adolescents through their literary representation.

Kids Those Days is a collection of interdisciplinary research into medieval childhood. Contributors investigate abandonment and abuse, fosterage and guardianship, criminal behavior and child-rearing, child bishops and sainthood, disabilities and miracles, and a wide variety of other subjects related to medieval children.