There is an immediate appeal in these early playthings – not least because many of them are strikingly similar to the toys that anyone over the age of about 35 today used to play with in their own childhood.
Foundlings, asylums, almshouses and orphanages: early roots of child protection
November 20, 2011 By
Historically, when societies faced serious economic problems, competing demands for resources, or implicit cultural expectations, those with the lowest social status fared poorly.
Bridging the Gap: Finding a Valkyrie in a Riddle
September 7, 2011 By
Bridging the Gap: Finding a Valkyrie in a Riddle Culver, Jennifer (University of North Texas) M.A. Thesis, University of North Texas, May (2007) Abstract While many riddles exist in the Anglo-Saxon Exeter Book containing female characters, both as actual human females and personified objects and aspects of nature, few scholars have discussed how the anthropomorphized […]
Germanic Women: Mundium and Property, 400-1000
September 7, 2011 By
Germanic Women: Mundium and Property, 400-1000 Dunn, Kimberlee Harper (University of North Texas) M.A. Thesis (Science), University of North Texas, August (2006) Abstract Many historians would like to discover a time of relative freedom, security and independence for women of the past. The Germanic era, from 400-1000 AD, was a time of stability, and security […]
Excavation of an early church and a women’s cemetery at St Ronan’s medieval parish church, Iona
September 6, 2011 By
Excavation of an early church and a women’s cemetery at St Ronan’s medieval parish church, Iona O’Sullivan, Jerry et al. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Vol.124 (1994) Abstract St Ronan’s was the medieval parish church of lona. Excavation within the church recorded remains of an earlier building and graves of various dates, […]
Mother, wife, temptress, virgin and tyrant: defining images of feminine power in medieval queenship and modern politics
September 5, 2011 By
Mother, wife, temptress, virgin and tyrant: defining images of feminine power in medieval queenship andmodern politics Curwen, Emma B.A. Thesis, Regis University, May (2009) Abstract The Queens of Anglo-Saxon England were restricted and defined by traditional gender expectations and images. Though these ideals are less rigid, gender roles and images of femininity still restrict women. Standards […]
Daughters, Wives, and Widows: A Study of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman Noble Women
September 5, 2011 By
Daughters, Wives, and Widows: A Study of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman Noble Women Bailey, Paula J. Academic Forum, No.19 (2001/2) Abstract Traditional medieval histories have tended to downplay the role of noble women in early medieval England. However, increasingly popular gender studies in the last twenty years have prompted a renewed interest by scholars eager to make up […]
‘Quae voces audio?’ Some questions regarding the exploration of medieval British childhoods
June 2, 2011 By
Considerations regarding the experience and understanding of medieval childhood will swiftly remind the historian dealing with these problems of major limitations concerning the possible investigation and exploration of historical societies and their specific mentalities.
Concepts of Childhood: What We Know and Where We Might Go
May 31, 2011 By
They have explored such issues, among others, as the varieties of European household structure; definitions of the stages of life; childbirth, wetnursing, and the role of the midwife; child abandonment and the foundling home; infanticide and its prosecution; apprenticeship, servitude, and fostering; the evolution of schooling; the consequences of religious diversification; and the impact of gender
What was the Best for an Infant from the Middle Ages to Early Modern Times in Europe? The Discussion Concerning Wet Nurses
March 11, 2011 By
What was the Best for an Infant from the Middle Ages to Early Modern Times in Europe? The Discussion Concerning Wet Nurses By Sünje Prühlen Hygiea Internationalis, Volume 6, Issue 2 (2007) Introduction: Who was the appropriate woman to care for a nursing infant: the wet nurse or the biological mother? This was a very […]
Byzantine attitudes towards foetuses, newborn babies and infants: a multidisciplinary approach
March 1, 2011 By
Looking at hagiographies, histories, legal codes and examples of material culture, there is a substantial quantity of evidence which exposes Byzantine perceptions of the lived experience of infants too.
Teenagers at War During the Middle Ages
January 3, 2011 By
What were these two teenagers doing, fighting in a war which seemed to know no chronological bounds, especially if, as was shown above, it might have been unusual for teenagers to have fought in medieval wars?
Childhood in Medieval England, c.500-1500
May 18, 2010 By
Then as now, children liked playing with toys. Then as now, they had a culture of their own, encompassing slang, toys, and games.
Beliefs about Human Sexual Function in the Middle Ages and Renaissance
January 31, 2009 By
We want to examine the major beliefs about human sexual anatomy and fuction that prevailed during the Middle Ages and Renaissance and some of the medical practices that were related to these beliefs.
Child-centered law in medieval Ireland
December 18, 2008 By
Fortunately, the historian of early medieval Ireland does not face such predicaments in the search for the child as a detailed body of legal discourse survives. This is the largest collection of legal material written in a vernacular for pre-1200 Europe, with the published edition running to 2,343 pages.
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