Given at The Mortimer History Society Spring Conference, on May 20, 2023
Childhood, at least until early modern times, was once considered brief and lacking in character. Children were merely ‘small adults’. Nicholas Orme’s lecture uses the huge surviving body of evidence about medieval children to show that, on the contrary, they were seen by adults very much as they are today, and enjoyed a rich culture of relationships, clothes, toys, games, and books.
Medieval Childhood: Dark Age or Golden Age?
Paper by Nicholas Orme
Given at The Mortimer History Society Spring Conference, on May 20, 2023
Childhood, at least until early modern times, was once considered brief and lacking in character. Children were merely ‘small adults’. Nicholas Orme’s lecture uses the huge surviving body of evidence about medieval children to show that, on the contrary, they were seen by adults very much as they are today, and enjoyed a rich culture of relationships, clothes, toys, games, and books.
Nicholas Orme is an emeritus professor of history at Exeter University, and the author of many books including Medieval Children, Medieval Schools, and Going to Church in Medieval England.
See also the Mortimer History Society website
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