About Children Harmony Hart
Children were often considered to be miniature versions of what?
Children were expected to act as miniature versions of adults. (Gottlieb 420)
Multimedia citation:
JasmineSmith612. “Children during the Renaissance (English Project).” YouTube, YouTube, 12 Jan. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgbNk76YXVI. Accessed 8 Mar. 2017.
In wealthy homes, who often raised children? Why?
Women had many responsibilities and mothering their children was not the most crucial of them. Wealthier mothers who didn't have enough time to raise their children full time let the task fall to hired wet nurses. Wet nurses were lower-status women in need of income who were faced with the important task of breast feeding infants. (Cohen 184)
What was the infant mortality rate in Elizabethan England?What were some of the most common causes of infant mortality during Elizabethan England?How did Families react to this?
Due to the lack of modern medicines, children often died at a young age or even at birth. In a family where eleven or twelve children were born only one or two might grow up. Women often died giving birth as well. Many husbands experienced sad times as they lost their wives and children. (Jones 10)
What was expected of children in terms of behavior? What was the punishment for misbehavior?
Children were expected to be obedient and respectful (Gottlieb 419) and when they misbehaved, most fathers believed that they were obligated to "correct" them by beating them. (Jones 9)
What was education like for children in the Elizabethan era?
Children started learning religion at a very early age in the household but luckier boys and girls began formal schooling at the age five, six or seven, either at or away from home. Form and quantity of their education varied according to their family's economic and social class, the gender of the pupils, their parents' expectations and the schooling available to them. (Gottlieb 418)
Works Cited
Cohen, Elizabeth S., and Thomas V. Cohen. Daily Life in Renaissance Italy. Westport, CT, Greenwood Press, 2001.
Encyclopedia of the Renaissance. New York, C. Scribnerʼs Sons, 1999.
Jones, Madeline. Growing up in Stuart Times. London, B.T. Batsford, 1979.