Family Life in The Medieval Period

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Family Life in The Medieval Period
By Sara Gray
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A few facts

• We know little about the family life and
  economics of medieval times
• Women were not very important
• They valued childhood in some cases, but in
  others they saw children as adults from the time
  they were very small
• Men were seen as head of the household, strict,
  and hard-working

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Babies

• Many mothers did not make it through childbirth,
  a priest would come and they would have to do
  everything a dying man would do, just incase they
  died
• A baby would be baptized 8 days after it was
  born, but if the baby died it would not be
  discussed and be thrown into a ditch in the
  corner of a church yard.
• A midwife would usually baptize the child

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Children

• Children were mostly treated as if they were
  adults by the time they could walk.
• The boys would grow up to learn there fathers
  business
• The average father would spend more time scolding
  his children than showing affection for them
• For the most part, there are no children's songs,
  pictures of children, or writings of how
  wonderful children were to have around

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Children

• For a child's past times many sports would be
  played, such as tennis, chess, and wrestling
• Teenagers who liked to show their rebellious
  sides would often gamble
• Many teenagers were married very young, there are
  even some cases of twelve and thirteen year olds
  being married and living on their own

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Marriage

• Women had no choice in who they married
• Who you married determined how well you would
  live the rest of your life by how much money,
  cattle, and land your husband had
• Usually a whole town, even the lords would help
  the parents decide a good match for their daughter

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Marriage

• Very rarely the men were able to choose there
  brides
• Most couples were generally strangers until the
  parents introduced them
• A notice was posted on the church door to notify
  when the wedding would be
• Girls were usually 12 and the boy was usually 17
  when they were told they would be married

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Marriage

• When the marriage notice was posted people from
  the town would come forward and tell the family
  if there were any reasons they should not be
  married
• One major reason was that the couple was to
  closely related
• If a person knew that one of them was a rapist,
  committed adultery, or was a thief they would
  come forward and tell

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A Peasants House

• Mostly made from oak
• A house was one story high, with a loft or attic
  above
• A fire burned at almost all times in the house
• There was a hole in the ceiling called a louvre
  that let smoke out
• Thieves often broke into the house by cutting a
  hole in the wall because it was much quieter than
  breaking the lock on the front door

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Different Kinds of Houses
A lords house
A middle class citizens house
A peasants house
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Works Citied

• Stuard, Susan. "Women in Medieval Society." 1993
  1. 02 18 2008 lthttp//www.questia.com/PM.qst?aod
  24951717gt.
• "Love, Marriage, Romance Women...." 1998 02 18
  2008 lthttp//www.dfwx.com/medieval_cult.htmlgt.
• Gies, Frances. "The Medieval Child, Part 1." 197.
  02 18 2008 lthttp//historymedren.about.com/library
  /weekly/aa100500a.htmgt.