Archives: June 2010

12 Jun 2010, Comments (0)

Childhood in Medieval England, c.500-1500

Author: Ann Scott

Childhood in Medieval England, c.500-1500

Paper by Nicholas Orme,
University of Exeter

Introduction:
This toy knight comes from a rich harvest of archaeological finds, made in the mudbanks of the River Thames in London during the last 30 years. It was manufactured in about 1300, and illustrates several facets of medieval childhood. Then as now, children liked playing with toys. Then as now, they had a culture of their own, encompassing slang, toys, and games.

Then as now, adults cared for children and encouraged their play. An adult made this toy and another adult bought it for a child, or gave a child money to buy it. The toy knight was made from a mould, and produced in large numbers. It probably circulated among the families of merchants, shopkeepers, and craft workers, as well as those of the nobility and gentry. The finds also include toys that girls might have liked: little cups, plates, and jugs, some sturdy enough to heat up water by a fireside. There is even a self-assembly kit: a cupboard cut out of a sheet of soft metal, instead of the plastic that would be used today.

Read Orme’s paper:

http://www.representingchildhood.pitt.edu/pdf/MedChild.pdf

7 Jun 2010, Comments (0)

Late Medieval Female Authors

Author: Ann Scott

In fourteenth and fifteenth-century Europe, women rarely wrote books. Of the small number of works they did produce, even fewer remain today. These surviving volumes offer us a rare glimpse into the struggle of a small number of women who acted with determination to begin filling the void of female authorship in European literature.

Although the Church encouraged women to submerge themselves in spiritual disciplines, and while a few upper-class and monastic women received some education, they were not encouraged to write literature. Society consented to females writing in the vernacular when women confined their work to personal correspondence or household administration, but when they wanted to publish, the confining socio-religious controls of the late medieval Church and academic tradition created a nearly impenetrable barrier between their dream and reality. Those who broke through these barriers usually did so at great personal cost. This website will soon offer a more detailed study of several of these women by name.

- Ann Scott -

Tags

14th Century 1300s Augustine's City of God Benedict's Rule Benedictine Monasticism Cenobitic Monasticism Christian Philosophy Constantine I Daily Life in the Middle Ages English LIterature Fall of the Roman Empire Medieval England Medieval Sounds polytheism Saint Augustine's Confessions Saint Benedict’s Rule St. Augustine's City of God Theodosius I