The Ties That Bound by Barbara A. Hanawalt

From age eight to fourteen he would learn the essentials: hawking, fighting, and riding. “At age eight the French nobility would send their sons to a castle to begin his training in the ways of men. While said that children go fairly unnoticed, this is usually up until the later years of life, reaching about age 7 or 8. Children were fairly unnoticed, just as Hal is by his father, King Henry. The treatment of children throughout the middle ages, and the treatment of Hal from King Henry IV, by William Shakespeare, is quite similar.

Medieval parents often brought their children up, not by themselves, but the help of other influences such as wet-nurses, social commentators, and religious leaders. That’s seems strange, since those are the most important part of a child’s life. But what if back in the early Renaissance period, the relationship between parents and children was extremely different? Instead of parents pampering their young, “there seems to have been little concern for child between birth and five or six years old” (Medieval and Renaissance Parenting 1). According to a source from News Canada, “The first few years of a child's life are full of new and exciting experiences…” This would mean that an adult needs to be there for their child. Parents also are there from the time they are born, until the time a child is ready to leave the house, and even then some. They are there to nurture a child and love them. They are the key source in every child’s life. Parents and Children: How Renaissance Parenting Differed From Today Parents and Children: How Renaissance Parenting Differed From Today

The Ties That Bound by Barbara A. Hanawalt