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Essay about Commonalities between Blood Families

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When the word family is said different people think of different things. I believe there are two different kinds of family, blood and true family. Blood family is those that share the same blood and you were born into or married into. True family is the family you choose to be part of your family. With that being said, what I am going to be look into is blood families of the medieval period. No family is completely the same, but there is common ground. By looking at personal written material from the people in that time period, I hope to see what common ground there is between families of the English and of the Italian.
The wives of the time were thought to have the duty to manage everything from food supplies to managing accounts and …show more content…

Paston does not like to be away from her husband. With her saying she is “half a widow” until he comes homes shows the strong bond between the married couple. The final letter being looked at from “The Voices of the Middle Ages”, is between German Polo and his wife’s parents. He starts his letter with “most honourable and honoured father and mother” (Moriatry 238). In the same letter Polo goes on and says he puts his “highest” trust in them. This letter is written by Polo to show how important his new mother and father-in-laws are to him. He holds them high and hopes for their comfort and happiness.
These letters are from the English. Each are personal letters to each family member. It is clear that the bonds between in-laws and blood relatives are the same, each wants what is best for their parents. The letters show that there is more then what meets the eye. The letter between the husband and wife shows that they care deeply for each other.
In the book, “Discovering the Medieval Past”, the evidence that is given to us is that of official documents. The documents that show more about bonds are those of the wills. The wills show that when the husbands past who they care for the most. One husband, John Jalander, left his wife, Alice, everything (Wiesner 214). In the will of Robert Lurker, he leaves a bed, bedding, and a pan for his wife, but what he does have he gives to his sons (Wiesner 215). John has a greater bond with his wife more then Robert

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