Life Like For Children In The Middle Ages

Juveniles have not always been viewed as a unique class in the criminal justice system. Between 700 to 1500 A.D., children were held accountable for any crime they committed (Bartollas, p. 3). The special needs of juveniles were wholly ignored. The Middle Ages were a difficult time for children. At very young ages they were expected to take on adult roles in the family. In many ways children were treated as small adults. Parents and land owners assumed total control over children. In the Middle Ages, if a child committed a crime their punishment was doled out by the adults in their lives. If you stole a loaf of bread, the bread maker and your head of household would decide your punishment. These Medieval traditions eventually led to the ideal of parens patriae or the King as a father. This is the first time the idea of a governing body having control over children came about. One of the earliest laws regarding juveniles and punishments was the exemption of punishment for those under seven years of age. Children eight years and above were held accountable for their crimes. This age range would change as the years flew by. Eventually the laws in England changed and children between the ages of seven and fourteen were assumed accountable for their crimes. At this stage in history punishments were based off of the severity of the crime—not necessarily the age of the offender. If you committed a vicious or heinous act, your punishment would be fitting, regardless of age. During

Medieval Society had a monarchy system where the city is and the church is separated and there were also a clear cut lines between the class of Nobles, Knights, Damsel and Peasants as well. (Terry Jones Videos & Williams Notes). In reality, life during the medieval times were more than just simple farm life for the peasants while lords administer laws from kings (William Notes). Their society was corrupted, dishonest and mad, people seek for more power (Terry Jones; Kings, Knights), every man was for himself, seeking one way or another to escape the burden, the hardship in their lives while some turn to religion other turns to booze for help (McKay 291 &Terry Jones; Damsel). In addition to diseases and plagues that were quite common because the small cities were rarely look after (McKay 307).

It is easy for a contemporary observer to think that with all the hardships of life on the manor, life in medieval cities would have been better for commoners. Although cities offered valuable experience and opportunities, it was extremely difficult to find jobs in large cities, while there was a more consistent pay, food and shelter when living on a manor. This essay will analyze the positives and negatives of life on manors, as well as the positives and negatives of life in the cities for commoners. Despite the many negatives, the evidence suggests that life on the manors for peasants in the middle ages was mostly better than life in the cities.

There was a definite structure to society in the Middle Ages. In Medieval Europe, the life of a peasant was very difficult and grueling due to the Feudal system. Medieval peasants were forced to work a certain job due to this system. Peasants were also frowned upon by commoners and forced to serve under nobles or their lords. On top of the extremely hard working conditions, peasants lived in poverty. Since they were uneducated and unsophisticated, peasants were stuck doing farm labor and working other jobs. Even though it seems peasants had it the worst during the Middle Ages, they were a necessity for society. Without peasants, there would be no food, resources, or workers to keep up the economy. Medieval peasants were

This book will support some child's image of the world in the middle ages that not

Each person also had different responsibilities during the middle ages. The people in the middle ages back then were like the people in today’s world but with more or less power. The King would be in power over their country. They would think they were from the Divine Rights. The King could do anything on what he wanted with his people. Their

Children born in lower classes were forced to work as soon as possible and were not considered children anymore by the age of ten. They were not allowed to marry until they reached the age of 20 because their families required workers and without their daughter, they’d be deprived of one. This was the complete opposite of a wealthy girl. Girls born into rich backgrounds were obligated to marry during their teenage years. They also did not have a choice on who they were to be wedded with. Parents chose their daughters’ husbands and majority of the time they thought more about what would benefit the overall family than their actual daughters’ feelings. After marriage, husbands had full control over their wives. As expected, married women were responsible for birthing at least one son. If the woman is not able to the first time, the husband and wife keep trying until they can. This was very dangerous during the Middle Ages since childbirth was often not successful and led to death for the pregnant wife. For women born into wealth, they were not responsible for taking care of their children. A nurse was provided to look after them. Unfortunately, this was not the case for poorer wives. Along with taking care of their children, they were forced to continue working day and night for their family and the

The area I focused my research on was Europe. I learned that during the middle ages the Feudal system was key to the middle ages. I also learned that living conditions were hard

Medieval times were very similar to current times. There were the rich and the poor. The poor families (families not related to the lord) would live in the village and work on the farms. The farming land was split into three different fields and then split among the different families in the village. Many of the families owned one ox but that was not enough to pull the plow, so the different families had different jobs for each month of the year. When the farmers came home from long days in the fields, their meals were not very plentiful. To have meat in the house was considered a luxury. The dinner would often consist of bread, cheese, and sometimes pottage. Pottage was a mixture of grain, hot water, and when available meat or fish.

Children during the period would entertain themselves with games such as tag and follow the leader. They would imitate their parents and other adults around them. Children would would play with dolls, tea seats, miniature utensils and handmade play weapons. Parents or caregivers would give children toys related to their future careers, for example if a young boy was to be a farmer, he would be given toy animals. Due to high mortality rates children could not expect all of their playmates to survive to adulthood. Due to the shorter life expectancy of people during this time childhood and play were often cut short as early adolescents would start work. Children would learn through play and prepare themselves for adulthood. Although they were not too interested in the intricacies of adult life they were interested in mimicking various aspects of it such as staging weddings, pretending to fight and creating their own play food. Children would enjoying listening to music and watching performances. They would entertain themselves with nature, playing with animals and insects and swimming in lakes and ponds. Often playing with other children, older children would be more likely to play on their own but children would often play together in large

The answer to the question ,“Say you have the delightful choice between life as a country peasant in the High Middle Ages or life as a common city resident at that time. Which would you eagerly choose?” I would choose peasant, no I am not crazy. Peasants worked the land and produced the stuff that the lord and his manor needed. This trade was not easy for the peasants. They were heavily taxed and were required to hand over much of what they harvested. The peasants did not even "belong to" themselves, according to medieval law.

The Middle Ages were not known for their choice in government, ways of living, or their views on the Church. Rather, they were known for making the best of what was given to the, which was music. During the early Middle Ages, peasants stayed bound to the land they were given, but had to depend on landlords for protection. Also, many social bonds were ties of kinship, which lead to the emergence of feudalism among the warrior aristocracy ("The Middle Ages: Feudal Life", 2013).

Childhood in the life cycle similarly gives a look at the difference from medieval childhood to modern day childhood. As well as the similarities between the two and analyze the factors from each. Also looking into the effects of crisis in childhood such as losing a parent, children were understood and not forgotten in their time and giving them time to grief. Step parents are also a way for historians to look into the childhood and certain things that affected the child. Step mothers would become a motherly figure for her step children because most of the time the new husbands children were as young as her children. So there was not a lot of jealousy in this time period as we see today with divorce and step parents.

History has demonstrated that an evolution occurs with the aging of society. One such evolution is the treatment of children. The concept of parens partriae was influenced by the exesting concepts of childhood and adolescence during the Middle Ages. It experienced its first major evolution, judging the 1960s, and has seen a further evolution in modern times. The following essay discuses those evolutions, and evaluates if they are for the better, or worse.

Life back in the middle ages wasn’t so easy. Their social system was that serfs at the bottom with only land that there lord has given them and they were not allowed to leave the land, next was knights they were specially trained soldiers who protected the lords and peasants, after that was lords ( nobles ) they were the upperclassmen landowners they went by duke and sir, lastly was the kings they only had land but very little power. If you were a serfs and most of the population was it was tough. Majority lived in the country by the agriculture. Most farming was on the open field system, where villagers farmed strips of land, some having more strips than others (the better off peasants tended to have a higher social status in the village),