But some devout children chose to fast along with the adults and they were admired for their piety.Ĭhildren went to bed early, often before sunset, after saying their prayers. Children were generally exempt from fasting and other diet restrictions imposed by the Church at this time. Supper was around five in the evening and was a much simpler meal. The afternoon was spent on studies or work and play. Around 11 am they broke for dinner which was a large meal in the great hall or they went home to eat if they lived in town. They rose with the first light of day, said prayers, washed up, dressed, ate a light breakfast and went to class by 6 am. Some were sent to boarding schools where they wore long black robes over their clothes to signify that they were scholars. But boys were allowed to play with knives, bows and arrows, toy swords and hobby horses.Īt seven, children left the nursery and were turned over to tutors, sent to a town school, or began to learn a trade or farmwork.
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They played with animal pets and toys like dolls, balls, hoops, noise-makers, miniature dishes, and little music instruments. Before seven girls and boys were treated the same and both lived mostly under the care of women in the nursery.
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Infancy was considered to last up to the age of seven though it was marked with milestones for weaning, walking, and talking. This is reported as common right up through Tudor and Elizabethan times. Sometimes nurses would chew food with their own mouths then feed it to the babies with their fingers. Pap was made from boiled grains and milk or bread soaked in almond milk. About this time babies were weaned and they began to eat soft food called pap. There are depictions of small children on leashes or harnesses as well. Therefore they were often "tied to their mother's apron strings" or put in wooden walkers. Toddlers were in more danger since they could easily topple into the fire or a tub of water at any moment. There were even nursery rhymes about leaving a slice of bread and a knife in the cradle to keep bad spirits away from the baby. What could possibly go wrong? That's not all. Imagine that, they took a strangulation hazard like a cord, combined it with some choking hazards like bright red beads, and just for good measure added a pendant made of a sharp stick of coral. On the other hand it was considered proper to leave a baby alone in a cradle while mother shopped as long as the baby was swaddled! Babies were given necklaces of large coral beads for protection from evil. Magistrate records of accidents and crimes tell of babies being strangled by the cords that held their hanging cradles, or falling out of wooden cradles and dying. This also kept babies from flailing around and falling out of their cradles which seems to have been a problem. This served to keep the babies warm and protected from insects, but its main purpose was to insure that the babies tiny limbs didn't grow crooked. Small babies of both classes were kept swaddled in linen strips with darker bands criss-crossed over their bodies.
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Nursing was a welcome respite from work for both mothers and babies. But large families meant more work for Mother so the other children had to help with the youngest and rock the cradle, change diapers, do laundry, etc. The mother of a commoner baby was likely to nurse her own child and therefore have a much closer relationship. His mother wouldn't nurse because nursing was known to reduce fertility and she was required to bear as many children as possible to maintain the dynasty. As a toddler he would also have grooms that followed him making sure he didn't fall and ruin his expensive clothing. A Prince might have two nurses, four cradle rockers, one or more chambermaids, and a laundress. Right from birth, the children of the aristocracy and the aspiring wealthy classes were tended by servants, nursemaids and tutors. It's a wonder that they made it to adolescence.Ĭhildren in the middle ages and Renaissance were divided by fate into two categories nobility and common and their lives were very different depending on which group they belonged to.