The English Family 1450–1700

The long‐term impact of developmental stress. Evidence from later medieval and post‐medieval London (AD1117–1853)

“…These were physically demanding roles with long hours, and women were at the bottom of the pay-scale along with unskilled laborers and beggars (George, 1965). The majority of migrants were young adults who had grown up in the countryside (Finlay and Shearer, 1986;Kitch, 1986), where traditional preferences for male children may have resulted in greater concern over their health and wellbeing, allowing them to survive chronic stressors (Houlbrooke, 1986;Goldberg, 2008). At the other end of the social spectrum, the privileged status of wealthy males may have inhibited the effects of childhood stress.…”

Social Negotiations in Correspondence between Mothers and Daughters in Tudor and Early Stuart England

“…6 Sociological studies of modern England produced during the 1960s viewed the bond between mothers and daughters, as Ralph Houlbrooke has argued, as the 'strongest and most enduring of those between members of the nuclear family', since within the domestic sphere mothers provided advice and assistance in childcare and household management. 7 More recent sociological studies have challenged perceptions of mother -daughter relationships as universally and uniquely close, compared with relationships with sisters, and have emphasised cultural relativity and the complexity of relationships which are redefined and renegotiated at different stages over the life cycle. 8 Cumulatively then, such theoretical approaches emphasise the contradictory and sophisticated nature of mother -daughter relationships, which were historically and culturally specific, and must be viewed as dynamic, evolving, and structurally conditioned.…”

“…Daughters in particular were enjoined to display filial obedience in writing to parents, undergirded by the precepts that governed children's demeanour towards parents that poured from the pulpit and press. 41 Model letters for epistolary exchanges between daughters and mothers were provided by William Fulwood's The Enemie of Idlenesse (1568), reflecting social distinctions, and employing tropes of daughterly deference in the opening 'Dere and welbeloued Mother, after most humble and reuerent commendations with the desyre of your long life', and closing, 'Your obedient and louing Daughter'. 42 Similar models are founded in late-seventeenth-century guides for women's letter-writing, including Henry Care's The Female Secretary (1671) and Hannah Wolley's The Gentlewoman's Companion (1672).…”

Philippe Ariès’s discovery of childhood after fifty years: the impact of a classic study on educational research

“…A new paradigm was established, emphasising structure and continuity instead of fundamental changes and unique discoveries in the history of childhood. Among these 'revisionist' authors were Alan Macfarlane (1986), Stephen Ozment (1983Ozment ( , 2001, Ralph Houlbrooke (1984), Harry Peeters (1966), Shulamith Shahar (1990Shahar ( , 1996, Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie (1975), Jacques Gélis (1984Gélis ( , 1987Gélis ( , 1988, Jan Baptist Bedaux (1990Bedaux ( , 1999Bedaux ( , 2000, Annemarieke Willemsen (1998, Ferdinand Mount (1982, p. 144), and Linda Pollock (1983Pollock ( , 1987. Pollock seems to be the most representative author for the 'revisionist' approach.…”