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How did the traditional concept of parenting change in British society during the Renaissance?

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How did the traditional concept of parenting change in British society during the Renaissance?

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Editor|Dream into the magic machine

During the High Middle Ages in England, parents were not close to their children, especially children. Many historians believe that children in the Middle Ages lived in a nightmare. At this time in the UK, "children were still in neglect".

How did the traditional concept of parenting change in British society during the Renaissance?

Humanist propaganda

Parents' attitude towards their children is mostly cold and ruthless.

One of the reasons for this was the very high infant and child mortality rate in British society at that time.

The biggest difference between the medieval family and the modern family is not the change in the size or structure of the family, but the constant appearance of death.

How did the traditional concept of parenting change in British society during the Renaissance?

"Death is at the center of life, just as a cemetery is at the center of the countryside."

In this case, it is often seen as extremely foolish to invest too much energy and emotion in the juniors.

By modern standards, the mortality rate of children in the Middle Ages was indeed very high.

According to data, "about 25% of children may have died soon after birth, of which nearly half (12.5%) died between the ages of 1 and 4 years and nearly a quarter (6 per cent) between the ages of 5 and 9".

How did the traditional concept of parenting change in British society during the Renaissance?

The high mortality rate of children caused strong resistance to the emotional investment of their children in medieval England, and the common practice of "sending children to foster care" exacerbated the already cold and unfamiliar parent-child relationship.

In the middle and upper classes of society, babies are sent from birth to live with a nanny who is far from home for up to 12 to 18 months.

These factors made the relationship between parents and children generally difficult in the Middle Ages.

How did the traditional concept of parenting change in British society during the Renaissance?

Relaxation of the relationship between parents and children

After the 16th century, due to the increase in the birth rate, the relationship between parents and children in British society has eased as a whole.

However, because of the profound influence of the religious original sin theory, the mainstream view of British society at that time on the nature of children was still quite negative and pessimistic.

How did the traditional concept of parenting change in British society during the Renaissance?

According to this view, although children do not normally commit mortal crimes before the age of seven, their congenital depravity is manifested long ago.

Therefore, only by using the grace of the gods and the strict discipline of parents as a tool to redeem children, and trying to curb their essential evil impulses, can we give children some hope to get out of sinking.

This view has its roots in the Old Testament and was widely articulated in the advice to parents in the late Middle Ages and the Reformation.

This view makes many parents, out of deep love for their children, have to suppress their true emotions when facing their children, pretending to be smiling to scare them.

How did the traditional concept of parenting change in British society during the Renaissance?

And the traditional British wisdom is constantly reiterated and emphasized that too much love by parents is likely to push children into endless danger.

Uncontrolled love makes their body and mind fragile, the body more susceptible to illness, and the mind more likely to fall.

Therefore, in order for children to grow up healthy and strong, strict control of their daily lives to ensure that they are not carried away by pampering is what qualified and responsible parents should do, and it is the expression of parents' care for their children.

These ideas profoundly influenced the attitude of the squire class towards the education of their children and were reflected in the biographies and memoirs of some famous squires.

How did the traditional concept of parenting change in British society during the Renaissance?
For example, John Cain said, "If bad habits are allowed to breed in a person's infancy, they will never be eradicated."

John Ogrand, who has always had a gentle temperament, also said emotionally: "Nothing can ruin children more than the doting of parents when they are young." Too gentle nurturing, keeping children away from hard work and labor, will make it easy for them to appear worthless later in life."

How did the traditional concept of parenting change in British society during the Renaissance?

The influence of humanist thought

But by the middle and late 16th century, with the development of socio-political economy and the spread of humanist ideas.

In the English family, the relationship between parents and descendants has changed greatly from the indifferent alienation of the medieval period.

How did the traditional concept of parenting change in British society during the Renaissance?

On the other hand, especially in some famous pagan classics, there has been a discussion and defense of a more tolerant way of education, which is more emotionally and psychologically appealing to the demands of most parents.

Some humanists are also more inclined to emphasize and preach the protection of children's innocence than to correct their evils.

They believe that natural tendencies can be exploited in the process of children's mental development, and do not necessarily have to resort to repressive means.

Sir Thomas More remembers his gentle education for his children and is deeply proud of it.

How did the traditional concept of parenting change in British society during the Renaissance?

Roger Ascany likened "the sheer mind and wisdom of a tender and wonderful baby" to "a new wax ready to await the best printing," or "a new silver platter that never has been used to keep any good thing put in it clean."

He was adamantly opposed to unnecessary whipping.

People are gradually realizing that if children are innocent or highly malleable, excessively harsh disciplinary education seems unnecessary.

Under the vigorous promotion of humanism and the teachings of Protestantism, more and more people have abandoned the old pessimistic view in the discussion of children's nature, which makes the parents' love for children and more emotional expressions in British families gradually become allowed and recognized, and even become praiseworthy.

How did the traditional concept of parenting change in British society during the Renaissance?

As a result, the relationship between parents and children has also advanced to a deeper level.

After entering the 17th century, some scholars lamented one after another: "The most attractive thing about British society is the true love of parents for their children."

As a result, a more tolerant and gentle approach to education began to slowly enter the public's field of vision and was gradually accepted by all levels of society.

Under the influence of this environment, the parenting style of the squire family has become more tender and loving.

How did the traditional concept of parenting change in British society during the Renaissance?

In fact, as early as the beginning of the century, Dorothy Leigh proposed that "persuading children with a kind attitude is the best way to guide them to behave appropriately."

She also wrote in The Mother's Blessing that no matter what a child's temperament is, gentleness and thoughtfulness will quickly make them the embodiment of virtue.

In his book Advice for Your Daughter, Halifax writes: "You have to learn to deny your children as little as possible, you should try to refuse them in a gentle way when it is really unavoidable, you have to learn to put up with their bad temper, and you have to take the next opportunity to make your children happy to please them before they ask you or ask for help again." Consolidating your children's obedience to you in a way that satisfies them will undoubtedly strengthen your authority, and the authority you gain in this way will seem moderate."

John Locke, the great philosopher and educational thinker of the 17th century, also offered his own unique insights into parenting styles.

How did the traditional concept of parenting change in British society during the Renaissance?

He believes that in the education of children, rewards and punishments should be used, but the methods should be appropriate, and if the method of rewards and punishments is used in vain, it is simply sacrificing children's virtues and inverting their education.

Locke explicitly opposed corporal punishment, arguing that corporal punishment was a form of slave discipline because it "produced a slave-like character."

And as in many other areas, the gentry class bore the brunt of these theories as active responders and implementers.

Tolerance had an important impact on society at the time, but disciplinary education did not disappear, and harsh admonitions and corporal whipping still existed in the families of the squires, but these were only a last resort.

How did the traditional concept of parenting change in British society during the Renaissance?

Under the influence of the Renaissance movement, a large number of humanist educators also emerged in society.

They vigorously promoted classical culture and intellectual education.

At the same time, they have developed an unprecedented interest in children as a group, and have proposed specific educational goals and methods for children.

These ideas deeply influenced the concept, attitude and content of the squire's treatment of children's education, and also promoted the development of the gentry's family education during this period.

Thomas Elliott was a famous 16th-century British humanist educator. He believed that a gentleman should have virtue, wisdom, and a stable profession.

How did the traditional concept of parenting change in British society during the Renaissance?

Such virtues include gentle attitude, tenacious character, and gentle demeanor. Ashem was another famous humanist educator in 16th-century Britain.

He emphasized the development of children's virtues and their transformation into learned and intelligent individuals as the primary purpose of education.

He attached great importance to the role of virtue in the development of children, once clearly stating that "virtue and learning must be inseparable", and at the same time, he also recognized that it is not enough for children to have virtue, but also to strive to learn knowledge and become learned people.

Gentlemen, in particular, should be well cultured and cultured, and imbued themselves with virtue, wisdom and learning, so that when the monarch and the country needed it, they could put their experience and knowledge to their service.

How did the traditional concept of parenting change in British society during the Renaissance?
As for how to achieve these goals, Ashem believes that a good environment should be created for children to grow up, "I want children to grow up in an environment that loves learning." I also want children to grow up in a well-ordered environment, even in the strictest discipline."

Locke was a great British philosopher and educator of the 17th century, and the epitome of the educational ideas of the British gentleman.

His educational ideas are aimed at the group of British gentlemen, who believe that gentlemen are the elite of society, and if they grasp the education of gentlemen, the education of the whole society will be guaranteed.

He pointed out that the standard of a gentleman is to have a healthy body and four valuable qualities of "virtue, wisdom, etiquette, and learning."

How did the traditional concept of parenting change in British society during the Renaissance?

Moreover, he was a great advocate of family education, believing that the education of gentlemen should be carried out at home, and private education, although not without its shortcomings, had a much more obvious advantage in shaping children.

He also placed particular emphasis on the responsibility of the father, as the head of the family, for the education of his children, who he believed were free through the father's power and his father's understanding of the law.

His father's intellect would dominate him until he understood the law and what action should be taken within the allowable limits.

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