Historical Views of Children in Biblical Items and "Old World" Europe

The Church Doctrine

There are deep-seated notions about child-rearing practices in modern time that are rooted in the religious beliefs of early human communities. The focus here is on that period of time between the 17th and 19th centuries; we begin here because it is this period of time most commonly thought of as having the greatest influence on today's attitudes toward and treatment of children.

In Western Europe (France, Spain, Great Britain, etc.), religious beliefs and leaders were very much intertwined with civil leaders. In fact, monarchs (kings and queens) quite often were advised by church leaders, primarily those of the Catholic church. Much of the religious dogma became the ruling force behind civil authority. Put another way, interpretations of the Bible (thought to be the ordained word of God) by church leaders were accepted without hesitation, and with few exceptions, by major heads of state.

Just as church doctrine was part and parcel of the civil discord in government during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries across Europe, and eventually in early Colonial America, so too was its hold on the masses. In other words, the church greatly influenced all social institutions and nowhere is this truer than within the institution of the family.

Within the family, it was held that God had ordained the man to be the head of the household. Under this patriarchal system, women and children were relegated to a much lower role. The male head of the household had complete autonomy in how he managed the family unit. Women had to subjugate themselves to their husbands and keep silent when it came to decisions regarding children. Children were to be absolutely obedient and the Biblical teaching of "spare the rod and spoil the child" was alive and well in these early households. Also, households very much believed in the old adage, "Children should be seen and not heard." Children who acted out were often accused of being "possessed by the devil." They were viewed as "evil" or "wicked."

Community Development

During early stages of community development, children were often viewed as a nuisance. The very poor, representing most of society during this time, struggled to care for these children. Because of extreme living conditions, a large number of infants did not survive beyond the first year. Some women committed infanticide, a common occurrence during this time in some areas, in order to reduce the number of mouths the family had to feed. Feral children is a term used to describe those young people who were taken deep into the woods and abandoned by their families. These throwaway children often survived somehow and made their way back to civilization where they were viewed as wild animals, kept in cages, and eventually starved or beaten to death.

As conditions for humans improved over time, there evolved more than two main classes of people, e.g. the wealthy property owners and those who had absolutely nothing. As production of goods and services became a way of living, and through the bartering system (the exchange of basic necessities between people, such as food, tools, etc.), there arose different classes of people. The lower classes continued to struggle under extreme poverty and unhealthy living conditions; the middle classes fared much better; and the upper classes continued with business as usual. Sometime in the 18th century or so, well into the 19th century, middle-class families began to model the lives of upper-class families. Children during this time were to be raised by women of the lower classes and to be dressed up and paraded out before guests almost like a show and tell moment, only to be quickly disposed of once the guests had been sufficiently impressed by how well the children were groomed and how well behaved they were.

Under this new way of child rearing, middle- and upper-class families would often send their infants away and into the arms of lower class women who would breast feed them and raise them up to about the age of three or so. There are accounts of many children of the lower classes either being killed by their parents or cast off into the woods in order to make room for middle- and upper -class children for whom they would be paid a sum of money for their care. Babies were swaddled (wrapped tightly in a blanket such that their movements would be restricted) in an effort to break their spirit, and corporal punishment was the primary disciplinary tool used across all classes of people. After a period of time, when children were past the toddler stage, they would be returned to the homes of their parents only to receive care from a live-in nanny or nursemaid. It simply was not fashionable during this time, leading into the Victorian age (1830s into the early 1900s), for mothers to show much attention to, much less actually care for, their children.