History portrays famous people who created, changed, and improved the lives of the community, the obstacles that occurred in the past such as economic depressions, illnesses, and the development of technology. It is because of history that modern societies of the twentieth-century learned valuable knowledge from their predecessors. However, what the history omits is the role played by the children especially during the medieval times. This paper proposes to study the life of medieval children as well as their role in the society. The status of children was often ignored; the scarcity of historical documents makes it almost impossible for historians to discern how medieval children lived amidst the chaos of war. Children of the medieval period had little time to spend for playtime and the majority of them worked hard like grown-up people. Scholars such as Guy Halsall argued that medieval children were treated as equal to adults; and this evidence was found on the skeletal remains which he noted that regardless of gender, children were dressed as the same as the adults (cited James 2004, p. 13). Furthermore, children were also involved in trades. In fact, medieval boys either tended livestock or become a page of a knight; on the other hand, girls learned to sew and spin threads to make clothing. According to Orme (n.d., pp. 5-6), one of the parts of raising children was giving them education. Education in medieval period meant learning a trade or craft. The Catholic Church also encouraged the parents to send their children to monasteries to practice early priesthood. Likewise, young girls ended up as nuns or abbess while boys became priests in the latter years. Unlike in today’s society, the life of medieval children were harsh; for instance, medieval children were required to work hard in order to live and according to Gordon (1991, p. 150), working children have high chances of getting work-related injuries which caused by “bone fractures, sprains, head injuries, suffocation, burns, and many others.”
REFERENCES
Gordon, E.C. (1991). Accidents among medieval children as seen from the miracles of six English saints and martyrs. Medical History, 35(2), 145–163. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1036334/?page=1
James, E. (2004). Childhood and Youth in the Early Middle Ages. In P. J. P. Goldberg & F. Riddy (Eds.), Youth in the Middle Ages (11-24). Woodbridge, Suffolk/Rochester, NY: York Medieval Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7722/j.ctt9qdkgb
Orme, N. (N.d.) Childhood in Medieval England c.500-1500. Representing Childhood University of Pittsburgh. Retrieved from http://www.representingchildhood.pitt.edu/pdf/MedChild.pdf
