Nick Jungels
Mrs. Weber
AP Euro 1st block In early modern Europe, there were various assumptions about children. Due to these assumptions, people had different views on how children should be raised and treated. Some people believed that children were loving and gentle while others believed that children were annoying and inferior. Also, there were some that children should be educated and there should be reason for punishment. Many people in early modern Europe saw children as loving, gentle, and as treasures. Those who thought about children this way usually raised them the way children should be raised and treated them with respect because they love the children very dearly. This is shown in a letter to a friend that Martin Luther, the leader of the Protestant reformation, wrote, when he says "The force of our natural love is so great that we are unable to refrain from crying and grieving in our hearts and experiencing death ourselves" (Doc 2). These people also believed that the children should be able to have fun, which is very well depicted in the picture Children's Games by Pieter Brueghel, the Elder. They also respected the children of this time. Margaret Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle showed this in a letter she wrote, saying "We were bred tenderly, for my mother naturally did strive to please and delight her children, not to cross and torment them…" (Doc 9). Though there were many people that thought children were good and deserved to be treated with respect, not all people of this time believed this way. There were also many people in early modern Europe that thought children were annoying, inferior and they should be detached from their children. These people didn't give children the respect they deserved, and treated the children as adults. In an autobiography about Benvenuto Cellini, he wrote "…I detached myself from my little boy and left him crying his eyes out" (Doc 4). This shows that some people didn't care about the feelings of children and sometimes detached themselves from their own children. They believed that children should always obey their father, unless it is a matter against his conscience and the honor of God. Jean Benedicti, a Franciscan preacher, describes this in his book A Summary of