The Knowledge of Childhood in the German Middle Ages, 1100-1350 - by Jr (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

James A Schultz has brought a historiographic approach to nearly two hundred Middle High German texts--narrative, didactic, homiletic, legal, religious, and secular. He explores what they say about the nature of the child, the role of inherited and individual traits, the status of education, the remarkable number of disruptions these children suffered as they grew up, the rites of passage that mark coming of age, the various genres of childhood narratives, and the historical development of such narratives.

From the Back Cover

The text tells stories in which abandonment, abduction, and other kinds of dislocation are commonplace, but in which children nevertheless come of age in precisely the place for which they are destined by birth. Childhood differs profoundly for males and females as it does for saintly and secular figures. Within a secular context, childhood enjoys a special status. It is shaped, elaborated, and turned into a luxury object that helps distinguish courtly culture and that anticipates more modern attitudes. The Knowledge of Childhood in the German Middle Ages, 1100-1350 provides a wealth of information for students and scholars of medieval literature, medieval history, and cultural studies.

Review Quotes

"This engaging interdisciplinary study succeeds well in its ambition of interpreting texts from the distant past through the lens of cultural studies."-- "Speculum"

"Two important conclusions . . . seem to be secure. First Ariès's view that the Middle Ages had no concept of childhood is simply no longer tenable. Second, Schultz provides strong evidence which confounds any normative view of 'Western' childhood; concepts of childhood are culturally conditioned and historically transient."-- "Times Literary Supplement"

About the Author

James A. Schultz is Professor of German and Gender Studies at University of California, Los Angeles.