The Family in Reformation Germany: the Bearing and Rearing of Children

Abstract

The article examines the most popular sixteenth-century guide to gynecology, obstetrics, and childcare and the most popular seventeenth-century "housefather" book for information about and attitudes toward childbearing. A deep concern for both pre- and postnatal care of mother and child is evident and the practical advice and remedies offered to expectant and new mothers and to midwives are generally sensible and effective. A variety of educational, sermonic, and catechetical materials is examined to glean child-rearing principles and techniques. Especially important was the inculcation of self-discipline and self- confidence in the child and the nurturing of altruism. Both severity and in dulgence were roundly condemned, although too little discipline was considered to be worse than too much. If the self-conscious comments of contemporaries are to be believed, the theological doctrine of original sin and the experience of high infant and child mortality had a negligible effect on the positive affection parents had for their children.