ÝAn¨ immensely stimulating book...Herlihy has a rare talent for
incorporating lively narrative evidence into the context suggested
by quantifiable data and writing about it with grace and verve. --
David Nicholas "American Historical Review"
Here is a happy marriage: a preeminent historian tackling the
thorniest of problems, household and family in medieval Europe. The
result is altogether felicitous, a rich, detailed, well-written,
and fascinating book of extraordinary range, one designed for
students and general readers that will also be invaluable to
specialists. -- Robert S. Gottfried "Speculum: A Journal of
Medieval Studies"
Herlihy's excellent work makes accessible persuasive
counterarguments against the theory that affection for children
developed only recently. Herlihy...demonstrates how modern society
moved toward its definition of 'family' and shows its emergence in
the medieval period. He uses scattered and diverse source material
to trace the development of the family from Roman times to the
medieval development of common expectations of family life
applicable to all classes. The sources, ranging from well-known
classical and medieval writers such as Aristotle, Tacitus, Aquinas,
and Augustine to monastic archives, sermons, lives of saints, and
civil archives, provide models and reflections of family life,
including the church's use of scripture to establish marital and
family standards applicable to ruler and serf alike...This book
will become the standard source for family history in cultural
context. In spite of its erudition, it is accessible to
undergraduates...ÝA¨ fascinating, readable, and scholarly work.
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