HISTORY A-Z MEDIEVAL CHILDHOOD
A is for… apprenticeships
► When a child reached around 12 to 14 years old in the later Middle Ages (c1300-1500), they could be taken on as an apprentice. For a boy, apprenticeships typically lasted for around seven years until they reached their early twenties, while girls were commonly kept on until marriage. As an apprentice, a child became a part of their master's household: they would have eaten together, socialised with the other children in the household, and been provided with a bed and clothing. In return, the apprentice promised faithful service as well as good behaviour – vowing to forgo inns, gambling and sexual relationships with anyone in the household.
B is for… bedtime stories?
▼ While there is little evidence of medieval children being read bedtime stories before they went to sleep, they do seem to have been a key part of storytelling culture during the Middle Ages. Some parents even wrote stories and letters for their children to read, such as The Book of the Knight of the Tower, which was written by a 14th-century nobleman for his daughters. Full of heroic and dramatic narratives, performances of chanson de gestes (epic poems) and romance stories at feasts and in grand halls proved especially exciting for young children. One 13th-century author of conduct literature, Thomasin von Zirclaria, even suggested that these adventure stories could broaden the minds of children.
C is for… clothing
Although it is known that infants were usually swaddled in long strips of cloth to protect them, it is unclear what younger children wore after infancy as there is a lack of evidence for toilet training. It's likely that they may have been
