Colin Heywood 
A History of Childhood 
Children and Childhood in the West from Medieval to Modern Times

In this lively and accessible book, Colin Heywood explores the
changing experiences and perceptions of childhood from the early
Middle Ages to the beginning of the twentieth century. Heywood
examines the different ways in which people have thought about
childhood as a stage of life, the relationships of children with
their families and peers, and the experiences of young people at
work, in school and at the hands of various welfare institutions.
The aim is to place the history of children and childhood firmly in
its social and cultural context, without losing sight of the many
individual experiences that have come down to us in diaries,
autobiographies and oral testimonies.

Heywood argues that there is a cruel paradox at the heart of
childhood in the past. On the one hand, material conditions for
children have generally improved in the West, however belatedly and
unevenly, and they are now more valued than in the past. On the
other hand, the business of preparing for adulthood has become more
complicated in urban and industrial societies, as the young face a
bewildering array of choices and expectations.

A History of Childhood will be an essential introduction
to the subject for students of history, the social sciences and
cultural studies.

Table of Content

Acknowledgements vi

Introduction 1

Part I: Changing Conceptions of Childhood 9

1 Conceptions of Childhood in the Middle Ages 11

2 The Quest for a Turning Point 19

3 Some Themes in the Cultural History of Childhood 32

Part II: Growing up: Relations with Parents and Peers 41

4 Parent-Child Relations: The First Stages 43

5 Caring for Infants? 62

6 Parent-Child Relations during the Second Phase of Childhood 83

7 Relations with Parents and the Peer Group during the Third Phase of Childhood 103

Part III: Children in a Wider World 119

8 Children at Work 121

9 Investing in the Future: Health and Education 145

Conclusion 170

Notes 172

Select Bibliography 217

Index 228

About the author

Colin Heywood is Senior Lecturer in Economic and Social History, University of Nottingham.