Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Parental love
(740 words)

The phrase parental love can mean both the love of parents for their children and the love of children for their parents [3]. In all cultures, both meanings have powerful religious and moral overtones; in the European context, since antiquity they have been the object of religious and educational reflection. Like the term parents, the term parental love was initially little used in the first centuries of the early modern period. People spoke instead of the love of mother and father. It is clear, however, that both parents could and should equally be a source and…

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Gestrich, Andreas, “Parental love”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 09 December 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_SIM_018707>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20200721



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