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The text genre of the love letter (Latin  littera amatoria, German Liebesbrief, French  lettre d'amour or billet doux; the latter also entering German and English as a loanword from the 18th century) has existed as both an everyday text and a literary genre since Greco-Roman antiquity. The most famous literary work, Ovid's collection of fictional love letters by renowned heroines of Greek mythology (Latin Heroides) was a lasting influence on the European tradition of the artistic love letter [4]. Some medieval manuscripts contain rhymed love letters as an artistic form [15]. In 17t…

The frérèche (a household with several married brothers; French  frères) is one of the forms of so-called complex or multiple households, which are composed of several nuclear family units. In Western Europe, the usual form of a multiple household was the life-estate family, in which the parents lived with a married child and his or her family Other forms of multiple household were found in Western Europe, especially in many regions of  Southern France [1]. In these households, often referred to as  frérèches or  communautés, several families (usually related) lived un…

1. OverviewTable fellowship – shared dining at common meals, is an important element and symbol of community formation in many cultures. For social institutions like families, monasteries, boarding schools, courts, and guilds, table fellowship in the early modern period was part of the daily ritual of the members. Regular participation in at least one common meal a day was considered an important feature of membership in a household. In the military, the term  company (from Latin  companium, “bread fellowship”) still preserves an original term for table fellowship [2.…

After the Middle Ages, the custom of having newborn infants nursed by a wet nurse spread in Europe beginning in the Mediterranean region, initially among the upper class. At the beginning of the early modern period, there is evidence of wet nurses among the urban middle classes, and in the 19th and 20th centuries among the urban working class.Three types of wet nursing can be distinguished: (1) a wet nurse could be brought to the house and incorporated into the household for the lactation period; (2) a child could be placed in the house of a wet nur…

1. ConceptMother is the English version of a universal Indo-European kinship term for the female parent of a child (Childhood). The legal and social status of motherhood (see below) is generally founded on the birth of the child (Childbirth), but may also depend on the legal act of adoption or related social practices (fostering, stepmotherhood; see Legitimization of children). The concept of motherhood in early modern period European societies was associated with powerful emotion connotations, p…

1. TerminologyThe tradition of social bonding of young men (Youth) in organized peer groups goes back to the Middle Ages. The terminology varied greatly from region to region. Often the names indicated the composition or most important functions of the group. In southern German and Switzerland, they were called  Knabenschaften,  ledige Gesellschaften, or  Bubenbruderschaften, in France bachelleries or  garçonnages. Such names indicated that they were groups of unmarried males (Ledige). The criterion for membership was not age but being unmarried. Terms like French fils à ma…

1. Terminological history and definitionThe word “nursery,” attested from the 14th century and derived directly from “nursing” [13], was a room for women to retire to as much as it was one for housing children (Childhood). The German Kinderstube or  Kinderkammer (“children’s room/chamber”) began to occur from the late 16th century before becoming commonplace in the 18th [8. 589–593]; [5. 13]; [3]. Zedler’s Universal-Lexikon (1742) refers to the original purpose of nursing in its definition of Kinderstube as “the chamber and room of the house in which are found inf…

In early modern German,  Ledige (“single, unmarried”) was a specialized collective term for the unmarried youth of a location, especially in rural communities (still common in the 20th century in southern German villages) [5. 76]. In everyday use, it referred primarily to the totality of unmarried male young people (alongside other regional terms like  Buben [1. 459], Burschen [2. 548], Knaben[3. 1313], and  Knechte [4. 1381] in German-speaking areas; also French garçons and varlets or Italian  garzóni). That we are dealing with a term for youth groups is shown…

The word clan comes from Scottish Gaelic ( clann), which in turn goes back to Old Irish ( cland), ultimately borrowed from Latin ( planta). Clan was a term for progeny or family. Since the Late Middle Ages, the term in English and Gaelic alike has been used almost exclusively to refer to Scottish extended families. There is little evidence of its use in early modern Ireland [1].Modern ethnological and anthropological literature applies the term not only to the Scottish family groups, but also to other societies, such as the North American  tlingit[5] and African, Chinese, and Japan…

In historical family studies, professional succession refers primarily to the takeover of a parent’s occupation by a son or daughter in one of the crafts and trades or in industry (Industrialization), or sometimes more generally taking up the same profession. The term is also used for the direct succession of sons to the office of a father in academic professions in the first centuries of the early modern period. In the crafts and trades in this period, neither maintenance of the daily operations nor provision for parents in their old age (Old age, provisi…

The term grandparents (French  grand-parents, Ger.  Großeltern) as a compound noun is attested in German since the 16th century [1. 532]. It was probably created by analogy to the terms  grandfather and  grandmother, already found in 12th-century texts. Initially, though,  grandparents was used as a general term for ancestors, like Old High German  ano and  ana (cf. Ger.  Ahn,  Ahnin). Not until the 18th century was the range of meanings restricted to the parents of one’s parents. Unlike many older Germanic kinship terms (e.g.  Oheim,  Onkel, uncle), the term does not di…

1. History of the termThe term  household (German haushalt, haushaltung, French  ménage) first became current in the late-14th century as a compound of the two nouns “house, hold” [4]. Primarily, this refers to the activity of “managing the affairs of a house” [4], or, as Krunitz’  Enzyklopädie has it, “the government of a domestic society and all the business related to it” [2]. The German terms haushalt and  haushaltung were often used as if they meant the same thing as “Haushaltungs-Kunst” (“the art of keeping house”), that is, the ability “to preside over…

1. Definition In the early modern period, godparenthood (French  parrainage, Ger.  Patenschaft, Ital.  padrinaggio, Span.  compadrazgo) was understood to be associated with baptism and in the Catholic Church with confirmation as well (Sacrament). The German term  Pate (“godparent”) is derived from Latin  pater, “because the one who lifts the child up at baptism enters into a spiritual relationship with the child, becoming his spiritual father ( pater spiritualis).” The word’s metaphorical use outside the church in the sense of a broad voluntary assumption o…

1. German HeiratThe German word Heirat (“marriage”) is in part used synonymously with  Eheschließung (“nuptials”; Marriage, contraction of) and Hochzeit (“wedding”). Under Heirat many earlier encyclopedias merely provide references to these parallel terms [2]. At the same time, though, Heirat is also a broader term for both  Ehe (“marriage”; French  mariage, Italian  matrimonio) and Hochzeit (“wedding”; French  les noces, Italian  nozze). Etymologically the German word Heirat is cognate with the Gothic word heiv (“house, family”); initially it meant “provisi…

1. Basics and linguistic typologyTerminology is an important source for reconstructing the changes in structure and significance of historical kinship relationships. Anthropology and ethnology (see Ethnography) early on drew on kinship terminology for the analysis of social structure [5], on the assumption that changes in kinship terminology are the result of socio-structural change. In many cultures, if certain degrees of kinship are not named, presumably they are not assigned a specific function. It is also true, however, tha…

1. Significance and terminologyThe phrase nuclear family (French  famille nucléaire, German  Kernfamille) is a technical term in family sociology and historical demography. It denotes both afamily unit consisting of parents and children within a larger genealogical context and, by extension, a “nuclear family household,” a household collective consisting solely of parents and children. Since the 1970s, German-speaking scholars have deliberately used the term  Kernfamilie (“nuclear family”) instead of the earlier standard term  Kleinfamilie (“small family”).Th…

1. Term and concept As a scholarly term, the phrase  Ganzes Haus (literally “whole house/household”) goes back to the cultural scientist and conservative social critic W.H. Riehl (1823–1897) [10. 164]. Riehl interpreted the two-generation nuclear family as a symptom of the decline of modern civilization and distinguished it from the earlier term  Haus (Eng. household, French  maisonnée, Ital . casa), where not only several generations of blood relatives but also farmhands (Servants in husbandry) and other lodgers lived and worked together under a …

1. DefinitionYouth (Latin  iuventus; German Jugend; French  jeunesse; Dutch  jeugd; Swedish  ungdom), which in many European languages is a polysemic substantive derived from the corresponding adjective meaning “young,” denotes: (1) the period of youth as a stage of life or a phase in an individual’s  curriculum vitae, (2) the property of being young, youthfulness, and (3) the social group of a society’s young people (Society [community]) [4. 2360]. Many European languages (such as Russian) have different terms or substantive forms for these meanings.The natural physical an…

The German noun  Geheimnis (secret, mystery) first appears in the 16th century. Its only MHG precursors were the adjectival form geheim (secret) and the noun  Heimlichkeit (secrecy). The term  Geheimnis owes its popularity to the Bible translation of Martin Luther, who was looking for a noun equivalent to Greek  mystḗrion and Latin  secretum. From this original religious context, the word spread quickly to the political sphere, but soon (as its use in many compounds illustrates) pervaded other areas of social life (e.g. family secrets, se…

1. Legal frameworkThe canon law of the Catholic Church severely restricted the contraction of marriage (Marriage, contraction of) between relatives (Kinship).  Marriage was originally prohibited up to the seventh degree of kinship, but this limitation was reduced to the fourth degree at the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 (see Incest 2.), albeit with a stricter calculation of degrees. In principle this regulation of Catholic canon law is still in force.The canon law prohibiting marriage within certain degrees of kinship included in-laws. Marriage to the relative…

1. DefinitionThe term  infanticide (Latin  infanticidium) denotes the culpable, usually intentional killing of a child by its mother, father, or both parents. It can involve active violence, neglect, or abandonment of a newborn child [3. 353]. In Europe, however, as a rule it concerns primarily the killing of a newborn illegitimate child (Illegitimacy) at or immediately after childbirth (neonaticide) by its mother. For this narrower definition of the crime, German scholars usually use the term  Kindsmord (“child murder, infanticide”); the 17th- and 18th-century so…

In 1682, Otto Mencke, professor of philosophy at Leipzig, published the first German scholarly journal under the title Acta eruditorum (Periodical). It contained notices, summaries, and reviews of new publications in all areas of science. Acta eruditorum appeared monthly, but was provided with an Index auctorum ac rerum at the end of each year and thus was bound into annual volumes. From 1689 on, supplement volumes were published to expand the coverage [8]. After Otto Mencke’s death, Acta eruditorum was first carried on by his son Johann Burkhard Mencke [10], and then by his grands…

1. Catholic doctrineSince the 16th century, the German word  Trauung (ecclesiastical Latin  copulatio) has been used for “the solemn ecclesiastical ceremony of marriage,” that is, “the blessing of bride and groom by the priest performed publicly in the church before the altar, through the exchange of wedding rings.” The substantive is derived from the verb  anvertrauen, “entrust, commit,” which had been used since the 13th century for betrothal and matrimony, and at the beginning of the early modern period was narrowed to the wedding ceremony performed by the priest [1. 1349 f.…

A foundling hospital (Latin  hospitium expositorum, German Findelhaus, French  hôpital des enfants trouvés) is an institution that takes in abandoned children (so-called foundlings). In ancient Greek and Roman society, the exposure of sickly, excess, or unwanted newborns was the father’s decision; in early Christianity, it was condemned by the church, and beginning the late 4th century it was also prohibited by imperial law. When an infant was abandoned in a church, however, the crime was not punished. Care for such infants fell within the range of functions of monasteries [6]. B…

Marriage brokering could be accomplished through private contacts or operated as a professional business. Neither Church nor State in Europe ever raised any objections to private marriage brokering through parents or relatives, but professional brokering was continually subject to a degree of criticism on theological, legal, and moral grounds. The boundaries between private and professional marriage brokering are sometimes difficult to discern, however, since in many regions it was customary to compensate even private arrangements when they resulted in a marriage.Private m…

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 equ…

To historians of the family, the term “family life cycle” refers to the fact that families pass through different phases, entailing specific respective tasks, forms, and functions in family coexistence, in connection with the life cycles of family members. In the contemporary European family, a general distinction is made between a phase in which a couple has children and brings them up, and a later phase determined by cohabitation with the adolescent children, followed by an “empty nest” phase,…

1. Definition and distribution Kiltgang is a term, particularly prevalent in the Alemannic dialect region, for a nocturnal courting custom among young men (Marital choice). The word kilt, already attested in OHG, originally denoted the late evening, later coming to refer to staying up late at night or working late at night. The verbs kilten and  kelten, in Alsace, for instance, had a general reference to the custom of meeting after the working day to work or socialize in the Lichtstube or  Spinnstube, that is, for a tradition that involved girls and, in some regions, also adults [1. 70…

1. TerminologyHistorically the German word Eltern (“parents”) is a nominalized comparative of  alt (“old”); it appears in all West Germanic languages as a designation of an individual’s direct progenitors (cf. Eng. one’s “elders”). Eltern is related to Latin  alere (“nourish, raise”) and means roughly “adult” [15. 16 f., 164]. Another European term, which in English takes the form  parents, is derived from Latin  parere (“bear, give birth to”). In the course of time, however, the Latin noun  parentes acquired a broader semantic range, no longer meaning just par…

1. FoundationsCivil marriage refers to a form of marriage that was not based on a religious definition of marriage and was not enacted via religious ceremony. Whereas the Catholic Church saw marriage as a sacrament and the Protestant denominations saw it as symbolizing the ties between Christ and the Church (see Occasional services), civil marriage was based on the idea that marriage represented a private-law contract between two parties. It was contracted before representatives of bourgeois soci…

1. IntroductionThe family rests on the biological fact that every individual has a mother and a father, and that a relationship of provision and emotion generally exists beyond childbirth at least between the mother and child (Parental love; see below, 6.1.). The family is also a social institution through which much of not only the biological, but also social reproduction in a society comes about. Work, the distribution and consumption of food (Dining), education, and sociability all largely too…

1. Spectrum of meaningIn the sense of “seclusion,” the term “privacy” in English dates from around 1600. The sense of “freedom from intrusion,” however, dates only from 1814. German and French long had adjectives alone ( privat and  privé) along with the compound terms Privatangelegenheit (private matter) and  propriété  privée (private property).  Privatheit only entered German in the 20th century as a substantive form of privat. It derived from the Latin adjective  privatus, which in contradistinction to  publicus (public) denoted everything that in ancient Rome …

1. Concept and terminologyViolence (Latin violentia, “violence,” “impetuosity”;  vis, “hostile force”) is the use of force to inflict injury or damage or to intimidate. To use force is to exercise physical power to overcome resistance (although from the perspective of the victim, it represents an infringement of or interference with the physical integrity of the person). Modern discussions among scholars of social and cultural science thus treat specific acts of violence in the sense of Latin vis. There is increasing criticism of extensions of the concept of violence…