Childhood, Youth and Religious Minorities in Early Modern Europe ed. by Tali Berner and Lucy Underwood

Abstract

Reviewed by: Childhood, Youth and Religious Minorities in Early Modern Europe ed. by Tali Berner and Lucy Underwood Loretta Dolan Childhood, Youth and Religious Minorities in Early Modern Europe. Edited by Tali Berner and Lucy Underwood. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. xiii + 362 pp. Cloth $149.99, paper $149.99, e-book $109.00. This volume assembles eleven chapters that examine religious division and conflict as experienced by children and young people in early modern Europe. The extensive chronological coverage of the book starts in the 1420s and continues to 1800. This length of time is deemed necessary by the editors, who suggest that such an expanse is useful for highlighting continuity and change across the centuries. The eleven chapters are divided into three sections, although recurring themes of religious conflict are evident throughout the book. The first section focuses on how beliefs about childhood affected the religious ceremonies and rights of children as well as the lived religious experiences of children within minority communities. Tali Berner identifies the roles of children in important Jewish religious rituals, such as Passover preparations. Tali argues that these rituals were reserved specifically for children and highlight the place of religious education in the home. Anna French considers baptism in post-Reformation England. Key to French's discussion is the intersection of Protestant and Puritan beliefs on babies, childhood, and women regarding the act of baptism. A particular concern of the "Godly" puritans was the practice of emergency baptism by women, usually midwives. "Morally slippery" women were permitted by the Church of England to "deliver salvation to dying infants" (95). Children's agency can also be seen in this section, particularly in Naomi Pullin's discussion of the early Quaker household. Despite physical and mental persecution, children continued with meetings during their parents' imprisonment. Agency can also be seen to a lesser degree in Mary Clare Martin's chapter on children's denominational identity in the long eighteenth century. [End Page 162] Religious plurality is key here, with many children exposed to a number of religions throughout their childhood. The plight of persecuted families and their reaction to such persecution is discussed in the second section. As Lucy Underwood argues in her chapter, persecution shapes religious identity. In addition, the persecution can be observed in families through the recollections of earlier generations, as well as "unofficial persecution" by name calling (239). Both Susan Broomhall and Fiona McCall examine family separation, Broomhall through religious affinity and McCall through political loyalty in clerical families. Both authors emphasize the fragmentation of nuclear families and the challenge to paternal authority that occurred through children living without parents or in households other than their own. The final section considers how religious conflict and conversion directly impacted children's upbringing. Joel Harrington points out that in interfaith marriages, it was not uncommon for the boys to be baptized in the religion of their father and girls in the religion of their mother. Baptisms could be "amicable ecumenical moments" with godparents from different faiths (265). Conflict arose when children were placed with family or friends due to the death of parents and brought up in the religion of that household. This is a phenomenon discussed by Jesse Sadler, although her subjects appear to willingly adopt their new religion, unlike Harrington's, who were forced to accept religious conversion. Ahuva Liberles notes that forced conversion had grave consequences for inheritance rights. Converted Jewish children denied their inheritance would never return to the Jewish faith. Not all conversions were forced, as highlighted by Bernard Capp, but adolescents moving away from their childhood religion did lead to a challenge of parental authority. One of the strengths of this book is the variety of the sources used, which allows for a greater insight into how the religious upheaval of early modern Europe affected children across different religions. Berner, for example, examines a series of images intended for Yiddish books of customs known as Minhagim, which clearly demonstrate the importance of children in religious ceremonies. Additionally, letters such as those used by Broomhall convey not only the emotional cost of forced separation for religious minorities, but also the practical considerations of child-rearing. What could be more...