The aim of this course is to introduce students to the issue of childhood in the Middle Ages and the early modern period. Both childhood and adolescence represent a crucial, formative part of an individual's life. An understanding of these life stages and, in particular, of how children were viewed by pre-modern society, what role they played in it, how they were cared for, educated and protected, reveals much not only about the position of children themselves, but also, and above all, about society as a whole. Children and childhood will be studied across the social spectrum (the monarchical court, the nobility, the towns, the serfs), in a comparative perspective (Czech lands, the Habsburg monarchy and other areas of Europe). Attention is also focused on key developmental aspects of the issue. The course seeks to broaden students' knowledge not only of childhood itself, but especially of the broader context of cultural, religious, political and social history. It will also include an introduction to research methods as well as working with relevant sources of various kinds.
By completing the course, the student will gain knowledge about the phenomenon of childhood in the 13th-18th centuries, but also insight into the broader context of European cultural, social and political history. At the same time, the student will acquire the competence to work with older and recent literature and archival documents related to the issues of childhood of various kinds and their development in the High and Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. An essential outcome of the course is also that the student will be able to compare the specific knowledge acquired in the field of the Habsburg monarchy with the general development of the phenomenon under study in pre-modern Europe.
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Albrecht CLASSEN. Childhood in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Berlin-New York, 2005.
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Dana DVOŘÁČKOVÁ-MALÁ; Martin HOLÝ; Tomáš STERNECK; Jan ZELENKA a kol. Děti a dětství. Od středověku na práh osvícenství. Praha, 2019.
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Martinn Holý. Zrození renesančního kavalíra. Výchova a vzdělávání šlechty z českých zemí na prahu novověku (1500-1620). Praha, 2010.
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Milena LENDEROVÁ; Karel RÝDL. Radostné dětství? Dítě v Čechách devatenáctého století. Praha, 2006.
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Phillipe ARIES. L'enfant et la vie familiale sous l'Ancien régime. Paris, 1960.
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