Unwanted Children: Child Abandonment in European History

Unwanted Children: Child Abandonment in European History

“There are almost no demographic data for most of ancient and medieval Europe, but we do have some good records from the eighteenth century. In the late eighteenth century in Toulouse, France, for example, one child in four was abandoned. This was the average; the number was higher in poor districts, lower in rich ones. If that many children were abandoned in the eighteenth century, what of the centuries before? If we begin with the first century C.E., it is clear that children in Europe and the Middle East were routinely sent to live with rural families, sold, or “exposed” --- meaning they were left in places where they were expected to be found and taken care of. The literature suggests that this was a common enough practice to cause some later difficulties: There is a second-century C.E. story of an exposed boy who later sought marriage with a woman he believed to be his mother, as a way of forcing her to confess the relationship. Through the Renaissance, moralists warned against going to prostitutes because they might be the abandoned daughters of their patrons” (McNall & McNall, 1992).

“Possibly Germanic and Celtic peoples practiced child abandonment less than those who lived under the Roman Empire, since their codes of law refer to it rarely in comparison to codes derived from Roman law. However, their literature refers to child abandonment frequently. An eighth-century Old English riddle whose answer is “cuckoo” (the bird who leaves her eggs in other birds’ nests) is a pathetic description of an abandoned boy’s fate” (McNall & McNall, 1992).

“After Christianity became widespread, many children were given to monasteries and convents --- particularly ones born with deformities, which were regarded as evidence that their parents had sinned. Other children were given or sold to rich city dwellers or landholders as servants. Many continued to be “exposed.” Child slavery became common in Southern Europe. Neither church nor state absolutely forbade abandonment” (McNall & McNall, 1992).

“In early medieval Europe, the selling or abandoning of younger sons was a way to safeguard estates, whether farms or small kingdoms. However, between 1000 and 1200, primogeniture, whereby the oldest son inherits an estate, and other similar ways of securing a single heir were established in Europe. The number of children in wealthy households increased. This was also a time of prosperity for most of Europe, so even poorer households could afford more children. Bad times returned in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and with them an increase in the practice of abandonment. Stories of abandonment became very common again --- often involving foundlings who rise to greatness, commit unwitting incest, or are recognized as long-lost heirs” (McNall & McNall, 1992).

             “By the fourteenth century, most cities had established foundling hospitals. This probably encouraged abandonment. It certainly led to appalling death rates among the children --- in some hospitals, as high as 90 percent. These children were not only especially vulnerable to the spread of disease, they received very little personal care. Such hospitals were in use in Europe for the next 500 years” (McNall & McNall, 1992).

Source: Boswell, 1988.

Reference

McNall, S. G., & McNall, S. A. (1992). Sociology. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.