Childhood: An Early Modern View

Throughout the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth century, methods for childrearing were based on the adult perceptions of children. While some methods remained, others were being removed. These methods of childrearing fluctuated with the centuries, with adult views, and in accordance to previously set standards.
The sixteenth century's perception of a child was that of a harsh origin. According to the Calvinist minister, Rober Cleaver, babies were born with an evil, wrong-doing heart, and they laid in a cradle in both a rebellious and hasty manner. Left-handed children were also badly thought of. According to Cleaver, children born this way were to be scolded and their left hand was to be bound up and the use of it put to restriction. This suggests that, even before they knew what the child was like, a left-handed child was bad. …