Life in the Era of Expansion (1650-1800)

Question 1

marriage patterns and families

Answer 1

to research this topic historians have to use registers of births, deaths and marriages.
normally, when young europeans married they established their own households away from their parents (nuclear families). in the 17th and 18th centuries most people did not marry at a young age.
in eastern Europe it was different: multigenerational household was the norm and marriage occurred much earlier.

Question 2

work away from home

Answer 2

many young people worked within their families until they could start their own households but many others left to work elsewhere; boys became apprentices or did some other tough work available in towns and girls left to become apprentices or domestic servants and such.
wages for women were much lower and they were more easily abused than men.

Question 3

premarital sex and community controls

Answer 3

premarital sex did not result in a large proportion of illegitimate births in most parts of Europe before 1750.
this could be amounted to the knowledge of contraceptive methods but only a little as they were not sophisticated. it had more to do with community pressure to marry. this pressure in traditional villages also meant that premarital sex was not entered into lightly and mostly happened between people who were already in a relationship or engaged.
community remained engaged in the couples lives even after the marriage and the humiliation tactics were seen as something that helps to hold individual moral standards.

Question 4

community controls

Answer 4

a patter of cooperation and common action in a traditional village that sought to uphold the economic, social and moral stability of the close knit community.

Question 5

charivari

Answer 5

degrading public rituals used by village communities to police personal behaviour and maintain moral standards

Question 6

illegitimacy explosion

Answer 6

the sharp increase in out-of-wedlock births that occurred in Europe between 1750-1850, caused by low wages and breakdown of community controls.

Question 7

new marriage patterns and illegitimacy

Answer 7

second half of the 18th century led young people to make decisions about their marriage for themselves. this increasing freedom of action was translated from the increasing economic freedom that young people experienced.
this loosening of control resulted in the illegitimacy explosion in western Europe as people engaged in sexual activity much more often. however, marriage happened less often as men did not follow through when wages dropped and everything became more expensive.

Question 8

sex on the margins of society

Answer 8

prostitution was quite popular among married and unmarried men. however, after a long period of tolerance prostitution experienced harsh and repressive laws in the 16th and 17th centuries. the repression did not stop the business from flourishing even in the 18th century. women who were forced to work as prostitutes maintained their worker contacts but when they were caught they could be imprisoned or banished. they also faced a threat from diseases. courtesans had it better off as they had wealthy protectors who provided for them.
same sex relations were even more taboo than prostitution as they went against the bible’s limitations for sex. nobles could indulge in it more openly if they also produced heirs. in the late 17th century the bigger cities saw a rise in homosexual subculture.
same sex relations also happened between women but they received less attention and condemnation. at the end of the 18th century the beginnings of a distinctive lesbian subculture emerged in bigger cities.

Question 9

child care and nursing

Answer 9

the joy of pregnancy was overshadowed by fear for the infant and its mother as childbirth was dangerous and many died as infants or in childhood.
breast feeding was normal among the poorer in the countryside. it helped to prevent pregnancy and also made the child’s chances of survival higher.
areas or classes that did not breastfeed saw higher rates of infant mortality. alternatives were cow’s or goat’s milk and paying lactating women to provide milk. wet-nursing was common practice but it did raise the chances for infant mortality.

Question 10

wet-nursing

Answer 10

a widespread and flourishing business in the 18th century in which women were paid to breast-feed other women’s babies.

Question 11

foundlings and infanticide

Answer 11

abortion was illegal, dangerous and rare and when women could not or did not want to take care of their children they could hide their pregnancies, deliver in secret and killed their child (illegal and happened in the countryside).
another option was to give them to orphanages which numbers increased in the cities across Europe.

Question 12

attitudes towards children

Answer 12

varying opinions:

1. high mortality rates prevented parents from forming emotional attachments to young children.
2. there is evidence that parents did care to some extent if not a lot.
3. discipline of children was very severe as it was influenced by the overall violent and brutal society.
4. after the enlightenment the critics called for greater tenderness toward children and proposed new teaching methods.

Question 13

spread of elementary schools

Answer 13

in the second half of the 17th century schools aimed at educating the children of common people started to emerge and grow in numbers.
religion played an important role in the spread of education.

Question 14

popular literature

Answer 14

thanks to the spread of education the literacy rates went up. this promoted the growth in reading. bible retained its importance but short pamphlets were the staple of popular literature. entertaining and humorous stories were other favourites. some popular literature was highly practical (agriculture, crafts, etc.).
common people had contact with enlightenment ideas especially in urban areas through gossips and pamphlets.

Question 15

leisure and recreation

Answer 15

in the villages culture still remained largely oral.
a common recreational practice for men was to go to a tavern to drink and talk with his buddies and more and more strong liquor was favoured.
larger cities offered pleasure gardens, theatres, lending libraries, urban fairs, spectator sports.
religious festivals and popular recreation merged as well.

Question 16

blood sports

Answer 16

events such as bullbaiting and cockfighting that involved inflicting violence and bloodshed on animals and that were popular with the 18th century European masses.

Question 17

carnival

Answer 17

the few days of revelry in catholic countries that preceded lent and that included drinking, masquerading, dancing, and rowdy spectacles that upset the established order.

Question 18

new foods and appetites

Answer 18

ordinary men and women (before the shift) depended on grain (bread), water, wine, beer. they also eat peas, beans and vegetables. fruit was available in the summer months. milk was used to make cheese and butter. meat was something very special and not eaten often.
small traders and artisans ate more diverse food. meats, vegetables, fruits, bread, beans.
the rich ate very differently; abundant meat and fish, sauces, sweets, cheeses, wine.
later on more people had access to more diverse foods, especially when tomatoes, potatoes, corn and squash entered the markets.
tea, sugar, coffee, chocolate, tobacco spread across classes.

Question 19

just price

Answer 19

the idea that prices should be fair, protecting both consumers and producers, and that they should be imposed by government decrees if necessary.

Question 20

toward a consumer society

Answer 20

this shift led to a society in which people derived their self-identity as much from their consuming practices as from their working lives and place in the production process. new notions of individuality and self-expression developed.
merchants at the time actually tried to incite demand with marketing campaigns, diversified selection of products and acceleration of turnover of styles.
women took the lead in the spread of fashion and they consumed much more than men.
new attitudes about privacy, individualism and intimate life also emerged.
standards of public and bodily hygiene also improved.

Question 21

church hierarchy

Answer 21

religion became much more important in the 18th century. the parish churches remained very important in community life. state, however, had much more control over the church leadership and organization, especially in protestant areas but papal authority was weakened.

Question 22

church hierarchy

Answer 22

religion became much more important in the 18th century. the parish churches remained very important in community life. state, however, had much more control over the church leadership and organization, especially in protestant areas but papal authority was weakened.
catholicism did see a revival to some extent as many groups did missionary work and helped to converge protestants back.

Question 23

protestant revival

Answer 23

it started in Germany and was known as pietism, but it soon spread to Scandinavia.

Question 24

pietism

Answer 24

a protestant revival movement in early 18th century Germany and Scandinavia that emphasized a warm and emotional religion, the priesthood of all believers, and the power of Christian rebirth in everyday affairs.

Question 25

methodists

Answer 25

members of a protestant revival movement started by John Wesley (1703-1791), so called because they were so methodical in their devotion.

Question 26

catholic piety

Answer 26

baroque art still flourished in catholic churches and people participated more in formal worship. church had an integral part in the community life and popular culture. catholics also had their own version of protestantist pietism called Jansenism.

Question 27

Jansenism

Answer 27

a sect of catholicism originating with Cornelius Jansen (1585-1638) that emphasized the heavy weight of original sin and accepted the doctrine of predestination; it was outlawed as heresy by the pope.

Question 28

marginal beliefs and practices

Answer 28

in the countryside many people continued to hold marginal religious beliefs or even pagan ones. there was often also strong christian faith that was combined with time-honored superstitions.

Question 29

faith healing and general practice

Answer 29

this type of practice remained very popular especially in the countryside. apothecaries in the cities sold herbs, drugs and patent medicine for every thinkable disease. most of these were made with plants from the colonies.
physicians (mainly men) were popular, but did not normally conduct a physical examination. they did experiment with new methods but the traditional way was deeply rooted.

Question 30

improvements in surgery

Answer 30

surgeons begun to study anatomy very seriously and improved their art. army surgeons led the way in innovations. painkillers, however, were non-existent and operations were conducted in unsanitary conditions.

Question 31

midwifery

Answer 31

these women continued to deliver the majority of babies and treated female problems. after some innovations were made (forceps) surgeon-physicians tried to monopolize over this business as well. women also continued to deal with the nursing. as such women continued to conduct the bulk of the informal medical care.

Question 32

conquest of smallpox

Answer 32

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (early 18th century) made the first breakthrough as she learned of the smallpox inoculation in the Muslim lands. 
Edward Jenner (1749-1823) made the crucial breakthrough when in 1796 he performed the first vaccination and in 1798 he published his findings.