The Life of French Peasants in the 17th Century (Part 2)

The first children were born 10 to 18 months after the wedding. Conception before marriage was rare; if 3–4 years passed between the wedding and baptism, it indicated sexual problems or miscarriages. After the first child, others followed every two years until the woman reached forty or one of the spouses died. This meant 8–9 births over 20 years of fertility. Two to three children died within the first months, and another two to three in subsequent years, leaving three to four who reached marriageable age. One of the gravest issues was infertility, which caused distress, brought shame upon families, and was met with ridicule in rural communities.

Women who failed to conceive turned to saints, the Virgin Mary, embarked on pilgrimages, wore talismans, sought advice from elders, or acquired potions from "witches." If nothing worked, they accepted their fate as scorned barren women since divorce was not permitted. Childless couples often raised nieces and nephews. A widow might hope for a new, fertile marriage. Young pregnant women received advice from their mothers, sisters, friends, or community. They maintained their roles in family labor, even during late pregnancy, which often led to miscarriages. Since induced abortion was punishable by death, it was not an option.

The first birth was always more dangerous than subsequent ones; around 1600, one in eight firstborns died. No doctors attended births, and men—fathers or priests—were absent. Elderly women and midwives assisted, using knowledge of medicinal herbs and incantations. It is almost certain women gave birth sitting, without undressing, supported by other women. Midwives often did not wash their hands, and their fingers and nails were dirty. Twins were almost always doomed, as was their mother. In severe cases, quick baptism was the priority.

Newborns often died in the first days or weeks of life. If they survived, the following months were less perilous. Deaths resulted from birth trauma, mishandling, and lack of breast milk. Even hurried baptisms posed risks, requiring exposure to cold weather on the way to unheated, distant churches. Maternal supervision was not constant, and accidents occurred.

Breastfeeding was a critical issue. Mothers were often exhausted from continuous labor and malnourished, surviving on a diet mainly of grains and potatoes with little dairy and almost no meat. Rural breastfeeding customs led to two-year intervals between children. Nursing women were off-limits to men. Healthy women gave birth every 10–15 months until menopause slowed the rhythm around age 45. When no children followed the first three, illness was suspected, often caused by brutal midwives or unknown female ailments.

Large families were rare. Despite this, fertility was sufficient to maintain village populations, interrupted only by epidemics. Infant deaths were not seen as significant; even priests sometimes failed to record them. Names of deceased infants were passed on to siblings. When toddlers began walking and babbling, interest in them grew. Key milestones included unwrapping from swaddling clothes and weaning, though transitioning to adult food often brought difficulties and loss of the disease-protective benefits of breast milk.

Between ages two and four, children endured several illnesses, most surviving without reliance on quacks. Only affluent families indulged children. Poor families stayed in a single room, with older sisters supervising younger siblings and making their toys. By age five, children were put to work. At seven, they donned adult-style clothing, simple and rough, often repurposed by their mothers from older family members' garments.

Girls took on household and garden chores, such as spinning, winding yarn, and sewing, confined to the house until adolescence. Boys, raised with more freedom, worked alongside their fathers, who treated them harshly. They cared for animals, dug, hoed, and gathered firewood. Early hard labor often left them crippled or disabled.

From age seven, boys also spun yarn, a task not reserved for women. By ten, they worked as shepherds, cattlemen, or apprentices on larger estates, often sleeping in barns and eating scraps. Lucky ones began school at seven, learning reading, writing, arithmetic, and basic prayers. Teachers, often jack-of-all-trades, taught children to spell with a rod in hand.

School attendance spanned harvest to Easter or harvest time, supported by parental contributions, with church-approved appointments for teachers. Under the devout Louis XIV, genders were separated, leaving many girls excluded from education. First communion marked entry into youth, granting full Christian status and the right to work and marry. Some youths moved to cities, taking jobs as servants, innkeepers, actors, or soldiers, while girls often faced prostitution. Most peasant children remained peasants.

Marriage was sacred for peasants, requiring no priest or church, only mutual promises. The priest and witnesses merely confirmed the union. Parental consent was needed, even for adults, and weddings were celebrated with feasts according to village customs. Young couples entered new households, leaving their youth behind.

The church opposed cohabitation before marriage, pushing for engagements the evening before weddings. State laws upheld parental authority through financial dependence, lack of leisure, and corporal punishment until age 25, ensuring arranged marriages were common.

In 1560, girls married at 18–19, men at 25; by Louis XIV's time, women wed at 23–25, men at 27–30. France was "full," with limited opportunities, delaying marriages for economic reasons. Late marriages also resulted from parental control.

Illegitimate births were rare, and unwed mothers faced scorn. Premarital pregnancies were uncommon, as girls rarely left home, knowing mistakes could lead to social exclusion. Self-restraint was essential, except for maidservants vulnerable to their masters.

Boys risked less, though homosexuality and deviance were punishable by death, deterring such acts. Single men often engaged with older women, servants, or unwed mothers. Late marriages and near-universal matrimony made singlehood rare, mostly among clergy, servant girls, and those with physical deformities.

Widowed men remarried quickly, especially with wealth and children, while widows with children struggled to find new spouses. Weddings occurred on Mondays or Tuesdays, avoiding weekends reserved for God and Sundays when priests were busy. Weddings were forbidden during Advent, Lent, harvest, and the "unlucky" month of May. November, January, and February were common months, coinciding with pig slaughters for feasts.

Young people married locals within two to three miles. Wealthier families ventured further but faced integration challenges. Marriages were typically between those of similar social status. If attraction and modest social differences aligned, parents arranged agreements, but love marriages also existed. Marriages symbolized new economic ventures requiring land, often lacking, further explaining delayed unions.

Pierre Goubert "La vie quotidienne des paysaus francais an 17. siécle, 1982, ford. Pőcz Erzsébet