Barbara Hanawalt's, Childrearing Among the Lower Classes of Late
             Medieval England, examines the practices and pitfalls of parental dynamics
             during the late 13th and early 14th century in English villages such as
             Bedfordshire and Oxford, as well as the comparably larger city of London.
             Focusing on children's ages from the time of birth till their twelfth
             birthday, Hanawalt bases her research on coroner's inquests of the time to
             garner statistics from which she extrapolates evidence to support her
             conclusions. The coroner's inquests from this time period were required by
             law, and detailed in regards to the cause of death, the members of the
             household, and their activities at the time, their residences, and their
             occupations. Through these detailed transcripts, Hanawalt attempts to
             create a vignette of peasant life, and therefore the circumstances in which
             children were raised to the age of twelve, at which point they were
             considered adults by society during that time.
             Hanawalt's motivation for conducting her social type of historical
             research is based upon dispelling earlier research by Philippe Aries, in
             his book Centuries of Childhood. Aries's book contends that contemporary
             sentimental notions of childrearing developed during this time "in response
             to the loss of other familial functions to the centralized state and the
             exigencies of industrialization" (pg. 23), and that this could outweigh
             familial bonds. Hanawalt counters these assertions by methodically
             introducing her own conclusions based upon statistical data as well as
             detailed circumstances in relation to them. Furthermore, she begins by
             pointing out that Aries garners his research and conclusions from the upper
             class, while ignoring the peasant majority. Also, she points out that
             Aries' research is incomplete due to it starting with children aged seven,
             and ignoring ages from infancy till six. Due to the peasant majo...