ABSTRACT

This chapter investigates the functions of children for the individual and familial strategies for continuity. It explains how children were identified as the leitmotif of married life. The chapter deals with the interplay of asceticism and the need for children and grandchildren, and looks at the value of children. It explores the functions of children, establishing their significance for the families and individual continuity. It has been proposed that for women of the senatorial aristocracy and local elites, asceticism offered a personal independence and esteem which they could not achieve otherwise. In general, children are seen as bargaining goods of the highest value. Parents could instead of themselves dedicate their children to God in order to achieve spiritual gain and immortality. In principle, a saintly Christian did not want children or grandchildren, but the ecclesiastical writers had to deal with real people, who appreciated their continuity in children in ways that could not be explained away.