ABSTRACT
Upbringing and education, in the widest sense of the terms, were designed to fit children for their adult lives. This was the basic premise for all social groups, although there were inevitably considerable differences between them, depending on the status and expectations of the childrens families. Parents provided their daughters with religious and moral training and this was reinforced by parish priests, friar's sermons and by godparents, neighbours and friends. Socialisation by the community was a vital element in childrens upbringing. The views of Philippe Aris that childhood was a discovery of the eighteenth century and that medieval children were regarded with indifference by their parents has come under strong criticism from medieval historians. In practice, the education of girls of the elite was very much along similar lines to the treatises, but these underestimated the important part played by the community in girl's socialisation, and parents placed greater emphasis on social and practical skills than the writers did.
