ABSTRACT
The early modern period has been seen as defined by the forces of religious change and defusion, which accompanied massive shifts in social, cultural and economic circumstances. Godparenthood, as both a religious and social institution, can be seen as one element within this pattern of evolution and revolution. A number of historians have noted changes in testamentary behaviour towards godchildren, but few have given it any serious attention, or attempted to fit these patterns of behaviour within this wider religious and social fabric. This chapter attempts to determine the pattern of change in the context of contrasting local societies and modifications in the social and demographic composition of will-makers. It also investigates the nature of bequests to godchildren and the impact of Puritanism on the institution in the seventeenth century.
