ABSTRACT
In the twentieth century it was widely accepted that the family underwent a fundamental transformation in the early modern period. Changing ideas could have a considerable impact on the experience of family life, but this does not necessarily mean that they indicate different conceptions of childhood, gender or the family. Clearly, new ideas of the family, gender and sexuality did become prominent, at least in intellectual circles, during the eighteenth century. Humanism had profound effects on the way in which family relations were depicted, both in art and literature. Surviving medieval writings on the family were produced by clerics for clerics, often with a pastoral or legal role in mind. Particularly in England, Protestantism owed much to humanism, especially in the area of family life. In 1969, Levin L. Schucking presented the image of the Puritan family as a unit cut off from general society, introspectively focusing on the Bible and their place among God's elect.
