ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at Catholicism and childhood in England within the wider context of early modern Catholic childhood. Catholics have been omitted even where their relevance seems obvious—for instance, when Somerville attributes the alleged special interest of childhood for English Puritans to their minority status, something that applied at least equally to English Catholics; similarly with Linda Pollock’s comments on religious education. By the time a Catholic child reached adolescence, they would be participating in all the same rites as adults, and for similar purposes. If the innocence of small children generally consisted of the absence of sin rather than positive virtue, Catholic culture certainly embraced the possibility of holiness in children. The chapter argues that the precarious situation of English Catholics meant that many children experienced the formation of religious identity through turning-points that were heavily dependent on the peculiar circumstances of English Catholicism.
