ABSTRACT
An examination of family life between the late Middle Ages and early modernity clearly indicates the difficulties of finding the family in the past and the complexity of understanding contributing factors while maintaining an understanding of individual experiences. This final chapter will attempt to draw together some of the threads of family life to assess whether it is still possible to create a generalised picture of the early modern family. To that end it will evaluate change in family life and attempt to fit the elements of this picture together through an examination of the ideology of the family and the ways in which it adapted to change and different circumstances.
