The Ties That Bind: Siblings, Family, and Society in Early Modern England

The family is a major area of scholarly research and public debate. Many studies have explored the English family in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, focusing on husbands and wives, parents and children. The Ties that Bind explores in depth the other key dimension: the place of brothers and sisters in family life, and in society. Moralists urged mutual love and support between siblings, but recognized that sibling rivalry was a common and potent force. The widespread practice of pri...