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 primogeniture made England distinctive. The eldest son inherited most of the estate and with it, a moral obligation to advance the welfare of his brothers and sisters. The Ties that Bind explores how this operated in practice, and shows how the resentment of younger brothers and sisters made sibling relationships a heated issue in this period, in family life, in print, and also on the stage.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Part One 1: The Experience of Childhood 2: Fraternal Bonds 3: Across the Gender Divide 4: The Sisters' World 5: Stephchildren, Half Siblings, and the Illegitimate 6: Siblings and Salvation Part Two 7: William Stout: Siblings and Support 8: Samuel Pepys: Care and Control 9: Alice Thornton and Dorothy Osborne: Troubles with Brothers 10: James Yonge and John Cannon: Favouritism and Sibling Rivalry 11: Roger North and his Siblings: the Ties that Bind Conclusion Bibliography Index

About the Author :
After completing his masters and doctorate at the University of Oxford, Bernard Capp went on to teach at the University of Warwick for almost half a century. He has written books on a wide range of early modern English topics including the family, gender, radical movements in the English Revolution, the impact of puritan rule during the interregnum, astrological almanacs, popular literature, and the Cromwellian navy. His Festschrift, The Extraordinary and the Everyday in Early Modern England, was published in 2010.

Review :
In many ways, this book perfectly represents sibling relationships. The sheer volume and variety of sources upon which Capp relies show the perceived importance and potential depth of sibling ties in the early modern period. Reflecting deep knowledge of early modern English society gained over the course of a long and impressive career, The Ties that Bind is a rich and evocative study that should be read by any scholar interested in early modern English social life or the development of the family in early modern Europe. Anyone looking to set a chapter on the early modern family for students could plumb the book for suitable reading material. Other readers interested in the history of the early modern family and wanting to learn more about sibling relationships could also start here. The Ties that Bind is an important addition to the scholarship of Harris and Davidoff This is an important study and a good read. This engaging study of early modern English siblings delves into private and public relationships and how they were affected by individual personalities facing the socioeconomic, religious, and political turmoil of the time. Capp draws on a lifetime of scholarship and an extensive array of sources, including geographies, letters, journals, plays, wills, depositions, and parish records [...] Summing Up: Highly recommended.