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The secret of a 17th-century French village: Why do one in three children lose a parent?
Single-parent families are increasingly common in today’s society, but the phenomenon actually goes back centuries. In 17th-century France, nearly one in three children lost at least one parent while growing up. What was the reason why this situation was so common in French villages at that time?
Parental mortality in history has been quite high due to diseases, wars, accidents and other reasons.
France in the 17th century was a period facing various challenges. Take frequent wars and epidemics as examples. These factors led to high mortality rates, especially for parents at the time. Most children face the pain of losing a loved one as they grow up, which not only affects their mental health but also causes various social problems, including poverty and inadequate education.
According to some historical records, one of the major causes of death in French villages during this time was disease, such as the Black Death. In that era, limited medical technology and insufficient awareness of the disease made it impossible to effectively fight these epidemics, leading to the early death of a large number of parents and the children losing the backbone of their families.
In addition to disease, war is also another important factor. Frequent wars at that time meant that many fathers were drafted into the army and were unable to take care of their families, and many mothers also lost their lives due to fighting. As a result, children have to deal with the pain of losing a loved one at a very early age.
Research points out that there are often deeper social problems hidden behind many children becoming orphans.
In addition, the social structure of the time also affected the stability of the family. It was rare at the time for unmarried mothers to divorce their parents, and society often provided insufficient support for these families, leaving children unable to rely on any parent for companionship. This makes many people face not only loneliness, but also the challenge of survival. Many children have to move between various family adoption agencies and grow up alone, lacking the care and love of their parents.
In most cases, the rate of successful remarriage is relatively high, which also provides the orphan with a new protector, although this does not always lead to the original family stability. For children who have lost a parent, this remarriage can be even more complicated because they need to deal with new disciplinarians, which often affects their emotional development.
It is worth noting that in 17th-century France, society was not as accepting of orphans as we imagine today. Orphans often had a lower status in society, especially in villages with scarce resources. Being an orphan means life is hard. When these orphans grow up, due to the lack of guidance and support from their parents, many of them find it difficult to escape the fate of poverty and repeat the mistakes of their predecessors.
Not only is it a matter of survival, children who have lost a parent also feel emotionally isolated.
It can be said that in France at that time, the living difficulties of orphans were closely related to the social structure. This is not only a tragedy for a family, but also a tragedy for society. Over time, although many social policies have improved orphan families, the historical lessons of the 17th century still have important implications today. The feeling of loneliness continues, and the problem of orphans is still a challenge faced by many countries.
When we reflect on history, we can’t help but ask: What deep social problems have been revealed by so many children losing their parents?
