The full moon nights of the eleventh and twelfth lunar months...are the days of "Loi Krathong." Loi is "to float" and Krathong is a "leaf cup" usually made of banana leaf as one often sees in the market. . . Loi Krathong is. . . the floating of lights in a leaf cup. During October and November, all the rivers and canals in the lowlands are flooded and the waters in some places overflow their banks. The rainy season is now in a sense over. It is the time of rejoicing for the weather is fair after the rains. The sky becomes bright and clear, but without its dampness. After the strenuous labour of ploughing and planting rice for the last three months at a stretch from dawn till dusk, for the country-folk the heavy work is now over. The peasants have only to wait a month or more for the time of reaping. During this interval they have nothing much economically to do, but to spend a comparative time of leisure with feasts and festivals. . .

. . . Some of the krathongs are not leaf cups at all, in the ordinary sense of the word. Generally, some of them are in the shape of a bird or a boat. They are more of a toy than a krathong, and have only made their appearance in recent years. These are confined mainly to the town people. The country-folk usually have their own home-made krathong for the occasion, and perhaps there may be one or two progressive folk who make them in the shape of a bird or boat for the merriment of their children. Usually in a krathong, apart from a candle and one or more incense sticks, a small coin, say a one or five satang piece, is also put in. . .

In the evening when the full moon begins to rise on October and November, the people, mostly old women and matrons with their children, carry one or two krathongs to the edge of brimful running water. After the candle and incense sticks in the krathong are lighted, they let it go gently on the surface of the placid waters. A few folk will sometimes raise their hands in worship to the floating krathong. They watch the krathong as they float sluggishly along the water for some time until they float far away or out of sight. The children to while away the time play with water fire-works. . . . The floating krathong usually has a short life. As it floats far away from its starting place, the children further down stream will, in most cases, swim out to snatch the krathong. If it is a beautiful one there may be a scramble for it. They will perhaps ignore the common ones, but will not forget to snatch up the small coin... It is an aesthetic pleasure to see many krathongs with their flickering candle lights bobbing gently up and down, borne along the silent and placid flooded waters under the light of a full moon. . .

As can be gathered from the above description, there is nothing in the nature of a ritual and ceremonial act attached to the Loi Krathong. You simply light the candle and incense sticks and let loose all in the water. That is all you have to do. But the small coin that is put in, and the lighting of the candle and incense sticks betray that there must be a cult of some kind. If you ask the people for an explanation, the elder ones will tell you that the Loi Krathong is an act of remission to the Goddess Me Khongkha, the Mother of Water. Khongkha is the same word as the Indian "Gangs" or "Ganges," but in Siamese, it means water in general. They will further explain that in spite of the Mother's bountiful gift of water to man, he sometimes has polluted her water in various ways, therefore it is only proper to ask her pardon. It is an explanation which, if not plausible, is one which the simple believing folk can explain. . .

These images of swaddled infants come from a series of 10 glazed terra cotta bas-reliefs known as the "bambini." Andrea della Robbia sculpted them between 1463 and 1466 to adorn the Ospedale degli Innocenti, or Foundling Hospital, in Florence, Italy. The images show a sequence of childhood stages, from a tightly swaddled newborn to a child liberated from bindings that gradually loosen and fall aside. The images reflect the practice of confining infants’ bodies in tightly wound strips of cloth, which can be found on images of infants in many world regions and cultures.

[1]
Simon Marniet, son of François Marniet butcher in Dijon in Notre Dame parish, aged 12 years. Arrived from the nursery on 30 April 1705. Retreived by his sister in the month of June 1712. [ADCO]

[2]
Claude Mathieu, son of Pierre Mathieu, [currently] in the King's service [his father is serving in the military], and Christine Gayot, his father and mother. [He] has been received in the Poor Chamber on Sunday, 30 May 1706. [He] entered the hospital on 8 June in the same year, aged 11 years. The said Claude Mathieu left on 16 December 1706 in order to be a choir boy in Saint-Chapelle [a local church in Dijon]. [ADCO]

[3]
Bernard Le Brun, native of St. Reine, aged nine years. Arrived from the nursery on 29 December 1706, aged 8 years. Deceased 30 March 1714. [ADCO]

[4]
Denis Champesme, native of Dijon, aged 9 years old, son of the deceased Anthoine Champesme, a former mason in Dijon, parish Saint Nicolas. [He] has been received upon order of Monsieur le President Delamaire on 1 January 1707. Retrieved by his relatives on 15 August 1707. [ADCO]

[5]
Jean Gautherin, native of Nevers, eighteen years old, son of Pierre Gautherin, a potter. [He] has been received for three months by the direction of Mr. the President Delamare [He holds a high judicial office in the appellate court] on 25 January 1707. Received for three months. Left 24 June 1707. [ADCO]

[6]
Antoine Cavoisier, aged 12 years, son of the deceased Jean Cavoisier, and of Jeanne Mignard. Received by request on Sunday, 2 September 1718. [He] has his old, worn clothes and has been certified that he has no contagious disease by the hospital's surgeon. [ADCO]

[7]
Claude Jamet, aged about 16 or 17 years, son of the deceased Philibert Jamet, cooper, and of Bernarde Matinot. Received in order to work at the factory on Sunday, 12 March 1719. Left in the month of August 1721 in order to learn how to make tools in Plombieres [a local village]. [ADCO]

[8]
2 January 1752. Jean Mairet, aged about 12 years, son of the deceased Claude Mairet, former vintner in Djion, and of Nicolle Jourde, widow of the said Mairet, currently lives on the. . . street [in the] St. Nicolas Parish. [He] has been received among the children of the Bonnet Rouges [the male children wore "red hats" as a sign that they belonged to the hospital] in the hospital for one year, following the request. . . [of] 2 January 1752. And in the Chamber on 4 March 1753, [he will] continue for two years. And by deliberation of 2 March 1755 [his stay] has been continued until 4 June. Sent to work in order to be a weaver in June 1755. [ADCO]

[9]
17 December 1752. Jacques LeGros, aged 12 years, son of Toussaint LeGros, weaver, and of the deceased Françoise Monin his wife, domiciled on the street of the Ursulines, St. Michel Parish. [He] has been received by deliberation on the said day. . . until 1 June of next year. The said request states that the father has had two children from a second marriage, and he has been absent for three months because he was pursued by creditors, and he abandoned his two children from his first marriage. Note [that the Chamber] wants to return him quickly to his father if it is possible to locate him. [ADCO]

[10]
2 March 1754. Thomas, aged about 10 or 11 years. Found abandoned in the Church of the Capuchins of Dijon. He has returned from his fosterage and sent to the children of the Bonnet Rouges on 2 March 1754. . . . 3 April 1755. Fostered to Jeanne Lepot, wife of Pierre Jacob, laborer at Gevry, until 1 April 1758 at 3 pounds per month. [ADCO]

[11]
21 July 1748. Françoise Coron, aged 9 years, daughter of. . . Coron, blind, and Claudine Reux, his wife. [She] has been received among the girls of Saint Anne by deliberation. Left for work in 1751. [AHD]

[12]
10 September 1753. Margueritte, surnamed Marsannay [a local village], aged about thirteen years, following her first registration in the third book, page 107, where it appears that she was exposed or abandoned at the door of the Capuchin convent of Dijon on 30 October 1740, having on her a sign that said she was called Claudine. 30 April 1755. Given in pension by the order of Mr. the President de Bourbonne to Barbe Villat, wife of Nicolas Cuchon, laborer in Persilly, parish de Boux, until 1 May 1758. [AHD]

[13]
Jeanne LaFouge, aged thirteen years, four months, illegitimate child of Françoise LaFouge, baptised in St. Martin's Church in Chagny on 21 June 1740. Received definitively. . . 3 April 1755. Sent in pension with Anne LaMarche, wife of Etienne Chrestien, saddler in Sombernon, for three pounds per month until 1 April 1758. . . . 30 April 1758. Sent to Claude Laborde, laborer at Fonlette. Died 19 Pluviôse, Year 7 [7 February 1799] at five in the morning. [AHD]

[14]
14 December 1755. Catherine Sellier, aged 7 years, daughter of Cosme Sellier, tailor in Dijon, and of Denise Pelletret, deceased for 4 years. [She] has been received for one year upon request presented on the part of Sir Gaudelet, also tailor in Dijon. . . . 14 March 1757. Given in fosterage [pension] to Magdelaine Pelletret, femme de Michel Gaudelet, tailor in Dijon, [living on the] street near the palace, until 12 March 1760 at 3 pounds per month. [AHD]

[15]
13 May 1759. Marie Maire, aged about 8 and a half years old, daughter of Augustin Maire, militiaman in the battalion of Dijon, and of Margueritte Jacquenet, deceased in Paris about a year ago. [Marie] has her grandmother, [not named], widow of Mathieu Jacquenet, [who has been] with the Elderly [a room in the hospital for older citizens who could not care for themselves] for 16 months. Marie Maire has been received among the deprived children until the return of her father. And according to another deliberation of 20 May 1759, Marie Maire will remain under the guidance of her aforesaid grandmother. . ., the widow of Mathieu Jacquenet, [who is] among the elderly of this hospital. [AHD]

[16]
21 November 1759. Henriette, born 30 October 1747. Baptised in St. Esprit, registered on. . . page 378. Sent to. . . Saint Anne until [we] can find a place in the countryside. 9 December 1759. Sent in fosterage to the home of Michel Bord, a mason… and by order of the Bureau on the said day, at two pounds per month until 30 October 1761. Died 1 May 1775. [AHD]

[17]
6 May 1764. Marie, called "bissey," born 23 March 1751. Returned from Viel Moulin where she was in fosterage at the home of Jean Lamy, who no longer wanted charge of her much longer because of her poor education. Received this day with the girls of St. Anne, by order of the Bureau, in order to be instructed and raised. 9 March 1768. Sent to the trade of seamstress with Catherine Cauvard, a single woman living in Chateauneuf. [AHD]

[18]
18 March 1770. Claudine Royer, born 30 January 1760, illegitimate daughter of Didiere Royer, who is currently wife of Etienne Roüette, laborer in Fleury. Upon the deliberation of the bureau, [she] has been received among the girls of Saint Anne until further notice. . . . Baptised at St. Apollinaire. Given to the care of Pierrette Dumay, widow of Pierre Piot, laborer in the suburb of St. Pierre, for 7 pounds per month because of her scrofula. 10 May 1772. Changed caregiver and sent to Anna Lamarche, widow of Claude Nodot, laborer at. . ., until further notice, at 5 pounds per month. 15 November 1774. Has today returned from. . . and placed in the vagrant hall until further notice. 6 June 1777. Sent to her mother who asked for her without any renumeration. [AHD]

[19]
17 January 1773. Catherine, called the gentle one, presented by Ms. LeBlond, midwife, [and] born 27 June 1758. [She] was nursed at Viel Moulin, [and] has been brought from the vagrants room to the girls of Saint Anne until she can make her first communion. After such time, she will be sent to the countryside, following the deliberation of the Bureau. 20 February 1774. Given to Antoinette Bigold, wife of Bernard Bourdieu, vintner at Larrey, and charged with giving her future wages appropriate to her work. 20 March 1774. Placed anew with Claude. . ., gardener. . . ., under the same conditions as above. [AHD]

[20]
23 February 1777. Anne Gaucher, aged about 11 years, daughter of Claude Gaucher, absent, and of the deceased Reine Loizier. Received by the Bureau on 1 December 1765 until the return of her father, and was sent to a wet-nurse in the countryside, but as this little girl had a weak disposition. . . she was received among the girls of Saint Anne for an unlimited period of time. 23 February 1778. Sent to Françoise Villeby, widow of Lazare Loisier, tavern-keeper of Dijon. . . until a new order, at 4 pounds per month because she is full of scrofula. [AHD]

Adoption of an orphan, France 1540

Guillaume Percheron, day laborer living on the rue de Copeaulx in the dwelling of the Carmelites [an order of friars] of Paris, and Jehanne Goret, his wife, she authorized in this matter, affirm that, for the great love and attachment that they have and declare for Batiste Bernard, aged three years or so, they have taken and retained him and by this contract take him in their custody, to raise him.

[Batiste Bernard is] the minor son of the late Symon Bernard, who while living was poor and a day laborer living in the said street, and [the late] Catherine Corbillon, his wife, the two previously the father and mother of the boy, who were natives of Saint Martin d'Étampes, and who died, it is said, at the [poor relief hospital of] Hôtel Dieu of Paris after Saint Jehan Baptiste past.

[Percheron and Goret] have promised and promise to supply and deliver what he needs in terms of drink, food, fire, bed, lodging, and light, as much in health as in sickness; to instruct him in good morals; and to maintain him in all his clothing and other necessities whatsoever, all well and duly as appropriate and as if he were their own child.

And [they also promise] to provide for him in marriage or otherwise as appropriate to his standing and according to the ability and property of the said Percheron and his wife.

And in consideration of the things said here, they give him all and each of their possessions that they may have at the time of their passing on, to take as if he were their own child and rightful heir.

Present for this [was] Estienne Papillon, plowman of vines, living at Bonyeres les Cellees, near the said Étampes, uncle of the said minor through Martine Bernard, his wife, who was the sister of the deceased [father] of the said minor; and Audrye Papillon, wife of Jehan Gaillard, living at Saint Michel in Paris, rue du Puys de Fer, cousin of the said minor, who have given and give the said minor to the said Percheron and his wife as is stated; and they affirm clearly that this is for the benefit and welfare of the said minor, who has no possessions or kin who are able to provide for him.

Promising, etc., obligating, etc., each in his own right, etc., renouncing. Done in duplicate and passed, that is by the said Percheron and Estienne Papillon and Audrye Papillon on Thursday the 11th day of November, the year 1540, and for the said Jehanne Goret, wife of the said Percheron, on the day of [blank], 15 [blank].

---

Apprenticeship of orphans, France 1542

Jacqueline Parisot, hosier [maker of stockings] and wife of Anthoyne Gougneulx, day laborer, the said Jacqueline living in the rue Anemairet in the building whose sign is the seal of France, in Paris, affirms that the Commissioners appointed on the matter of the poor of this city of Paris have given her, as apprentice, from today for two years, Marguerite Massarpe, impoverished child aged 8 or 9 years, orphan without mother or father.

Jacqueline has taken [Massarpe] as her apprentice, to whom she has promised to show and teach her the profession and trade of hosier well and duly; and during the said time will well and honorably provide her with what she needs in terms of drink, food, fire, bed, lodging, light, clothing, footwear of linen, body linen, and similarly all her other necessities whatsoever; however, she will be paid by the said Commissioners 100 sous tournois for each of the said two years.

To do this is present the said Marguerite, apprentice, who has promised, promises, and guarantees to serve the said Jacqueline in the said profession and learn well and duly the said trade, obey all [Jacqueline's] lawful and honorable commands, work to her benefit, avoid losses to her; without fleeing or serving elsewhere during the said time.

Promising, etc., obligating, etc., event he said Marguerite renouncing body and possessions, etc., Done and passed in duplicate in the year 1542, Tuesday, the 25th day of July.

Why I Taught the Source

The story of colonialism in the early modern era is generally told as one of adults—and primarily adult men—exploring, conquering, and transporting goods and ideas. Historians of women have made it increasingly clear that women are also important actors in this story, but children and adolescents have received little attention. They were also involved, although primarily as members of families, so it is difficult to find much information about them. Orphans were a different story, and they offer an unusual opportunity to see how children fit into the plans and realities of colonial expansion.

The source included here is a suggestion for handling orphans, devised in 1655 by Manoel Severim de Faria, an official for the bishop of Evora in Portugal. In this source he speaks specifically about the role orphaned children could and should play in the Portuguese empire. The source links to many issues in the early modern world, including maritime expansion, gender norms, and changing patterns of poverty, and through these to contemporary issues as well. It provides insight into attitudes toward one particular group of children in an era of competition for wealth and dominance among European powers.

How I Introduce the Source

I have used this source in several different courses: world history, European history, and the history of women and gender. I provide students with guidance and pose a series of questions as we read the source together. It is important that students have the source in front of them, so that every time they answer a question they can point to the specific part of text from which they are drawing information. It is sometimes helpful to have students read the source sentence by sentence until they become more familiar with the official bureaucratese in which it is written. I have found that this can be a useful technique any time a class—even an advanced undergraduate or graduate class—is stuck interpreting materials, for it allows the group to work together as it puzzles through difficult passages.

Students showed better understanding of the source if they were first provided with some background about the way orphans were handled in early modern Europe, which I did orally in some cases and through a written introduction to the source in others. I began by noting that many children in early modern Europe lost one or both parents while they were still young. Most children whose parents had died were taken into the home of a relative, but for some this was not a possibility, and they were placed in a public or church orphanage. Occasionally children who had lost only one parent were placed in orphanages when the surviving spouse determined he or she could not care for them. Children were also left anonymously at the doors of convents or orphanages; most of these foundlings were probably born out of wedlock to poor mothers who could not care for a child while they worked as servants or day-laborers. Many students have heard about children abandoned at church doors and a few have read novels or seen movies about foundlings, so it is useful to discuss the generally dismal circumstances for most children born out of wedlock, and dispel the students' sometimes romantic notions.

Students gain from knowing a bit about the institutional context surrounding orphans, although this does not have to be extensive. The earliest public orphanages in European cities opened in the 14th century, sometimes as parts of city hospitals, and sometimes as independent institutions. Orphanages were supported by church donations, private endowments, and public funds, but the funds provided were often not sufficient to cover all expenses. Thus Severim de Faria's proposal includes much discussion of how to provide financial support for his plans.

Historical background about orphanages can tie into other themes of a course. Not surprisingly, the number of children in orphanages grew dramatically during times of plague or other epidemic diseases, a common topic in world history courses. Orphanages also swelled during times of war. Textbooks often present religious conflicts in early modern Europe in rather abstract terms, as ideas battling ideas, and a focus on what happened to children allows students to better understand the actual impact of religious violence. (This can also be linked with contemporary examples of religious violence.) The same goes for discussions of inflation and other economic dislocations of the 16th century; helping students think about the impact of rapidly-increasing prices for food and land on children makes economic statistics less dry, and also helps them connect the economic issues of the early modern period with those with which they are familiar in their own lives.

Reading the Source

I begin the actual reading of this source with my students by noting that Monoel Severim de Faria sees orphans within the context of social problems and their solutions. We identify these as we work carefully through the text. What are the problems he identifies? We discover a series of these: the lack of "cabin-boys. . .swabbers. . .and sailors" for the Portuguese fleet; poor training for those sailors, so that ships wreck and cargo is lost; vagabonds and people who Severim de Faria thinks are pretending to be poor. (Here you may wish to discuss why he thinks this is so, and link the issue with more recent examples of rhetoric about those taking advantage of social support systems, such as the notion of "welfare queens.") Severim also returns several times to his worries that Portugal is underpopulated. In discussing why he worried about this, we look at maps and at charts about relative European populations in the 16th century.

Once we have identified the problems he cites, we examine the solutions he proposes. Students see right away that the solutions are gender specific: boys are to work on ships and learn how to sail them better, girls are to get married and have more children. This often leads to a broader discussion of gender differences, and I bring in additional information. I note that in terms of gender differences in their life experiences, orphans were not distinct from other children in early modern Europe. In both families and orphanages, children were trained in gender-specific tasks: boys learned to care for animals and make simple items, girls to cook and care for clothing and laundry. When they were old enough, which meant somewhere between seven and 14, children in both families and orphanages often left their parents and moved in with a master or employer, with whom they lived for most of their adolescence. Boys were apprenticed to artisans to learn a trade, while girls worked as servants and gained more domestic skills.

Girls were expected to provide a dowry upon marriage, an issue that students can easily see in the source in Severim de Faria's examples of the way cities such as Milan and Seville "solved" their orphan problem. I have found that my female students of European background are often outraged by the practice of dowry, seeing it—much as Jane Austen did—as "buying a husband." This can lead to a broader discussion of marriage as a means of retaining and transferring wealth, a topic that is often lost in world history classes where the emphasis is generally on less personal economic institutions such as wage labor and commercial exchanges. Based on their reading of any textbook, your students will not be surprised that Severim de Faria connects Seville's growth and prosperity to "commerce with the Indies." Your discussion of marriage can help them see why he links these to "the marriages that take place every year" in Seville as well.

Severim de Faria's proposal is just that—a plan, not a reality. Nevertheless, several early modern governments and private companies established policies based on proposals such as Faria's.This could provide a springboard for student research projects on such public measures as: sending orphans and Jewish children from Portugal to Goa, Brazil, and west Africa; "company daughters" sent by the Dutch East India Company to the East Indies; the filles du roi sent to New France; orphans and other poor children taken off the streets of London and sent as indentured servants to Virginia. Coerced migration is a central part of world history, and involved young people as well as adults.

Reflections

Reading Severim de Faria's proposal allows students to see one way that children were integrated into plans for colonization, and trace ways in which European class and gender patterns were carried around the world. Students gain skill in interpreting official language from an earlier period, and in assessing the underlying assumptions of the author, both of which are important tools of historical analysis. They recognize that Severim de Faria was a member of Portugal's upper classes, concerned about economic growth and deeply suspicious of the poor. Comparisons with contemporary opinion on the part of wealthy and middle-class Americans are easy to draw. How to handle orphans and children whose parents cannot or will not take care of them are important challenges today, both close to home and globally, and this source leads easily to discussions of contemporary parallels in the situation of children as well. This source could thus easily be combined with other documents about poor, abandoned, or otherwise marginalized children from different eras.

Students initially think of Severim de Faria as positive toward women (because he wanted, in their words, to "help" them), but on closer reading they come to see the values underlying his calls for protection and the provision of dowries. This helps students learn that first readings are not always accurate, and that close attention to the tone as well as the exact language of a document is important.

Merry Wiesner-Hanks

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

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