To be born in the later half of the fifteenth century...

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Most people portraying a member of Magnus Kompanie would have been born in the middle of the century; and may expect not to survive to see the turn of the century.

Birth:

Surviving childhood is difficult, especially these first few years when your immune system is getting acquainted with the numerous germs and diseases of the Medieval world. Infant mortality rates are very high.

Hospitals in the modern sense, do not exist at this time; as so, births take place at home. Doctors and nurses are also very different occupations and it is most common to be prepared and attended by a "midwife".

Being a christian Empire, it is extremely important to have the baby baptized as soon as possible, as infant death rates are very high. Those of the Upper-class and Middle-class have their babies baptized at the church on the very day of their birth, as death without baptism condemns the soul to Limbo.

The child's own mother did not attend the Baptism as the Church considered her impure for a certain number of days after the labor. To restore a woman's purity, a ceremony known as "churching" is employed.

After childbirth, the mother is normally required to attend the parish church for a ceremony. Leviticus 12:4-5 prescribed that the ceremony occur 33 days after the birth of a male child and 66 after the birth of a female child.

The mother attends the church accompanied by two married women. She is veiled and carries a lighted candle. At the church porch, she is met by the priest who, accepts the white chrism cloth in which the child had been baptized. Before she being allowed to enter the church, she is sprinkled with holy water by the priest. Once allowed inside, she is ritually readmitted to the communion (mass) and to the community of the faithful by the priest reciting Psalm 120 (121) over her.

Childbirth is a difficult task in the Middle Ages. Pain is regarded as the curse of Eve, where no attention is paid to the agony or to the possibility of complications. Gynecology and obstetrics are not only ignored, but the suggestion that there should be some concern in these fields is regarded as evidence of a sick mind. As a consequence, many women die in childbirth -- and many more go mad

Even if one survived the birth, she risked something called childbed fever -- a term almost unknown now -- which killed a significant percentage of mothers.

Many times, even if the mother survived childbirth, it is a distinct possibility that the infant would die. The low life expectancy of the middle ages is largely a result of infant mortality. All in all, it is a very hard experience, and few have any real sympathy for the mother. The women deserved all of this torment, as partial expiation for the sexual pleasure which have led to the birth, and, at a greater remove, for Eve's sin.

Childhood:

Raised by Class:

The status of a child's parents determined the child's own status. Living in the bustling city of Kassel in the Land of Hesse means that you would be of the Middle class. Middile class children vary in their experiences, from the lower end of the spectrum being nothing more than well-to-do peasants whose grandparents did well in the chaotic years following the Black Death, to the higher-end of the spectrum as incredible well-off merchants vying for Noble titles.

Girls and boys played games that developed into many of what are played in the Modern era, but their games were generally more dangerous and could result in death.