Drawing on a wide collection of surviving family papers and two detailed case studies, the volume illustrates a variety of aspects of Hungarian childhood from contrasting perspectives. The life process of birth, care, education, marriage, orphanhood and death are reviewed from empirical sources, as well as a portrayal of family life in the Hungarian aristocracy. Beloved Children examines topics such as family intimacy and paternal and maternal attitudes, giving the reader insight into a childs’ life in Hungary during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.