The Exchange of Children in Tudor England: an Anthropological Phenomenon in Historical Context

Abstract

This paper examines the movement of children as servants from subor dinate to superordinate households in Tudor England. Drawing on anthropologi cal theories of reciprocity, it seeks to broaden and revise existing accounts of this phenomenon. It is argued that the exchange of children in this period may be seen as a means by which the ranks of the Tudor hierarchy were bound, differentiated, and defined. It is also argued that the exchange of children played an important role in their socialization. In general terms, the paper seeks to demonstrate the value of theories of reciprocity for historiographic analysis.

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