Download or read book Individuals, Families, and Communities in Europe, 1200-1800 written by Katherine A. Lynch and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2003-08-21 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Katherine Lynch discusses the role of the family in society from the late Middle Ages to the industrial period. She argues that in western Europe an ongoing, and recognizably western pattern of relationships among individuals, their families, and communities emerged in the late medieval period. Tracing the pattern through the nineteenth century, this study explores the family's function as an organization on the boundary between public and private life, rather than as part of a "private sphere", and how this phenomenon has been influenced by political, religious and demographic factors.