Lucy Underwood’s Childhood, Youth and Religious Dissent in Post-Reformation England, published as part of Palgrave’s ‘Studies in the History of Childhood’ series, is an ambitious work, which seeks to unpick the histories of both sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Catholics and their children. The book explores the often obscured histories of the children and youths who belonged to England’s Catholic minority, asking questions about how Catholics attempted to inspire and educate the next generation, the cultural and legal boundaries of child-Catholic identity and the ways in which the young may have understood or exhibited that identity. Using a range of source material gained from archives in the UK and Italy, including ecclesiastical, church court and baptism records, private documents and catechisms, Underwood attempts to piece together some of the until-now largely untold history of the Catholic child in Protestant England. This exploration includes a consideration of how the young may have perceived themselves, as well as the perceptions and motivations of the adults who surrounded them; the adults, no less, who – whether they were Catholic parents or Protestant authorities – shaped the childhoods and beliefs of the younger members of their communities.

Underwood draws together historiographies which have explored the history of England’s Catholics, and those focused on early modern childhood. Works on English Catholicism, most notably those by John Bossy, Michael Questier and Alexandra Walsham, have considered what it may have been like to be a Catholic in England during the post-Reformation period. Questions about identity have been fundamental to these explorations, most especially surrounding the differences, and ideological fluctuations between recusants, ‘church papists’ and ‘non-communicants’ (those who attended official services, but refused to take part in sacraments). Wherever Catholics sat on this moveable spectrum, they risked evoking the wrath of Church and state authorities, and for this reason often left few records. As Questier has argued, this is why it is most difficult to work out how many Catholics there were in England after the Reformation – certainly a much higher figure than those who could be counted amongst the number of recusants. Furthermore, when discussing children, as Underwood notes, figures become even more difficult to ascertain, as not only are Catholics hard to trace in primary material: children, too, were often socially silent during this period, making Catholic children ‘doubly invisible’ (p. 4). Underwood argues that legally it was impossible to be a child recusant, yet culturally there were many who could have fallen into this category. These children are, however, difficult to find, and once discovered in archival records, the question becomes how far children perceived themselves to hold this identity.

This leads us to historiography exploring early modern children and childhood, which has moved on significantly since the works of Philippe Ariès and Lawrence Stone, to develop a vision of early modern children which sees the young as individuals who were cared for, carefully educated and, if they became victims of the high infant and child death rate, grieved for. Underwood draws on various historiographies of childhood including those of L. A Pollock and A. J. Fletcher, as well as studies which consider the potential extremes in depictions of children, including those by Alexandra Walsham and this reviewer. Underwood argues that these works have failed to incorporate the experiences of Catholic children, and so, through a fusing of these two historiographies, she attempts to address this gap, stating that, ‘Children have been nearly as neglected by historians of Catholicism as Catholics by childhood studies […] English Catholicism needs to be integrated into the social and cultural historiography of England, as much as its role in political history should be recognised. A study of childhood and Catholicism may contribute to this’ (pp. 3-4).

Some of the most interesting lines of argument to thread through the book involve questions of identity, and how religious affiliation may have been formed (or not) in the young. Underwood discusses the baptism ceremony, and the ways Catholic families may have responded to the need to baptise infants. Some families, Underwood shows, attempted to secure a Catholic baptism for their children; this was often for personal reasons, such as the death of a previous child after receiving the Protestant sacrament. These partial details, which reflect the fragmented nature of the documents from which they are reconstructed, are especially interesting. Underwood also notes the secret networks through which women visited others in late pregnancy in order to obscure the moment they gave birth, and thus the fact that their children may have received a Catholic baptism. Nevertheless, despite the efforts of some families, Underwood states that, ‘Many Catholics probably accepted Protestant baptism, reassured that, since the baptism was valid, at least their child’s salvation would not be jeopardised’ (p. 13). For both Catholics and Protestants, any Christian baptism was better than no baptism at all, and Underwood argues that many, if not most, Catholic families settled for a Protestant ceremony.

It might have been interesting to see some further details about or reflections on how this affected the families concerned, and whether they became anxious about their children’s spiritual wellbeing. Underwood argues that, for Catholic families, the later moment of reconciliation was deemed to be an important time for the young, the moment when post-baptismal sins were recognised and remitted, and where a dawning awareness of Catholic identity may have begun. It could potentially diminish the figure of the early modern child, however, to argue that they may have had to wait until remission or later life before recognising or understanding a Catholic identity. Underwood suggests that available ‘material offers divergent views of the relation between childhood and religious identity. Records which link rites of passage with increasing age make childhood a phase lacking religious awareness. On the other hand, a number of people located the turning-points in their religious development in childhood’ (p. 29).

This notion of a late-dawning identity is echoed in Underwood’s consideration of education. The book argues that Catholic catechisms, although covering many of the same formulaic areas of teaching as Protestant versions, were usually ‘intermediate’ in style, which reflected the fact that they were aimed at older children. Underwood concludes that, ‘The lack of very basic Catholic catechisms may indicate that it seemed less important to teach pre-literate children distinctive Catholic doctrines’ (p. 54). If this was the case, it would be interesting to explore the reasons why - especially when considering that the very opposite was true for Protestants, who argued that from the earliest age children should be encouraged to listen to words of scripture, and to read as soon as they possibly could. It seems odd that the same would not be true for English Catholics, especially when taking into account their minority status and understandable concern for the next generation. If Catholic families were more relaxed about the religious education of their children, why would this have been? Or could the relative silence surrounding the very young be due to paucity in remaining primary documents?

Overall, then, Underwood’s work is a fascinating study, which offers to fill a significant historical gap in our understanding of Catholic culture and early modern childhood. The book contains many interesting details about Catholic belief, as well as the experiences of Catholic families attempting to bring children into the world and to raise them. Some questions do remain unanswered, which is somewhat inevitable in such a work: the door has now opened on this area for future studies in the field.