Flesh and Spirit: Private Life in Early Modern Germany

Drawing directly on letters, diaries and related papers, Ozment (The Burgermeister's Daughter) gracefully and convincingly draws readers into the cycle of family life among N rnberg's 16th- and early 17th-century elite. The five chapters are devoted to courtship and marriage, birth and early childhood, mothering, the private life of a teenager and, lastly, fathers and sons. Overall, the result is informative, and Ozment's profiles are almost novelistic in their specificity. Readers might question how representative these families are of early modern Germany as a whole, however: they exemplify a small, though prominent, portion of the populace. There is also a tension between the book's structure and Ozment's avowed intention to reveal family life: while family life is inherently relational, most chapters focus on the perspective of a single person. But if these stories cover only circumstantial sociological evidence to support Ozment's contention that ""the family of the past was neither as wholesome as the romantics portray it, nor as cruel as the cynics suspect,"" they are always absorbing. Two subjects--a Catholic city official during the Reformation and a prominent, liberal Lutheran churchman during a time of conservative activism--are particularly intriguing as embattled figures for whom family provided an especially significant haven. All Ozment's subjects appear more exceptional than representative--and all the more interesting for it. Illustrations, map. BOMC selection. (Aug.)