16th Century Research Paper

The Daily life of the French in the 16th Century differs greatly from the daily life of the 21st Century. Back then, society was led more by the group rather than the individual; now, society is led by individuals rather than the group. The people were more influenced by church as a whole than we are now. The village priest was a part of everybody's life, from birth to death. Weddings were a big deal, to not only the people getting married, but also to their families, and the village as a whole; whereas now, weddings aren't very sacred anymore. The household was ruled by the adult male of the house and everyone was to listen and respect him; now, however, there's no "head" of the household per say, it's more of a combined effort between man
and wife (if they're even married). The people back then looked at life as the "body politic", where the head ruled, the arms protected, the stomach nourished, and the feet labored; now people don't really take the time to think out their life like that, everybody has a different job, and they can change their job; they aren't stuck with it for life.

During the 16th Century each village had a church, and the church belonged to the village.
It was the one thing that wasn't ruled by the lords or the higher ranking families of the village, it was used by everyone. The priest was an integral part to every family, because he helped to guide them through their troubles. He was there for their births, their marriages, their hardships, and their deaths. Families looked to the church for advice and for approval of the things they had decided to do. Now, however, people don't turn to the church as much. And for the people that do go to church, their priest doesn't come visit them, and give them advice regularly. They don't go to him to get something approved, and they don't see him as such an integral figure in their life. They tend to look towards themselves for the answers to their problems rather than the
church.

Their customs were a lot different back then also.
For instance the wedding ceremony was taken a lot more seriously by the people of the 16th century, and even then, that was one of their less formal ceremonies! The bride and groom were not always the most willing subjects, because they were put into the marriage by their parents and people of their village. The engagements tended to last a very long time and it was the most important time for the groom and bride. The wedding itself however was most important to the village as a whole. For the wedding the dowry of the bride was given to the groom and his family, and the grooms' inheritance was shared with the bride and her family. After the wedding there would be a huge feast throughout the village and after they ate they would have dances and smaller ceremonies that symbolized the sexual congress of the bride and groom. The only way the marriage could be annulled was if they didn't consummate it on their wedding night. These days however, there is no longer a need for a huge wedding ceremony. Many people will just go straight to the court and get their marriage license or even go to a small walk-in wedding chapel. Divorces are very common these days, you don't need a big reason to separate from your spouse, and you aren't looked down on for doing it, unlike back then. Marriage is thrown around a lot now a days and it isn't as sacred as it once
was.

Things were set up as a Body Politic, where once you had a place in society, that's where you stayed, there was know moving up and down through the different groups. The different groups in the Body Politic were based on: the head ruled, the arms protected, the stomach nourished, and the feet labored. Each group performed its own function and although one group may be of lower class, all groups were essential to the body. In households the male was the head of the household, and everyone was to listen to the male. The wife was the next in line and the children were to listen to her just as much as they would the father. Not only was the house composed of the husband, wife, and children, they also could have the in-laws, cousins, aunts and uncles in their house; and that was a normal thing. Not only that, once they had a position in their community, i.e.: laborer, priest, wealthy, they couldn't move up in their ranks, no matter how much hard work they put in. These days, there is no "head" of the household, and if there is, it's unspoken. The households today aren't comprised of more than the husband, wife, and children (for the most part) either; most households are lucky to have the mom and dad still together in the same house. These days it's very easy to move yourself up the social ladder. All you have to do is get out there and show people that you're a hard worker and that you're determined, and eventually it'll pay off.

There are many differences in the way people lived in the 16th century and the way we live these days. People back then, pretty much had their lives guided by the church and the government. Nowadays people do things their own way, and make themselves better by pushing until they get what they want. They don't let the church or the government tell them they have to stay at one social class for their whole life, they get out there and change things for themselves. Back then, people didn't really catch on that they could do it, they were guided by their priest and they did whatever he told them, and believed everything he said, because he worked for God.