The Morning Cafe is hereby Closed. Please migrate to the Evening Cafe
Good Sunday morning, friends and colleagues! The Café is open, with the wide selection of quality refreshments you’ve come to expect. Come in, find a comfy chair (oh, they’re all comfy) and settle in with a nice cuppa and the paper.
Your humble host this morning will be too busy with household chores to mull over the NYT crossword for a couple hours, but does want to note the keyword for the day on the specials board:
FOSTERAGE
Defined here as “raising someone to be an accepted member of the community,” fosterage took on a much fuller meaning in Celtic and other tribal-based cultures. A discussion of Celtic fosterage found here mentions that
[f]osterage was quite a common occurrence in early Celtic culture and has continued in modified forms up to the present day in the Celtic Diaspora. Infants and toddlers were reared in their parent’s homes, but children were sent for fostering at relatively young ages. There were several common types of fosterage. One was fosterage based on affection (altramm serce). No fee was paid for this type of fosterage. Another type of fosterage was done for a fee. A third situation like unto fosterage was an apprenticeship situation where the relationship between the pupil and his master is similar to that of a fosterchild and a fosterparent.
In Classical times, noble “barbarian” children were frequently fostered to well-to-do Roman families. The German king Arminius, who destroyed three Roman legions in the Teutoberg Forest, according to legend had grown up in a Roman household. During the Middle Ages, fosterage also sent young boys as pages or squires to higher-ranking feudal lords. The feudal bond between lord and vassal would thus be further cemented. In some instances, a foster-boy may be held hostage as surety for his father’s conduct.
Where is all this leading to? This short piece in today’s news from the BBC. Draw what snarky conclusions or conspiracy theories you will.
A restful and/or productive Sunday to all!
