Master and Apprentice, Knight and Squire: Education in the ‘Celtic’ Iron Age

Abstract

The role of education and agency of children as factors in the formation of Iron Age culture is addressed. Historical sources on education from Iron Age Gaul are compared with later 'medieval Celtic' practices. Fosterage, common Celtic *altros, may have been the evolutionary precursor of apprenticeships and knight-squire relationships, as developed in the feudal states of medieval Europe. Fosterage establishes artificial kinship, strengthens kinship alliances by providing hostages, helps to forge strong emotional bonds between foster parents, children and siblings, and helps to confirm social hierarchies, while providing specialized education. Professional specialists gain increased security outside their own group. It gives children a role in the tradition of culture, and allows them to blend artistic styles and create unique adaptations combining 'local' traditions with 'external' innovations. Fosterage can thus be established as an important method of peer polity interaction in Iron Age and medieval 'Celtic' societies.

Unity and Diversity in the European Iron Age: Out of the Mists, Some Clarity?

“…One can argue that this sociopolitical structure exists but is better defined as an Iron Age structure since it transcends anything narrowly called Celtic (Thurston 2009). Karl (2005a) also has posited that the widespread elite practice of exchanging their children and youths may account for similarities in material culture and social institutions across large, continuous regions.…”

“…An important component of European heterarchy is evidence for the practice of fosterage in the Iron Age (Karl 2004a(Karl , 2005aParkes 2003Parkes , 2005Parkes , 2006, a form of fictive kinship common in northern and western Europe (Gerriets 1983) in which the heads of elite households traded their children, ostensibly to be instructed in adult ways and expectations, but with an important role as a leveling mechanism and in assuring that alliances, decentralizing practices, and other cooperative relationships were not breached. In light of Gosden's (1985Gosden's ( , 1989) work on the importance of kinship-based alliances and gift exchange as structuring principles in northwestern European societies, this work is adding to a new corpus on social mechanisms that may have complemented the aggressive behavior of a warrior class.…”

“…Robb et al (2001) discovered that in Iron Age Italy childhood across status classes was not physically difficult, but at the onset of adulthood, life became physically stressful for the poor; this was probably related to changing labor requirements. Children also have been studied as political entities through their role in fosterage (Karl 2004a(Karl , 2005aParkes 2003Parkes , 2004Parkes , 2005Parkes , 2006 and as sacrificial offerings (Aldhouse-Green 2001a; Mays 2000Mays , 2001Scott 1991Scott , 1993.…”

“…Some topics currently being studied are children's participation in society as heirs of elite lineages and their roles as apprentices (Karl 2005a) and laborers. Nash discusses the unlooked-for impact of women and children slaves on the economies of Gaul and Italy, not only as valuable commodities sold at premium prices but as economic contributors to general domestic economies and the ability of elite households to produce.…”

De dragones, cascos y soldados de fortuna en el Occidente Antiguo. acerca de dos obras recientes sobre el mercenariado galo e hispano

“…El autor acepta la posible existencia de fratrías guerreras en la koiné céltica para explicar este fenómeno de dispersión y homogeneización de la panoplia, pero sobre todo por la importancia de los sistemas clientelares 30 y el establecimiento de jóvenes guerreros pertenecientes a las élites en familias distantes, una hipótesis tremendamente sugerente que podría ponerse en relación con el testimonio de César sobre la educación de los niños galos (B.G. VI.18) y la institución del fosterage (Karl, 2005). Para Baray, sería esa red capilar, más que el mercenariado, la que explicaría la rápida difusión de las novedades armamentísticas.…”