FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE

1. BAPTISM

The Church was a constant presence in medieval society, celebrating life’s biggest events with blessings and rituals. Within hours of their first breath, babies were baptised into the Church, a rite that ensured eternal salvation should the infant die. “The first known infant baptism in England was that of Eanfled, daughter of King Edwin of Northumbria in AD 625,” says Professor Nicholas Orme, author of Going to Church in, “and by the 12th century, the ancient tradition of waiting until Easter Eve or Pentecost Eve to christen a new baby had been replaced by immediate baptism on the day of birth.”