A morte de um filho: Dor e luto na correspondência familiar durante a primeira metade do século XIX

This study examines how 19th century Portuguese aristocratic families coped with the deaths of children, drawing on family correspondence as its primary source. It situates the phenomenon within the high infant and child mortality rates on 19th century Europe and Portugal. Enganging with historiographical debates, it challenges notions of emotional detachement among elites, arguing for a more nuanced understanting of paternal grief. Analysing letters from the Fronteira/Assumar and Palmela families, the research explores how deaths were announced, causes described, and grief expressed, alongside the roles of faith and social networks in coping. The findings illuminate aristocratic emotional responses to loss and evolving perceptions of childhood and death.