Paternal Power and the Emancipation of Children. During the eighteenth century, youth was extended further than ever before, both by law and by the assertion of parental authority over children. By the 1760s laws bolstering the father's right to control his children's property and choices of marriage partners were enacted in many parts of Europe. In some places children remained legally under paternal power until the age of thirty. Stories abounded of cruel parents who refused to let their children marry or practice the professions of their choice. The French monarchy was infamous throughout Europe for its lettres de cachet, arrest warrants authorizing the confinement of an individual without trial. Many such warrants were used at a parent's request to punish unruly youths, who were often imprisoned or transported to penal colonies. During the French Revolution, the National...