Controlling misbehavior in England, 1370-1600
By: Marjorie Keniston McIntosh.
Series: Cambridge studies in population, economy, and society in past time ;; 34
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Cambridge, U.K; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 289
Subjects: Social control -- England -- History.; Deviant behavior -- England -- History.; Justice, Administration of -- England -- History.; England -- Moral conditions -- History.; England -- Social conditions -- 1066-1485.; England -- Social conditions -- 16th century.
Description: In this important study, Professor McIntosh argues against the suggestion that social regulation was a distinctive feature of the decades around 1600, resulting from Puritanism. Instead, through an examination of 255 village and small-town communities distributed throughout England, Professor McIntosh demonstrates that concern with wrongdoing mounted gradually between 1370 and 1600. In an attempt to maintain good order and enforce ethical conduct, local leaders prosecuted people who slandered or quarrelled with their neighbours, engaged in sexual misdeeds, operated unruly alehouses, or refused to work. Professor McIntosh also explores who the offenders were as well as the factors that led to misbehaviour and shaped responses to it. More generally, Professor McIntosh sheds light on the transition from medieval to early modern patterns and succeeds here in opening up little-known sources and new research methods.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 265-278) and index.