Crime and Mentalities in Early Modern England

ISBN-13: 9780521572750 / Angielski / Twarda / 2000 / 396 str.

Malcolm Gaskill; Anthony Fletcher; John Guy

Opis

Crime and the law have now been studied by historians of early modern England for more than a generation. This book attempts to reach further than most conventional treatments of the subject, to explore the cultural contexts of law-breaking and criminal prosecution, and to recover their hidden social meanings. It also examines in detail the crimes of witchcraft, coining--counterfeiting and coin-clipping--and murder, in order to reveal new and important insights into how the thinking of ordinary people was transformed between 1550 and 1750.

Recenzje

'… the book is a pioneering monument to the complexity of early modern mental worlds and the profound shifts they underwent.' The Historical Journal

Spis treści

Introduction: 1. Mentalities from crime; Part I. Witchcraft: 2. The social meaning of witchcraft, 1560–1680; 3. Witches in society and culture, 1680–1750; Part II. Coining: 4. The problem of coiners and the law; 5. Towards a solution? coining, state and people; Part III. Murder: 6. Crimes of blood and their representation; 7. Murder: police, prosecution and proof; Conclusion: 8. A transition from belief to certainty?