Seminar Questions

• To what extent did interpersonal violence constitute 'the common thread of human relations and of the sociability characteristic of various groups in the population' (Robert Muchembled)?
• How did responses to different forms of interpersonal violence vary in early modern Europe?

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Required Reading

All students should read

Ruff, Julius R., Violence in Early Modern Europe 1500-1800Link opens in a new window (Cambridge, 2001), Chapter 4.

AND two of the following items:

• Bibboni, Francesco, 'The Death of Lorenzino de' Medici: An Account Written in his own Hand by Captain Francesco BibboniLink opens in a new window', in Lorenzino de' Medici, Apology for a Murder, trans. Andrew Brown, with a foreword by Tim Parks (London, 2004), pp. 21-44. [For what actually happened, see Stefano Dall'Aglio, The Duke's Assassin: Exile and Death of Lorenzino de' MediciLink opens in a new window, trans. Donald Weinstein (New Haven, 2015), Chapter Two]
• Carroll, Stuart, 'IntroductionLink opens in a new window', in Stuart Carroll, ed., Cultures of Violence: Interpersonal Violence in Historical Perspective (Basingstoke, 2007), pp. 1-43.
• Loetz, Francisca, A New Approach to the History of Violence: "sexual assault" and "sexual abuse" in Europe, 1500-1850Link opens in a new window, trans. Rosemary Selle (Leiden, 2015), Chapter 1.
• Schwerhoff, Gerd, Benjamin Seebröker, Alexander Kästner, and Wiebke Voigt, 'Hard Numbers? The Long-term Decline in Violence Reassessed. Empirical Objections and Fresh PerspectivesLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window', Continuity and Change 36 (2021), 1-32.

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E-Resources

• London Lives 1690 to 1800: Crime, Poverty and Social Policy in the MetropolisLink opens in a new window [A fully searchable edition of 240,000 manuscripts from eight archives and fifteen datasets, giving access to 3.35 million names.]
• The Complete Newgate CalendarLink opens in a new window
• Old Bailey OnlineLink opens in a new window
• The Court of Chivalry 1634-1640Link opens in a new window [This project provides abstracts, calendars and transcript of the surviving material relating to 738 cases heard in the Court of Chivalry (otherwise known as the Court of Honour or the Earl Marshal’s Court) between 1634 and 1640]
• Sharpe, J. and Dickinson, R., Violence in Early Modern England : a Regional Survey, 1600-1800; Cheshire [computer file]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive [distributor], July 2002. SN: 4429.

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Further Reading

Amussen, S.D., ‘“Being Stirred to Much Unquietness”: Violence and Domestic Violence in Early Modern England’, Journal of Women’s History 6 (1994), 70-89.

Amussen, S.D., ‘Punishment, Discipline and Power: The Social Meanings of Violence in Early Modern England’Link opens in a new window, Journal of British Studies 34 (1995), 1-34.

Anglo, Sydney, The Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe (New Haven, 2000)

Arnade, Peter, and Walter Prevenier, Honor, Vengeance, and Social Trouble: Pardon Letters in the Burgundian Low Countries (Ithaca, NY, 2015)

Astarita, Tommaso, Village Justice: Community, Family, and Popular Culture in Early Modern Italy (Baltimore, 1999)

Bailey, Joanne, and Loreen Giese, 'Marital cruelty: reconsidering lay attitudes in England, c. 1580 to 1850Link opens in a new window', The History of the Family 18 (2013), 289-305

Barahona, Renato, Sex Crimes, Honour, and the Law in Early Modern Spain: Vizcaya, 1528-1735Link opens in a new window (Toronto, 2003)

Boes, Maria R., Crime and Punishment in Early Modern Germany: courts and adjudicatory practices in Frankfurt am Main, 1562-1696Link opens in a new window (Farnham, 2013)

Carroll, Stuart, ed., Cultures of Violence: Interpersonal Violence in Historical PerspectiveLink opens in a new window (Basingstoke, 2007)

Cockburn, J.S., ‘Patterns of Violence in English Society: Homicide in Kent 1560-1985’Link opens in a new window, Past and Present 130 (1991), 70-106.

Cohen, Elizabeth S., ‘The Trials of Artemisia Gentileschi: A Rape as History’Link opens in a new window, Sixteenth Century Journal 31 (2000), 47-75.

Cohen, Thomas V., and Elizabeth S. Cohen, Words and Deeds in Renaissance Rome: Trials Before the Papal MagistratesLink opens in a new window (Toronto, 1993)

Cohen, Thomas V., Love and Death in Renaissance ItalyLink opens in a new window (Chicago, 2004)

Cohn, Samuel, ‘Sex and Violence on the Periphery: The Territorial State in Early Renaissance Florence’, in Samuel Cohn, Women in the Streets: Essays on Sex and Power in Renaissance ItalyLink opens in a new window (Baltimore, 1996), pp. 98-136.

Cronin, John Jeremiah, 'Honour, Duelling and Royal Power in Exile : a case-study of the banished Caroline Stuart Court, c.1649-c.1660Link opens in a new window', Crime, History and Societies 17/2 (2013), 47-69.

Dall'Aglio, Stefano, The Duke's Assassin: Exile and Death of Lorenzino de' MediciLink opens in a new window, trans. Donald Weinstein (New Haven, 2015)

Davies, Jonathan, Culture and Power: Tuscany and its Universities 1537-1609Link opens in a new window (Leiden, 2009), pp. 157-78.

Davis, Robert C., The War of the Fists: Popular Culture and Public Violence in Late Renaissance VeniceLink opens in a new window (New York and Oxford, 1994)

Dean, Trevor, ‘Gender and Insult in an Italian City: Bologna in the later Middle Ages’Link opens in a new window, Social History 29 (2004), 217-31.

Dean, Trevor, ‘Marriage and Mutilation: Vendetta in Late-Medieval Italy’Link opens in a new window, Past and Present 157 (1997), 3-36.

Dean, Trevor, and K.J.P. Lowe, eds, Crime, Society and the Law in Renaissance ItalyLink opens in a new window (Cambridge, 1994)

Dean, Trevor, and K.J.P. Lowe (eds), Murder in Renaissance ItalyLink opens in a new window (Cambridge, 2017)

Dean, Trevor, Crime in Medieval EuropeLink opens in a new window (Harlow, 2001)

Dolan, Frances, Dangerous Familiars: Representations of Domestic Crime in England, 1550-1700Link opens in a new window (Ithaca, 1994)

Eisner, Manuel, 'Long-Term Historical Trends in Violent CrimeLink opens in a new window', Crime and Justice 30 (2003), 83-142.

Ewan, Elizabeth, 'Impatient Griseldas: Women and the Perpetration of Violence in Sixteenth-Century GlasgowLink opens in a new window', Florilegium 28 (2011), 149-168.

Farr, James R., A Tale of Two Murders: Passion and Power in Seventeenth-Century France (Durham, NC, 2005)

Ferraro, Joanne M., ‘The Power to Decide: Battered Wives in Early Modern Venice’Link opens in a new window, Renaissance Quarterly 48 (1995), 492-512.

Ferraro, Joanne M., Marriage Wars in Late Renaissance VeniceLink opens in a new window (New York, 2002)

Finch, Andrew, ‘The Nature of Violence in the Middle Ages: An Alternative Perspective’Link opens in a new window, Historical Research 70 (1997), 249-68.

Finch, Andrew, ‘Women and Violence in the Later Middle Ages: the Evidence of the Officiality of Cerisy’, Continuity and Change 7 (1992), 23-45.

Fletcher, Anthony, Gender, Sex and Subordination in England 1500-1800Link opens in a new window (New Haven, 1995) [Chapter 10]

Foyster, E., ‘A Laughing Matter? Marital Discord and Gender Control in Seventeenth-Century England’, Rural History 4 (1993), 5-21.

Foyster, E., ‘Male Honour, Social Control, and Wife Beating in Late Stuart England’Link opens in a new window, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 6th ser., 6 (1996)

Frevert, Ute, ‘The Taming of the Noble Ruffian: Male Violence and Dueling in Early Modern and Modern Germany’, in Pieter Spierenburg, ed., Men and Violence: Gender, Honor, and Rituals in Modern Europe and AmericaLink opens in a new window (Columbus, OH, 1998), pp. 37-63.

Gaskill, Malcolm, ‘Reporting Murder: Fiction in the Archives in Early Modern EnglandLink opens in a new window’, Social History 23 (1998), 1-30.

Gaskill, Malcolm, Crime and Mentalities in Early Modern EnglandLink opens in a new window (Cambridge, 2000)

Gowing, Laura, ‘Secret Births and Infanticide in Seventeenth-Century England’Link opens in a new window, Past and Present 156 (1997), 88-115.

Gowing, Laura, Domestic Dangers: Women, Words, and Sex in Early Modern LondonLink opens in a new window (Oxford, 1996)

Greenfield, Anne, (ed.), Interpreting Sexual Violence, 1660-1800Link opens in a new window (London, 2013)

Greenshields, Malcolm, An Economy of Violence in Early Modern France: Crime and Justice in the Haute Auvergne, 1587-1664Link opens in a new window (University Park, 1994)

Harrison, Dick, 'Murder and Execution within the Political Sphere in Fifteenth Century ScandinaviaLink opens in a new window', Scandia 63/2 (1997), 259-79.

Heijden, Manon van der, ‘Women as Victims of Sexual and Domestic Violence in Seventeenth-Century Holland: Criminal Cases of Rape, Incest, and Maltreatment in Rotterdam and Delft’Link opens in a new window, Journal of Social History 33 (2000), 623-44.

Hughes, Steven C., 'Soldiers and Gentlemen: The Rise of the Duel in Renaissance ItalyLink opens in a new window', Journal of Medieval Military History 5 (2007), 99–152.

Hurl-Eamon, Jennine, Gender and Petty Violence in London, 1680-1720 (Columbus, OH, 2005)

Ingram, Martin, ‘Child Sexual Abuse in Early Modern England’ in M.J. Braddick and J. Walter, eds, Negotiating Power in Early Modern Society: Order, Hierarchy and Subordination in Britain and IrelandLink opens in a new window (Cambridge, 2001), pp. 63-84, 257-62.

Ingram, Martin, ‘Ridings, Rough Music and “the Reform of Popular Culture” in Early Modern England’Link opens in a new window, Past and Present 105 (1984)

Ingram, Martin, Church Courts, Sex and Marriage in England, 1570-1640Link opens in a new window (Cambridge, 1987)

Jackson, Mark, ed., Infanticide: Historical Perspectives on Child Murder and Concealment, 1550-2000Link opens in a new window (Aldershot, 2002)

Jaquet, Daniel, Karin Verelst and Timothy Dawson, eds, Late Medieval and Early Modern Fight Books: Transmission and Tradition of Martial Arts in Europe (14th-17th Centuries) (Leiden, 2016)

Kane, Brendan, The Politics and Culture of Honour in Britain and Ireland, 1541-1641Link opens in a new window (Cambridge, 2014)

Karras, Ruth Mazo, From Boys to Men: Formations of Masculinity in Late Medieval EuropeLink opens in a new window (Philadelphia, 2003)

Kermode, Jenny, and Garthine Walker, eds, Women, Crime and the Courts in Early Modern EnglandLink opens in a new window (London, 1994)

Kesselring, K. J., 'Bodies of Evidence: Sex and Murder (or Gender and Homicide) in Early Modern England, c.1500–1680Link opens in a new window', Gender & History 27 (2015), 245-62

Kiernan, V.G., The Duel in European History: Honour and the Reign of AristocracyLink opens in a new window (Oxford, 1988)

Kilday, Anne-Marie, A History of Infanticide in Britain c. 1600 to the PresentLink opens in a new window (Basingstoke, 2013)

King, Emily L., Civil Vengeance : Literature, Culture, and Early Modern RevengeLink opens in a new window (Cornell, 2019)

Kollmann, Nancy Shields, By Honor Bound: State and Society in Early Modern RussiaLink opens in a new window (Ithaca, 1999)

Laitinen, Rtta, 'Nighttime Street Fighting and the Meaning of Place: A Homicide in a Seventeenth-Century Swedish Provincial Town', Journal of Urban History 33 (2007), 602-619.

Lidman, Satu, 'Violence or justice? Gender-specific structures and strategies in early modern EuropeLink opens in a new window', The History of the Family 18 (2013), 238-60.

Loetz, Francisca, A New Approach to the History of Violence: "sexual assault" and "sexual abuse" in Europe, 1500-1850, trans. Rosemary Selle (Leiden, 2015)

MacMillan, Ken, (ed.), Stories of True Crime in Tudor and Stuart England (London, 2015)

McMahon, Richard, Joachim Eibach and Randolph Roth, 'Making sense of violence ? Reflections on the history of interpersonal violence in EuropeLink opens in a new window', Crime, History and Societies 17/2 (2013), 5-26.

Manning, Roger B., Swordsmen: the Martial Ethos in the Three KingdomsLink opens in a new window (New York, 2003)

Mantecón, Tomás A., 'The Patterns of Violence in Early Modern SpainLink opens in a new window', trans. Edward Behrend‐Martínez, Journal of The Historical Society 7 (2007), 229-264.

Muchembled, Robert, La Violence au Village: Sociabilité et comportements populaires en Artois du XVe au XVIIe siècleLink opens in a new window (Turnhout, 1989)

Muravyeva, Marianna (ed.), Domestic Disturbances, Patriarchal Values: Violence, Family and Sexuality in Early Modern Europe, 1600-1900 (Abingdon, 2016)

Muravyeva, Marianna, '"A king in his own household": domestic discipline and family violence in early modern Europe reconsideredLink opens in a new window', The History of the Family 18 (2103), 227-37

Muravyeva, Marianna, '"Till Death Us Do Part": spousal homicide in early modern RussiaLink opens in a new window', The History of the Family 18 (2013), 306-30

Naphy, William, Sex Crimes From Renaissance to EnlightenmentLink opens in a new window (Stroud, 2002)

Peltonen, Markku, The Duel in Early Modern England: Civility, Politeness and HonourLink opens in a new window (Cambridge, 2003)

Perry, Mary Elizabeth, Crime and Society in Early Modern SevilleLink opens in a new window (Hanover, NH, 1980)

Perry, Mary Elizabeth, Gender and Disorder in Early Modern SevilleLink opens in a new window (Princeton, NJ, 1990)

Povolo, Claudio, 'Liturgies of Violence: Social Control and Power Relationships in the Republic of Venice between the 16th and 18th Centuries', in Eric R. Dursteler (ed.), A Companion to Venetian History 1400-1797 (Leiden, 2013), pp. 513-42. Brill e-book

Reinhardt, Steven G., Violence and Honor in Prerevolutionary Périgord (Woodbridge, 2018)

Roberts, Benjamin B., Sex and Drugs Before Rock 'n' Roll: Youth Culture and Masculinity During Holland's Golden Age (Amsterdam, 2014)

Roper, Lyndal, ‘Will and Honour: Sex, Words and Power in Criminal Trials’, Radical History Review 43 (1989), 45-71.

Rose, Colin, 'Plague and Violence in Early Modern ItalyLink opens in a new window', Renaissance Quarterly 71/3 (2018), 1000–1035.

Rose, Colin, '“To be remedied of any vendetta” : Petitions and the Avoidance of Violence in early modern ParmaLink opens in a new window', Crime, History and Socieities 16/2 (2012), 5-27.

Rose, Colin, A Renaissance of Violence: Homicide in Early Modern Italy (Cambridge, 2019)

Rublack, Ulinka, The Crimes of Women in Early Modern GermanyLink opens in a new window (Oxford, 2001)

Rudolph, J., ‘Rape and Resistance: Women and Consent in Seventeenth-Century English Legal and Political Thought’Link opens in a new window, Journal of British Studies 39 (2000), 157-184.

Ruff, Julius R., Violence in Early Modern Europe, 1500-1800Link opens in a new window (Cambridge, 2001)

Ruggiero, Guido, The Boundaries of Eros: Sex Crime and Sexuality in Renaissance VeniceLink opens in a new window (New York, 1985)

Ruggiero, Guido, Violence in Early Renaissance VeniceLink opens in a new window (New Brunswick, 1980)

Schwerhoff, Gerd, 'Criminalized Violence and the Process of Civilization: A ReappraisalLink opens in a new window', Crime, History & Societies 6/2 (2002), 103-126.

Schwerhoff, Gerd, 'Early Modern Violence and the Honour Code : From Social Integration to Social Distinction?Link opens in a new window', Crime, History and Societies 17/2 (2013), 27-46.

Sharpe, J.A., and Lawrence Stone, ‘Debate: The History of Violence in England, Some Observations’Link opens in a new window, Past and Present 108 (1985), 206-24.

Sharpe, J.A., Crime in Early Modern England, 1550-1750Link opens in a new window, 2nd ed. (London, 1999)

Sharpe, J.A., Crime in Seventeenth-Century England: A County StudyLink opens in a new window (Cambridge, 1983)

Sharpe, J.A. , ‘Domestic Homicide in Early Modern England’Link opens in a new window, Historical Journal 24 (1981), 29-48.

Sharpe, J. A., and J.R. Dickinson, 'Revisiting the "Violence We Have Lost": Homicide in Seventeenth-Century CheshireLink opens in a new window', The English Historical Review 131 (2016), 293–323.

Shepard, Alexandra, Meanings of Manhood in Early Modern EnglandLink opens in a new window (Oxford, 2003) [Chapter 5: "The violence of manhood".Link opens in a new window]

Spierenburg, Pieter, ‘Knife Fighting and Popular Codes of Honor in Early Modern Amsterdam’, in Pieter Spierenburg, ed., Men and Violence: Gender, Honor, and Rituals in Modern Europe and AmericaLink opens in a new window (Columbus, OH, 1998), pp. 103-27.

Stone, Lawrence, ‘Interpersonal Violence in English Society, 1300-1980’Link opens in a new window, Past and Present 101 (1983), 22-33.

Taylor, Scott K., Honor and Violence in Golden Age SpainLink opens in a new window (New Haven, 2008)

Taylor, Scott K., 'Women, Honor, and Violence in a Castilian Town, 1600-1650', The Sixteenth Century JournalLink opens in a new window 35/4 (2004), 1079-1100.

Toivo, Raisa Maria, 'Violence between parents and children: courts of law in early modern FinlandLink opens in a new window', The History of the Family 18 (2013), 331-48

Toulalan, Sarah, '"Is He a Licentious Lewd Sort of a Person?": Constructing the Child Rapist in Early Modern England'Link opens in a new window, Journal of the History of Sexuality 23 (2014), 21-52.

van der Heijden, Manon, 'Women, Violence and Urban Justice in Holland c. 1600-1838Link opens in a new window', Crime, History and Societies 17/2 (2013), 71-100.

Vigarello, Georges, A History of Rape: Sexual Violence in France from the 16th to the 20th CenturyLink opens in a new window, trans. Jean Birell (Cambridge, 2001)

Walker, Garthine, Crime, Gender and the Social Order in Early Modern EnglandLink opens in a new window (Cambridge, 2003).

Weinstein, Donald, The Captain’s Concubine: Love, Honor, and Violence in Renaissance TuscanyLink opens in a new window (Baltimore, 2000)