Crime and punishment in early modern London and the home counties is a rich area of study. Students will encounter not only the changes in the law across the period, but also the very real human stories that can be uncovered.
During the early modern period, much of England and especially London and the home counties were viewed as hotbeds of crime and vice. Threats were everywhere. Recurrent crime waves endangered the lives and property of rich and poor alike. The responses to these perceived threats, from whippings to hangings and much more, changed and shifted based on both top-down decisions and bottom-up pressure.
This course encourages you to dive into the tumultuous world of early modern England to better understand how these pressing concerns – crime and punishment – influenced life at the time, and how modern scholars have interpreted them. We will explore topics such as the investigation of murders, the hangings at Tyburn and Execution Dock, the rising threat of highway robbery, the gendered nature of some crimes and the changes in the law that captivated contemporaries and continue to fascinate us today. Crime and punishment in the early modern period have generated rich records and we will spend some time looking at primary sources.
To understand crime, we will read trial records and legal handbooks, alongside sensationalist pamphlets, and broadside ballads. Whipping, scolding, pillories, stocks, branding, and the death sentence. Crimes that range from theft to highway robbery, smuggling, and murder. All these subjects will draw you in and provide a lens that examines the past and the mentalities of the time.
This course is part of the Oxford University Summer School for Adults (OUSSA) programme.