Punishment, Crime, and the Courts in Early Modern England, c. 1550-1850

3 credits · Graduate

This course explores the nature and development of the English criminal justice system during the period in which it first began to be exported to other areas, and at home had to deal with the turmoil wrought by reformation, war, and industrialization. This course will examine the uses of law – did it act in the interests of particular people or groups, and if so, how? Historians have argued that the law had both coercive and symbolic purposes – that it served to enforce and legitimize social and economic structures. We will examine these arguments and their implications. Classes will progress thematically rather than chronologically; some will be devoted to a particular type of punishment, some to the different groups of people involved in the legal process, and others to historical debates. FORMATS: Seminar