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The Cultural Significance of Interpersonal Violence, with special reference to Seventeenth-Century Worcestershire Claire Stone A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History University of Warwick, Department of History September 2000 Contents List of Tables iii Acknowledgements iv Author 's Declaration v Abstract vi List ofAbbreviaions vii Introduction 1 1 Discourses of Power and Violence 41 2 Physiologies of Violence 84 3 Prosecuting Violence 122 4 Violence at Home 168 5 The Conduct and Codes of Neighbourly Violence 207 6 Processes of Conflict and Resolution 249 Conclusion 270 Bibliography 288 11 Tables 1 Socio-occupational status of those bound over to keep the peace, 1601-1669 151 2 Socio-occupational status of those swearing the peace, 160 1-1669 151 3 Occupations of those swearing the peace and those bound over, 1601-1669 154 4 Sex of those bound over, 1601-1669 156 5 Sex of those swearing the peace, 1601-1669 156 6 Sex of those swearing the peace and of those bound over, 1601-1669 157 7 Occupations of those bound over to keep the peace and of those indicted for assault, 1601-1669 161 8 Occupations of those indicted for assault by decade, 1601-1669 162 9 Sex of those indicted for assault, 1601-1669 163 111 Acknowledgements This thesis was made possible by the financial support given to me during the first two years of the degree by the University of Warwick and, in the third year, by the Arts and Humanities Research Board. I am grateful to the staff at the institutions where I have researched for their advice and help and would particularly like to thank the staff of the Worcestershire County Record Office and Mr Richard Parker, Librarian at the University of Warwick. The hospitality extended to me by the Chance and Coopey families, Mrs Dixon and the late Mr Dixon, made researching the thesis a more enjoyable experience than it would otherwise have been. Richard Macye generously lent me his office and computer when mine failed at critical moments. I received helpful feedback on draft chapters from Eric Greene, Richard Dixon, Sarah Larkins and Michael Roberts. Their efforts are much appreciated. My thanks to Roger Stone, for carefully checking an entire draft for errors. Chloe Underwood has engaged especially closely with this project since its inception and I value the support she has given me. My supervisor Bernard Capp has been unfailingly patient and constructive during the course of this research project and I am very grateful for his guidance and criticism. My husband John Stone has contributed to the development of the ideas expressed here by giving me emotional and practical support and intellectual stimulation, for all of which and more I thank him especially. iv Author 's Declaration This thesis is my own work. It has not been submitted for a degree at another university. It does not contain any previously published material nor does it include material which has already been submitted for another degree. V Abstract The historiography of early modern violence has generally focused upon the quantification of homicide over the longue durée. However, such approaches, predicated on the assumption that violence is a transhistorical phenomenon, conceal the differences between past and present discourses. This thesis makes an original contribution to knowledge by showing the significance violence held for contemporaries. This is achieved by locating violence within a wide cultural framework. Employing a largely qualitative methodology, the thesis elucidates the relationship seventeenth-century religious, political and physiological thought had with conceptions of violence. Drawing together existing work and utilizing a variety of primary sources, the thesis demonstrates the diverse meanings invested in violence, including the significance attributed to weapons and the parts of the body targeted. Historical research into violence has sometimes been theoretically uninformed. The thesis redresses this by engaging closely with definitions of the concept 'violence', including those developed in other disciplines. It examines and rejects the (often implicit) claim that violence is intrinsically irrational. It asserts that, as a type of emotional performance, violence served an important communicative ftmction. Force was also used to meet specific material objectives. The thesis argues that seventeenth-century violence was part of a process and, accordingly, situates it in relation to preceding and succeeding events. It assesses the use of force in defining economic and social status within interpersonal relationships. The thesis explains the role played by those who intervened to stop fights. It shows how violence advertised problems in relationships and prompted peace-making efforts. The thesis contends that views of its harmfulness relative to other sanctions have changed substantially, making it anachronistic for historians to regard violence as necessarily deplorable and to interpret declining levels as an index of civilisation. vi Abbreviations Archives British Library BL Lambeth Palace Library LPL Public Record Office PRO Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Record Office SBTRO Warwickshire County Record Office Warks CR0 Worcestershire County Record Office WCRO Journals American Historical Review AIIR Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research BIHR Transactions of the Royal Historical Society TRHS Transactions of the Worcestershire Archaeological Society TWAS Books Bund, J. W. & Page, W. (eds.), The Victoria History of the County of Worcester, 4 vols (London 1906; repr. London, 1971) VCH Bund, J. W. (ed.), England and Wales, Court of Quarter Sessions (Worcestershire), Calendar of the Quarter Sessions Papers 1591-1643, vol. 1 (Worcester, 1900) Bund, Calendar Note The date has been taken to start on January 1St. Spelling and punctuation are as in original except that '&' has been replaced by 'and'; 'ye', 'ys' and 'yt' have been modernised, as has the usage of 'u' and 'v'. vii INTRODUCTION My own role in this skirmish has hitherto been that of an academic powder-monkey, providing statistical ammunition for the heavy guns. By and large I find that role congenial and have little desire to invite injury (or sterility) by joining Sharpe in the trenches of Past and Present.' The introduction of J. S. Cockburn's important contribution to the history of interpersonal violence in England is replete with references to warfare. Why did he consider language of violence to be an apt 'way in' to this subject of academic interest? The history of interpersonal violence has generated such controversy and passionate debate because, to a greater extent than many other historical subjects, it has been regarded as tied-up with understandings of our own society. Professional historians have offered competing interpretations of violence, treating it alternatively as evidence of fundamental change and of continuity in English society since the early modern period. Despite the controversy the subject has generated, the way in which early modern people themselves conceived of violence is poorly understood. This thesis aims to develop our historical understanding of interpersonal violence by exploring the culture of seventeenth- century English violence. This project was initiated largely in response to the work of early modern historians who have engaged with the issue of physical violence and this introduction will accordingly commence with a discussion of the historiography. It will outline approaches taken by historians studying interpersonal violence, paying particular attention to the categories of analysis which have been employed. The following paragraphs will introduce alternative ways of conceptualising violence and explain the impact of certain ideas about violence, 'J. S. Cockburn, 'Patterns of violence in English society: homicide in Kent 1560-1985', Past and Present, 130 (1991), p. 70. 1 some of which have been developed in other disciplines, on the approach taken in the thesis. The introduction will finally delineate the scope of the study, in terms of its chronology, geography and the thematic content of the chapters. fflSTO1UOGRAPHY The historiography of early modern violence has been dominated by the question: was society in the past more violent than it is today? Based on the premiss that violence is essentially 'continuous and independent of time' 2 this question invites another: how best can we measure today's violence and violence in the past, in order to effect a reliable comparison? Homicide has generally been regarded as the least worst index by which to measure changing levels of violence. In England homicide has always been treated as a serious criminal offence and those suspected of committing it have been more likely to be brought to judgement than those suspected of less heinous crimes of violence. 3 The extant court records for homicide are, therefore, likely to bear a closer resemblance to the actual number of incidents committed than are the records for other types of violence. That is to say, the 'dark figure' of unknown crime is likely to be smaller for homicide than for any other violent offence. Detected homicides have additionally been recorded in coroners' records, which provide another source for establishing homicide rates. 4 To measure violence quantitatively, as well as 2 E Osterberg, 'Criminality, social control and the early modem state: evidence and interpretations in Scandinavian historiography', Social Science History, 16 (1992), p. 80. J. A. Sharpe, 'Domestic homicide in early modem England', Historical Journal, 24 (1981), p. 33; Sharpe, 'The history of violence in England: some observations', Past and Present, 108 (1985), p.