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A.L. Beier – Masterless Men, The Vagrancy Problem in England 1560-1640
[Methuen 1985]
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Vagrancy in the Tudor and early Stuart period was regarded by contemprary authorities as one of the most serious social problems thay had to face, and it figured prominently in the many Poor Laws passed by Parliament.
This book examines the nature of vagrancy, why it was felt to be such a threat to the stability of the country and the steps taken to overcome the problem. Based on detailed research into the judicial records of the time, particularly justices' examinations of 'masterless men', it scrutinises many aspects of vagrants' lives: their origins; patterns of movement; family and occupational patterns and the professional criminals found among them. A particularly fascinating aspect of the book is the author's extensive use of real-life incidents taken from the evidence of vagrants.
The increasing concern of the authorities to curb the growth of itenerancy led to the introduction of new measures, not least of which was the establishment of bridewells. [The author] examines the success or otherwise of these various attempts and society's changing attitude to the poor. In conclusion, he sets the problem of vagrancy in its historical context and discusses how far the government was successful in combating the problem of the poor.
Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- PART ONE: THE ORIGINS OF VAGRANCY
- Chapter 1 The New Poverty
- The de-sanctification of the poor
- A vagrant underworld
- The magisterial position
- Conclusions
- Chapter 2 The Growth of Vagrancy
- The numbers issue
- Poverty: dimensions and structures
- Population growth and dispossession, 1500-1650
- Wage-labour: a way out?
- Conclusions
- Chapter 3 Migrants and Vagrants
- The rise of subsistence migration
- The geography of vagrancy
- Explanations
- 'London cannot relieve England'
- Provincial towns
- Conclusions
- PART TWO: THE STRUCTURE OF VAGRANCY
- Chapter 4 A Promiscuous Generation
- Fragmented families
- Alternative societies
- Conclusions
- Chapter 5 On the Road
- The road goes on
- Objectives
- Haunts and habitats
- Seasonal shifts
- Getting around
- Hospitality
- Conclusions
- Chapter 6 Dangerous Trades
- The mutable world of work
- Traders and craftsmen
- Military men
- Entertainers
- Itinerant healers
- Errant clerks
- Wandering wizards
- Conclusions
- PART THREE: VAGRANTS, SOCIETY AND THE STATE
- Chapter 7 The Seminary of Vagabondage
- The beggar's burden
- Licensed and illicit gains
- The pitfalls of charity
- Conclusions
- Chapter 8 The Underworld Uncovered
- Reality or illusion?
- Crime in the underworld: an overview
- Professional crime
- Crimes against persons
- Crimes against the state
- Conclusions
- Chapter 9 State policy: from Utopia to the penal colony
- The enforcement issue
- Modest proposals
- Inventions of absolutism
- Retribution
- Bridewell: a proto-penal institution that failed
- Conclusions
- Conclusions
- Notes
- Appendix: Tables
- Index
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