Carnal Knowledge

Abstract

How was the law used to control sex in Tudor England? What were the differences between secular and religious practice? This major study reveals that - contrary to what historians have often supposed - in pre-Reformation England both ecclesiastical and secular (especially urban) courts were already highly active in regulating sex. They not only enforced clerical celibacy and sought to combat prostitution but also restrained the pre- and extramarital sexual activities of laypeople more generally. Initially destabilising, the religious and institutional changes of 1530–60 eventually led to important new developments that tightened the regime further. There were striking innovations in the use of shaming punishments in provincial towns and experiments in the practice of public penance in the church courts, while Bridewell transformed the situation in London. Allowing the clergy to marry was a milestone of a different sort. Together these changes contributed to a marked shift in the moral climate by 1600.

The Margins of Late Medieval London, 1430-1540

“…These have been the subject of extensive study by Gervase Rosser, Martha Carlin and Katherine French and so will not be re-examined here. 62 In using the term 'extramural', my field of study is confined to the neighbourhoods which immediately surrounded the city walls. It is this area that forms the focus of this book, although such neighbourhoods were intimately connected to London's wider region, which will form a key part of discussion in Chapter Three.…”

“…The population had been perhaps as high as 100,000 before the Black Death, but the city experienced terrible mortality in the plague of 1348-50 and smaller outbreaks which recurred into the fifteenth century. 63 Neighbourhoods outside the city's western and eastern walls were remodelled by plague as vast burial sites were hastily established. Soon after, religious houses were xxviii The Margins of Late Medieval London, 1430-1540 built alongside them to pray for the city's dead, adding to London's already numerous hospitals, friaries and priories.…”

“…Richard Bray, fuller, rented two gardens, and the widow of John Thorp, scrivener, paid 2s 6d for her garden for a year. 62 John Roke, butcher, rented a pasture from the hospital called 'Wodelane' at Whitechapel. 63 In a couple of cases, it is clear that the gardens were let by those who lived elsewhere in the city: Roke's will shows that he was resident in St Botolph Aldgate, and another garden tenant is named as 'Baker bocher in Eschepe [Eastcheap]'.…”

Women, Marriage, Property and Law: Contextualizing <i>The Witch of Edmonton</i>

“…Had a couple married each other by way of a de praesenti (present tense) spousal, as Winnifred and Frank appear to have done, everyone agreed that their union was legal, but in the longer term they would have to confirm their union in a church ceremony to gain community acceptance. 18 So-called 'irregular' marriages were feasible, but they remained just that: irregular, and on stage usually ended in tragedy. 19 In the wake of the Reformation, Protestant reformers called for the abolition of church courts and although these courts survived, their standing in the community suffered a blow.…”

“…23 In the opening scene of the play Frank refers in passing to 'The misery of beggary and want, / Two devils that are occasions to enforce / A shameful end' (1.1. [18][19][20]. The misery of want, his own and his father's, arguably leads to his shameful end, and the misery of beggary sets Mother Sawyer down the path to hers.…”