ISBN: | 0-511-00875-9 electronic bk. 978-0-511-00875-7 electronic bk. 978-1-139-05189-7 electronic bk. 1-139-05189-X electronic bk. |
Mehr zum Titel: | Mentalities from crime -- The social meaning of witchcraft, 1560-1680 -- Witches in society and culture, 1680-1750 -- The problem of coiners and the law -- Towards a solution? Coining state and people -- Crimes of blood and their representation -- Murder: police, prosecution and proof -- A transition from belief to certainty? |
Inhalt: | Mentalities from crime -- The social meaning of witchcraft, 1560-1680 -- Witches in society and culture, 1680-1750 -- The problem of coiners and the law -- Towards a solution? Coining state and people -- Crimes of blood and their representation -- Murder: police, prosecution and proof -- A transition from belief to certainty? "Crime and Mentalities in Early Modern England attempts to reach further than most conventional treatments of the subject, to explore the cultural contexts of law-breaking and criminal prosecution, and to recover their hidden social meanings." "Conversely, the book exploits crime to shed light on the long-term development of English mentalities in general. To this end, three serious crimes - witchcraft, coining (counterfeiting and coin-clipping) and murder - are examined in detail, using a wide range of primary sources, revealing insights into how religious reform, state formation, secularisation, and social and cultural change (for example, the spread of literacy and the availability of print) may have transformed the thinking and outlook of most ordinary people between 1550 and 1750"--Jacket |
