Outlaws in Medieval and Early Modern England

With some notable exceptions the subject of outlawry in medieval and early modern English history has attracted relatively little scholarly attention. This volume helps to address this significant gap in scholarship, and encourage further study of the subject, by presenting a series of innovative essays, based on original research and covering an extensive period of time.The major theme addressed by this volume is the variety and shifting nature of the definition of outlaws during the medieval period. From the outset it raises important and provocative questions regarding the social function of outlawry and attitudes and responses to it. At different times in this period this evidently involved the interests of both Church and State. From differing perspectives, contributions to the volume address the relationship between outlaws and the State, including political causes and responses to outlawry as well as the political environment in which it occurred. This sheds significant light on the strengths and limitations of the developing State in England. Some contributions explicitly link the development of outlawry to the weakness of the State, which at times encouraged governmental authorities to exploit bands of outlaws or pirates, particularly during war time. The essays also consider the essential link between outlawry and the law, in particular how outlaws and brigands were defined, regarded, and dealt with by the legal process. This process involved ecclesiastical as well as secular authorities, which operated together or separately to define and discipline outlaws.The range of topics examined in individual contributions covers a wide range of key themes and issues, including governmental and constitutional history, political resistance and rebellion, State and Church responses to opposition and criminality, warfare, and social and economic continuity and change, within a national and regional context. In terms of its breadth and the compelling interest in the groups and personalities discussed, the volume will appeal to a wide audience of social, legal and cultural historians.