Murder in Shakespeare's EnglandFascination with murder is not a modern phenomenon. People in the past were just as interested in extreme violence and homicide as people nowadays. In seventeenth-century England all excessive and gratuitous violence was condemned and prosecuted, with murderers being categorized as particularly wicked. The courtrooms where murderers were tried were packed and crowds attended their execution. Ballads about notorious cases and prints reflected the huge interest such cases generated. Yet, in a world with no police and little forensic expertise, identification, pursuit and prosecution presented many difficulties. Murder in Shakespeare's England looks at a series of murder cases, ranging from brawls to infanticide, and including serial and sex killings, to paint a picture of how murder was committed, discovered and punished in Stuart England. |
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abuse accused actions alehouse Anne assault Assi beat believed Bloody bodily evidence body Cambridge University Press century child claimed clearly CLRO conflict conviction corpse court credibility crime criminal Cynthia Herrup dangerous death defendant depositions described Despite domestic violence Early Modern England Elizabeth Elizabeth Chadwick fear female fight gender guilty History homicide household husband Illegitimacy illicit infant infanticide innocence Jane John jury justice killed killers London Sessions male violence malice manslaughter Margarett Mark Jackson marriage Mary masculinity master Michael Clark midwife mistress mother murder Narrative neighbours Old Bailey pamphlet passive perceived Peter Lake Peter Laslett petty treason Pleading the Belly poison popular pregnancy presented Proceedings prosecuted punishment Queens Commissions recorded role seen seldom servants Seventeenth-Century England sexual social soldiers status stories Susanna suspected tale testimony threat told treason trial True Relation Tyburn unmarried victim wicked wickedness wife William witchcraft witnesses wives woman women Yorkshire