What do patterns of church court litigation tell us about social and cultural relationships in Hampshire between c1550 and c1610?

Abstract

This thesis is both a qualitative and quantitative study of the patterns of litigation in matrimonial and defamation cases presented from three administrative divisions of Hampshire to the Winchester consistory court between c1550 and c1610. An explanatory overview and background to early modern law and the role and process of the court including the historiography informs and underpins this work. The following chapters concentrate on cases coming from Basingstoke, the Isle of Wight and Fawley (including Winchester and Southampton) Divisions setting cases firmly in the social and cultural landscape of their time. Family and community relationships have been researched in the diverse environments of scattered rural parishes, an island and urban settlements and occupational data has been analysed which helps uncover the piecemeal emergence of the middling sort. Lastly, a short chapter focusses on a selection of the more unusual cases brought to the court from areas outside the three main divisions; emphasising the diversity of causes over which spiritual jurisdiction was given.

By using a comparative approach the conclusions reached in the final chapter reiterate the crucial importance of reputation within communities whether urban or rural, and how the increase in women’s appearances at the court (as plaintiffs, defendants and witnesses) underlined their strides in self-empowerment and reluctance to be constrained by patriarchy. Also highlighted is the inequality of status which precluded the poorest people from lodging cases leaving barely solvent workers and the aspiring middling sort to pursue the redress of wrongs. This thesis concludes that it is too simplistic to treat a defined area, such as a diocese or county as one homogenous entity; rather historical research must dig deeper to understand the nuances of how cultural and societal changes affected English provincial communities.

Date of Award	7 Apr 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Winchester
Supervisor	Simon Sandall (Supervisor) & Mark Allen (Supervisor)