Liberty Against the Law

by Hill, Christopher

• ISBN13: 9780140240337
• ISBN10: 0140240330
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-02-01
• Publisher: Penguin Group USA

Summary

In the plays and popular folklore of the 17th and 18th centuries are many expressions of liberty against the law. Popular historian Christopher Hill examines 17th-century society and its laws. Hill considers how the peasantry was affected by enclosures, the loss of many traditional rights, and draconian punishments for minor transgressions.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
From A Jovial Crew (1641) to The Beggar's Opera (1728)	p. 3
Customary Liberties and Legal Rights	p. 19
Lawlessness
Vagabonds	p. 47
The Poor and Wage Labour	p. 57
Robin Hood	p. 71
Robin Hood, Possessive Individualism and the Norman Yoke	p. 83
Forests and Venison, Game Laws and Poachers	p. 91
Smugglers	p. 110
Pirates	p. 114
Highwaymen	p. 123
'Gypsy Liberty'	p. 131
Imperial Problems
'Going Native': 'The Noble Savage'	p. 145
Impressment and Empire	p. 162
Christian Liberty
The Ambiguities of Protestantism	p. 179
Church Courts and Fees	p. 193
Marriage and Parish Registers	p. 201
The Mosaic Law and the Priesthood of All Believers	p. 206
Antinomianism	p. 214
Society, Law and Liberty
History and the Law	p. 229
Liberty and Equality: Who are the People?	p. 242
Whose law? and whose liberty?	p. 252
'Away with Lawyers!'	p. 265
Aftermath
Gerrard Winstanley: The Law of Freedom	p. 273
The Society of Friends and the Law	p. 298
Apocalypse and After	p. 306
John Clare, 1793-1864	p. 311
Some Conclusions	p. 325
Index	p. 343
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.