Crime and mentalities in early modern England

Adopting the “history of mentalities” approach and the “long durée,” Gaskill, who characterizes his work both as a bridge between social and intellectual history and as a history from “within,” examines the cultural contexts of three felonies, witchcraft, counterfeiting and coin clipping (removing the edges of coins for their value in gold, silver, etc.), and murder. Four themes are given special attention: the reformation of religion and public conduct; state formation and administrative innovation; the secularization of daily life; and changes in social relationships and cultural identities. Two chapters are devoted to the examination of each crime. Building on the works of Thomas, Macfarlane, Briggs and others, Gaskill examines traditional stereotypes of witchcraft and attempts to explain the pattern of witchcraft prosecutions.1 He distinguishes between the stereotype of the witch and those actually prosecuted, arguing that prosecution often resulted in countersuits that suggest civil rather than criminal concerns. Accusations were often the product of interpersonal conoict that could not be settled by other means rather than the product of crazes “sucking in scapegoats.” Disputes were elevated to an imaginary plane in which witch and accuser inhabited the same magical universe. Witchcraft thus must be viewed in the context of competition for power and resources, and criminality and the resolution of disputes, within a world of shared beliefs governed by supernatural forces. Gaskill’s treatment of the post-1680 period, when few prosecutions occurred, notes the persistence of witch beliefs among the less educated and the conservative nature of the law books. Gaskill also adds much to our knowledge of the understudied crimes of counterfeiting and clipping coins. He explains the shortcomings of the law and the ambivalent, sometimes conoicting, attitudes of the substantial population that did not consider these felonies to be crimes. Although legally treason, coining and clipping lacked the moral and dramatic elements associated with treason and appeared to many as victimless crimes. Widespread indifference is shown to be related to a continuing coin shortage, the absence of an adequate coinage for small transactions, and the belief that no harm occurred as long as clipped coins continued to circulate. Given the accusatory justice system, evidence of these crimes was difacult to obtain. Although Privy Council and Mint, dismayed by ineffectiveness of prosecution, increasingly employed informers, the crime continued largely unabated. Pre-trial proceedings however, focused on evidence and often affected trial outcomes. Enforcement remained haphazard because juries frequently 120 | BARBARA SHAPIRO