Crime, Law and Popular Culture in Europe, 1500-1900 (Paperback)

This book illuminates how experiences of, and attitudes to, crime and the law corresponded or differed in varying locations and contexts in early modern and modern Europe. In doing so, it also aids the reconstruction and interpretation of the legal cultures of different jurisdictions through the particular perspectives offered by the operation of the courts and the criminal law. A key theme throughout the book is the nature of the relationship between ordinary people and the official legal systems. How was crime understood and dealt with by ordinary people and to what degree did they resort to or reject the official law and criminal justice system as a means of dealing with different forms of criminal activity? And how, in turn, did the courts and the authorities more generally respond to and interpret the cases which were brought before them? The issues addressed in this book include the participation of ordinary people as prosecutors, witnesses, and jurors in the courts; the exercise