When Gossips Meet: Women, Family, and Neighbourhood in Early Modern England

by Bernard Capp

Overview

This book explores how women of the poorer and middling sorts in early modern England sought to make the best of their lives in a society that excluded or marginalized them in almost every sphere. It argues that networks of close friends ('gossips') provided invaluable moral and practical support, helping them to shape their own lives and to play an active role in the affairs of the local community.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199255986
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/27/2003
Series:	Oxford Studies in Social History
Pages:	408
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 5.70(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

University of Warwick

Table of Contents

1. Introduction2. Patriarchy and the World of Gossips3. Families and Gossips: The Experience of Marriage4. Maidservants and the Politics of the Household5. Women and Neighbours: Female Disputes6. Women and Neighbours: Disputes with Men7. Women as Citizens: Public and Political Life8. Recreation, Religion, and Female Culture9. ConclusionBibliography of Unpublished SourcesIndex

Editorial Reviews

"Capp brings to the subject his wide knowledge of the political, social and religious history of the Interregnum ... The whole is based on the most meticulous scholarship in a very wide range of printed and manuscript sources."—Times Literary Supplement

"Perhaps the most fascinating, readable book on gender and social history by a historian this year."—Studies in English Literature 1500-1900

From the Publisher