Journal of Women's History

^ETNG STIRRED TO MUCH UNQUIETNESS": Violence and Domestic Violence in Early Modern England* Susan Dwyer Amussen Domestic violence has long been a problem not just for activist feminists , but also for academic ones. Usually directed by men against women, domestic violence reveals the nature of male power in a family and how it is used to enforce the subordination of women and children. It therefore provides a window on the nature of that subordination and on the workings of patriarchy. Although most scholarly work on the subject has focused on contemporary society, many writers have included historical or cross-cultural discussions. Such references suggest the importance of cultural context in explaining family violence, and often assume that there has been a gradual decline in both the incidence and acceptance of domestic violence over time.1 Many historians have made passing reference to domestic violence, but only recently have extended historical treatments of the subject appeared.2 Yet the historical study of domestic violence is important not just for our understanding of history, but for our understanding of the present, as it helps us distinguish what is particular about family violence in contemporary society. England in the early modern period (c. 1550-c. 1750) provides a useful focus for the historical investigation of domestic violence. Violence within the family was a subject of public debate during the period, from a variety of perspectives, and there is adequate documentation for a relatively full discussion of the issues relating to such violence. Furthermore, many sociologists and psychologists cite the English legal tradition of the later eighteenth century, just after this period, when discussing domestic violence : most cite Blackstone and the "rule of thumb" (which gave husbands the right to beat their wives with a stick no thicker than a thumb).3 There are several sources of information on domestic violence in the early modern period. First is the pamphlet and didactic literature produced in growing quantities during the period. Records of the Assize courts—where most murder cases were heard—can help us to understand those cases of domestic violence which ended in the death of a child, © 1994 Journal of Women's History, Vol. 6 No. 2 (Summer)__________________ This paper was originally delivered at the Eighth Berkshire Conference on the History of Women in June 1990 at Vassar College; it was also given to the seminar on 'Transgression in Literature" at Miami University, as well as at seminars at the University of Bristol, Oxford University, and the Institute of Historical Research in London. I am grateful to Frances Dolan, Suzanne Gibson, Barbara Harris, James Henrétta, Cynthia Herrup, Margaret Hunt, David Underdown, and all others at those sessions for their comments and suggestions. 1994 Susan Dwyer Amussen 71 husband, or wife. Some of these cases were also discussed in pamphlets and plays. Finally, and perhaps most important, applications for separation in the Church Courts often provide details of abuse and thus illuminate the nature of domestic power. Although not as systematic as the rich records provided by social service agencies for more recent periods, this testimony reveals much about attitudes to it, and also the responses of neighbors, family, and friends. This essay will focus on responses to domestic violence in the context of attitudes to violence more generally: how do people think about violence , inside and outside the family? When do people think it is appropriate or legitimate? Are there implicit rules which affect the use of violence? And what do people do when confronted with violence in a family? Such an investigation, which links normative and lived dimensions of belief systems, provides a broad framework within which domestic violence can be understood. Family violence was familiar in the early modern period, a regular and sometimes brutal manifestation of patriarchal power.4 This power was not unbridled, however, and the ideological and practical limits on its use protected some of its victims and played an important role in legitimizing patriarchy itself. As the head of the household, a husband was expected to correct and guide his wife. Yet there was considerable debate about what that might mean. T.E., the seventeenth-century editor of The Lawes Resolution of Women's...