Computer-based Analysis of Early-modern English Wills

1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 143-151
Author(s):  
Caroline Litzenberger
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
English Reformation ◽  
Analytical Methodology ◽  
Early Modern English ◽  
Lay People ◽  
Systematic Sample ◽  
Computer Based

The study of local manifestations of the English Reformation has created an interest in the beliefs of ordinary lay people, and wills are a potentially fruitful, but problematic, source of such information. This article describes the ways in which the text-based database askSam, and the spreadsheet, Quattro, were used to analyse a systematic sample of approximately 2,600 wills written between 1540 and 1580 in Gloucestershire. However, it is first necessary to discuss the problematic nature of the source, that is, the question of testator agency with regard to the wills' contents. The contents of the database and the analytical methodology employed are then discussed. Finally, the article presents a brief summary of the results of this analysis and suggests other ways in which the wills database might be used.

Erasmus or Calvin? The Politics of Book Purchase in the Early Modern English Parish

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Craig
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
English Reformation ◽  
Focus Attention ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Early Modern English

This chapter notes that the purchase of books alone misrepresents the readership and reception of continental reform in English parishes. For instance, it argues that the demands of the laity for work by Genevan reformers should be viewed alongside the concerns of parish administration as well as other purchases, such as occasional prayers. It is now evident that English Reformation was not simply an act of state as maintained by traditional accounts. New narratives focus attention on how lay reception shaped the nature of reformation, instead of quantifying reform through numbers in favour of or in resistance to the movement. Negotiation was a common practice for lay men and women, whether through the selective support of reform to suit individual interests, through the agitation for more zealous reform, or through the redefinition of orthodoxy in puritan communities.

Discovering Architecture

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Walker
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Ancient World ◽  
Ancient Athens ◽  
Early Modern English ◽  
Degree Of Confidence ◽  
Architectural Principles ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Architectural Knowledge

This chapter deals with the genesis of architectural knowledge. In particular, it explores those rare moments when early modern English authors wrote about newly discovered examples of ancient architecture, the most important forms of architectural knowledge that existed. I will discuss three such accounts (all published in the Philosophical Transactions) of Roman York, Palmyra, and ancient Athens. These three texts share a preoccupation with truth and accuracy, as befitted the task of communicating highly sought-after architectural knowledge. They also demonstrate the degree of confidence of English writers in this period, not only in how they interpreted ancient architecture, but also in how they sought to criticize previous European authors on the subject. But most importantly, these texts reveal the extent of English intellectuals’ knowledge of the architectural principles of the ancient world and how that knowledge was in a state of flux.

Lying in Early Modern English Culture

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Hadfield
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
Identity Politics ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Thomas More ◽  
Early Modern English ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Constant Feature ◽  
The Right ◽  
English Culture

Lying in Early Modern English Culture is a major study of ideas of truth and falsehood from the advent of the Reformation to the aftermath of the Gunpowder Plot. The period is characterized by panic and chaos when few had any idea how religious, cultural, and social life would develop after the traumatic division of Christendom. Many saw the need for a secular power to define the truth; others declared that their allegiances belonged elsewhere. Accordingly there was a constant battle between competing authorities for the right to declare what was the truth and so label opponents as liars. Issues of truth and lying were, therefore, a constant feature of everyday life, determining ideas of identity, politics, speech, sex, marriage, and social behaviour, as well as philosophy and religion. This book is a cultural history of truth and lying from the 1530s to the 1610s, showing how lying needs to be understood in practice and theory, concentrating on a series of particular events, which are read in terms of academic debates and more popular notions of lying. The book covers a wide range of material such as the trials of Anne Boleyn and Thomas More, the divorce of Frances Howard, and the murder of Anthony James by Annis and George Dell; works of literature such as Othello, The Faerie Queene, A Mirror for Magistrates, and The Unfortunate Traveller; works of popular culture such as the herring pamphlet of 1597; and major writings by Castiglione, Montaigne, Erasmus, Luther, and Tyndale.

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