Gender and Defamation in York 1660-1700

Introduction

This is very much a work in progress, but one which originated more than a decade ago in research I did for my MA thesis. From time to time afterwards I found myself wondering what to do with the rich material I'd collected, but my 'database' consisted of 5" x 3" index cards and, as it was my first substantial attempt at working with this type of early modern legal record (especially the Latin!), my transcriptions left a lot to be desired. They still do, but in 2010 the York Cause Papers Database was launched, with links to images in many cases, and I've been using it to check my original list of cases while transferring it to electronic format, in preparation for reviewing and correcting the transcriptions. I decided to use this material as the basis for a small digital edition and resource.

I have several goals in mind for this project: firstly, to improve and share the data I first created back in 1999; as a way of showcasing the York cause papers' research potential now that the online catalogue has made the source much more accessible; and to develop a small but useful resource for research into early modern defamation, slander, gossip and reputation.

Third release, March 2015: I have added the (mainly uncorrected) transcriptions of the depositions and an HTML version of the dissertation. The next major task is correction and improvement of the transcriptions, which is likely to take some months. I may do an interim update expanding the resources/bibliography section. See changelog

The Causes

Further Resources

York Cause Papers project

Other digitised projects

See also