When Gossips Meet: Women, Family, and Neighbourhood in Early Modern England(Oxford Studies in Social History)

This book explores how women of the poorer and middling sorts in early modern England negoitated a patriarchal culture in which they were generally excluded, marginalized, or subordinated. It focuses on the networks of close friends ('gossips') which gave them a social identity beyond the narrowly domestic, providing both companionship and practical support in disputes with husbands and with neighbours of either sex. The book also examines the micropolitics of the household, with its internal alliances and feuds, and women's agency in neighbourhood politics, exercised by shaping local public opinion, exerting pressure on parish officials, and through the role of informal female juries. If women did not openly challenge male supremacy, they could often play a significant role in shaping their own lives and the life of the local community.

Table of Contents:
1: Introduction 2: Patriarchy and the World of Gossips 3: Families and Gossips: The Experience of Marriage 4: Maidservants and the Politics of the Household 5: Women and Neighbours: Female Disputes 6: Women and Neighbours: Disputes with Men 7: Women as Citizens: Public and Political Life 8: Recreation, Religion, and Female Culture 9: Conclusion Bibliography of Unpublished Sources Index

Review :
`Review from other book by this author an excellent narrative of the major operation of the English fleet ... Dr Capp's social study of the seamen is even more valuable ... a splendid book ... there is no doubt that this is an important addition to 17th-century history.' Times Higher Educational Supplement `Bernard 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 `an excellent, stimulating book which should be read by anyone interested in the Royal Navy, the seventeenth century, and good history ... this is an excellent book, one that should encourage a broader, and better informed approach to Naval History.' International Journal of Maritime History `without doubt one of the most important published works ever to have been written on the Navy in the 1650s ... Erudite and extensively researched, Bernard Capp has produced a book whose dominant themes are built to last.' Mariner's Mirror `an admirable contribution to the field of naval history ... a highly sophisticated - and immensely erudite - study in social, political and religious history using the navy as a focus.' Jonathan I. Israel, Bijdragen en Mededelingen Betreffende de Geschiedenis der Nederlanden