'Counterfeit Egyptians': The construction and implementation of a criminal identity in early modern England.
English law first began to mark out 'Egyptians' as a separate, criminalised group in the sixteenth century. This article examines how statute law constructed and implemented an Egyptian identity, and the effect this had on those prosecuted. A close reading of the four Tudor Egyptian statutes is prov...
| Published in: | Romani Studies Vol. 26; no. 2; pp. 105 - 130 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Liverpool University Press / Journals
2016
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=119717266&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 119717266 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 15280748 8L0 jtl: Romani Studies issn: 15280748 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: 2016 vid: 26 iid: 2 pid: 39786 pub: Liverpool University Press / Journals artinfo: ui: 119717266 10.3828/rs.2016.7 ppf: 105 ppct: 25 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 682KB tig: atl: 'Counterfeit Egyptians': The construction and implementation of a criminal identity in early modern England. aug: au: MORGAN, JOHN affil: Lecturer in Early Modern History in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures at the University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK su: Egyptians Nationalism Romanies Persecution Statutes Social history sug: subj: Egyptians Nationalism Romanies Persecution Statutes Social history keyword: 'Egyptians' counterfeiting Early modern England identity law ab: English law first began to mark out 'Egyptians' as a separate, criminalised group in the sixteenth century. This article examines how statute law constructed and implemented an Egyptian identity, and the effect this had on those prosecuted. A close reading of the four Tudor Egyptian statutes is provided, and relevant material from sixteenth- and seventeenth-century legal and judicial sources is compared to assess the implementation of the statutes. By focussing on the legal construction of the Egyptian identity, this article illuminates the ways in which the early modern state attempted to exert control over 'Egyptians'. This was attempted through the application of loose definitions based around itinerancy and non-nativity that could be applied with great discretion. This 'discretionary impulse' connected the experience of 'Egyptians' with other travellers in the period, whilst enabling the agents of the State to exercise particularly close punishment and control. By examining a legally constructed identity, this article attempts to avoid reifying biases found in the traditional sources for Gypsy history in the period, and sheds light on the history of state-driven marginalisation and persecution. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Romani Studies is published by Liverpool University Press, and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without Liverpool University Press's express written copyright permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Romani Studies holder: Liverpool University Press / Journals dt: @attributes: year: 2016 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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