Hunters and Poachers

A study of hunting and poaching, both of which played significant roles in England during the 16th and 17th centuries. It explores symbolic and covert forms of protest, and adds to the knowledge of the interaction between aristocratic and popular culture in early-modern England.

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This is a scholarly study of hunting and poaching, both of which played significant roles in England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Deer-hunting was an integral part of aristocratic and gentry culture. It afforded not only recreation, but also served as a symbolic substitute for war and revellion. It provided the occasion for adolescent rites of passage, displays of power and feats of daring, the pursuit of aristocratic feuds and competition for forest and game offices. The distinction between lawful and unlawful hunting remained unclear, for the Game Laws were obscure and difficult to enforce, and tumultuous hunting was frequently a reaction to changes in land use and conflicting use-rights.

Professor Manning's meticulously researched study explores symbolic and covert forms of protest, and adds much to our knowledge of the interaction between aristocratic and popular culture in early modern England.