Gender and the Culture of the English Alehouse in Late Stuart England

The world of the alehouse and tavern in early modern England has generally been regarded as primarily male, a view that was deeply embedded in the period itself. This essay explores the place of women within the public house, in serving, buying and consuming alcohol, and the unwritten conventions that underpinned social practice. It argues that while some female customers matched their contemporary image, as disorderly, immoral and dishonest, it was also possible for respectable women to visit a tavern or alehouse without risking their good name, provided they adhered to the conventions. Middling-sort and elite women might drink and dine in London taverns with their husbands, or in mixed parties; throughout England married couples, and mixed groups of young folk, might drink, dance, and socialise; marketwomen might assemble at the end of the day, and chapwomen often lodged overnight. And, at least in London, respectable women might enter a public house alone, by day, without meeting disapproval. Many establishments provided private as well as public rooms, and these created social spaces for female customers, couples and mixed parties, serving different needs than those met within the main public space

Bigamous marriage in early modern England

Though divorce followed by remarriage was illegal in early modern England, a considerable number of people whose marriage had failed or whose spouse had deserted ventured to marry again, either uncertain of the law or choosing to defy it. Bigamy, traditionally a spiritual offence, came to be seen as a significant social problem and was made a felony in 1604. Drawing on ecclesiastical and secular court records and a variety of other sources, this article examines the legal framework, offers a typology of bigamists, and explores the circumstances surrounding their actions. It finds that offenders, predominantly male, ranged from the unlucky or feckless to the cynically manipulative, among them a small number of serial bigamists. It also asks how such offences might come to light in an age of relatively poor communications, and examines the plight of those who had married a bigamist in good faith. Finally it examines the likelihood of conviction, and the punishment of those who confessed or were convicted

The DNA polymerase λ is required for the repair of non-compatible DNA double strand breaks by NHEJ in mammalian cells

DNA polymerase lambda (polλ) is a recently identified DNA polymerase whose cellular function remains elusive. Here we show, that polλ participates at the molecular level in a chromosomal context, in the repair of DNA double strand breaks (DSB) via non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) in mammalian cells. The expression of a catalytically inactive form of polλ (polλDN) decreases the frequency of NHEJ events in response to I-Sce-I-induced DSB whereas inactivated forms of its homologues polβ and polμ do not. Only events requiring DNA end processing before ligation are affected; this defect is associated with large deletions arising in the vicinity of the induced DSB. Furthermore, polλDN-expressing cells exhibit increased sensitization and genomic instability in response to ionizing radiation similar to that of NHEJ-defective cells. Our data support a requirement for polλ in repairing a subset of DSB in genomic DNA, thereby contributing to the maintenance of genetic stability mediated by the NHEJ pathway

Involvement of DNA polymerase μ in the repair of a specific subset of DNA double-strand breaks in mammalian cells

The repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) requires processing of the broken ends to complete the ligation process. Recently, it has been shown that DNA polymerase μ (polμ) and DNA polymerase λ (polλ) are both involved in such processing during non-homologous end joining in vitro. However, no phenotype was observed in animal models defective for either polμ and/or polλ. Such observations could result from a functional redundancy shared by the X family of DNA polymerases. To avoid such redundancy and to clarify the role of polμ in the end joining process, we generated cells over-expressing the wild type as well as an inactive form of polμ (polμD). We observed that cell sensitivity to ionizing radiation (IR) was increased when either polμ or polμD was over-expressed. However, the genetic instability in response to IR increased only in cells expressing polμD. Moreover, analysis of intrachromosomal repair of the I-SceI-induced DNA DSB, did not reveal any effect of either polμ or polμD expression on the efficiency of ligation of both cohesive and partially complementary ends. Finally, the sequences of the repaired ends were specifically affected when polμ or polμD was over-expressed, supporting the hypothesis that polμ could be involved in the repair of a DSB subset when resolution of junctions requires some gap filling

Healing the nation : royalist visionaries, Cromwell, and the restoration of Charles II

The radical visionaries of the civil war era had several royalist counterparts, today often overlooked. This article examines the three most significant: John Sanders of Harborne, Walter Gostelo, and Arise Evans. God, they claimed, had directed them to press Cromwell to restore Charles II, perhaps through a marriage alliance. This alone could settle the nation, and it would usher in a millennial age of peace. Sanders combined support for the crown and Church with a remarkable call for the nailers of Birmingham to strike against their oppressive employers. His family responded to his visionary mission with deep hostility. Evans attracted far greater public interest; he and Gostelo were able to present their ideas to Cromwell in person, and Gostelo travelled to the exiled royal court. The visionaries’ message, if ultimately unacceptable, spoke to the concerns of many contemporaries anxious and uncertain about the future

John Harrison, Envoy to Morocco : Barbary and the downfall of Babylon

John Harrison was a significant figure in early Anglo-Moroccan relations, and made repeated visits to Morocco as a royal envoy. This article explores his career and places it within its broader context. A militant Calvinist, Harrison viewed Morocco as a potential ally against Spain and the Roman Antichrist, and dreamed of the conversion of its Moriscos and Jews, but his world-view proved alien to the early Stuart monarchs. The article further explores his wish to see British naval bases established around the Mediterranean, and his rare, principled condemnation of slavery, whether practised by Europeans or Moors

Re-assessing the ars moriendi : good and bad deaths in early modern England

The mediaeval concept of the ‘good death’ lived on into the early modern period, suitably modified, through prescriptive and descriptive accounts that emanated from the ranks of the godly. How far the same understanding was shared across the wider society is a question that has been little considered. This article addresses the issue through the letters of the prolific Jacobean news-writer, John Chamberlain, over a period of thirty years. What emerges from his own comments, those of his many friends and acquaintances, and the opinions of what he calls ‘the world’, is that the concept had a very different and far more secular shape for those beyond the godly. The spiritual dimension was marginal. What counted most was whether the deceased had provided well for their dependants, left a good name behind them, and had died at peace with the world. That made the timeliness of a death a critical consideration; had it occurred with these desiderata firmly secured? The article then goes on to examine a range of sources over a far longer time-scale to assess how far the picture that emerges from the case-study matches other evidence