State-of-the-art on the history of street crime published

Much of the lives of urban dwellers in early modern Europe were played out in city streets and squares. In the edited volume, Early modern streets: A European perspective (2023), the diverse strands of scholarship on urban streets between circa 1450 and 1800 are brought together, tackling key questions on how early modern urban society was shaped and how this changed over time.

Chapter 8, written by Marion Pluskota (Leiden University) and Sanne Muurling, provides a comprehensive overview of the scholarship on the policing of criminal acts and unwanted behaviours as well as the crimes that we typically associate with street life such as violent brawls and pickpocketing. The chapter also pays attention to the public nature of street spaces and the role of performativity in both the committing and policing of street crimes.

View the edited volume here:

Early modern streets

State-of-the-art on the history of street crime published

Contact information