Surveillance and the World of Labour in Late Medieval and Early Modern England

Surveillance - the means used by ruling elites to systematically monitor the language, the behaviour, and deeds of lower social ranks - is traditionally seen as the child of modernity, and rightly so. Although surveillance has resurfaced as one of the most hotly debated issues in twenty-first-century society, especially since Covid-19 and the recent developments in technology and economy. In fact, contemporary surveillance studies have turned to the Middle Ages for

inspiration when examining this phenomenon. Thus, research on premodern surveillance will help us better understand our own world.

The proposed thesis is novel in bringing together the divergent fields of late medieval and early modern social history. During the shift towards the early modern era, production was moving to the countryside, population grew affecting the labour market, new industries and trade centers were emerging, the enclosure movement was intensifying, the gentry and urban elites were tightening their social control.

How did surveillance evolve as all these economic and social developments were emerging? My study will focus specifically on cities and towns, where a complex social and economic nexus generated an especially sophisticated and intensive culture of surveillance. The timeframe of the study starts at 1350, when the Black Death crisis began and expands to 1550, due to reasons mentioned above and because the first half of the 16th century is seldomly studied by medievalists and early modernists alike.

How was surveillance perceived? What were the attitudes towards surveillance from above and below? To answer these questions, I shall conduct multi-sourced research locating surveillance in medieval ideology. Treatises on labour or idleness, estate literature, sermons and poems will provide an ideological context for surveillance.

To see the empirical and social aspect of surveillance, I shall examine civic ordinances, various labour regulations and individual legal cases contained in late medieval urban records. My initial research into published primary sources (such as the London Letter-books, Coventry Leet Book) indicate that there should be a wealth of interesting material to explore.

During the course of the PhD, I would test some of my initial hypotheses through research into the archival materials of Exeter at the Devon Record Office, because Exeter's rich archives constitute a data pool which enables a multi-sourced study on the matter and even a statistical analysis. The Mayor's Court Rolls, containing various craft and civic statutes and disputes, fit the thesis's agenda for the 14th and 15th century.

The City Act Books follow for the 16th century. The Book of Presentments of Nuisances at the Sessions of the Peace also provides information for disputes and offenses in the 16th century. Additionally, in Exeter's Guild Records is located a critical amount of information for the city's crafts for the 15th and 16th century.

Records of religious guilds with ties to the world of labour could also be used, like the religious fraternity of St George. I think that this thesis, by shedding light on the unexplored and fascinating world of labour surveillance, will discover much about the essence of late medieval and early modern urban economy and society.