"There were two somewhat distinct criminal underworlds in early modern England: That of wayfaring vagabonds and that of urban-based thieves." Discuss

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“There were two somewhat distinct criminal underworlds in early modern England: That of wayfaring vagabonds and that of urban-based thieves.” Discuss

In early modern England there was clearly a problem with crime, although a lot of it was petty theft. There was also a fair amount of organised crime, the more serious mainly in urban areas. Historians have put the high rate of theft down to the “ rhythms of the pre-industrial economy”  as many people could only be provided with employment for a couple of months in the harvest season and would struggle to find any employment in the non harvest months. These long periods of un-employment made unskilled labours of the working class population search for other means to supplement their income, many turned to petty theft or begging while a few opted for a life of crime and, some were urban based thieves others were wayfaring vagabonds moving from town to town. Clearly some of these criminals belong to underground organisations while others were independent and opportunistic. To understand the extent of these ‘underground organisations’ we need to look more closely at the crime in this period.

Historians have suggested the idea of a “criminal class” through out Western Europe at this time. The formation of this so-called  ‘criminal class’ is attributed to the rapid industrialisation and urbanisation that was taking place at this time in England. This is because it bought large groups of poor people together in a concentrated area and as a result of this criminal groups were formed. It has been asserted that these groups lived “mainly of the proceeds of crime” and that their life styles were different to that of the other working class’s in urban areas. Sharpe suggests that these criminal groups were organised in to a “unique social hierarchy” suggesting that there were indeed organised criminal underworlds in urban areas. It was not the case that all organised crime took place in urban areas. It is clear that there was also a large amount of organised crime in rural areas to. Poaching, smuggling and coining are all examples of organised crime in rural arras. Sharpe talks of horse-thieves likening them to modern day “used-car dealers” changing stolen horses appearances likening it to “false number plates and a respray” so there is also evidence that there were organised criminals with large networks of contacts in rural areas as well as in urban areas. The many difference between the two types of criminal (urban and rural) is that the large majority of rural based criminals were highly mobile and were constantly on the move were as urban based criminal mainly stayed in the same county. Dick Turpin is a good example of a criminal constantly on the move with crimes in Essex the midlands and Yorkshire, dabbling in all types of crimes. 

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As well as organised crime in early modern England there was un-organised crime; for the most part this was carried out by individuals and was opportunistic. In fact most of the people that were tried for theft and other crimes were not professional rouges as we are led to believe, but simple people who had left the home parish in search of work and had stolen some food to survive. These people who left their home parish in search of work were know as vagrants or vagabonds. It has been suggested that these vagrants were not criminal out of ...

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