Prosecuting theft in Old Regime France, c.1540–c.1700

Hamilton, Tom

Abstract

This article analyses a significant sample of theft cases tried in the appellate courts of the parlements of Paris and Toulouse from the mid-sixteenth century to the end of the seventeenth century. Despite some historians’ claims that theft was typically overlooked or settled informally, and that property crime only became a major social problem because of the rise of industrial capitalism in the eighteenth century, this article argues that French subjects did take theft seriously in this period, even if that meant subjecting it to ridicule in cultural productions such as Molière’s celebrated play The Miser.

Citation

Hamilton, T. (2023). Prosecuting theft in Old Regime France, c.1540–c.1700. Continuity and Change, 38(3), 283-312. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0268416023000334

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 1, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Apr 1, 2024
• Publication Date: 2023-12
• Deposit Date: Nov 15, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 2, 2024
• Journal: Continuity and Change
• Print ISSN: 0268-4160
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-218X
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 38
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 283-312
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0268416023000334
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1929002