Gun Culture in Early Modern England

Abstract

This important and exhaustively researched book assesses the social, economic and political impact of gunpowder weapons or, as the title has it, the national ‘gun culture’ in early modern England. Some readers may bring with them negative impressions of the phrase, but the author takes pains in her introduction to re-establish the phrase ‘gun culture’ as a useful descriptor and a legitimate historical term. Likewise, it can be difficult to read about historical gun control without bringing along the ‘baggage’ of contemporary issues. The author acknowledges this problematic association with references to the Hungerford and Dunblane massacres that have shaped current firearms legislation in mainland Britain. However, she does not allow the contemporary arguments to intrude into her scholarly analysis of the historical situation. Instead, the overall theme of the book becomes the sustained popular interest in firearms and the parallel ongoing efforts by the authorities to curtail it. The book is logically and well structured, including a helpful recapitulation at the end of each chapter. The opening chapter takes a chronological approach to set the scene of the initial proliferation of firearms in England, but the remaining nine chapters are strictly thematic. These are well delimited into manufacture (Chapter 2, which includes an excellent concise history of the relevant makers guilds), efforts at gun control (Chapters 3 and 4), the military aspect (Chapter 5), the importance of London as a hub (in every sense) (Chapter 6), before breaking down the social historical experience into the male, female and juvenile experiences respectively (Chapters 7–9). Finally, Chapter 10 tackles Article VII of the Bill of Rights and uses this as a lens through which to summarise the ‘big picture’ in England in the period in question. Some of Schwoerer’s findings will surprise some readers. Although in they may have been perceived as the preserve of the monied classes, early firearms were cheap, or at least cheaper than other hunting and military arms. Far from being a modern movement, gun control began in England from 1514 onwards. Firearms were regarded as something that the common person should not have access to. As they do today, period legal controls cited public safety, but also poaching by the lower social classes and the decline of practice with the longbow. They also reflected fears of insurrection. Importantly, the author does not stop at reporting firearms legislation and licensing, but makes clear that ownership and use of guns continued in spite of these restrictions, albeit not at the level that would be reached in North America. We also learn of popular efforts to push back against these restrictions. For those that could legally own them, firearms were purchased for a variety of purposes including hunting, recreation, self-defence and to enhance prestige. There is a strong social history perspective that runs throughout the book and is very welcome. Schwoerer references numerous individuals and provides biographies of a number of these. Firearms ownership may have been the privilege of the upper classes, but their effects were felt across the social spectrum. Lower status men and a number of women were employed in the gunmaking trades and even in the Ordnance Office. Schwoerer’s research into the small but socially significant role of women in seventeenth-century gunmaking (and indeed blacksmithing) is particularly fascinating. We learn that at least one of these earned pay equal to that of her male peers, and suggests the names of several who might have been dubbed Master Gunmakers had this been permitted (p. 35). Schwoerer’s assessment of that old chestnut—Article VII of the 1689 Bill of Rights—deserves special mention. The Bill is invoked by present-day British lobbyists seeking to equate it to the