Law and Order in Historical Perspective: The Case of Elizabethan Essex presents a brief description of what happened in the 16th-century criminal justice system from the commission of a felony until the disposition of the case occurred. This book discusses how criminal law actually operated in a community and how the system of the criminal justice was administered.
Organized into two parts encompassing four chapters, this book begins with an overview of the statistics of crime and criminals in 16th-century England. This text then examines the law-enforcement machinery in Essex. Other chapters consider how officials view law, which determines the procedures they follow in executing it. This book discusses as well the institutional effectiveness of courts. The final chapter deals with reconstructing the system of criminal justice in Elizabethan Essex.
This book is a valuable resource for historians. Students and readers who are connected professionally to the law will also find this book useful.

Preface
Acknowledgments

Prologue An English "Goshen"

Part I The Statistics of Crime

Chapter I. Crime and Criminals

Part II The Criminal Justice System

Chapter II. Crime, Society, and the Law

Chapter III. The Justices of the Peace and Their Helpers

Chapter IV. The Emergence of Modern Courts

Conclusion The Larger Picture

Appendix I Crime Distribution in Elizabethan Essex

Appendix II Disposition of Cases

Appendix III Crime and Punishment in Elizabethan Essex

Appendix IV The Justices of the Peace

Appendix V Modernization of Elizabethan Criminal Courts

Appendix VI Relationship of Harvest Abundance and Crimes

Appendix VII Raw Data for Chapters I and II

Bibliography

Index