Women's networks in Northern England 1600-1725

Baxter, Paula (2002) Women's networks in Northern England 1600-1725. Doctoral thesis, Northumbria University.

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Abstract

This research fills a gap in seventeenth century English social history. In studies of the early modem period, women are generally situated within the formal structures of marriage and the family, where their relationship to the masculine is the defining feature of their position. This thesis examines women's relationships with other women operating outside the expected range of relationships and look at groupings that were not based around the formal social structure of the time. It demonstrates that women in early modern England created and used networks which provided functions beyond their maternal and familial obligations. It also shows that these networks had an impact on wider society, inspiring strong reactions from both supporters and detractors. This study provides a functional, descriptive and developmental analysis of women's networks and locates their sphere of influence within early modem society. It asks questions about the different types of women's networks that existed in the early modem period, how they were organised and what environmental conditions helped to create them. It looks at the individuals who made up the networks and what effect age, social and marital status and religion had on the form and nature of these networks. It examines the impact of the networks on the women and what effect opposition had on them and on their networks. The research also questions whether women were conscious of their networks; if they were able to recognise their potential power and ability to influence events in their communities. The period considered by the thesis includes significant developments in the organisation of women's networks and it therefore also examines why a number of them chose to become formally organised and officially recognised during the seventeenth century.

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