Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/318382 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Citation: 
[Journal:] Vierteljahrschrift für Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte (VSWG) [ISSN:] 2365-2136 [Volume:] 112 [Issue:] 1 [Year:] 2025 [Pages:] 3-38
Publisher: 
Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart
Abstract: 
Many people born outside England, defined as aliens, lived in late medieval London. Despite a growing literature on immigration in late medieval England and acceptance that speech was highly significant in premodern societies, studies of native-alien coexistence in London have focused on physical confrontations and have overlooked nationality-based insults. This article analyses these slurs, drawing on the records of English church and equity courts. It argues that there is little evidence supporting the view that late medieval England was characterised by a continuous and generalised anti-alien sentiment. Instead, it concludes that nationality-based insults were time and context-specific and that even the terminology of the abuse was informed by specific political and economic tensions.
Subjects: 
migration
nationality
insults
defamation
London
fifteenth century
sixteenth century
JEL: 
F22
J15
J61
J71
N33
N43
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article

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