ABSTRACT

Modern historians who have described the English village constable of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries have largely accepted Shakespeare's Dogberry as an accurate portrayal of this official. The constable was thus subject to dual pressures, and when the interests of the state and those of the village diverged his office would be a focus of conflict. Although other officials, such as sheriffs and justices of the peace and high constables, probably found themselves caught in similar dilemmas, such tensions were particularly acute in the case of the village constable. A study of the constable based on village records, as well as on those of the county and the central government, suggests that the accepted picture of this official is in need of revision. The relationships with higher authorities usually seem to have been official in nature, and the records provide little evidence of personal bonds between constables and their superiors.