ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the ways in which men’s performance of their patriarchal roles was monitored and policed in early modern England, and in particular, the role of violence in that process. Violence was both a source of disorder and a means of its informal control. Furthermore, because of the importance of reputation, words had concrete impacts and acted as another form of violence. In the absence of physical violence, the use of shaming words also functioned as a form of violence. By examining elite failed patriarchs, along with cuckolds and violent husbands, the essay demonstrates that failed patriarchs were more likely to be punished when their failures had a broader social impact. Responses began with admonition or insults and extended through other informal and formal processes. The chapter argues that the policing of patriarchy was a regular and critical feature of social and political life. That policing, and the exclusion it implied, helped ensure that men played their role in the political order.