Introduction

This introduction establishes the historiographical contexts in which exclusion has been understood and explored in early modern history and provides an accessible introduction to teaching and research on this theme. While early modern exclusion has been explored through the experiences of marginal and other groups traditionally regarded as ‘deviant’ in Europe between c.1500 and c.1750, how exclusion was negotiated and experienced in early modern England has not yet received a comprehensive overview. The exclusions experienced by individuals and groups not necessarily regarded as ‘outsiders’ has also been a neglected topic. This introduction at once surveys these previously overlooked themes and charts some of the theoretical ways that the boundaries between inclusion and exclusion might be defined, understood, and conceptualised.