Boundaries of belonging in early modern London, 1550-1700

This thesis employs a wide range of sources outside company archives to offer a more inclusive understanding of how Londoners conceptualised and constituted civic freedoms in London, roughly between 1550 and 1700. Employing several ‘edge’ groups as case studies, it proposes a new way of thinking about men and women’s work outside the traditional sphere of livery companies and guilds.