As lief to the gallows as go to the I rish wars’
Human Rights and the Abuse of the E lizabethan Soldier in I reland, 1600–1603
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9879427 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Vincent P Carey (0000-0002-8524-2281, SUNY Plattsburgh, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 99 |
| Issue | 336 |
| Pages | 468-486 |
| Publication date | 2014-07-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-2648 • E-ISSN: 1468-229X |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/1468-229x.12065 |
| OpenAlex | W2111791946 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 7 |
This essay explores the treatment of the E lizabethan soldier in I reland under lord deputy M ountjoy from 1600 to 1603, the years of the most atrocious violence of the conflict. Coming at the experiences of the ordinary soldier in these years from the perspective of human rights forces the historian to a set of rather uncomfortable conclusions. For while many of these soldiers inflicted horrific violence on the native non‐combatant population, their own experiences were determined by a set of forces and practices that left them vulnerable to some of the most extreme abuses of the age. While this essay will address the question of human rights and the implications and applications of the terminology for E lizabeth E ngland, it will do so within the context of a war that abused the ordinary soldier as much as it abused the non‐combatant I rish. Yet the abuse of these men is worth re‐examining as it provides us with an insight to the state's attitude to the subordinate classes and their basic rights. For in examining the recruitment, equipping and treatment of the ordinary soldiers in the field, we find a brutalized mass whose only option was to endure or flee. A mass whose fundamental rights as subjects of the E nglish crown or indeed as humans were badly abused. They were often masterless men unsuitable for combat and ultimately the victims of ‘social cleansing’, victims of class and coercion. The wretchedness of their conditions of service was thus forced, inevitably downwards, on the helpless non‐combatant G aelic I rish
Coercion (linguistics · Combatant · Context (archaeology · Criminology · Human rights · Political science · Population · Sociology · Terminology · Demography · Historical Studies of British Isles · History · Irish and British Studies · Law · Philosophy · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity
| Citations per year | 0.17 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2014 - 2020 (7) |
| Highly cited | No |