Author: -

Abstract: »In eighteenth-century England, only a small fraction of reports of sexual violence resulted in prosecutions. Although cases involving men from the monied or titled orders were extremely rare, there are nevertheless some instances in which middling and labouring women were given the opportunity to testify publicly. This social gap was predictably used against the prosecutrixes, portrayed as blackmailers targeting affluent men. One argument frequently appearing in both defence and prosecution rhetoric is the joint use of both Francophilia and Francophobia. Well-born Englishmen were depicted as Francophiles, directly linked by the prosecution to a propensity for sexual predation. Defence counsels in return capitalised on what seems to have been prevalent anti-French sentiment by depicting the prosecutrix, rather than the accused, as contaminated by Gallic culture. This article proposes to look at two rape trials transcripts from the mid-eighteenth century, in which the social gap between accuser and accused participated in the deployment of such rhetoric. In a legal setting, the exploration of French influence on social, gendered, sexual behaviours and identities is utilised to negotiate literal life-or-death situations.« (Source: XVII-XVIII)

Contents:

	Invading John Bull: France and England in the long eighteenth century
	“A most detestable crime”: sexual violence in eighteenth-century law
	The Lackey and Baltimore rape cases: Francophilia on trial?
	Bibliographie
		Primary Sources
		Secondary Sources
	Notes

Wikipedia: History of Europe: History of England / Georgian era | Court: Courts of England and Wales / Old Bailey | Sex and the law: Rape / Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore, Rape in England