The wealthier inhabitants of Croydon in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries

This article examines the wealthier inhabitants of Croydon in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, focusing on differences in wealth, ownership of property and social relationships. Using wills and subsidy lists, four broad categories of people were identified: gentlemen, yeomen, tradesmen and craftsmen and widows. There was no simple gradation of wealth between these groups; although gentlemen were generally among the richest subsidy payers, yeomen and tradesmen could also figure. In terms of social relationships and the ownership of property, there were differences. Gentlemen tended to marry within their own social group, appoint other gentlemen as overseers in their wills and were more likely to own land outside Croydon. The social relationships of yeomen and tradesmen/craftsmen were more focused on the town itself, as were their land purchases. Two groups of individuals can therefore be seen, not one homogenous entity as some scholars have argued.     

EMU,political discourse and the fifth French republic: Historical institutionalism,path dependency and ‘craftsmen’ of discourse

This article examines continuity and change in the way in which French élites have deliberated on and legitimated their policy actions at the European level in relation to Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) during the Fifth Republic. Six themes are highlighted: the way in which institutional arrangements have conferred power on some actors while reducing the power of others; the complex role of ideas as independent variables ('cognitive filters') and intervening variables (building blocks) through which strategic conduct is conceptualised and assessed; the way in which EMU came to be defined and how it connected with other issues; how its historical development took the form of a distinctive national ‘path’ or ‘trajectory’ ; how that development was punctuated by ‘critical moments’ or ‘junctures’, defined in turn by crisis and the uncertainty generated, when discourse was restructured and took a new path; and the role of ‘craftsmen’ of discourse in negotiating meanings.