Theme 1 Identity and identification

Establishing Early Modern Identity

HI2692010-11Week 2

Who do you think you are? Time, space and the basis of ‘identity

• How do you identify yourself?DocumentsBiometricsVisible appearanceIntroductions

• How do you identify others?

• Does the purpose behind establishing that identity change how you establish it?

How could [early modern] people be identified?For the wealthy:

• Personal Recognition• Portraiture• Property (seals, signets, identifiable objects) • Signature• Certification by recognized

authority/individual (e.g. passaport, laissez-passe documents, emergent c. 1450s-1590s)

• Documents relating to land tenure etc• Registers of birth, marriage, death (in some

places)

How could [early modern] people be identified?

For the masses?• Not portraits or even drawings (too

expensive)• Not signatures (low levels of literacy)• Little or no distinctive property• Not official documents (rarely needed)

So….

How were most people identified in the past?The case of Martin Guerre

• “The said du Tilh, confident that he carried with him completely the features and general appearance of the said Martin, violated in the first place all laws of friendship, and then employed a new kind of effrontery and trickery.: he presented himself to the four sisters, the uncle, and relatives of the said Martin, and to the said Bertrande de Rols, and even to all those from Artigat and gave to all several particulars and such close proofs that not only strangers, but the said relatives, and even the supplicant were persuaded that he was truly Martin Guerre. So it should not be surprising that the supplicant was incredibly eager to see and recover her husband. And the said du Tllh had given her several private and personal proofs. Even acts of conversation which occur most secretly between married couples, and which others could not honestly know or hear; even to the point of showing her the places, the time and the hour of the secret acts of marriage. … And the conversations which they had before, after, and during the act. So that she was persuaded with the others that the said du Tith was certainly Martin Guene, her husband.” Jean de Coras, 1560

How were people identified in the past?

• ‘the features and general appearance’• ‘several particulars and such close

proofs’ • ‘showing her the places, the time and

the hour of the secret acts of marriage. …’

• ‘And the conversations which they had before, after, and during the act.’

How were people identified in the past?‘Appearance’:

Portrait, unknown man, 1590s‘Marks’:

Tattoo on human skin

How were people identified in the past? ‘And the conversations which they had …’

How were people identified in the past?

• ‘although the passage of time had changed his face somewhat, since at his departure he had no beard, nevertheless he was recognized by all’

• ‘His testimony thus Included true and ample statements … concerning the year, month and day of the wedding; the father and mother-In-law; concerning persons who were there and who took part in the wedding; concerning the dress and clothing with which each one was attired at that time; concerning the priest who married them; and all the personal acts which were involved on the day of the wedding as well as before and after, even to mentioning the persons who at midnight of the celebration came to visit them in bed.’

How were people identified in the past?

‘Among one hundred and fifty witnesses heard, there were thirty or forty who assured that he was truly Martin Guerre because they had seen and been often with him since his childhood, and recognized on him certain marks and scars which the said Martin had. Others, and in greater number, deposed that he was- Arnauld du Tilh called Pansette, and for the same reasons, that they had known him from the cradle. The rest of the witnesses, to the number of sixty and more, deposed that there was such a great likeness that they were in doubt and did not dare commit themselves as to whether it was the one or the other. There were also two observations made on the resemblance of Sanxi Guerre, son of Martin, and of the sisters of the said Martin, to the accused, which resulted in two very different proofs: …Sanxi, son of Martin, did not resemble the accused at all, and … the sisters of Martin resembled the accused strongly.’

When and why did identity count?

• In relation to property• In relation to places• In relation to privileges

• So why did it matter who Martin Guerre was, and to whom?

‘Monopolizing’ identity:

identification and the

emerging state

‘Monopolizing’ identity: identification and the emerging state

Chronological Sketch• 1381 only peers may leave England without a license• 1548 Prussian Imperial Police Ordinances ban vagrancy;

subsequent edicts prohibit gypsies from receiving passes to travel• 1662 local authorities in England are allowed to remove the

chargeable poor to their places of legal settlement, but allow travel for temporary labour with proper certification of origins

• 1669 Louis XIV forbids travel outside of France by French subjects except with a passeporte

• 1719 Internal movement within Russia forbidden without a pass• 1791-2 The flight of Louis XVI in France, and the emergence of

state benefits undermines Revolutionary movements towards freedom of movement

Useful website: http://identinet.org.uk/bibliography/identity-cards-and-papers/

•How and why did individuals, communities, and institutions of the state seek to establish identity in the early modern period? •To what extent were such identities ‘embodied’ – rooted in physical traits or characteristics – and to what extent did they rely on other attributes, or on relationships?

•Did ‘identity’ carry the same weight and meaning then as it does now?

•Did the clothes maketh the man?

Do they still? Think about current interest in ‘’candid’ photos of celebritiesDrew Barrymore

Coming soon to a classroom near you…

• La revolution identificatoire…•Measuring bodies, embodying identity…• The ‘embrace’ of the state…