Social Space and Urban Drinking Houses in Medieval England

Abstract This article presents a quantitative analysis of English court records to enhance our understanding of urban drinking establishments from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century. The data is analyzed in three interrelated ways. First, the physical space of taverns and alehouses is considered with a focus on their layout, the signage they used, and the naming conventions they employed. The second section focuses on the gendering of these spaces and concludes, based in part on the number of women that could be found as both patrons and proprietors, that they should not be conceptualized solely as masculine spaces. The final section argues that drinking houses functioned primarily as social spaces that allowed for entertainment and gregarious activities despite concerns about the moral and physical dangers they presented.