Defaming a woman’s character by accusing her of being a ‘whore’ or prostitute is a common occurrence in cases from the church courts and often the initial cause of the dispute which led to the uttering of these defamatory words had nothing to do with the woman’s reputation. A case from Coventry in 1596 is a clear example of this.
A dispute arose between a Mrs Holland (her first name is not given in the papers) and Alice Price. Holland allegedly said that John Oliver:
…took a whole gutter of leade or some parte thereof from the Landlords howse wherin his brother Price did dwell…
John Oliver was Alice’s brother and an argument broke out between the two women which apparently led Alice to say that Mrs Holland:
haste as bad a name as woman in the towne and arte a night walker and on that haste byn lapte in a mans cloke and conveyed to gentlemens chambers from or to an other. And I will as soone proove the a whore as thow cause prove my brother John Oliver a theefe…
The allegations then go on to say that Alice thought she would not get into trouble for uttering these words because she did not state the names of any men in her accusation:
…she….holland can have noe advantage against me for those wordes which I have spoken noe not yf I had called her whore soe longe as I named not whose whore…
The case does not appear to progress through the courts as only the articles and personal response of Alice (where she says she only called Holland a night walker because Holland had called her one) survive. It is interesting to note that Alice appears in another case from the same year, this time is the plaintiff accusing Benedicta Eborne of calling her a whore.
The Bawdy Courts of Lichfield 