Fishermen’s taverns: Public houses and maritime labour in an early modern French fishing community

Abstract

This article is based on civil proceedings brought before Dieppe’s Admiralty Court by actors from the local fishing world, especially boat masters. It provides an account of the functions performed by inns, taverns and alehouses within this professional environment. Paying close attention to the social uses of public houses which transpire through judicial archives, it aims to show how these institutions, which played a key role in Old Regime societies, not only worked as nodes in fishing organisation, but also as public arenas where the craft community’s relationships were built.