Moll Cutpurse – London’s Queen Of Thieves
AncientPages.com | January 15, 2019
David Tee - AncientPages.com -
Was Moll Cutpurse a product of the ages? Many historians cannot seem to find what made Moll Frith leave her upstanding ways and family for a life of crime. They say that there is no hint of criminal influence found in her family tree.
But criminal influence does not necessarily come from family influence. Sometimes it comes from the culture of the time period one is born into. In the case of Moll Frith, that may just be the influence to explain her change in life.
Born in approx. 1580 to 84, Ms. Frith grew up in the culture of Queen Elizabeth I, a woman not known to be ladylike or dressing like a lady. Elizabeth I’s example had many women doing things that were beyond the boundaries of what constitutes a feminine behavior.
When King James I took over for Elizabeth I, it was hoped he would restore some sanity to the kingdom. Unfortunately, he did not and Moll Frith exploited that failure. Ms. Frith was a “smoking, cursing, thieving, braggart who spoke and dressed like a man.†She was a real Roaring Girl, a nickname that stuck.
http://www.ancientpages.com/2019/01/15/moll-cutpurse-londons-queen-of-thieves/
