Richard Cust connected honour to his work on political culture and the gentry. He introduced the work of Mervyn James on honour as a framework for thinking about behavioural change over time. He suggested that the new historical approach is a multi-layered rather than a teleological one. Certain speakers had emphasised change rather than continuity over time, while others challenged such an approach. Important new themes had been introduced by the conference speakers, such as the importance of lineage, the impact of the companionate marriage, the relationship between public and private notions of honour and the acceptability of violence as a means of defending or challenging honour. He suggested two related ways of thinking about honour that had not been touched on by any of the speakers: the notion of ‘honesty’ to refer to a godly magistrate following his conscience, and the importance of godliness generally, a pious reputation as key means of establishing one's honour.