Early modern England was marked by profound changes in economy, society, politics and religion. It is widely believed that the poverty and discontent which these changes often caused resulted in major rebellion and frequent ‘riots’. Whereas the politics of the people have often been described as a ‘many-headed monster’; spasmodic and violent, and the only means by which the people could gain expression in a highly hierarchical society and a state that denied them a political voice, the essays in this collection argue for the inherently political nature of popular protest through a series of studies of acts of collective protest, up to and including the English Revolution. The work of John Walter has played a central role in defining current understanding of the field and has been widely read and cited by those working on the politics of subaltern groups. This collection of essays offers a radical re-evaluation of the nature of crowds and protests during the period, and it will make fascinating reading for historians of the period.
Riot, Rebellion and Popular Politics in Early Modern England reassesses the relationship between politics, social change and popular culture in the period c. 1520-1730. It argues that early modern politics needs to be understood in broad terms, to include not only states and elites, but also disputes over the control of resources and the distribution of power. Andy Wood assesses the history of riot and rebellion in the early modern period, concentrating upon: popular involvement in religious change and political conflict, especially the Reformation and the English Revolution; relations between ruler and ruled; seditious speech; popular politics and the early modern state; custom, the law and popular politics; the impact of literacy and print; and the role of ritual, gender and local identity in popular politics.
The Ashgate Research Companion to Popular Culture in Early Modern England is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary examination of current research on popular culture in the early modern era. For the first time a detailed yet wide-ranging consideration of the breadth and scope of early modern popular culture in England is collected in one volume, highlighting the interplay of 'low' and 'high' modes of cultural production (while also questioning the validity of such terminology). The authors examine how popular culture impacted upon people's everyday lives during the period, helping to define how individuals and groups experienced the world. Issues as disparate as popular reading cultures, games, food and drink, time, textiles, religious belief and superstition, and the function of festivals and rituals are discussed. This research companion will be an essential resource for scholars and students of early modern history and culture.
An outstanding collection, bringing together some of the leading historians of this period with some of the field's rising stars, which examines key issues in popular politics, the negotiation of power, strategies of legitimation, and the languages of politics. One of the most notable currents in social, cultural and political historiography is the interrogation of the categories of 'elite' and 'popular' politics and their relationship to each other, as well as the exploration of why andhow different sorts of people engaged with politics and behaved politically. While such issues are timeless, they hold a special importance for a society experiencing rapid political and social change, like early modern England.No one has done more to define these agendas for early modern historians than John Walter. His work has been hugely influential, and at its heart has been the analysis of the political agency of ordinary people. The essays in thisvolume engage with the central issues of Walter's work, ranging across the politics of poverty, dearth and household, popular political consciousness and practice more broadly, and religion and politics during the English revolution. This outstanding collection, bringing together some of the leading historians of this period with some of the field's rising stars, will appeal to anyone interested in the social, cultural and political history of early modern England or issues of popular political consciousness and behaviour more generally. MICHAEL J. BRADDICK is professor of history at the University of Sheffield. PHIL WITHINGTON is professor of history at the Universityof Sheffield. CONTRIBUTORS: Michael J. Braddick, J. C. Davis, Amanda Flather, Steve Hindle, Mark Knights, John Morrill, Alexandra Shepard, Paul Slack, Richard M. Smith, Clodagh Tait, Keith Thomas, Phil Withington, Andy Wood, Keith Wrightson.
A brilliantly researched and vividly written history of the English Civil Wars, from one of Britain's most prominent Civil War historians The sequence of civil wars that ripped England apart in the seventeenth century was the single most traumatic event in this country between the medieval Black Death and the two world wars. Indeed, it is likely that a greater percentage of the population were killed in the civil wars than in the First World War. This sense of overwhelming trauma gives this major new history its title: God’s Fury, England’s Fire. The name of a pamphlet written after the king’s surrender, it sums up the widespread feeling within England that the seemingly endless nightmare that had destroyed families, towns and livelihoods was ordained by a vengeful God – that the people of England had sinned and were now being punished. As with all civil wars, however, ‘God’s fury’ could support or destroy either side in the conflict. Was God angry at Charles I for failing to support the true, protestant, religion and refusing to work with Parliament? Or was God angry with those who had dared challenge His anointed Sovereign? Michael Braddick’s remarkable book gives the reader a vivid and enduring sense both of what it was like to live through events of uncontrollable violence and what really animated the different sides. God’s Fury, England’s Fire allows readers to understand once more the events that have so fundamentally marked this country and which still resonate centuries after their bloody ending.
This concise and stimulating book explores the history of gender in England between 1500 and 1700. The second edition has been thoroughly revised to include new material on global connections, masculinity and recent historiography. Amid the upheavals of the Reformation and Civil Wars, gender was political. Sexual difference and women’s roles were matters of public debate, while social and economic changes were impacting on work, family and marriage. The rich archives of law, state and family testify to the complex configurations of patriarchal order and resistance to it. Gender in Early Modern England provides insight into gender relations in a time when a stark hierarchy of gender co-existed with a surprising degree of female capacity, great potential for challenge and confrontation, and a persistent sense of the mystery of the body. Documents include early feminist argument, law, midwives’ books, recipes, protest, sexual insults, cross-dressers, women escaping slavery, royal favourites and petitions. With a chronology, who’s who, glossary, guide to further reading and previously unpublished archival documents, Gender in Early Modern England is the perfect resource for all students interested in the history of women and gender in England between 1500 and 1700.
A new take on the origins of the English civil war and English Revolution, offering the first full study of the Protestation, the first state oath to be issued under parliamentary authority, swearing loyalty to king and country, but with the radical outcome of offering a political voice to those hitherto excluded by class, age, or gender.
This text provides a critical overview of the new social history of politics in early modern England. It examines the shifting place of popular politics within the polity, focusing in particular on collective disorder.
Here, Professor Rogers looks at the role and character of crowds in Georgian politics and examines why the topsy-turvy interventions of the Jacobite era gave way to the more disciplined parades of Hanoverian England.