Ritual, Myth and Magic in Early Modern Europe - University of Reading

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16 Swanson, R.N., Religion and devotion in Europe, c. 1215- c. 1515 (Cambridge, 1995). Thomas, K., Religion and the Decline of Magic, London, 1991). Tracey, J., Erasmus of the Low Countries (1996) online at http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft5q2nb3vp/ Trexler, R.,‗Florentine Religious Experience : The sacred image‘, Studies in the Renaissance, XIX (1972). Wunderli, R., Peasant Fires. The Drummer of Niklashausen (Bloomington, 1992). Wilson, S., The Magical Universe: Everyday Ritual and Magic in Pre-Modern Europe (2000), introduction and ch. 17 Seminar 4 : Popular Culture – Order and Disorder Summary In this session we will examine the way in which order was challenged, reinforced, or maintained in early modern Europe. There are plenty of studies of individual revolts and rebellions across the continent, which also outline some of the common causes of local and regional unrest in this period. However historians in recent years have also attempted to chart the relationship between ritual and violence, between festivities and unrest, and their work raises a number of important questions about the nature of violence, protest, and popular culture in early modern Europe. We shall explore some of these themes in this session, with particular emphasis upon carnival, popular justice, and rites of violence. Seminar Preparation (1) Carnival The carnival was an important feature of popular culture, and especially urban culture. Its festivities could take many forms, and the records available for the historian include descriptions of processions, dances, fancy dress and drama. However on occasion early modern carnival spilled over into violence, and the images of the world turned upside down, disorder and inversion portrayed became all too real – as at Romans in 1580. So what function did carnival have in early modern Europe – did it bring the community together, reinforce stereotypes of order and hierarchy, and allow the populace to let off steam. Or did is encourage a seditious attitude, breed disorder and spread contempt for authority? (2) Popular Justice Although historians often benefit from substantial quantities of evidence about the enforcement of law and order on a national scale, it is clear that for many in early modern Europe, popular local justice was still an important fact of life. On the continent, we have accounts of community action known as ‗charivari‘, in England descriptions of similar events, ‗skimmingtons‘. What was the function of popular and community justice? Did such activities
17 reinforce the social and legal order, or undermine the structures of power by subverting ‗official‘ justice? Why did people take part – who were the victims and who the aggressors (3) Violence, Upheaval and Ritual Both at a local level, and on a national level (most famously in the French Wars of Religion) is can be hard to separate violence against the individual from other rituals and ritualised actions. Similarly, some writers, including Scribner (and to some extent Muir) have identified in the Reformation a process and actions which might be termed ‗rituals‘, or a revolution in the understanding of ritual. Looking at the materials and topics for discussion both this week and last week, are such judgements and conclusions accurate? Were the actions of the people of Early Modern Europe highly ‗ritualised‘? To what extent were debates, events, and activities governed by a sense of prescribed actions or rituals, and the need to conform to them? Primary Sources for Class Discussion Images of the World Turned Upside Down The Descent of the Pope into Hell: Hans Sebald Beham The Spicers Play The Nose Dance The Grand Inquisitor in the Soup Discussion Questions To what extent did the maintenance of order depend upon the elaborate rituals associated with monarchy and rulers? Did community rituals create disorder or reinforce order? Did community festival act as a safety valve, allowing people to let off steam without provoking general unrest? Was popular protest in early modern Europe planned or spontaneous? What impact might the exercise of popular local justice have had upon power of the state or monarch? The world turned upside down‘ : what is the appeal of the idea – and to whom? Secondary Reading For some basic background information about revolts and rebellions in early modern Europe, try the following : R.Bonney, European Dynastic States, 1993 Y-M Berce, Revolt and Revolution in Early Modern Europe, 1987 A History of Peasant Revolts, 1990
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Page 21 and 22: 21 Curry, P., Prophecy and power :
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