EWP3 - Resistance and Rebellion

James C. Scott

Peasants offer symbolic gestures of deference towards nobility in public to draw their support, but don't put on the same act in private areas (the pub).

1950s Marxism

Claim that all early modern rebellion is a result of class conflict (pitting upper against lower classes), but the issue is that there were divisions within each class, and lumping them together is too simplistic. Hobsbawn represents the Marxism here.

Economic Hardship and Rebellion

Modern historians say that economic hardship is not directly linked to rebellion. There is no relationship between increasing disorder and rising grain prices. Rebellion and disorder is never so simple.

Natalie Zemon Davis

Riot is a cultural performance, with ritualized violence (especially in France) acting as symbolic communication

Robert Scribner

Links protest and riot to the growth of the state as well as how Reformation ideas led to rebellion and disorder.

Conservative Rebellion

Most Early Modern rebellions look to restore, not overthrow. Historians like E.P. Thompson or Berce argue this.

Repertoire of Collective Action

Started by Charles Tilly, idea that riots have a playbook of possible ways to negotiate with the powerful which was recycled from one rebellion to another. Note that early modern people had many non-violent options to protest, such as going on strike, boycotting, or occupying buildings.

What brings people together to protest?

War led to increases in taxation which peasants could not keep up with (coercion-exertion cycle). Religious conformity and confessionalization caused much grief, especially in composite monarchies or those with entrenched confessional divisions (Bohemia, Spanish Monarchs).

Who is involved in Protests?

Aristocrats can be roped into helping peasants, and the bourgeois is a really important slice of society for the success of rebellion. They usually operate the militia and reigns of the local economy, thus can determine the success of these movements. Note that religious allegiance cuts vertically through society, not selecting for class.

Is peasant exploitation correlated with unrest?

No, in regions like eastern Europe (Poland) where serfdom existed and peasants had little power there was less rebellion and riot compared to places such as France or Germany where peasants had more control, and rioted more often.

Communal Traditions and Local Institutions

Regions such as southern and eastern Germany where local communities were strong with communal traditions had stronger and more successful riots than places without such tight social bonds (West Germany, for example).

Why do rebellions not gain momentum?

Local customs and loyalties act as a break on rebellion as unrest doesn't spread from town to town as easily. Each region, so unique from the next, is uneasy about working with each other.

Religion in Rebellion

While religion is usually conservative, it can be progressive and aid peasant causes when weaponised as a equality-based and class conscious document. This is seen with the Hussites and German Peasants War (Lyndal Roper, Bible legitimizes the peasants).

Change over Time

The tax privileges allowed to nobles angers peasants by the 1590s. 14th century revolts are usually led by artisan or lower class members of the community, but by the end of the period the leaders are usually upper class outsiders who come in.

Relationship between nobles and the Crown

Differs by region, but Kings such as Louis XIV keep his nobles close so the peasants cannot exploit divisions between the nobles and the Crown.

Number of Revolts in Aquitaine during 17th century

500 Rebellions

Naples Revolt of 1647

Centered around a regular working man named Masaniello. Led to its eventual downfall as he went "mad". The Revolt was supportive of King Philip IV (parading around his portrait), but hated his representatives in Naples (separation of the two).

Quote used in the Palermo Revolt of 1647

"Long live the King and down with taxes and bad government". The crowd was sometimes pro-Crown, and revolt was complex, usually not peasant vs crown, but peasant vs nobles.

Elliot and Laslett on Revolution

Don't label any early modern conflict as a "revolution", view the term as an industrial event.

Why does the Reformation not prompt more revolutions in the early modern period?

The Reformation is not fully class-based, thus, enough of the political authorities are Protestant to appease the Protestantism of the lower classes. There is no marxist style class warfare that you need for revolution.

Revolution and Nationalism

The lack of nationalism in our period (regional pride is more localised) makes it hard for revolutions to come fully to the fore as people don't conceptualise the national state in the same way.

Peasant-Monarch Relationship

The peasantry and lower classes are generally supportive of the monarch, much more than you'd think. The monarch is viewed as the guarantor of peasant rights, and the nobles are the ones trying to take them away. Lief thinks some peasants are ignorant, but many know that this isn't necessarily true. The riot is ritualised in this way anyway.

Limitations of appealing to the Monarch

Due to the idea of divine rule, the monarch is always "right". Thus, if the monarch really stamps his authority on a matter, the peasants can't reasonable fight back. The Pilgrimage of Grace is a good example of this, where the Catholic rioters treat Henry VIII as if he is a child to keep the monarch "innocent". However, this generally fails.