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.

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.

Rebellion, riot and popular unrest have been the theme of a succession of stimulating and influential articles in Past and Present. This selection shows how the various forms of popular protest in England from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries have been reinterpreted by modern scholars. Topics range from the great Tudor rebellions of 1536 and 1549 to the urban disorders in London and the food riots of the eighteenth century. Behind this variety, however, there were important continuities and similarities. Gathered in a single volume, the essays show how detailed studies of popular protest have transformed our knowledge of popular mentality and its relationship with social and economic change.

What do maypoles, charivari processions, and stoolball matches have to do with the English civil war? A great deal, argues Underdown in this provocative reinterpretation of the English Revolution. Underdown uses case histories of three western countries to show that the war was, above all, the result of profound disagreements amond people of all social levels about the moral basis of their communities--that commoners as well as rulers held strong opinions about order and governance. Through an original synthesis of social history and popular culture, Underdown links these regionally diverse political opinions to cultural diversity and shows that local differences in popular allegiance in the civil war strikingly coincided with regional contrasts in the traditional festive culture. This pioneering study offers a new understanding of the relationship between society, politics, and culture in 17th-century England.

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.

This book provides a new approach to the history of social conflict, popular politics and plebeian culture in the early modern period. Based on a close study of the Peak Country of Derbyshire c. 1520-1770, it has implications for understandings of class identity, popular culture, riot, custom and social relations. A detailed reconstruction of economic and social change within the region is followed by an in-depth examination of the changing cultural meanings of custom, gender, locality, skill, literacy, orality and magic. The local history of social conflict sheds new light upon the nature of political engagement and the origins of early capitalism. Important insights are offered into early modern social and gender identities, civil war allegiances, the appeal of radical ideas and the making of the English working class. Above all, the book challenges the claim that early modern England was a hierarchical, 'pre-class' society. Second Prize in the Whitfield Prize 1999.

Gender, Culture and Politics in England, 1560-1640 integrates social history, politics and literary culture as part of a ground-breaking study that provides revealing insights into early modern English society. Susan D. Amussen and David E. Underdown examine political scandals and familiar characters-including scolds, cuckolds and witches-to show how their behaviour turned the ordered world around them upside down in very specific, gendered ways. Using case studies from theatre, civic ritual and witchcraft, the book demonstrates how ideas of gendered inversion, failed patriarchs, and disorderly women permeate the mental world of early modern England. Amussen and Underdown show both how these ideas were central to understanding society and politics as well as the ways in which both women and men were disciplined formally and informally for inverting the gender order. In doing so, they give a glimpse of how we can connect different dimensions of early modern society. This is a vital study for anyone interested in understanding the connections between social practice, culture, and politics in 16th- and 17th-century England.

"The short reign of Edward VI was a turbulent one, even by Tudor standards. In addition to such perennial problems as religious change, inflation, poor harvests, and war with Scotland and France - and to some extent as a result of them - the kingdom was threatened by widespread unrest, riots, and rebellions among the common people." "The riots and rebellions were, of course, put down, and their history was recorded by the educated ruling class. In this study, Barrett L. Beer looks at these dramatic events from the viewpoint of the rebellious commoners. Drawing on a variety of contemporary manuscript sources, he analyzes the themes of discontent that motivated them, the radical demands that challenged the social order, and the acts of repression and reform by which the government responded. Above the clamor of the streets and countryside runs the intricate story of the interaction and often confusing relations among the commoners, the gentry who controlled local government, and the king's councillors in London." "Rebellion and Riot provides insights into the critical mid-Tudor period in England. The discontents these riots reflected helped shape the direction of later history."--BOOK JACKET.

The Memory of the People is a major study of popular memory in the early modern period.