Urban Protest in Seventeenth-Century France: The Culture of Retribution

Description

This lucid and wide-ranging survey is the first comparative study in English to explore popular uprisings in the cities of seventeenth-century France. Through close analysis of eyewitness narratives from protesters and authorities in more than fifteen cities, William Beik examines the complex social interaction between angry crowds and hard-pressed authorities. He adds a completely new chapter to the history of the crowd and traces the difficult and fragile connections between elite and popular culture in early modern France.

"Beik's work is a major addition to the historiography of French early modern popular protest...Highly recommended for all academic libraries. Upper-division undergraduates and above." D.C. Baxter, Choice "...W.B. offers a corrective to the picture typically given by historians of the reign of Louis XIV..." Orest Ranum, 16th Century Jrnl "...a careful and incisive historical tour of provincial cities tool little visited by scholars of revolt. This book is a fine, honest struggle, which identifies problems clearly, grapples with them intelligently, and presents evidence honestly, an excellent and stimulating model of the historian's craft." Malcolm Greenshields, Canadian Jrnl of History "In this lucid survey, William Beik deepens our understanding of the cultural contours of seventeenth-century urban protest in provincial France. Beik has written a book that students of popular protest in any period will find stimulating and rewarding." Gail Bossenga, American Historical Review "Beik is both convincing and free of the sin of romanticizing the popular classes." Mack P. Holt, Journal of Modern History