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

Description

This lucid and wide-ranging survey is the first study in English to identify a distinctive urban phase in the history of the early modern crowd. Through close analysis of the behaviour of protesters and authorities in more than fifteen seventeenth-century French cities, William Beik explores a full spectrum of urban revolt from spontaneous individual actions to factional conflicts, culminating in the dramatic Ormee movement in Bordeaux. The 'culture of retribution' was a form of popular politics with roots in the religious wars and implications for future democratic movements. Vengeful crowds stoned and pillaged not only intrusive tax collectors but even their own magistrates, whom they viewed as civic traitors. By examining in depth this interaction of crowds and authorities, Professor Beik has provided a central contribution to the study of urban power structures and popular culture.

"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