Power and Protest in England 1525-1640 (Reconstructing in Early Modern History Series) PDF
Preview Power and Protest in England 1525-1640 (Reconstructing in Early Modern History Series)
Reconstructions in Early Modern History Series Editors: John Morrill and Pauline Croft This page intentionally left blank Power and Protest in England 1525-1640 ALISON WALL A member of the Hodder Headline Group LONDON Co-published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press Inc., New York First published in Great Britain in 2000 by Arnold, a member of the Hodder Headline Group, 338 Euston Road, London NW1 3BH http://www.arnoldpublishers.com Co-published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press Inc., 198 Madison Avenue, New York 10016 © 2000 Alison Wall All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanically, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without either prior permission in writing from the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying. In the United Kingdom such licences are issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency: 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P OLP. The advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of going to press, but neither the author nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress ISBN 0 340 76122 9 (hb) ISBN 0 340 61022 0 (pb) 12345678910 Production Editor: James Rabson Production Controller: Bryan Eccleshall Cover Design: Terry Griffiths Typeset in 10/12pt Sabon by Phoenix Photosetting, Chatham, Kent Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall What do you think about this book? Or any other Arnold title? Please send your comments to [email protected] To Christopher This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface ix List of abbreviations xi Introduction 1 PARTI 1 Monarchy 9 2 Nobility 27 3 Gentry 45 4 Towns 62 PARTH 5 The family 81 PART IE 6 The practice of authority 99 7 Obedience 113 8 Dissent 130 9 Riot 146 10 Rebellion 163 Conclusion 181 Notes 186 Select bibliography 203 Index 209 This page intentionally left blank Preface Early modern England experienced religious, political and social turbulence, and yet until 1640 avoided the terrible strife and civil wars which beset neighbouring states. How was this achieved; how did power really work on the ground in England? The family provided a model for state patriarchy, but how was power contested in family life? And, crucially, how did ordi- nary men and women respond to those who ruled them? These questions have long interested me, and when I started to explore them, it seemed that keeping order in a nation without regular police or army must have required harsh suppression, provoking dissent. So the study was originally called 'resistance to authority'. But further exploration suggested that persuasion might have been more important than coercion. Royal and civic imagery, hard work by JPs and villagers, even pulpit homilies could help deflect dis- content. Protest appeared to be episodic, directed against specific grievances strong enough to overcome a common desire for peace. Since I had been working on this subject intermittently between teaching and other writing, it was a pleasure when the editors of this series offered the opportunity to prepare a book on power in action and popular reac- tions. I would like to thank Christopher Wheeler at Arnold for inviting me to write, and for his interest and warm encouragement, and John Morrill and Pauline Croft for their enthusiasm and for reading the text. Archivists and librarians have been essential to this study. My thanks go especially to those of the Wiltshire County Record Office, Essex Record Office, Chester Record Office, the Public Record Office, Henry E. Huntington Library, California, and the Bodleian Library, and to former and present librarians at Christ Church, Oxford, John Wing and Janet McMullin, for unfailing cheerful assistance. Nicholas Mayhew, Keeper of the Heberden Coin Collection, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, kindly showed me the Tudor and Stuart coins. My debt to other historians is clear in the notes and bibliography; many of them have helped as well with discussion and references. Among them all,
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