Urban Protest in Seventeenth-Century France: The Culture of Retribution
Cambridge University Press
Edition: Illustrated, 2/6/1997
EAN 9780521573085, ISBN10: 0521573084
Hardcover, 300 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm
Language: English
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.
Preface
List of figures
List of maps and illustrations
List of tables
1. Introduction
urban protest
2. Everyday resistance
3. The culture of retribution
4. The position of the magistrates
5. The ambivalence of the magistrates
6. Notable uprisings before 1661
7. Notable uprisings under Louis XIV
8. Factional parties and popular followings
9. Princely leaders and popular parties
10. Popular parties in Bordeaux's Fronde
11. Conclusion
the culture of retribution
Appendix
Notes
Select bibliography.