Power and Protest in England 1525-1640 (Reconstructing in Early Modern History Series)

230 Pages·2000·12.58 MB·English

by  Alison Wall

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,