Riots In The 16th And 17th Century

972 Words2 Pages

Throughout the 16th and 17th Centuries, riots were a popular occurrence in many countries in early modern Europe, particularly in England and France. Unsurprisingly, both the underlying and immediate causes of these revolts are debated by historians, however there seems to be a degree of universal agreement that the majority of revolts were instigated by people who had little or no political power. Essentially, this referred to those in society who were politically inferior and in England and France it was the majority of the population who lacked this voice in decision-making. There were many different types of revolt and their frequency and variation means that it is difficult to critically analyse the causes of all popular protests. Therefore, …show more content…

Sharpe argues that ‘rioting was an endemic feature of English life in the early modern era’ and that the root of this was a combination of a generally low quality of life and the attitudes shared by society at the time. He states that riots were a ‘common phenomenon, as characteristic of the pre-industrial world as the strike is of the industrial one’ . Sharpe also comments on the way riots offer important insights into the popular mentality of people at the time. He discusses an apparent level of understanding between the ‘mob’ and the political authorities in early modern England. He highlights how even when crowd action defied the local authorities, the mob ‘rarely lost respect for all forms of hierarchy and order’. Despite the somewhat chaotic nature of riots, there seemed to be a general preference to resolve social grievances, rather than to simply wreak havoc. This suggests that people revolted to achieve specific aims, and the rioters’ apparent ‘sense …show more content…

This pressure in turn led to increased migration into towns due to people searching for work. This meant that the workers in towns were no longer the previously well-settled and specialised labourers, instead, there were more and more wage dependent, unsettled, unskilled workers which led to an overall fall in wages. Merry Wiesner-Hanks states that the increase in population also led to an increase in tenants, which meant that landowners could raise fees, fines and rents accordingly. She estimates that rent in England ‘may have increased as much as ninefold between 1510 and 1640, while grain prices went up fourfold.’ This combination of rising rent and grain prices as well as fewer available jobs led to increased poverty in urban and rural areas, making society much more vulnerable to a fluctuating economy. It is therefore unsurprising that the toll on employment and markets (and therefore the food supply) led to mass hunger and

Open Document