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Popular Politics in C17th Britain

Explore the dynamics of popular politics in Britain during the 17th century, examining the role of the people, values, and ideologies influencing historical events. Discover the complexities of negotiation, dialogue, and debates shaping authority and legitimacy in society.

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Popular Politics in C17th Britain

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  1. Popular Politics in C17th Britain Mark Knights

  2. Britain’s two seventeenth century revolutions: 1640s/50s; 1688-9

  3. Seminar questions • What were the 'points of contact' between rulers and ruled in the early modern period? 2) 'The people had no role to play in politics.' Discuss. 3) Which values or ideology do we find in early modern popular politics of this period?

  4. The convergence of social and political history • Brian Manning: early modern English rioters ‘devoid of political consciousness’ [Villlage Revolts 1509-1640 (1988)] • But investigation of crowd activity in C18th (George Rudé, E P Thompson) suggested otherwise. • Patrick Collinson called for ‘a new political history, which is social history with the politics put back in, or an account of political processes which is also social’.

  5. Rethinking the state: legitimateauthority is what is important rather than power – and that means thinking about the role of the people in politics. • "If you have fortresses and yet the people hate you they [the fortresses] will not save you; once the people have taken up arms they will never lack outside help." Machiavelli, The Prince (1513)

  6. Elite vsPopular? • Process of negotiation (concessions or attempts to influence policy and practice). Mike Braddick; John Walter; Phil Withington. • Local brokers: deputy lieutenants, JPs, town magistrates, sheriffs and grand jurors, but also constables, beadles, tithingmen, nightwatchmen, vestrymen and churchwardens, overseers of the poor, petty jurors. • Mark Goldie: c. 1700 about 1/20th of the adult males in England were ‘governing’ in some sense.

  7. Wayne Brake, Shaping History: Ordinary People in European Politics 1500-1700: ‘it is useful to regard politics as an ongoing bargaining process between those who claim governmental authority in a given territory (rulers) and those over whom that authority is said to extend (subjects)’.

  8. Varieties of dialogue and debate • Print – accessible beyond the elite

  9. 1690s

  10. Petitions, addresses, oaths • Humble request or supplication that could carry popular demands or express popular loyalism; oaths of loyalty • 5209 in GB 1660-1715; 500 associations • 426 associations signed in 1696 – Norwich’s two rival texts (with only one word different) carry 6875 signatures, almost the entire adult male population • Process of dialogue within state • Ideological debate

  11. What ideological issues were raised by revolutions? • Is it legitimate to raise force against a monarch? • If yes, under what circumstances? And does this imply that political authority rests in the people? • If no, what is the appropriate response? What authority might you be prepared to fight for? • And after war, what is the best way to reconstruct authority? • Did the 1649 execution of the king open the way for a social revolution?

  12. Loyalism as a form of popular politics • Rather than assuming politics is always about contest/radicalism we can see it can also be about the process of creating loyalties to regimes and institutions • loyal to what? • Questions of authority and legitimacy created moral dilemmas; and ones about who was included. 1705 Coventry election crowd contained many women and was addressed by a speech from one Captain Kate who, slapping one of the Tory candidates on the back, proclaimed, ‘now, boys, or never for the Church’ • The need to secure legitimacy and collaboration could also have the unintended consequence of creating a public debate and a popular politics

  13. Conclusion • The GB example also shows the scope for negotiated authority • process of dialogue within the state that could be inclusive and could be highly ideological • Popular politics was not always radical – loyalism had support

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