Riot, Rebellion and Popular Politics in Early Modern England (review)

Reviews 251 Parergon 20.2 (2003) brought in via the influence of Cluniac monks, and the emergence of a Romanesque style. The tradition however was generally still extremely conservative . Two of the works are particularly splendid, one being the Osma Beatus of 1086, which contains radical changes to the iconography, revealing the artist; knowledge of imagery. It was probably produced in the monastery at Sahagun, which was where the scribe Facundus was based, who had produced the well known 1047 Beatus Commentary. Another important and splendid volume was the Silos Beatus, which had been the subject of an innovative and erudite study by Meyer Schapiro. Williams depth of knowledge of these manuscripts is displayed here in his convincing reappraisal of the work, arguing that while the Mozarabic influences that Schapiro detected in his important study are clearly there, their source is less to do with an ideological use of style which looked back to an earlier era, but rather an indication of the provincial nature of the Silos scriptorium. Williams, because of the generosity of the format of this series, is able to describe in detail each of the works, discussing their production and their imagery, provenance and place within the Beatus tradition, as well as providing a codicological analysis of each. He provides a substantial bibliography and diagrammatical analyses of the iconographical contents. Such is the depth of erudition and the detail of information contained in these volumes, that it seems likely that Williams’ work will be required reading for anyone who wishes to engage with these works. The only quibble that I might have is the lack of colour reproductions in this volume. To see these, the reader must return to the first book in the series, which contains colour photographs from important manuscripts discussed in each of the following volumes. This is an extraordinarily comprehensive project. Judith Collard Art History and Theory University of Otago Wood, Andy, Riot, Rebellion and Popular Politics in Early Modern England (Social History in Perspective), Houndsmill, Palgrave, 2002; paper; pp. xv, 227; RRP £15.99; ISBN 0333637623. This is an ambitious book, covering the 1520s-1720s, with some glances to about 1800. It is a valuable overview of the debates about this complex topic, and 252 Reviews Parergon 20.2 (2003) covers material ranging from the forms and locations of protest, rituals, gender issues, and social structure. The book is strongest on the mid to late Tudor and early Stuart periods, especially the 1549 revolts and the ‘English Revolution’. There is not much material after the 1680s, although the eighteenth century does receive some attention. It is as well to state what this book is not. In his introduction Wood sets a wide agenda, and although this implies a general survey of the field (p. x), there is a fairly high degree of assumed knowledge. Understandably, with just 194 pages of text, some themes receive perfunctory treatment, and details of many events are excluded, while others are telescoped. Hence the book is more suitable for advanced students. It supplements, but does not replace, several earlier undergraduate texts in this area (e.g. Fletcher, Tudor Rebellions, which has maps and the necessary background case studies of specific events). The lack of a bibliography, maps, or glossary, makes it less accessible for junior students. There are several things to be applauded. While using some elements of what might be called class struggle analysis, there is the sense that classes in society are not homogenous: that loyalties were not just to a class, but to other groupings, familial, religious, local, and so on. Also there is no attempt to erect some timeless model which applies to an enclosure riot in 1500 just as much as to another in 1750. In Wood’s subtle and plausible account, changes in language and custom receive due attention. The developing usage of such a term as the ‘middling sort’ is pointed out. Also considered are spatial elements which served to structure or locate urban riots (market places, squares); and temporal factors (e.g. politically charged dates). However, this range of topics is dealt with more thoroughly in some periods than in others. Some narrowing of the focus would have...