A2 History – The Witch-crazes – Popular Culture

Debate surrounding ‘popular culture’ –

Peter Burke’s argument –

Early Modern Europe had two distinct cultures –

 Popular culture - practised by ordinary, non-noble or non-clerical members of society (i.e. the vast
majority of Europeans).
 Elite culture - only practised by the wealthy, educated, clerical minority – the elites, however,
often interacted with popular culture, but ordinary people could not do the reverse.

The elites gradually withdrew from popular culture over the EM period, due to how cultural movements,
such as the Renaissance, Reformation, Counter-Reformation and Enlightenment promoted the values of
‘reason’ and etiquette – popular culture was seen to contain superstition, disorder and profanity.

Popular Cultures counter-argument –

Burke’s argument has been heavily criticised, however, as it too binary – it neglects geographic
variations, variations within the same societal groups, how cultures interacted and shared values and how
greatly culture changed and developed over the EM period.

Different popular cultures –

 Geographic variation –
Southern Europe centred around professions and parades (yet a tighter
restriction on women); Northern Europe was less exuberant. Western Europe
tended to be more urbanised and economically advanced compared with the
East.

 Gender –
All European societies were patriarchal in nature – women were inferior to men,
in terms of family, economically, and politically. Women were often depicted as
being lustful, vulnerable to passion and vice, and emotional. Women’s
freedom was variable on within Europe, however – women tended to have more
rights in Northern Europe compared with the South.

Women had expected roles within society – the wife managed the home and
cared for the children; women who failed to meet such expectations were
ridiculed. The formation of gossip-networks between wives and women helped
to sway and form public opinion, through spreading rumours, mocking and
rebuking.

 Elite –
The learned elite (theologians, scholars) - an increasing number of scholars
broke away from religion alongside scientific advancements; the Reformation
incited theological divisions.

Nobles (landowners, politicians, wealthy individuals) - royal nobility experienced

life very differently from small-scale nobles; different nobles had different
connections (nobles in the South tended to have strong commercial and civic
ties; nobles in the North tended to be more isolated).

 Middling –
Included professionals, merchants, and notable farmers – such individuals
cannot be easily labelled as elite or popular; their culture often stood equally
distant from both.

 Urban –
Cities across Europe experienced a large population increase (people from
rural areas increasingly moved to cities in hopes of better socioeconomic
conditions). Cities like Antwerp, Paris and London were a mixing pot of
different cultures and social classes. Professionals, bankers and craftsmen
mingled with labourers, servants and young apprentices, both privately and in
public. Education greatly affected the upper portions of urban society.
  Common –
9/10ths of Europeans still lived within small, rural villages and hamlets, with the
vast majority of whom being legally free (i.e. no longer serfs). Most grew crops
and raised livestock, with a smaller proportion having specialities/crafts – the
‘village community’ of the Middle Ages still remained.

From the evidence available, many in Western Europe paid rent to a landowner,
whilst those in the East were serfs; one’s religion greatly affected lifestyle; youth
culture was different from middle-age and elderly culture; there was a large
gender difference; entertainment and recreational activities lacked
sophistication compared with urban cultures. Taverns were usually the
epicentre of community culture, alongside the occasional carnival, festival or
Holy Day. Fighting animals and sports were also popular.

 Hardship –
Many people’s fate was ultimately decided by the weather and harvest. Plagues
and epidemics killed thousands in highly condensed, dirty cities and towns.
Unbalanced diets and lack of modern medicine also caused death. The elites
were equally susceptible to such concerns.

Aspects of common culture –

 Rituals –
Before the Reformation, most Europeans were loyal to the Catholic Church – the church’s
calendar, therefore, played a vital part of people’s lives. This included:
 Baptisms, first communions, weddings and funerals (containing both religion and
entertainment);
 Attending church on a Sunday was mandatory;
 Saint’s days provided an opportunity for entertainment, rituals, processions etc. (religious
authorities were not concerned with using religious events for non-religious purposes).

 Pageants, Festivals and Carnivals –

Not counting Saint’s Days, villages in Western Europe, on average, celebrated 7 carnivals per
year:
 Festivals and pageants varied across Europe, but all tended to be associated with
ecclesiastical or agricultural occasions, and were times of excess. These include May
Day, Midsummer, St Valentine’s Day, Halloween, and All Fool’s Day. These events often
occurred in the centre of the village or town, involving feasts, masses and performances.
Elites would also host similar banquets and events (e.g. knight jousting, plays, literary and
musical competitions etc.)
 Carnivals were considerably less organised compared with festivals; all social classes
celebrated raw human joys and emotions through carnivals (e.g. eating, dancing and
sex). This would often involve the reversal of normal societal expectations.

Max Gluckman (1972) believes that carnivals were an essential safety valve for EM
society, through providing a means to express resentment towards authority and society
without repercussion, and to release tension.

Natalie Zenon Davis (1975), alternatively, argues that carnivals represented considerably
more – the opportunity to freely express distain for authority, combined with a bad harvest,
rise in taxes or other calamity may cause riots or rebellions (which explains why many
occurred around carnival-times).

Opposition to festivals –
A small number of elites and authorities criticised festivities and carnivals before
the Reformation, due to how their represented disorder, vice and immorality.
 Sebastian Brant, considered drinking, gaming and dancing at church
festivals to be the ruin of country people. Ship of Fools (1495) criticised
carnivals.
  Erasmus regarded carnivals as remnants of archaic, unchristian
paganism.

Some politicians disliked carnivals due to how they often devolved into popular
disorder and dissent. Over 20 German carnivals in the 1520s and 30s, for
example, turned into anti-Catholic parades.

 Public humiliation –
Women –
Women who were domineering, rebellious or unfaithful were perceived to disrupt the
patriarchal society and order, meaning they were often punished or publically humiliated.
This may involve reciting one’s crimes in public, or a group of village people gathering
around the home of those who were deemed not to exhibit traditional marital behaviour
(playing ‘rough music’ or branding effigies of the accused – called skimmingtons in
England).

Legal punishment –

Public humiliation and display were significantly more common than prison.
Miscreants may be placed in the town’s stocks, or wheeled around the town.
Prostitutes were often placed on a dunking stool. Minor offenders were branded, whilst
serious offenders may have faced death by hanging, beheading, burning or breaking on
the wheel – such executions often attracted large crowds.

 Moral regeneration (16th Century) –

A combination of religious divisions and socioeconomic factors (e.g. rising population, inflation,
poverty etc.) led many to fear the impending breakdown of society. This was combined with a high
murder rate, revolts, riots, rebellions and a rise in ‘ungodly behaviour’. All levels of authorities
attempted to respond to this phenomenon (potentially due to puritanism, or more secular motives).

Protestant regeneration –
Protestant’s saw Saints as descendants of pagan gods – they sought, therefore, to
abolish festivals associated with such Catholic saints. Festivals also distracted from
godly activities.
Catholic regeneration –
The Council of Trent (established by Pope Paul III, 1545) deplored how Saint’s Days had
devolved into disorganised festivals, ripe with sin and drunkenness. Attempts to restrict
festivals were met with limited success, however.

 Magic –
In a time filled with death and catastrophe, magic represented a safeguard against such issues.
This was often achieved through the Catholic Church, through blessings, prayers, exorcisms, holy
water and charms. Praying to certain Saints could also remedy issues.

Alternatively, others sought magical assistance from individuals (those who understood the
mysteries of the universe, and could channel the power of God).

Much of society’s, particularly the learned elite’s, fixation on magic may be accredited to the wide
readership of the Hermetica – a compilation of various essays on alchemy, astrology, magic and
philosophy.

Astrology –
People may have visited astrologers for viewing their fate or future (including Monarchs,
who often consulted court astrologers when deciding on state matters) – astrologers
could channel the workings of the stars. Lichtenberger’s Prognostications was read and
discussed by many within the learned elite.

Alchemy –
Hermetica led many to believe that ordinary minerals could be transformed into gold. In
doing so, many alchemists began adopting the now-standard ‘scientific method’, in which
a hypothesis is created as to what a certain element or mineral may do, experiments are
conducted, and results are noted. Many sought to discover the ‘philosopher’s stone’,
which was capable of curing all illnesses.
 Common views on magic –

Whilst the intellectual and philosophical debates surrounding magic did not permeate
downwards, the belief in magic did. Common people believed in astrology, white magic,
black magic, and maleficium. The association of maleficium to the Devil trickled down
from the elite’s debates surrounding demonology.

Challenges to popular cultures –

1. The printing press –

Before the printing press’ invention in the 1440s, the majority of Europeans were illiterate. Skills,
stories, rumour and knowledge were transferred orally. Johannes Gutenberg’s invention sought to
change this rapidly – dissemination of information became increasingly easy for all levels of
society.

 In England – 1476: 400 titles published; 1630s: 6000 titles published; 1710s: 21,000 titles.
 1500: Over 1000 printing shops across Europe.
 Libraries became increasingly common (once only for the elites, by the late 1600s they
were associated with middle-class lawyers and merchants).
 The middle-class increasingly purchased school textbooks, histories, poetry, almanacs
etc.
 Cheap forms of print became popular, such as pamphlets and ballads (wood-carving
images helped to spread ideas despite illiteracy).

Was there a ‘print revolution’?

Yes No

As printing became increasingly popular, production The printing press would have resulted in limited
increased, and costs simultaneously decreased. dissemination of information of a more general
More people could access books. Dissemination and communications revolution had not also occurred (e.g.
diffusion of information was greatly assisted. better roads, ships etc.)

Crucial in the Reformation – pamphlets used in Hand-written books did not suddenly decline after the
Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands to spread the printing press. These shops already created large
Protestant message. numbers of books.

Crucial in radical political movements (in England, for
example) – large readership of radical pamphlets
undermined traditional authorities.
The increased availability to print helped to improve
literacy rates (1/3rd of Englishmen were literate by
1630). Print became a form of entertainment, as was
often sociable. Being literate also became necessary in
many jobs.
The availability of educational books assisted to boost
educational opportunities (e.g. rise in schools in
Württemberg from 50 in 1534, to 2709 in 1581).
Improvements in literacy rates were slow and uneven.
Southern Europe, rural areas and women lagged behind.
An estimated 1/3rd of Europeans were literate by 1700.
Print culture did not ‘overtake’ oral culture; they worked
together symbiotically.
Instead of challenging traditional authority, printed work
could be used to reinforce it. Printing presses controlled
by the state and Church produced religious texts, pro-
government school books and proclamations to
defend the monarchy and Catholic Church. In Catholic
areas, Index Librorum Prohibitorium listed forbidden
books (including many scientific works).

2. Religious change –

Protestant change –

After the Reformation, not all Protestants shared the same aim:

 Puritans and Calvinists sought to create a ‘godly society’, rid of blasphemous,

sacrilegious and disorderly behaviour. This involved the condemnation of
‘popish’ festivals, and promoting only orderly, strictly religious events (e.g.
Sundays). They attacked the rowdiness, drunkenness and sexual promiscuity of
carnivals. Catholic practices were branded as pre-Christian, and remnants of
 spiritual paganism. Some also sought to abolish carnivals, dancing, games,
non-religious singing, theatres, animal sport etc. – this became reality in Puritan
England (1646-1660). Festivals often emerged in their place, however.

In order to rid irreligious activities from the Church, the Bible was made
increasingly available (translated to virtually all European languages); sermons,
interpreting the bible, became common; folksongs and hymns were replaced with
psalms at weddings and funerals.

 Lutherans and Anglicans were comparably more tolerant of popular traditions.

Martin Luther was unopposed to Saint’s Days and festivals.

The Counter-Reformation –

In response to the Reformation, the Council of Trent issued a number of reforms to

cleanse the Catholic Church –

 Religious ceremonies (often serving as community or family festivals) had to

reinforce their religious significance (e.g. weddings without dances).
 The Feast of Fools came to end after religious and political elites withdrew
support.
 Dances and fairs were forbidden on Church grounds.
 The Clergy could no longer participate in festivals (e.g. no dancing, wearing
masks, watching plays etc.)

Unlike Protestants, the Catholic elite sought to reform elements of popular culture, not
completely abolish them; many aspects of the Church, such as the use of spectacle and
visual display, or amulets and holy water, were retained. This ensured that popular
support remained.

3. Political change –

Burke believes that popular culture became increasingly ‘politicised’ between 1500 and 1800 –
ordinary people became aware of state matters, and expressed opinions on the government.
Despite a rise in public disorder and war, secular elites retained power (except for England); many
still respected the traditional order. There was also a rise in church-state relationships, as to
control popular culture and implement their aims (e.g. Calvinist Scotland).

4. Socioeconomic change –
 1500 – 80 million population; 3 cities with > 100,000 population; 1800 – 190 million; 23
cities with > 100,000 population.
 Increase in international trade, creating ‘specialised cities’. This was facilitated by a rise
in ship production, more canals, and improved roads.
 Shift from subsistence farming to commercial farming around towns and cities. Allowed
for an increased availability to a variety of food.

Most Europeans, however, remained within rural communities (only 3% lived in cities with
>100,000 people by 1700). Industrialisation had still not occurred – industry remained local and
small scale.

5. Elite withdrawal –
 The clergy became increasingly educated (Protestant clergy tended to become university
graduates; Catholic clergy began training at seminaries). Combined with a greater emphasis on
dignity and priesthood, the new clergy were more separate from their flock, gradually having
less control over people’s lives and the community.
 The nobility adopted more polished, refined manners and style. Formal dancing was
adopted; great halls were replaced with dining rooms; they learned to write and speak correctly.
 The intelligentsia abandoned superstitious and witch-related beliefs after the scientific
revolution.
 The bourgeoisie imitated the refined manners adopted by the nobility.