The Voices of the People in Late Medieval Europe

Communication and Popular Politics

Edited by Jan Dumolyn Edited by Jelle Haemers Edited by Hipolito Rafael Oliva Herrer Edited by Vincent Challet

Book cover: The Voices of the People in Late Medieval Europe

Extent: 276 pages

Publisher: Brepols Publishers

Subjects: Medieval Studies, Social Sciences 

Series: Studies in European Urban History (1100-1800)

Series volume number: 33

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(July 2014)

ISBN: 9782503549835

Price: $132.00

In stock

Throughout the medieval period, the popular classes were always reckoned as a potential force in society even though it was usually dangerous for them to articulate divergent social, political and religious opinions. Sources on medieval political and social life seem to show us a world of order, acquiescence and consent. Otherwise, t


Throughout the medieval period, the popular classes were always reckoned as a potential force in society even though it was usually dangerous for them to articulate divergent social, political and religious opinions. Sources on medieval political and social life seem to show us a world of order, acquiescence and consent. Otherwise, they reveal a picture of bloodshed and violent strife. During times of intense conflict, however, the human tongue was always the most frequently used weapon, much more so than the sword or the dagger. The vox populi, though often difficultly retrievable in the sources, was a ubiquitous one within the realm of later medieval politics. The essays collected in this volume deal with such speech acts of political rebels, with political languages of the ‘popular classes’ in medieval society but also with the subversive twists to speech situations such as preaching, mockery and insults.

  • Edited by Jan Dumolyn
  • Edited by Jelle Haemers
  • Edited by Hipolito Rafael Oliva Herrer
  • Edited by Vincent Challet