The Popular Revolutions of the Late Middle Ages


Book Description

This book, first published in 1973, examines the period when wars, famines and epidemics bred widespread conflicts, culminating in the revolutionary years of 1378–82 with the Florentine ‘Ciompi’, revolts in Flanders and France and the risings among English labourers. The analysis ends with the Hussite crisis which gave the movement a new aspect. The troubles were varied, with hunger riots in cities and brigandage in the country, open struggles between lords and peasants, urban conflicts over municipal power, and labour conflicts over pay and hours.




Lust for Liberty


Book Description

Comparing rebellions in northern and southern Europe over two centuries, Cohn analyzes their causes and forms, their leadership, the role of women, and the suppression or success of these revolts. The book offers a new interpretation of the Black Death and the increase of and change in popular revolt from the mid-1350s to the early 15th century.




The Commercial Revolution of the Middle Ages, 950-1350


Book Description

Professor Robert Lopez provides an incisive analysis of the economic structure of the Middle Ages. He makes use of modern economic concepts to explain how an underdeveloped economic system gave birth to the commercial revolution through which Europe succeeded in developing itself. The book goes far beyond the familiar picture of medieval European society, with its magnificent cathedrals and imposing castles, to concentrate instead on the walled cities and open countryside, for it was here that the revolution was born. Deftly and concisely, Professor Lopez traces the history of this remarkable economic upheaval which saw the rise of merchants and craftsmen and the decline of agricultural dependence by the society.










Revolutions: a Very Short Introduction


Book Description

"In the 20th and 21st century revolutions have become more urban, often less violent, but also more frequent and more transformative of the international order. Whether it is the revolutions against Communism in Eastern Europe and the USSR; the "color revolutions" across Asia, Europe and North Africa; or the religious revolutions in Iran, Afghanistan, and Syria; today's revolutions are quite different from those of the past. Modern theories of revolution have therefore replaced the older class-based theories with more varied, dynamic, and contingent models of social and political change. This new edition updates the history of revolutions, from Classical Greece and Rome to the Revolution of Dignity in the Ukraine, with attention to the changing types and outcomes of revolutionary struggles. It also presents the latest advances in the theory of revolutions, including the issues of revolutionary waves, revolutionary leadership, international influences, and the likelihood of revolutions to come. This volume provides a brief but comprehensive introduction to the nature of revolutions and their role in global history"--




The Routledge History Handbook of Medieval Revolt


Book Description

The Routledge History Handbook of Medieval Revolt charts the history of medieval rebellion from Spain to Bohemia and from Italy to England, and includes chapters spanning the centuries between Imperial Rome and the Reformation. Drawing together an international group of leading scholars, chapters consider how uprisings worked, why they happened, whom they implicated, what they meant to contemporaries, and how we might understand them now. This collection builds upon new approaches to political history and communication, and provides new insights into revolt as integral to medieval political life. Drawing upon research from the social sciences and literary theory, the essays use revolts and their sources to explore questions of meaning and communication, identity and mobilization, the use of violence and the construction of power. The authors emphasize historical actors’ agency, but argue that access to these actors and their actions is mediated and often obscured by the texts that report them. Supported by an introduction and conclusion which survey the previous historiography of medieval revolt and envisage future directions in the field, The Routledge History Handbook of Medieval Revolt will be an essential reference for students and scholars of medieval political history.




Ideology and Popular Protest


Book Description

In this Pathbreaking Work Originally Published in 1980, George Rude Examines the Role Played by Ideology in a Wide Range of Popular Rebellions in Europe and the Americas from the Middle Ages to the Early Twentieth Century. Rude was a Champion of the Role of Working People in the Making of History, and Ideology and Popular Protest was the First Book Devoted to the Comparative Study of Popular Political Ideas and Consciousness in Both Preindustrial Cultures and the Age of the Industrial Revolution. According to Rude, the Development of Modern Revolutionary Struggles Depended on a Crucial Merger of the Culture and Ideas of the Common People with the Radical Ideologies of Intellectuals. In a New Foreword, Harvey Kaye Reviews Rude's Career as a Pioneer in the Critical Study of Social Movements and Highlights the Enduring Value of Ideology and Popular Protest as a Classroom Text.




The towns of Italy in the later Middle Ages


Book Description

The towns of Italy in the later Middle Ages presents over one hundred fascinating documents, carefully selected and coordinated from the richest, most innovative and most documented society of the European Middle Ages.




A People's History of Modern Europe


Book Description

From the monarchical terror of the Middle Ages to the mangled Europe of the twenty-first century, A People's History of Modern Europe tracks the history of the continent through the deeds of those whom mainstream history tries to forget. Europe provided the perfect conditions for a great number of political revolutions from below. The German peasant wars of Thomas Muntzer, the bourgeois revolutions of the eighteenth century, the rise of the industrial worker in England, the turbulent journey of the Russian Soviets, the role of the European working class throughout the Cold War, student protests in 1968 and through to the present day, when we continue to fight to forge an alternative to the barbaric economic system. With sections focusing on the role of women, this history sweeps away the tired platitudes of the privileged upon which our current understanding is based, and provides an opportunity to see our history differently.