Parergon

This book, edited by Fabrizio Titone, comprises twelve essays, each examining acts of ‘disciplined dissent’ in medieval and early modern Western Europe. Titone defines this form of protest as gradual and peaceful, where ‘those who dissent might intercept and use the cultural repertoire’ to legitimise their claims and to appear less threatening to authorities (p. 7). The essays in this collection cover a rich variety of subject matter and source material, demonstrating that disciplined dissent was an effective method of protest and regularly employed by the less powerful to achieve their means. Titone’s opening essay covers several fascinating case studies examining how non-elites in fifteenth-century Sicilian communities sought political recognition through non-violent means, opting to use channels of governments and legal concepts such as the utilitas rei publicae to check abuses of power (pp. 13–15). In fifteenth-century Catania, for example, the artisans and populares collaborated to prevent export fraud in their communities, positioning themselves as trustworthy subjects working in the service of the king and gaining political representation in the process.

Vincent Challet, meanwhile, explores how French peasants were granted legal rights to self-defence during the Hundred Years War. Challet observes that by the Middle Ages, the French monarchy had prohibited unauthorised assemblies of armed civilians, fearful of the threat posed by a militarised peasantry (pp. 253–54). However, the real presence of violence in local communities gave sufficient reason for French peasants to arm themselves against potential incursions. Such was the case with a siege conducted by villagers from Cournonterral, in southern [End Page 272] France (pp. 247–48). The assembly had previously conducted a successful and coordinated assault against English pillagers, before engaging another attack against what they assumed to be another enemy force. In a case of mistaken identity, the assailants were mercenaries of the Duke of Berry, operating on behalf of the king. The villagers were pardoned after it was ruled that the peasants were entitled to self-defence.

And Martin Ingram examines how married Englishwomen between 1400 to 1600 might seek recourse against violent husbands. Ingram notes that for the most part, medieval and early modern women had limited legal or social resources to protect them from spousal abuse (pp. 307–09). The household was the basic unit of government, and wives were subject to their husbands in the same way that citizens were subject to the authority of the ruling monarch. As such, it was legally permissible for husbands to discipline their wives (p. 308). Strict gender roles often meant that abused women were isolated in their households, preventing them from seeking legal intervention. But Ingram argues that the proximity between houses, and the hubbub of activity in communities, gave wives occasion to draw their injuries to the attention of domestic servants, neighbours, local magistrates, family, the clergy, and medical professionals. Visible marks and bruises were a tell-tale sign of domestic violence, but her cries might also attract community assistance and arouse public sympathy. Ingram argues this method of dissent played on the ‘permeability of the domestic space’ and helped gather crucial witnesses in the event of legal action (p. 320).

Ingram notes that the involvement of the clergy was particularly effective in this regard. While many of the arguments in favour of patriarchal rule and domestic violence were taken from the Bible, Ingram contends that by the end of the sixteenth century there existed a growing number of sympathetic clergymen who inverted points of scripture to condemn spousal abuse (p. 318). In the Christian Oeconomie (London, 1609), for example, William Perkins employed the ‘one flesh’ argument to denounce abusive husbands. The rich variety of material cited throughout the essay offers readers a fascinating glimpse into how abused wives harnessed community support in domestic disputes.

A real strength to this collection of essays is...