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Politics and Popular Culture: England and France
Prof. Zoë  Schneider
Georgetown University, History 335/ Spring 1999

Syllabus/Politics and Popular Culture		Discussion Questions
Paper Topics		E-Mail: Prof. Schneider

Early Modern England and France:
Politics and Popular Culture
Fall 1999/Hist. 335
Prof. Zoë Schneider

Description:
 This course will examine the dynamic relationship between the state and popular politics in England and France from 1600-1750.  The course is designed around active discussion of primary sources and films, including royal political treatises, popular tracts, court cases, popular festivals and traditions, and early Enlightenment works .  Topics will include the changing idea of divine right monarchy, the theory and practise of state justice at the village level, popular politics in the English Revolution, the emergence of a new public sphere through journalism and political clubs, and the rise of outspoken political criticism in the early decades of the eighteenth century.

Course Requirements:
Coursework is focused on learning to analyze primary documents in light of the social, economic, and political history of the age. To this end, there will be no exams in the course, but two short analytical papers and one longer research paper.  Each student will also give a short class presentation on a topic of their choice during the semester, and class participation in discussion throughout the semester will be a significant portion of your grade.

Participation Grade:  25%
Paper 1:  20%  5-6 pages
Paper 2:  25% 5-6   pages
Final Paper/Project: 30% 10-12 pages

Class Schedule:

Thu, Sep 2          Introduction: The Mask and the Reality of Power

Tue, Sep 7          Historical Background: The State in England and France
Thu, Sep 9          Collins, The State in Early Modern France, 79-124; 149-172

Tue, Sep 14          Divine Right Rule: Theories of Sovereignty
Thu, Sep 16         Wooton, Divine Right and Democracy, 99-128; 450-478

Tue, Sep 21          Law and Disorder in England
                            Film Excerpts: The Beggar's Opera
                            Hay, Albions Fatal Tree, 17-63 (On reserve)
Thu, Sep 23          Sharpe, Crime in Early Modern England, 174-239

Tue, Sep 28           Law and Civil Society in France
                                Collins, The State, 105-115; 146-149
Thu, Sep 30           Schneider, "The Village and the State: Popular Uses of the Courts" (On reserve)
                              Film Excerpts: The Advocate

Tue, Oct 5            Lords of Misrule: Popular Festivals and Protests
                            Davis, Society and Culture, 97-151 (On reserve)
Thu, Oct 7             Hutton, Rise and Fall of Merry England, 5-33

Fri, Oct 8          **1st Paper Due--4 pm, ICC 600**

Tue, Oct 12            Theories of Just Rebellion: Levellers, Diggers, Puritans
                                David Underdown, Revel, Riot and Rebellion, 9-44
Thu, Oct 14          Divine Right and Democracy, 273-334; 355-358
                              Film: Cromwell

Tue, Oct 19            Towards a New Social Contract
                                Locke, Second Treatise on Government, 1-69
Tue, Oct 21            Locke, Second Treatise on Government, 69-107; 114-132

Tue, Oct 26            Widening the Public Sphere: The Middling Classes and the Fourth Estate
                                Darnton, The Great Cat Massacre, 145-190 (On reserve)
Thu, Oct 28             Steele and Addison, The Tatler and The Spectator, 283-311; 430-459

Tue, Nov. 2            The Intellectuals Revolt: Early Enlightenment in France
Thu, Nov 4             Voltaire, Letters from England (all)

Tue, Nov. 9            Re-Imagining the French State
                                Montesquieu, Persian Letters, 39-90
Thu, Nov. 11          Montesquieu, Persian Letters, 90-169

                            **2nd Paper Due, 4 PM Friday ICC 600**

Tue, Nov. 16       The Problem of the Excluded: Women and Slaves
Thu, Nov. 18        Reading Packet, on reserve

Tue, Nov. 23         Film/Multimedia Presentation
Thu, Nov. 25        **Thanksgiving Holiday**

Tue, Nov. 29        Paper Presentations
Thu, Dec.   2        Paper Presentations

Tue, Dec 7            Into the Future: The French Revolution
 

Book List:
Available at the Bookstore:
Collins, The State in Early Modern France
Wooton, ed., Divine Right and Democracy (Penguin)
Sharpe, Crime in Early Modern England, 1550-1750
Steele and Addsion, Selections from The Tatler and The Spectator
Montesquieu, Persian Letters (Penguin)
Voltaire,  Letters on England (Penguin)

Available on Reserve:
Davis, Society and Culture in Early Modern France
Hutton, The Rise and Fall of Merry England
Underdown, Revel, Riot and Rebellion
Hay, Albion's Fatal Tree
Schneider, Courts and Clients in Village Society
Darnton, Great Cat Massacre

James I of England, Robert Filmer, and Thomas Hobbes all insist on the right of a powerful sovereign to rule the state; but each has different ideas about where the sovereign's authority comes from, and what its limits might be.  James I and Filmer lay down the basic arguments for divine right monarchy.  Hobbes, on the other hand, makes an argument for a strong sovereign based on humankind's inate defects when living in a state of nature.

1.  What arguments and authorities do James I and Filmer use to establish a king's divine right to rule?  How does this differ from Hobbe's argument about the origins of the sovereign's authority?

2.  Are there any limits to a king's authority?  Is the sovereign's ability to act bound by his or her coronation oath, by laws, by contracts, or by God?

3.  What arguments do the writers make against the people's right of rebellion against a bad sovereign?  Are there any inconsistencies in their arguments?

4.  How does the Judgement and Decree of the University of Oxford lay out a set of ideas that challenges the assumptions made by the other writers?
 

1.  The right to rebel against a legitimately constituted government is one of the most hotly debated issues in political thought.  Explore the ways in which rebellion or reform were justified in this period, using Voltaire, Locke, Wooton, and any others you like.  What underlying assumptions do they make about the nature of legitimate government or the ideal state?

2.  In his Second Treatise on Government, John Locke argues for a contract theory of government and for greatly expanded (though not universal) public participation in government.  How might the middle-class authors of the Tatler and Spectator and the soldiers and commoners in Divine Right and Democracy have argued with or against his idea of who should be granted active citizenship?
 
 

Choose one of the following topics; the paper should be 5-7 pages, doublespaced.  Papers are due in the History Department, 600 ICC, at 4 pm on Friday.  Each paper should use at least two, and preferably three, of the books used in class.

1)  How do the ideas of divine right rule expressed in Divine Right and Democracy  work or fail to work in practice in England and France?  What are the real limits of the sovereign's power?  (Note: you may want to focus on only one or two of these ideas; you should then provide specific examples from other readings to support your argument).

2)  Compare the French and English uses of law or the court system to keep order.  What kinds of forces working in each society influence the way ordinary people or criminals are treated by the justice system?  Is the goal of keeping order in the state well served by the justice system?

3)  Discuss the difference between power and authority in early modern England and France.  What individuals or social groups seem to hold the most power?  What is their power based on?