Popular culture

Question 1

What did Elizabeth Eisenstein suggest?

Answer 1

That the ‘print revolution’ shaped the processes we call the renaissance, reformation and scientific revolution

Question 2

When and where were pamphlets spreading the protestant message created? What was the purpose of these?

Answer 2

Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands in the 1520s.

To undermine the authority of the Catholic Church

Question 3

In the first 50 years of the printed book how many editions were created?

Answer 3

around 10,000`

Question 4

In the late 16th Century how long did it take for around 10,000 editions of books to be printed?

Answer 4

A year or so

Question 5

How did some English politicians use the printing press in the seventeenth century?

Answer 5

They printed pamphlets to undermine the established political order, creating radical political movements

Question 6

In 1630 how many Englishmen were estimated to be literate?

Answer 6

A third of Englishmen

Question 7

How many schools did the city of Wurttemberg in Germany have in the 1530s compared to 1580s?

Answer 7

50 in the 1530s

2709 in the 1580s

Question 8

What were the main benefits of the printing press to popular culture?

Answer 8

improved access to education, incited political and religious change

Question 9

How quickly did literacy rates change?

Answer 9

Slowly, especially in southern Europe and amongst women.

Question 10

In what places did the literacy rates increase slowly in the mid-seventeenth?

Answer 10

In Rural areas. In many villages the local priest was the only reader

Question 11

How many Europeans were literate by 1700?

Answer 11

Probably only a third

Question 12

Did printing replace handwritten scripture by the late seventeenth century?

Answer 12

No, handwritten copies of books continued to flourish until the the late seventeenth century

Question 13

Did printing undermine the rise of traditional authority?

Answer 13

Whilst it could support and strengthen causes against authoritarian governments and churches, it wasn’t a directly detrimental to establishments

Question 14

What listed the books forbidden to be printed or read by Catholics?

Answer 14

The papal Index Librorum prohibitorium

Question 15

What was the overall significance of the Printing press to popular culture?

Answer 15

It made knowledge more accessible for people, therefore making them more educated, especially in urban areas. There was less of an effect in rural areas.

Question 16

What are the main challenges that may have caused a change to popular culture?

Answer 16

Printing and Literacy, Political changes, The withdrawal of the Elite, Social and Economical change and Religious change

Question 17

How did England’s population change from 1540-1660?

Answer 17

The population doubled

Question 18

How did Europe’s population change from 1500 and 1800?

Answer 18

The population grew from around 80 million to nearly 190 million

Question 19

What’s a piece of evidence to show areas were becoming more urban?

Answer 19

In 1800, 23 cities had populations of more than 100,000 people compared to only 3 in 1500

Question 20

What percentage of Europe’s population lived in towns of 100,00 people or more?

Answer 20

Only 3%

Question 21

What happened with the increased urbanisation?

Answer 21

Businessmen started to view leisure activities as a good investment and therefore leisure activities grew. This would have changed popular culture

Question 22

When did the Elites start to withdraw from society?

Answer 22

By 1800

Question 23

What does Burke suggest?

Answer 23

That the elites had abandoned the popular culture of the lower classes ‘from whom they were now separated, as never before, by profound differences in world view’

Question 24

How did the nobility withdraw?

Answer 24

They were influenced by various text and adopted more polished manners and a more self-conscious style of behaviours. Noblemen stopped eating in great halls with their retainers and stopped wrestling in public and improved speech and behaviour

Question 25

How did the bourgeoise withdraw?

Answer 25

They abandoned local dialects and languages and adopting the ‘ruling’ language of the state

Question 26

How did the learned elites withdraw?

Answer 26

They adopted ideas from the scientific revolution and abandoned the suspicions held by ordinary people

Question 27

How did ideas about Witches differ between the Learned elites and ordinary people?

Answer 27

Most learned people stopped believing in witchcraft, believing it to be unfashionable. They did not altogether dismiss belief in witches though.

Question 28

What did Westly say and when?

Answer 28

‘Giving up on witchcraft is, in effect, giving up on the bible’

Question 29

How did the Clergy withdraw?

Answer 29

Withdrawal was part of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation process. In Catholic areas, after the Council of Trent, priests began to be trained at seminaries. The new priests were better educated and higher in social status than its flock.

Question 30

Did the Clergy power increase or decrease? In what way?

Answer 30

Decrease. The clergy no longer had exclusive influence over education, same with hospitals and poor relief

Question 31

What was the cause of the growing urbanisation?

Answer 31

The rich became richer. Merchants did well off, being able to own houses. Some wealthier peasants started to have more materialistic possessions.

Question 32

What shows that Socio-Economic developments might not have changed popular culture?

Answer 32

Many saw their living standards remain low due to the increased prices not being matched by the high wages

Question 33

Did protestants or Catholics strive to make the Bible more available to ordinary people? How did they do this?

Answer 33

Protestants by it being translated in virtually all European languages

Question 34

How did the translation of the Bible affect lives?

Answer 34

It had a massive cultural impact, influencing the language and literature of most countries

Question 35

What did Puritans ensure was abolished in almost all English towns by 1600?

Answer 35

Religious mystery plays

Question 36

What happened in the 1520s, Germany?

Answer 36

Germany experienced major peasant revolts against clerical and lay landowners and the privileges they exacted

Question 37

How did politics change from the 1500s to the 1800s?

Answer 37

Ordinary people became more aware of affairs of state and displayed more interest in the actions of the government

Question 38

What became commonplace in Europe from 1550 to 1650?

Answer 38

Rebellions and civil wars

Question 39

When was the Thirty Year War?

Answer 39

Between 1612 and 1648

Question 40

What happened as a result of the Thirty Year War?

Answer 40

People became much more interested in politics. In England and France there was a flood of political pamphlets in the 1640s

Question 41

What became a part of everyday life in the late seventeenth century?

Answer 41

Political text and images

Question 42

What festival stopped as a result of the Counter-Reformation? And why?

Answer 42

The Feast of Fools because it was seen as a mockery of the ecclesiastical hierarchy

Question 43

What did the Catholic church forbid?

Answer 43

Dances and fairs on church grounds, the laity dressing as clergy in carnivals and other festivals and for the clergy to participate in popular festivals in the traditional manner

Question 44

When did the Council of Trent meet? What did it discuss?

Answer 44

1545 until 1563. It discussed how to reform the catholic practice. It created the Papal Index

Question 45

What was the papal index

Answer 45

A list of forbidden texts for Catholics to read