Urban and rural popular culture

• Urban changes

  • Population growth as mor epople oved from rural areas to citiesLondon grew from 60,000 (1500) to 1 million (1800)Italian city states grew from 10.5 million (1500) to 13.3 million (1800)
• Top and Bottom of Urban Society

  Top - Bankers and Rich MerchantsBottom - Apprentices
• Urban Public culture

  •  Procession + paegantsThe Pope's coronationHoly days --> eg: Easter Sunday procession in MalagaSharing local and national newsBroadsides and ballads to share stories
• Urban private culture

  • Musical performances --> singing of popular songs and instruments bought by wealthy peopleReading --> printing press 1440 made books more accessible to purchaseWriting + sharing letters - Intellectual men began long distance correspondenceLiteracy rates were much higher in urban areas
• Rural culture - Literacy

  • Lower literacy rates --> 90% of people could not read or writeEspecially in mountanious areas eg: Pyrenees, only the village priest could readLess access to books --> printing revolution did not hit rural areasSmaller gatherings due to lack of space --> gathering in Taverns + alehouses
• Rural culture - Entertainment

  • Smaller gatherings due to lack of space --> gathering in Taverns + alehousesFestivals --> Open air celebrations were even serf did not have to work and could enjoy themselvese.g.: May Day, Easter, Midsummer, Harvest, Christmas, All saints
• Rural Culture Overall

  • Rural culture lacked the same sophistication as urban cultures
• Rural applied to the Witch hunts

  • In rural areas communal accusations and neighborhood tensions were more likely --> Salem Town vs Salem Village, Village saw more persecutionsRural area would have had less authority = the allowance of larger scale witch hunts eg: BambergDuring the peak time of the witch hunts in most for Europe, most people lived in rural areasRural areas, fear of the devil would have been larger as the motive of maleficium affected rural people more
• urban applied to the Witch hunts

  • Urban areas had higher authorities such as Parliament --> in France, witch persecutions were less likely as all cases went through Paris ParliamentUrban areas were a host for more learned elites --> sceptisim towards the witch hunts eg Scientific revolution, Johann Weyer + Reginal ScottLarge scale hunts in urban places such as Offenburg