Public Opinion and Political Contest in Late Medieval Paris

Public Opinion and Political Contest presents an important historiographical intervention regarding the emergence of larger political publics during the fifteenth century. The study analyses political interaction and public opinion in medieval Europe’s largest city through the lens of the only continuous narrative source compiled in Paris during the early fifteenth century, the well-known Journal d’un bourgeois de Paris. Examining one of the most turbulent periods in Paris’ history, which witnessed civil conflict and English occupation, the monograph contributes substantially to understandings of late medieval popular opinion conceptually and empirically, revealing Parisian groups bound by shared idioms and assumptions engaging with supralocal movements. Through an assessment of contemporary reactions to official communication, protest in public space, rumour and civic ceremony, the book presents a timely mirror to themes in flux today, addressing historiographical conclusions that have relegated premodern societies from considerations of the public sphere. As a result, this nuanced assessment of the Journal d’un bourgeois de Paris reveals how access to informational media and forums for discussion bound Parisians and framed a wider commentary upon political issues beyond the highest echelons of medieval society.