Bonfires and Bells

by David Cressy

Following the Reformation, bonfires and bells were the most public markers of a new calendar that was uniquely English and that developed in the 200 years following it. David Cressy presents the reader with a picture of an English people who were at odds with the Puritan killjoys of their day.

Genres: History, British Literature, 17th Century

280 pages, Paperback

First published October 12, 1989

About the author

David Cressy is Humanities Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Ohio State University. His specialty is the a social history of early modern England, a topic on which he has published a number of monographs.

Reviews

[Cali]

why are you, a book about calendars, not told chronologically

[Pippa Catterall]

After the Reformation there was a shift in the rituals of calendar and memorialisation. Not least, the long reign of Elizabeth I and the threats presented to the reconfigured relationship of church and state both internally and externally wrought a new rhythm of celebrations. One particular feature was the ringing of bells to mark the accession of Elizabeth herself on 17 November 1558. After 1605, of course, another red-letter day entered the calendar, that of 5 November, marked by bonfires and bells. The waxing and waning of popular rituals around these dates reflected popular sentiment. After all, public celebrations of dynastic occasions were required, but there was a distinction between the dutiful and the voluntary market by the persistence of bell ringing for Elizabeth well into the (sometimes suspiciously sympathetic towards Catholics) reigns of her successors. Such campanological rites thus bespoke the attitudes of the age. In the case of 5 November, they also established a rhetoric of remembrance that enshrined notions of divine favour already prompted by the Protestant wind of 1588. This richly detailed and highly readable account thus provides a window into the mentalities and national identity of early modern England.

[Dylan Vieites Glennon]

Fantastic book, riveting and thoroughly entertaining as well as informative.

[Stephen]

Calendars are, at first, seasonal, marking warm weather and cold, long days and short. Agrarian calendars tend to follow the seasons of planting and harvest, birthing and butchering. Religious calendars mark other sorts of seasons and events of significance to believers. Political calendars commemorate events and ideas from which national cohesiveness derive. Some observances are impressed from above and others arise from the common people. The calendar in England under Queen Elizabeth I and the Stuarts marked a shift from catholic to Protestant England and increased the number of patriotic observances, in parallel efforts to repress Catholicism and enhance existing political powers. These efforts met with varying success linked to their acceptance or rejection by ordinary people. Useful lessons may be learned from the experience of these two centuries about the use and misuse of holidays to accomplish social, political, cultural or religious change or resist it. This book affords an excellent place to learn some of these lessons.

[Barb Drummond]

This book describes what happened when England was Reformed. How much loved rituals - but especially festivals and holidays - were abolished in the name of efficiency. It raises all sorts of questions how these islands managed to feed themselves as so many holidays were in summer and autumn, when most of the farming was done. Practices were abolished and revived, much loved statues and art were destroyed as the war of words and iconoclasm continued for too long. A fascinating insight into decades of argument over religion and behaviour. England's Reformation was - unlike most others - unplanned and chaotic. Some people claim it is still a work in progress.

[Christine]

This book was invaluable to me while researching Elizabeth I's Accession Day celebrations for my undergrad thesis. Lots of great sources!