Once the evils of idolatry had been proclaimed from the pulpit, it was often near impossible to stop mobs from going on alcohol-fuelled shrine-smashing rampages. This isn’t to deny the religious sincerity of the image-smashers. Many were deeply opposed to those images and all they stood for. The thing was, there wasn’t much in the way of exciting recreation in the sixteenth century, but smashing up statues, breaking glass, and burning wooden images was definitely fun. The drunk and the bored didn’t need much to entice them.
