Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book argues that the violence in Europe between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries has been the subject of extensive research. The early-modern period is significant because it witnessed a dramatic drop in the number of recorded homicides in some parts of Europe. The book is divided into three sections: interpersonal and ritual violence; war; and early-modern justice. The importance of ritual violence during the French Wars of Religion was established by a seminal article published by Natalie Zemon Davis. Justine Semmens shows for the first time how plague was incorporated into rites of violence. The book explores the wide range of violence by Parisian and Oxonian students in the increasingly politicized universities. One of the most famous violent episodes during the Renaissance, the Sack of Rome, is examined by Jolle Rollo-Koster.