In this textbook, Pieter Spierenburg deals with the attitudes, emotions, sensibilities, ideas, customs and practices of people. He synthesizes the work that has been done in this field, looking at pre-industrial Western Europe from the year 1000 until the beginning of the 19th century. He also compares developments in England, France, the Netherlands, and Germany, and orders them into an interpretive framework. Spierenburg highlights two central changes in pre-industrial Europe: privatization increased as human activities shifted from the public areas to private spaces, and magical beliefs retreated as more impersonal views of the cosmos came to the fore. In his chapters on the family, Spierenburg looks at family formation, the increasing importance of the nuclear family, wedding rituals, marriage patterns, the influence of Christianity on notions of love and sex, increasing restrictions on sexuality, the growth of intimacy between spouses, and the treatment of children. In his chapters on popular culture, Spierenburg writes about magical beliefs, popular customs, the campaign to "civilize" the peasantry, and the decline of community life.

The Broken Spell: A Cultural and Anthropological History of Preindustrial Europe

History

SPIERENBURG, PIETER

Historical Study & Educational Resources

Palgrave HE UK

Present-day unease about the treatment of lawbreakers has deep historical roots. Pieter Spierenburg traces the long period of evolution that gave rise to the modern debate about punishment, and relates it to the development of Western European society. He argues that two elements, the public character of punishment and its infliction of physical suffering, were originally at the heart of the penal system. From the sixteenth century onwards, however, these elements began to decline. Spierenburg explains that this development reflected a wider change of attitudes which, in turn, was related to changes in society at large. The book deals successively with each of the parties involved in public executions: the hangman, the magistrates, the crowd, and the victim. Among the themes dicussed are the infamous reputation of the excutioner, the functions of ceremonial, and the social background of those about to suffer.

The Spectacle of Suffering: Executions and the Evolution of Repression: From a Preindustrial metropolis to the European Experience

Europe

Cambridge University Press

This book offers a fascinating and insightful overview of seven centuries of murder in Europe. It tells the story of the changing face of violence and documents the long-term decline in the incidence of homicide. From medieval vendettas to stylised duels, from the crime passionel of the modern period right up to recent public anxieties about serial killings and underworld assassinations, the book offers a richly illustrated account of murder's metamorphoses.   In this original and compelling contribution, Spierenburg sheds new light on several important themes. He looks, for example, at the transformation of homicide from a private matter, followed by revenge or reconciliation, into a public crime, always subject to state intervention. Combining statistical data with a cultural approach, he demonstrates the crucial role gender played in the spiritualisation of male honour and the subsequent reduction of male-on-male aggression, as well as offering a comparative view of how different social classes practised and reacted to violence.   This authoritative study will be of great value to students and scholars of the history of crime and violence, criminology and the sociology of violence. At a time when murder rates are rising and public fears about violent crime are escalating, this book will also interest the general reader intrigued by how our relationship with murder reached this point.

A History of Murder: Personal Violence in Europe from the Middle Ages to the Present

Polity

This book offers a fascinating and insightful overview of seven centuries of murder in Europe. It tells the story of the changing face of violence and documents the long-term decline in the incidence of homicide. From medieval vendettas to stylised duels, from the crime passionel of the modern period right up to recent public anxieties about serial killings and underworld assassinations, the book offers a richly illustrated account of murder’s metamorphoses. 
In this original and compelling contribution, Spierenburg sheds new light on several important themes. He looks, for example, at the transformation of homicide from a private matter, followed by revenge or reconciliation, into a public crime, always subject to state intervention. Combining statistical data with a cultural approach, he demonstrates the crucial role gender played in the spiritualisation of male honour and the subsequent reduction of male-on-male aggression, as well as offering a comparative view of how different social classes practised and reacted to violence. This authoritative study will be of great value to students and scholars of the history of crime and violence, criminology and the sociology of violence. At a time when murder rates are rising and public fears about violent crime are escalating, this book will also interest the general reader intrigued by how our relationship with murder reached this point.

Violence and Punishment: Civilizing the Body Through Time

This innovative book tells the fascinating tale of the long histories of violence, punishment, and the human body, and how they are all connected. Taking the decline of violence and the transformation of punishment as its guiding themes, the book highlights key dynamics of historical and social change, and charts how a refinement and civilizing of manners, and new forms of celebration and festival, accompanied the decline of violence. Pieter Spierenburg, a leading figure in historical criminology, skillfully extends his view over three continents, back to the middle ages and even beyond to the Stone Age. Ranging along the way from murder to etiquette, from social control to popular culture, from religion to death, and from honor to prisons, every chapter creatively uses the theories of Norbert Elias, while also engaging with the work of Foucault and Durkheim. The scope and rigor of the analysis will strongly interest scholars of criminology, history, and sociology, while the accessible style and the intriguing stories on which the book builds will appeal to anyone interested in the history of violence and punishment in civilization.

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

This innovative book tells the fascinating tale of the long histories of violence, punishment, and the human body, and how they are all connected. Taking the decline of violence and the transformation of punishment as its guiding themes, the book highlights key dynamics of historical and social change, and charts how a refinement and civilizing of manners, and new forms of celebration and festival, accompanied the decline of violence. Pieter Spierenburg, a leading figure in historical criminology, skillfully extends his view over three continents, back to the middle ages and even beyond to the Stone Age. Ranging along the way from murder to etiquette, from social control to popular culture, from religion to death, and from honor to prisons, every chapter creatively uses the theories of Norbert Elias, while also engaging with the work of Foucault and Durkheim. The scope and rigor of the analysis will strongly interest scholars of criminology, history, and sociology, while the accessible style and the intriguing stories on which the book builds will appeal to anyone interested in the history of violence and punishment in civilization.

Polity Press

The prison occupies a central position in the penal systems of most countries today. Many historians believe that imprisonment did not become a major judicial sanction until the nineteenth century. Pieter Spierenburg corrects this view. First as a disciplinary institution and later as a penal option, the prison has played an important role in European societies from the late sixteenth century to today. Spierenburg traces the evolution of the prison during the early modern period, with particular emphasis on the prisons of the Netherlands, Germany, and France, but with reference to all of Europe. Spierenburg looks at the daily lives of inmates, a focus that is unusual in historical studies of prisons. He also analyzes the long term nature of change in prisons and the conceptions of prisoners as persons who had broken away from family bonds. His work adds to our understanding of social change and daily life in early modern Europe and will appeal to historians, sociologists, and criminologists.

Prison Experience (Crime, Law, & Deviance Series)

Rutgers University Press

Offers a valuable synthesis of the exciting monographs on social history that have appeared during the last twenty years. [Spierenburg's] contribution is particularly welcome since he comes to his generalizations from a background of archival research rather than solely a theoretical framework."ÐÐBarbara Hanawalt, University of MinnesotaIn this textbook, Pieter Spierenburg deals with the attitudes, emotions, sensibilities, ideas, customs and practices of people. He synthesizes the work that has been done in this field, looking at preindustrial Western Europe from the year 1000 until the beginning of the nineteenth century. He also compares developments in England, France, the Netherlands, and Germany, and orders them into an interpretive framework.            Spierenburg highlights two central changes in preindustrial Europe: increased privatization as human activities shifted from the public arena to private spaces, and magical beliefs retreated as more impersonal views of the cosmos came to the fore.         In his chapters on the family, Spierenburg looks at family formation, the increasing importance of the nuclear family, wedding rituals, marriage patterns, the influence of Christianity on notions of love and sex, increasing restrictions on sexuality, the growth of intimacy between spouses, and the treatment of children. In his chapters on popular culture,  Spierenburg writes about magical beliefs, popular customs, the campaign to "civilize" the peasantry, and the decline of community life.         This is an informative and accessible book, integrating the work of leading scholars in the field while providing lively examples and discussions. It will interest scholars while working effectively as a college-level textbook on the topic.

Broken Spell

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Books by SPIERENBURG, PIETER

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by SPIERENBURG, PIETER. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Broken Spell: A Cultural and Anthropological History of Preindustrial Europe

The Spectacle of Suffering: Executions and the Evolution of Repression: From a Preindustrial metropolis to the European Experience

The Spectacle of Suffering: Executions and the Evolution of Repression: From a Preindustrial metropolis to the European Experience

A History of Murder: Personal Violence in Europe from the Middle Ages to the Present

A History of Murder: Personal Violence in Europe from the Middle Ages to the Present

Violence and Punishment: Civilizing the Body Through Time

Violence and Punishment: Civilizing the Body Through Time

Violence and Punishment: Civilizing the Body Through Time

Prison Experience (Crime, Law, & Deviance Series)

Broken Spell