Ritual in Early Modern Europe (review)

Abstract

Early Modern European Ritual in Early Modern Europe. By Edward Muir. Second edition. [New Approaches European History, 33.] (New York: Cambridge University Press. 2006. Pp. x, 320. $70.00 clothbound; $24.99 paperback.) In 1997 Edward Muir published the first edition of Ritual in Early Modern Europe, an influential and much-lauded volume in Cambridge's distinguished series of textbooks, New Approaches in European History, designed for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students.The author has updated the current text in the light of recent work, especially research relating women, and deflects postmodern criticism that doubts whether much can be learned by modern historians unable witness past rituals directly and forced rely on the fallible memories and mediated texts left by contemporaries. Moreover, the new edition examines how Europeans' understanding of their own rituals was affected by their growing awareness of the ritualized behavior of other peoples. Muir blends the work of dozens of scholars laboring in the fields of Renaissance and Reformation studies with his own research into civic rituals, vendetta, and factions in Italy argue that Europe between 1400 and 1700 experienced a revolution in ritual theory and practice. He offers at the end of each chapter suggestions for further reading, distinguishing between works suitable for novices and those better suited specialists. For the former, the suggestions are an ideal initiation into ritual studies; for the latter, they are a valuable compendium of scholarship in the field. Although his work is informed by recent anthropological theory and ritual studies, Muir nonetheless avoids the charge of presentism by dedicating himself recapturing the past. He asserts that his goal is not only understand the past but also to respect the dead, honor how different they were from us rather than celebrate their ability anticipate us or our ability surpass them (p. 11). Therefore, he succeeds in transporting us back a world in which rituals were experienced by participants who believed that rites actually accomplished and not just represented some thing. Therein lies the strength of his work, for Muir (who informs the reader that he was raised a Mormon) convincingly explains why Catholicism relied so heavily on rituals. He argues that medieval Christianity should not be seen primarily as a set of beliefs but as a set of ritualized practices that pertained supernatural forces and beings. In other words, religion was an essential part of a wider cultural response an intimidating and mysterious world that it hoped explain, order, and manipulate. Through the use of repetitive rituals that served either as a mirror or model for society, Catholicism not only made sense of a nonsensical world but also provided emotional solace for the otherwise forlorn faithful. Muir begins by succinctly introducing the anthropological debates concerning ritual theory. …