13th Congress of the International Society for Folk Narrative Research

Presentation Abstracts

THIELE, Frances

The Language of Prophecy: an exploration of the dissemination and cultural dispersal of non-scriptural prophecies in sixteenth-century England

When Peter Burke wrote Popular Culture in Early Modern Europe in 1978, he argued that early modern society could be divided between the elite and the ‘popular’ culture of the masses (Burke 1994). He further put forward the idea that the boundary between the two cultures was to some extent based on levels of literacy and that although the elite could participate in oral culture, the populace was excluded from the culture of the elites that relied on written methods of communication.

This paper will challenge the idea that sixteenth-century English society can be divided by cultural boundaries based on literacy and, through the example of non-scriptural prophetic narratives, argues that the dissemination of folklore among the populace at this time was not reliant on oral means of transmission.

Tracing the dissemination of prophetic narratives reveals that the cultural distinction between elites and the populace did not clearly correspond to levels of literacy. Most people were more or less literate rather than completely illiterate or literate. Particular groups, such as the minor clergy, disseminated prophetic knowledge through written texts and many other prophecies relied on a combination of images and text to convey their message. Censorship was widespread during the period and published prophecies, like those of the Nun of Kent, Elizabeth Barton, were quickly banned and destroyed by the government.

Henry VIII passed the first law against prophesying in 1542 and made the offence punishable by death. There is no doubt that the Tudor government was very concerned about and had a full appreciation of the power of the spoken word as sedition. However, when the Act was passed it referred to any person who disseminated prophecies through print, writing, speech or song - a clear indication of the many methods of transmission. This paper will use the evidence of examinations and depositions of those accused of prophesying to highlight the oral and written methods of spreading prophetic knowledge and to put forward the idea that as an aspect of folklore, non-scriptural prophecy transcended traditional cultural boundaries.