They probably did, but who might have heard of it? In a time when writing talking and private letters were the most common forms of communication, things hardly got public.
And printing dissent in the newspapers would quickly lead into serious trouble.
Yes, but due to the lack of wide-ranging communication, the vast majority was left outside of the hearing range of those who would have put it in history books. And quite a few that made it into the book were probably of the form “My brothers and I heard John saying that the King is evil and must be killed!” - “Thank you for reporting, take Johns farm as a sign of gratitude!”…
They probably did, but who might have heard of it? In a time when writing talking and private letters were the most common forms of communication, things hardly got public.
And printing dissent in the newspapers would quickly lead into serious trouble.
Exactly.
But even so, the history books are full of the things OP is asking about.
In other words: both small-form and big-form criticism existed.
Yes, but due to the lack of wide-ranging communication, the vast majority was left outside of the hearing range of those who would have put it in history books. And quite a few that made it into the book were probably of the form “My brothers and I heard John saying that the King is evil and must be killed!” - “Thank you for reporting, take Johns farm as a sign of gratitude!”…