An exploration of the 1525 German Peasants' War which emphasises the crucial role of media and the printing press in the conflict and its legacy.
Why did German agrarian protests, normally very local or regional, all meld together into one vast uprising that became the 1525 'Peasants' War'? Thomas Kaufmann emphatically argues that the recent availability of printing, which created links between the various regions of revolt, led to the conflict distinguishing itself as the largest of all uprisings in German medieval and early modern history. He reveals the Peasants' War to be a media event driven by its major document, the Twelve Articles, which became the universal programme, printed in numbers to rival even Martin Luther's key texts of the time.
The book offers an overview of the historiography of the war since the 16th century, starting with Luther and his printed interventions through to the competing interpretations of the Peasants' War which developed and lived on in the history of the two German states. It goes on to deal with print before the war, setting out the tropes and images which would be utilised in the struggle. Kaufmann examines the literature of the Peasants' War itself, through the analysis of around 250 printed publications, and lastly explores the historical significance of the war and its legacy in art, literature, political theory and theology.
The German Peasants' War of 1525 thus provides both an overall history of the conflict and a compelling new interpretation of it: print powered the spread of ideas, radicalised positions and ultimately made a senseless war bigger than it otherwise would have been.
An exploration of the 1525 German Peasants' War which emphasises the crucial role of media and the printing press in the conflict and its legacy.
Arvustused
There is no better guide than Thomas Kaufmann to the Peasants' War of 1525, the first crisis of the Reformation. Here he offers a forensic and revelatory study of how the evangelical message fueled the grievances of country folk, how the printing press was co-opted to their cause, and how Luther's reaction did irreversible damage to his previously all-embracing movement. A must read book for all scholars of this period. * Andrew Pettegree, University of St Andrews, UK * This book tells the story of the Peasants War through print, and its a remarkable tale. Bringing to life a whole microculture of print, Kaufmann shows how central printing was to the biggest uprising in Western Europe before the French Revolution. No-one knows sixteenth century German print culture like Kaufmann. If you want to understand the power of mass media, and where it began, read this book! * Lyndal Roper, University of Oxford, UK *
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An exploration of the 1525 German Peasants' War which emphasises the crucial role of media and the printing press in the conflict and its legacy.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations and Notes on Citations
Introductory Comments
1. Long ShadowsHistoriography and Interpretation on the Peasants War
2. Peasants Wars Before the Peasants War?Changing Images of the Peasants
in Uneasy Times
3. Peasants War PublicationsThe Peasants War in Publications
4. Making Sense of the Peasants WarHistorical Legacies
Notes
Sources and Bibliography
Index
Thomas Kaufmann is Professor of Church History at University of Göttingen, Germany. He is President of the Society for Reformation History, a member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the British Academy. He is the author of numerous books on Reformation history, including The Saved and the Damned: A History of the Reformation (2023) and Luther's Jews: A Journey into Anti-Semitism (2017).
Ellen Yutzy Glebe (translator) holds a BA in History and German from Guilford College in Greensboro, NC, and an MA and PhD in Early Modern European History from the University of CaliforniaBerkeley, where she studied with Thomas A. Brady, Jr. For more about her background and ongoing projects, visit www.writinghistory.de.
