The German Peasants’ War and the ‘Crisis of Feudalism’: Reflections on a Neglected Theme

When Peter Blickle published his monograph Die Revolution von 1525 to coincide with the 450th anniversary of the German Peasants’ War in 1975,1 it was hailed as a milestone of research on the origins and programme of a massive popular uprising whose scholarly interpretation had largely been set in stone after Günther Franz’s comprehensive narrative account, which first appeared in 1933.2 Though critical voices were raised against its main lines of argument, the work has now entered a fourth edition, as well as being translated into English.3