Peasant Fires: The Drummer of Niklashausen

First, the book has some ideas that are certainly out there. I don't particularily like the use of imagination in history, but I think when Wunderli uses it he does it correctly. He does nto base his whole book on it, and quickly he admitts that it was imagined only to give the reader an idea of what could have happened based on what we know of sermons, etc. Second, his examination of peasants in 15th century Germany is quite good. He tries to show how carnivals were a period when social status did not matter and people could escape the horros of their everyday life. Also, in context of a series of bad Bishops, Wunderli places Hans Behem. His movement does show how peasants were outraged at clerical corruption, which could and does in part explain the violence of the wars of religion in the 16th century. Last, Wunderli makes a great point at the end of the book when he states that historians will understand us better than we do. There is a lot of merit to this. How many people supported or opposed Bush, yet how many of those people actually had a REAl clue to what really happened. I would say almost none. Nobody really knows the truth behind the Bush admin, and most of us never will. In 60+ years some historian will be able to look at a plethora of sources in order to reconstruct his administration. The picture will be clearer, and a better understanding will emerge. The books is very entertaining, at some points its out there, but it is very good. If you are into histories that try to look at the people without a voice, I would suggests The Cheese and the Worms as well.

The peasants in medieval society remain silent in history, neither speaking themselves through writings they were not able to produce or being ignored by the literate classes of the aristocracy or clergy, until those occasional moments when the peasants turn their despair into anger and their enemies cannot write enought about them. Richard Wunderli captures simply and perfectly one of these moments in Peasant Fires (The Drummer of Niklashausen) when the peasants in Southern Germany are led on a very brief pilgrimage by the enigmatic peasant/shephard Hans Behem and his visions of Mary that threaten to turn the society upside down. The author is great at capturing this period of time for the reader and setting the stage for the main event. It is unfortunate that the main event itself could not be meatier but that is not the point. A smaller eruption in society such as this is appropriate for this little volume. It allows the general reader into medieval history a chance to get a clear look at an interesting time. A well-written and presented book.

Peasanta fires is an interesting, imaginative account of the pilgrimage of Niklashausen. Richard Wunderli has done a good job of recreating the story of Hans Behem and the pilgrimage of Niklashausen in 1476. The ever-present and extremley important themes that run throughout the book are that of pilgrimage, indulgences, and social classes. Although some of the story is the imagination of Wunderli himself, he clearly explains the story of Hans Behem. This novel is a useful tool when studying the history of Germany in the 15th and 16th centuries. It is not the usual reading material that one would find when learning about history. Nonetheless, it gives a different perspective than that of a usual textbook.

This book created a new insight into the way we look at peasants. It is quite difficult to assemble together a story this well, and the parts that Wunderli creates seem believable considering the context of the novel. In addition, it shows how peasant life revolved around the festivals and that the time inbetween was rather dead time. It helped me look at the life and struggles of peasants (even the oppression) in a whole new light.