A probing study of German village life between the early Reformation and the Thirty Years' War.

List of illustrations and tables; Acknowledgements; A note on usages; Glossary; List of abbreviations; introduction; Part I. Agrarian Expansion, Revolt and the Decay of Community: 1. Anatomy of a rural society; 2. Peasants' war and reformation; 3. Rich and poor; Part II. Search for Order: 4. Reformation, patriarchy and marital discipline; 5. Defending the patrimony; 6. The unchristian economy; 7. Threat of revolt; Part III. Crisis and Recovery: 8. Crisis; 9. Agrarian order restored; 10. Village society and the practice of state power; Appendices; Manuscript sources; Bibliographical essay; Index.