Peasant Fires: The Drummer of Niklashausen, by Richard Wunderli

In the book Peasant Fires, the author gives an account of the story of Hans Behem, a peasant shepherd who claimed to have seen a vision of the Holy Mother Mary. Han’s then gave passionate sermons and speeches about equality for all peasants, for which, peasants came from all over Europe to witness. Wunderli also uses other sources that relate to Hans to further explain this time period. Wunderli uses various models and examples to explain the social order and religious aspects of Germany in the mid 15th century.

The story revolves around a German peasant who is a shepherd and a musician who had a vision of the Virgin Mary and began to preach for drastic social change. The sermons Hans preached about attracted thousands of supporters. The radical message spoken by the drummer upset the church. For this, the drummer was burned at the stake. Wunderli has done well in incorporating his approach with this rapidly moving narrative of Hans’ rise and fall.

Wunderli starts his historical approach by telling us a story about a Han’s Behem. Hans is a German peasant who until seeing the Virgin Mary leads a common peasant life. He works all day as a shepherd and in his spare time plays the drum at local bars for “a few pennies”. Since most of the writers of this time were clergy, Hans was looked down upon for being a drummer. Peasants were also viewed as religiously in equal. Hans was called a liar by the religious officials because there was no way the Virgin Mary would visit a peasant (69-70). Before Hans’ persecution he was allowed to preach because he was making “the count” and his members rich. This proves what weighed more to officials, which was money. The peasants also had a sense for their social position in the scheme of things. “During the Carnival there also was the mock solemn reading of the Ass’s Will”. In this act a dying ass bequeaths parts of his body to specific groups. The ass gives his head to the pope, ears to the cardinals, voice to the church and “his shit to the peasants” (22-23). This account shows how the peasants viewed their social status.

Wunderli points out on various occasions how the peasants viewed time. He shows the perception of time as a stopwatch for peasants. For the clergy and lords the clock was always used for various capitalistic reasons. But for “Hans and his contemporaries, time did not run relentlessly forward…” Wunderli then tells how time came to a still for celebrations in the name of saints. Celebrations were how the peasants relieved tensions between social classes. The time that stopped for Hans in 1476, “lasted for almost three months” (9). During the time of celebration peasants were empowered and the social boundaries were leveled. This standstill of powers over the commoners gave them a sense of independent freedom. Wunderli does a good job not leaving it at just that. Wunderli explains,

Festivals also periodically reinforced hierarchical authority in the minds of commoners by reminding them how important lords were for keeping real order in real time. For out of the periodical foolishness of liminal time, everything must return to order, which was preferable to the “mis-rule” of role reversal.”

In conclusion, Wunderli does a good job researching the facts and forcing the reader to interpret the sources. He goes into adequate depth about the political and social barriers that the 15th century peasant incurred. He makes the reader think by asking questions and not immediately answering them for the reader. Once the question is asked Wunderli goes though a process of showing multiple sources then giving you his opinion. This process allows the reader to interpret his own opinion based on the facts. This occurring before the reader sees the historian’s opinion. This book a well compiled communication that will keep the readers focus to the facts.