Common People

I. Ordinary Lives

A. Difficulties of knowing about ordinary people

B. Larger trends

C. Indirect means

1. second-hand reports

2. instructions and sermons

3. trials

4. folktales

II. The Economy of the 1500s and 1600s

A. Expansion

1. commercialized agriculture

2. growth of population and cities

3. changing structure of work

a. capitalists vs. guilds

B. Winners and losers in an age of expansion

1. Plight of the poor

a. inflation--relative decline of wages

b. enclosure of common lands

c. loss of traditional rights

2. Peasant uprisings

a. hopes in Germany inspired by Reformation

III. Impact of Religious division and war

A. The church in everyday life

1. regulation of family and community life

a. rites of passage, holidays and feasts

2. maintain spiritual and moral order

B. Fears of disorder and strife

1. Political and religious leadership cooperate

a. inquisitions and Auto-da-fe

b. atrocities (St. Bartholomew�s Day Massacre)

c. witch trials

IV. Common Sense

A. Folk wisdom conveyed orally

1. stories and songs

B. Be warned!

1. folktales are words to the wise

2. they inform us about the fears and strategies of common people