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Peasant Fires: The Drummer of Niklashausen is a historical nonfiction novel that describes the struggle of social equality during 15th century in Europe. Published in 1992 by Colorado University professor, Richard Wunderli, Peasant Fires describes the struggle of the poverty-stricken peasants in Europe through the story of an illiterate peasant named Hans Behem who was known for leading a pilgrimage in a small village known as Niklashausen.
The struggle for social equality has been a constant battle throughout history and is the center theme of Peasant Fires: The Drummer of Niklashausen. The story of Hans is used by Wunderli to give insight and capture the readers’ attention towards the historical background and economic and social status of 15th century Europe and how it affected the peasant community. It is expressed throughout the novel that little is known pertaining the story of Hans, but Wunderli uses the little evidence available to inform the readers on the abuse of power by church authorities and how the unfair treatment shown unto the peasant community often resulted in uprisings and increased the struggle for social equality.
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After ridding himself of his own vanities, he began preaching sermons about God’s anger with not only the commoners but the clergy as well. He preached on the sins of the church authorities and in time, called for their death. Pilgrims from all joined the pilgrimage at Niklashausen, wanting to experience the rumored miracles and witness the peasant sermons themselves. After being alerted of a peasant boy preaching sermons against the clergy, church authorities pushed to put a stop to the treacherous threat. In the end, Hans was executed and with his death went the pilgrims’ hope for
In Richard Wunderli’s Book Peasant Fires: The Drummer of Niklashausen, Wunderli presents idea of “Enchanted Time.” The idea of “Enchanted Time” centers on Holy Days such as Advent, Carnival, Lent, Easter, and Walpurgisnacht where men and women could worship and celebrate their religion, as well as, feel closer to God, the angels, and the saints who resided in the “powerful realm.” Hand Behem and all other Europeans believed in this separation of realms, and in Peasant Fires Behem and the other peasants used these enchanted times to “make an appeal to supernatural forces to find justice for their discontent and meaning for their misery.” (Wunderli) Through the dissection and summation of Lent and Walpurgisnacht the concept of “Enchanted Time”
Published in 1975 by Harper Perennial, The Fires of Jubilee by Stephan Oates explores the personality of Nat Turner and the events which lead up to his leadership of the Virginian slave revolt of 1831 (Oates 4, 126). Young Nat was born into slavery in 1800, but, due to his precocity, he was early lead to believe in the probability, nee inevitability, of his eventual freedom (11-16). However, things were not to be so simple for him. Disease, death, and the vicissitudes of fortune all converged to cause Nat to remain a slave in the hands of several different owners. Of a highly introspective, superstitious nature, Nat chaffed at and brooded extensively on his circumstances – longing for freedom (24-32). Seeking an outlet for his intelligence
On April 16, 1525, Pastor Johann Herolt of Weinsburg reported that “the peasants scaled castle walls, captured the countess and her children, plundered the castle, and then appeared before the town” (Doc 5). The peasants’ acts of violence towards the lords stirred up negativity, doubt and even resulted in the death of others. Martin Luther declared in Against the Murdering, Thieving Hordes of Peasants that “the peasants forgot their place, violently took matters into their own hands, and are robbing and raging like mad dogs” (Doc 7). The peasants had misinterpreted Luther’s spiritual motivation and used it in such a way that excused their violent behavior against the lords. Another response included Caspar Nützel’s letter to Duke Albert of Prussia that addresses his negativity towards the peasants’ behavior. He maintained that the peasants’ behavior was unchristian and unreasonable and that they had “overstepped the mark” due to their ignorance (Doc 9). The revolts were finally terminated by authorities around 1526. The Decree of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire expressed that acts of “disturbance and rebellion” such as these be prevented in the future (Doc
At first glance, the story “Barn burning” seems just to be about a tyrannical father and a son who is in the grips of that tyranny. I think Faulkner explores at least one important philosophical question in this story were he asks at what point should a person make a choice between what his parent(s) and / or family believes and his own values?
Once that a juvenile needs to be interviewed in regards to the investigation of a fire the interview should be done in a quiet area or room free of noise, distractions, and interruptions. One mindset of the juvenile fire setter is to demonstrate that authority figures have no impact on them and will demonstrate a “bad attitude”. The ability to annoy and frustrate an investigator is rewarding to them. One way to counteract this tactic is to ignore it as best as possible. The investigator needs to stay on track and keep the focus on the goal of getting the needed information. The investigator needs to be clear to the juvenile the purpose of the interview and expectations beforehand. The investigator needs to open with what will happen to the
Sheetz 1 Sarah Sheetz Ms. Rosenberger English 4 October 17, 2016 Faulkner’s Self Help Book In “Barn Burning,” Faulkner illustrates a boy’s coming to age story, including his struggle in choosing whether to stand by in the midst of his father’s destructive cycle of spiteful burning or stand up for his own belief in civic duty. While most readers do not relate to having a father that habitually burns others’ belongings in a strange power scheme, readers relate to the struggle between blood ties and their own values. Taking the theme even broader, readers relate to any struggle with making a decision. Through imagery, reoccurring motifs, and diction, Faulkner creates an intense pressure which enhances readers understanding of Sarty, his struggle,
As this story opens, we find our antihero struggling to support his family as a tenement farmer in an unnamed Southern county. The story explains that some 30 years prior, Mr. Snopes was making a living as a mercenary and a fugitive horse thief during the Civil War. These facts set the story sometime around 1895, just around the end of the "Gilded Age". This was a time of significant social turmoil caused by reconstruction efforts in the South, the beginnings of an economic boom in the North, a massive influx of European Immigrants, and the political and social disenfranchisement of racial minority groups and the poor.
Hans Hubermann was directly described as a lover of Jews, because he did not believe that Jews were being treated fairly, in fact they were treated as less than animals being whipped, malnourished, and forced to work in harsh conditions. Hans treated Jewish people just like everyone else, he showed fairness to everyone, death said, “ He was a man who appreciated fairness” (Zusak 180). He put his life on the line many times trying to stand up for Jews. When there was a parade of Jews walking down the street, the brave Hans Hubermann tried to give one of the Jews a piece of bread, and instead of being applauded for this good deed he he got a flaming whip on his back. Even though Hans was whipped, death said, “If nothing else, the old man would die like a human. Or at least the thought that he was a human” (395). Hans was very secretive about his life during World War I, so without knowing the story about how Erik Vandenburg saved Hans’ life, one would not understand just how much equality and fairness meant to Hans. It was Hans’ fairness, generosity, and loyalty that made Hans different from all of the other characters in The Book Thief, as he remained the same while true to
When most people drive downtown, they are almost always in a hurry. But, if a person actually stops and looks around, it is easily seen that Fond du Lac contains a lot of history. Every old church and store in this city has a special story connected to it. When a disaster strikes, the story can be lost; only to be found again through old newspapers. These churches meant a great deal to the citizens of Fond du Lac during the time of their existence. Couples were married, babies baptized, and generations of families gathered on Sunday mornings for worship in these churches. In the early days, catastrophic fires threatened these structures, and Fond du Lac did not have a proper fire department handle the disaster. Most often, if something caught on fire, it had to be left to burn. Then the expensive rebuilding could begin.
In addition, chapter five creates a clear image of the devastation that the farmers faced and their hatred for the "monster" bank. This interchapter allows the reader to experience the passion that the farmers have toward the land and the choices they had to make concerning betrayal of their own people. It presents the reader with a broad prospective of what is happening to the tenant farmers before ...
Hitler’s regime finally shows its color; everything starts to against Hans belief, then a conflict breaks out unavoidably; Hans has no choice but has to make his decision which is the rebellion. The Youth group is a miniature of Hitler’s regime. Hans quickly finds out that the Youth group is not the same as what he thinks. On the contrary, it is completely opposite to his thought, “[the] official view demanded discipline and conformity down to the last detail, including personal life”. Everything has to follow a specific pattern, in other words, has to follow Hitler’s idea. Nazi government does not want any individual thinking to exist, and that is a huge difference from Hans ideal: “[the] individual should enrich the life of the group with his own contribution of imagination and ideas”. However, it is not allowed, for example, when Hans is the troop leader, he and his teammate sew a special banner for their own team, nevertheless the leader tells them, “You don’t need a banner of your own. Use the one prescribed for everyone.” The conflict has broken out: “Rebellion was stirring in Hans’s mind.” After Hans reads the letters from “the sermons of Count Galen, Bishop of Munster”, he is “deeply agitated”. He finally discovers a way to against the government which is to write leaflets to tell people the truth, to wake the people; there is a discussion that truly stimulates
Before this tragedy, King Henry II declared the law of all free men across his country with the only exception being the Church. He had an idea in mind that once Thomas was appointed Archbishop, he could reign over the Church and have ruler ship over them. He was soon disappointed to hear that Thomas thought differently and this created years of clashing between the two until the death of the Archbishop. The place of death quickly became a place of pilgrimage and many travelled from all over to pray. He was declared a saint when people claimed to be free of illness.
This is a report on the book Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion, written by Stephen B. Oates. The story is about a slave revolt that happened in 1831 and the person who led it, Nat Turner. It tells of his life, the area and time in which he lived, and of the bloody revolt as well as the bloodier repercussions after it was suppressed.
Throughout recorded history, fires have been known to cause great loss of life, property, and knowledge. The Great Fire of London was easily one of the worst fires mankind has ever seen causing large scale destruction and terror. Samuel Pepys described the fire as “A most malicious bloody flame, as one entire arch of fire of above a mile long… the churches, houses and all on fire and flaming at once, and a horrid noise the flames made.” (Britain Express 1).
Though they were not wanted, “Fires were not uncommon in seventeenth-century London” (Cowie, 59). Fires weren’t the only things that London residents worried about though. In 1665 a tragedy known as the Black Plague had occurred and killed many people in the city and though the plague was gone “People continued to fear another outbreak of plague for the rest of the seventeenth century” (Cowie, 56-57). The Great Fire of London was a tragedy that destroyed a whole city and scared all the people who inhabited it. Just as the city was recovering from the Great Plague, the inhabitants had to flee the city once again- this time not as a result of a disease, but the result of a human accident (“The Great Fire of London of 1666”, 1).