4to. : [56] p. One of two pamphlets in a sammelband.

The character of ‘Karsthans’—a stereotypical peasant ‘Hans’ wielding a farmer’s hoe—was one of the most popular literary devices in early sixteenth century Germany. A vessel for the concerns of the ‘common man’, typically associated with religious and social reform, Karsthans was employed in numerous broadsides and pamphlets in the years leading up to the Peasants’ Revolt of 1525.

Neüw Karsthans (‘New Karsthans’) is an early work by the German reformer Martin Bucer (1491–1551). It is a thematic sequel to Karsthans, an anonymous pamphlet of 1521 that criticised papal authority over the laity. Bucer continued in the dramatic mode of the hugely popular Karsthans but reduced the cast of characters down from five to two; Neüw Karsthans features only the eponymous everyman and Franz von Sickingen (1481–1523), a knight of the Holy Roman Empire and Bucer’s protector at the Palatine court. Through dialogue and debate, peasant and soldier are united by a common enemy: the Antichrist, identified here in no uncertain terms as the Pope.

Bound with:
Anon., Karsthans ([Strasbourg, Johann Prüss, 1521]). RCIN 1053253.a