Bücher von Hillay (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Zmora

The practice of feuding amongst noblemen and princes represented a substantial threat to law and order, yet it was widely accepted in early modern Germany. Examining feud violence in its social context, this study demonstrates that, paradoxically, nobles feuded mostly not against strangers but with neighbours, relatives and feudal lords.

This book offers a new paradigm of the history of the German nobility in the early modern period. It shows that, contrary to the prevailing view, the nobility was not in a period of crisis but rather underwent a process of social stratification which, in alliance with the bourgeoisie, was the driving force in early modern Germany.