I work on the history of 16th century unrest from a spatial perspective. My project compares networks of grassroots political unrest in the Holy Roman Empire and the Spanish colonial new world. Above all, I want to know where and how political discontent/conspiracy spread in (largely) face-to-face contexts.

My current focus is the German Peasants’ War (1524-26), in which rumour and unrest spread in taverns, guesthouses, and other social spaces. I argue that drinking spaces, especially, facilitated the spread of sedition within/between cities, towns, and villages, serving as “contact rooms” where common people conversed and conspired.

In contrast to some other spatial analyses of early modern social spaces, I closely analyse the materiality of drinking spaces. Many (especially in rural areas) were small, sparely furnished, and poorly lit. How did this affect the spread of rumour and unrest? Did it place limits on the size of conspiratorial meetings? And what role did rituals commonly performed in the tavern in daily life play in establishing bonds between rebel actors? My project investigates these and other questions, arguing that they may have considerable explanatory value for understanding the spread of the Peasants’ War.