BLICKLE, Peter 1938-

PERSONAL: Born November 26, 1938, in Berlin, Germany. Education: University of Munich, Habilitation, 1971; University of Vienna, D.Phil., 1964.

ADDRESSES: Home—Heimstrasse 26, CH 3018 Berne, Switzerland. Office—Department of Foreign Languages, Western Michigan University, 414 Sprau Tower, Kalamzaoo, MI 49008-5338.

CAREER: University of Saarbruecken, Saarbruecken, Germany, professor of modern history, 1972-80; University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland, professor of history, beginning 1980; Western Michigan University, associate professor of German.

WRITINGS:

Die Revolution von 1525, R. Oldenbourg Verlag (Munich, Germany), 1975, translation by Thomas A. Brady, Jr., and H. C. Erik Midelfort published as The Revolution of 1525: The German Peasants War from a New Perspective, Johns Hopkins University Press (Baltimore, MD), 1982.

Deutsche Untertanen: Ein Widerspruch, Verlag C. H. Beck (Munich, Germany), 1981, translation by Thomas A. Brady, Jr., published as Obedient Germans?: A Rebuttal: A New View of German History, University Press of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA), 1997.

Gemeindereformation: Die Menschen des 16. Jahrhunderts auf dem Weg zum Heil, R. Oldenbourg Verlag (Munich, Germany), 1985, translation by Thomas Dunlap published as Communal Reformation: The Quest for Salvation in Sixteenth-Century Germany, Humanities Press (Atlantic Highlands, NJ), 1992.

(Editor) Resistance, Representation, and Community, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1997.

From the Communal Reformation to the Revolution of the Common Man, Brill (Boston, MA), 1998.

Heimat: A Critical Theory of the German Idea of Homeland, Camden House (Rochester, NY), 2002.

in german

Memmingen, Kommission fuer bayerische Landesgeschichte bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (Munich, Germany), 1967.

Kempten, Kommission fuer bayerische Landesgeschichte bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (Munich, Germany), 1968.

Landschaften im Alten Reich: Die staatliche Funktion des gemeinen Mannes in Oberdeutschland, Verlag C. H. Beck (Munich, Germany), 1973.

(With Renate Blickle) Dokumente zue Geschichte von Staat und Gesellschaft in Bayern, Kommission fuer bayerische Landesgeschichte (Munich, Germany), 1979.

Die Reformation im Reich: Uni-Taschenbuecher 1181, Verlag Eugen Ulmer (Stuttgart, Germany), 1982, 2nd edition, 1992.

Unruhen in der staendischen Gesellschaft, 1300-1800, R. Oldenbourg Verlag (Munich, Germany), 1988.

Studien zur geschichtlichen Bedeutung des deutschen Bauernstandes, Gustav Fischer Verlag (New York, NY), 1989.

Friede und Verfassung: Voraussetzungen und Folgen der Eidgenossenschaft von 1291: Innerschweiz und fruehe Eidgenossenschaft, Walter Verlag (Olten, Germany), 1990.

(Editor) Landgemeinde und Stadtgemeinde in Mitteleuropa: Ein Struktureller Vergleich, R. Oldenbourg Verlag (Munich, Germany), 1991.

(Coauthor) Agrarverfassungsvertrage, Lucius & Lucius (Stuttgart, Germany), 1996.

(Editor) Theorien kommunaler Ordnung in Europa, R. Oldenbourg Verlag (Munich, Germany), 1996.

Oberschwaben: Politik als Kultur einter deutschen Geschichtslandschaft, Bibliotheca Academica Verlag (Tubingen, Germany), 1996.

(Editor, with Peter Witschi) Appenzell-Oberschwaben, UVK (Constance, Germany), 1997.

Maria Beig und die Kunst der scheinbaren Kunstlosigkeit, Isele (Eggingen, Germany), 1997.

(Editor) Gemeinde und Staat im Alten Europa, R. Oldenbourg Verlag (Munich, Germany), 1998.

(Coeditor) Unruhen und offentlichkeit: Stadtische und landliche Protestbewegungen im 18. Jahrhundert, Volume 1, University of Chicago Press (Chicago, IL), 1998.

(Editor) Traditionen der Republik, Wege zur Demokratie, P. Lang (New York, NY), 1999.

Kommunlismus: Skizzen einer gesellschaftlichen Organisationsform, R. Oldenbourg Verlag (Munich, Germany), 2000.

Von der Leibeigenschaft zu den Menschenrechten: eine Geschichte der Freiheit in Deutschland, Beck (Munich, Germany), 2003.

Bundschuh: Untergrombach 1502, das unruhige Reich und die Revolutionierbarkeit Europas, Steiner (Stuttgart, Germany), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: Peter Blickle has established a reputation as a historian who is particularly knowledgeable about the sixteenth century in Germany, and in particular about the conflict known as the Peasants War of 1525. Blickle edited Resistance, Representation, and Community, a collection of essays that address the question of whether or not the common people of Europe had any real influence on the rise of statehood. The traditional viewpoint on this question is to see nation-states as having been constructed by the members of the elite groups who held most of the political power already. "The merit of this book is the very formulation of the question and its broadening of the elements of the possible answer," stated William Beik in Historian. Beik did feel that Resistance, Representation, and Community went perhaps too far in its insistence on the power of the common people, cautioning, "There is a real danger in overdoing the impression of happy consensus and collaboration." Discussing the book in English Historical Review, Henry Kamen stated that Blickle "is to be congratulated for directing a collection of essays that do not simply summarize existing knowledge but actually open the mind to new and fruitful perspectives."

From the Communal Reformation to the Revolution of the Common Man features essays on several subjects, mostly related to the contention that the Protestant Reformation can be attributed not so much to theological convictions as to a rising feeling of community in the German-speaking territories. While the religious beliefs of Martin Luther and other church reformers were certainly a factor in the Reformation, the contributors to this book suggest that a growing awareness of natural law and communal rights were probably even stronger forces for the rise of Protestantism. D. F. Durnbaugh, a contributor to Utopian Studies, rated it a "substantial and helpful book," while cautioning that it did have "some problems," such as some repetitive material and the lack of American essayists.

In Heimat: A Critical Theory of the German Idea of Homeland, Blickle analyzed the German idea of heimat, a word that has no exact translation in English but which refers to the German concept of homeland. The notion pervades German thought, influencing ideas of identity, nature, innocence, and modernity, and frequently leading to politics that excludes socalled outsiders to the homeland. "Blickle presents readers with an impressive breadth of knowledge, never losing sight of the connection between the changing functions of Heimat and identity constructions in Germany," stated Jacqueline Vansant in Michigan Academician. She further stated: "Many would shrink from a topic as broad and about which so much has been written…. But Blickle skillfully meets the challenge."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

Central European History, winter, 1999, R. Po-Chia Hsia, review of Obedient Germans?: A Rebuttal: A New View of German History, p. 117.

Church History, September, 1999, review of From the Communal Reformation to the Revolution of the Common Man, p. 699.

English Historical Review, February, 1999, Henry Kamen, review of Resistance, Representation, and Community, p. 184; February, 2001, Robert Von Friedeburg, review of Kommunlismus: Skizzen einer gesellschaftlichen Organisationsform, p. 141.

German Quarterly, winter, 2003, Monika Shafi, review of Heimat: A Critical Theory of the German Idea of Homeland, p. 119.

Historian, summer, 1999, William Beik, review of Resistance, Representation, and Community, p. 945.

Journal of European Studies, March, 2003, Paul Bishop, review of Heimat, p. 85.

Journal of Modern History, March, 1995, Hermann Rebel, review of Landgemeinde und Stadtgemeinde in Mitteleuropa: Ein struktureller Vergleich, p. 203; March, 1998, Terence McIntosh, review of Unruhen und offentlichkeit: Stadtische und landliche Protestbewegungen im 18. Jahrhundert, Volume 1, p. 222.

Michigan Academician, summer, 2002, Jacqueline Vansant, review of Heimat, p. 217.

Religious Studies Review, April, 1994, review of Communal Reformation: The Quest for Salvation in Sixteenth-Century Germany, p. 156.

Sixteenth Century Journal, summer, 1994, review of Communal Reformation, p. 450; winter, 1999, review of Obedient Germans?, p. 1167; spring, 2000, John Theibault, review of Gemeinde und Staat im Alten Europa, p. 261.

Utopian Studies, winter, 1999, Joy Kammerling, review of Obedient Germans?, p. 1167; spring, 2000, D. F. Durnbaugh, review of From the Communal Reformation to the Revolution of the Common Man, p. 225.*