The Main Focus Of This Study Is The Economics And Politics Of Farming In South Germany Between 1450 And 1650. Making Sense Of What Happened At This Critical Turning Point In German, European, And World History Requires Understanding The Roles Played By The Key Actors: The Farmers, The Townspeople, The Nobles, The Church. Doing So Demands A Basic Knowledge Of Their Origins And Development. Chapters 1-5 Provide An Overview Of Farming During The Roman Empire, The Transition Period 476-1000, The Rise Of The New Medieval Agriculture, The Consolidation Of Feudalism Between 1000 And 1150, And Its Peak Around 1250. As The Feudal Lords Tightened Their Control Over Farmers, The Economy Stagnated After 1250 And Began A Decline That Accelerated After 1300, Collapsing Into The Hundred Years War And The Bubonic Plague. A Wave Of Civil Wars Swept The Continent. The Farmers In Northern Italy, Flanders, And England Won Their Liberty From Serfdom And Used This Freedom To Increase Agricultural Production, Which In Turn Promoted Trade And The Growth Of Cities And Drove These Three Regions To Higher Levels Of Devel-opment. Working People Across Europe Also Gained Varying Degrees Of Greater Freedom. Germany Too Experienced Some Economic Recovery From About 1400 To 1450. But The Feudal Lords In Germany Reconsolidated Their Power By Defeating The Townspeople And Farmers In Wars In 1389, 1440-60, And 1525. This Allowed The Rulers To Impose Steadily Increasing Rents, Taxes, And Debt On The Peasants. Serfdom And Other Forms Of Social Control Grew More Strict And Comprehensive After 1450, Which Blocked Germany From Advancing Into Capitalism In The 1500s. Food Production And Population Decreased. The German Economy Relapsed Into Stagnation By 1550, Then A Decline Marked By Famines, Plague, Witch Hunts, Hyperinflation, And Finally A Collapse Into The Thirty Years War Of 1618-48. Chapters 6-11 Cover This Post-1348 Second Cycle In The Feudal Economy; Chapter 12 Discusses England's And Holland's Ve