These tribal Cheruscians destroyed three legions (20,000 soldiers) of the Roman army led by the Roman General Publis Q. Varus in the late summer of 9 AD (2). Varus, whose army under the leadership of Vinicius had camped far up the Lippe River valley during the winter, was attempting to subject these Teutons to Roman rule and taxes. Later Arminius decoyed the Roman army onto a strip of land surrounded by bogs and wetlands on one side and steep hills of the Teutoburger Forest on the opposite side to win this decisive battle. The Cherusci apparently were the leading tribe of this early German society when led by Arminius. Arminius, by forming a loose coalition with other tribes, was successful in destroying one-tenth of the legionary military of the entire Roman Empire. These inhuman Saxon people have been credited as executing one of the fifteen most decisive battles of world history forcing the Romans to relinquish their expansionary ambitions in Germany and elsewhere (3). After the battle Vargus took his own life but for effect Arminius cut off Varus´s head and had it delivered to Rome. Later Germanus turned against Arminius and defeated the Cheruscan tribe in 14 AD and by 19 AD Arminius was treacherously slain by his own people. These battles were fought just north of Osnabruck (4) in the Teutoburger Forest within a few miles of Leinen, Lengerich and Versmold where the Ahmanns, Hillbrands and Rocklages lived in the 1600, 1700 and 1800´s. At one time it was assumed that these battles of 9 AD were fought in Lippe, the ancestral home of the Schakes and Ritters. Southwest of Detmold, the capitol of Lippe, is the Grotenburg monument to commemorate these battles which took place in the Teutoburger Forest.

Sixty-nine barbarian clans or tribes located in ninety-five Germanic regions have been documented as battling on other Roman frontiers during this era, such as the Chatti, Cimbrians and the Batavians. The Cherusci also engaged in conflicts with their neighbors the Suevi and the Maroboduus. After Arminius´ death the Cherusci were weakened by other battles with the Chatti and eventually lost their identity. The last time the word Cherusci appeared in Roman reports was 450 AD as rendered by Claudian (5). People remaining in this region of Germany were known by the term "Old Saxons" by the 8th century. More is recorded and therefore known of the Cherusci clan than many Germanic people of this time as a result of their greater contact with Rome (3). The Romans had provided aid to the Chatti to overrun the Cherusci and by 47 AD they were led by Italicus, son of Arminiuss´ renegade brother Flavus, who was sent from Rome to be their king. Arminius was the son of a tribal leader and was partly reared and trained in Rome, received Roman citizenship and rose to rank of equestrian knighthood. Arminius, therefore, stands at the very threshold of German history and has remained as a national hero figure, liberator and unifier of Germanic peoples ever since (6). Later all of his and other tribal members would assimilate their culture with Romans and other peoples of western Europe. Why Arminius chose to turn against the Romans who were so instrumental in his training has never been resolved but his status as a leader and hero figure remains even to the present. As late as 1915 American scholars such as Oldfather and Canter were still attempting to assess the actual impact of Arminius and his exploits upon ancient and modern day world history. Arminius was still considered to be enshrined in the nationalistic pantheon of immortal Germans in 1966 by Roppel Pinson in the 2nd edition of his text, Modern Germany.

In Caesar´s time pagan German clan life was looked upon as one of poverty, want and hardship. There was no such thing as a German town as people lived in clans scattered across the mostly forested countryside while only cultivating the most fertile soils, such as the loess soils of northwestern Germany. Kinship was loosely knit, probably traced along female lines and not monogamous. Limited slavery was present as a result of their practice of plundering other clans and societies. The concept of public authority was only emerging at best, individual ownership of land was not recognized. Most scholars uniformly accept the Teutoburger Forest region as representing the ´barbarian-fringe´ of Europe around the first century. Commerce, as it was, consisted of plundering for cattle and slaves and bartering for goods. The more cattle and slaves one had the greater was ones social status. Sons of these ´leading´ citizens were often hired by the Romans as warriors and some, like Arminius and Flavus, were educated in Roman ways, later to return home and become part of an emerging noble-like class of citizenship. These first century AD ´Royal Clansmen´ (Stirps Regia) attempted to pass their leadership roles from one generation to the next along male lines. Occasionally these ´Royal Clansmen´ would intermarry and even fewer would marry Celts or others outside of their clan.

These clansmen of northern Germany generally lived within an area of about a 40 mile diameter with 25,000 or so inhabitants per clan. Each clan consisted of numerous villages of about 100 families overseen by a headman. Their homes were considered by the Romans as little more than huts, a practice which they thought accommodated their lust to travel and plunder. The Romans further reported that they generally had little interest in farming, instead preferring to be with their herds of cattle and hunting wild boar and other game in the forest with their horses and dogs. Yet tribal common lands were assigned by the elder clan members each year so that clan members could crop their fields which were bounded by ditches or hedges to protect the crops from predators. These early iron age people plowed their long fields with crude implements of wood pulled by oxen. Two and four wheeled carts were pulled by either oxen or horses to transport goods. Modern day scholars report that some ritualized burials in Schleswig contain dismantled carts buried with the dead, perhaps to assist these early auswanders in their journey of the hereafter (7).

Germans were described by Breasted (8) as a fair-haired, blue-eyed race of men of towering stature and terrible strength. A Roman by the name of Tacitus (55-117 AD) who never traveled in Germania, but wrote about his impressions gained from visiting with others who did, published a little pamphlet entitled Germania. He described these people as possessing a love of freedom and fighting, although the women did all the hard work as the men drank, gambled, fought, wore tight fitting breeches and dressed their hair with grease. Tacitus considered them almost illiterate, without public baths or gymnasia and besides, they cooked with lard! Later impressions recorded by their medieval neighbors would further indicate that they were not greatly loved. The Italians hated them, the French admitted their courage but detested their manners, the English were jealous of them while the Slavs both hated and feared them. Perhaps we may come to better understand why others held largely negative impressions about these Germans of the Middle Ages if we study their culture and life styles in greater detail.

The 1940 text, The Glories of Ancient History, has the following to offer regarding these barbarians as civilivers, "the barbarians themselves, however, had something to contribute to medieval life. They brought with them a potential capacity for absorbing and amplifying what they found. They found a decadent Roman society that was slowly rotting away, and they infused into this drying society all of their unspoiled vigor and vitality."

Life in the Middle Ages
During the early portion of the Middle Ages, or the Dark Ages (from 476 AD until at least the 10th century), all of Europe was characterized by intellectual stagnation, widespread ignorance and poverty. With little linguistic or political unity and a uniform dislike of urban life, Germans continued to invade, plunder and indeed terrorize their neighbors into the 8th century AD (9). The Franks represented one of the last Germanic peoples to arrive on the scene and probably merged with members of the Chatti, Chamavi, Chattuarii and other tribes of the Teutoburger Forest region of Germany during the 5th and 6th centuries (7). Between the 7th and 9th centuries vast woodlands and marshes would be transformed into farmland to produce adequate food for these growing populations of rural loving people. This form of simple and independent existence continued into the 12th century. Later the three field crop rotation system was combined with the practice of marling. These people possessed no writing and very little industry although the could produce and manage iron for the production of implements which were uniformly considered less sophisticated than those of the Romans (3). Typically the noble-like families among them furnished dukes or kings in an attempt to organize the developing clan societies. None-the-less, independent behavior was most common, although an elemental form of judicial rule was emerging among most of the clans. Each family had the responsibility of protecting and answering for the behavior of its members, even the acts of their second or third cousins. In general, loyalty to persons was far more important among Germans than to institutions or ideas. Important decisions were made in public assemblies held in open places either at full or new moons. When people agreed with the speaker they clashed their weapons; if they disagreed, they shouted him down. Hanging was the price to be paid for treason or desertion in battle. Those found guilty of cowardice or convicted of homosexual acts were thrown into swamps and forcibly drowned (10). Adultery was an offense which could only be committed by women, and when convicted the husband shaved off her hair, stripped her naked and drove her from the home and village. It was not until 1235 AD that Eike von Repgau composed the first German law-book, called the ´Sachsenspiegel´ or mirror of the Saxtons, first in Latin, later in Low German.

Mythological and religious rituals are not well documented but rock paintings dating from 1000 BC burial sites and other archaeological evidence, as well as the observations of the Romans, help us establish an understanding of this aspect of their lives (10). The Romans reported that members of the Cimbri clan worshipped war gods and offered human sacrifices to appease them. This aspect of their cult has been traced throughout the pagan period by numerous authors. Strabo describes how white-clad priestesses of the Cimbri tribe sacrificed selected prisoners of war by hanging them over large bronze bowls and slitting their throats to save the blood. Orosius described how all the booty acquired in battle was ritualisticaly destroyed and thrown into bogs while the war prisoners were hanged from trees. Today, archaeologist report finding this booty in large quantities in old bog sites along with the remains of the sacrificial victims. The name of the greatest German war-god was ´Tiwaz,´ a sky-god as well as the lord of battle. Members of the Semnones tribe between the Oder and Elbe Rivers would annually venture into the forest to witness a human sacrifice while worshipping their supreme deity. Devotees were bound as they participated in this ritual, and if they fell while walking through the forest were only allowed to roll on the ground -- not become upright and walk. The god of fertility ´Freyr´ was worshipped as he traveled the land during harvest season bringing prosperity and peace with him. Seven of the 12 or more principal gods were named after the days of the week and innumerable spirits of the air, water and woods were also recognized and worshipped. These pagan people idolized certain wooden figures within groves of oak trees which were preferred as sanctuaries for group worship. Charlemagne destroyed one of these pagan shrines, an enormous tree trunk called the Irminsul, in 772 AD in his attempt to bring Christianity to these Germans. Yet pagan tribes remained in the valleys of the Elbe and Oder Rivers well into the 12th and 13th centuries. The most prevalent rituals at the time of death were cremation and a funeral feast. The ashes of the dead were carefully separated from the debris of the funeral pyre, placed in a pottery urn or bronze vessel and then into a grave along with objects of personal ornamentation plus tools, weapons and in some cases food. This practice was to continue most conspicuously in the basins of the Elbe and Weser Rivers into the 12th century. Here some cemeteries have been found to contain more than 2,000 urn-burials (10). Burial mounds from the early stone age still survive at Oesterholz-Haustenbeck near Schlangen in Lippe, other graves were simply marked by stones and branches. During the 4th and 5th centuries AD Germans living along the Roman frontier were among the first to be converted to Christianity, while those living in northwest German forests were converted much later. Many would continue to hold mystical beliefs, and practice them into modern times.

Archaeological discoveries document five village or settlement types emerging in Germania during the 5th and 6th centuries (10). The Rundling type village was distinguished by the homes grouped in a ring with a door for the cattle facing outward from the central space. The Sackdorf style village was arranged in a rectangular-like form with homes on both sides of a road was introduced by Hollanders in 1106 (Figure 10). Another style village was referred to as the Drubbel in which a loose cluster of four to ten homes surrounded a central pasture. Outside the village lay an area of common ariable land. The fourth type was the Green-Village with houses arranged in a rectangular shape around an open green space with a central road, or the equivalent of a village green. The Haufendorf type exhibited the least order with houses constructed within a cluster scattered along a road. Later, medieval towns in Lippe were often laid out along three parallel streets.

Two styles of home construction predominated; the rectangular or long house with a center ´hall´ with two aisles (Figure 11) and the sunken hut (10). Most of the long houses were about 20 feet wide by 25 to 80 or more feet in length. The sunken huts were smaller and dug several feet into the ground. Both were constructed of predominately wooded products -- logs, planks, saplings, thatch and wattle and daub. The sunken house was only for human occupancy, while the long house housed cattle and other livestock in individual tie-stalls on both sides of one aisle with the humans at the other end of the structure. Neither type of home had individual rooms for those living there, but both had a central rock-earthen hearth. As would be expected, fires frequently destroyed these homes which were furnished and adorned in the most simplistic manner, as were to the occupants. Beds were seldom used, most slept on the straw-covered dirt or wood floors. Many individuals slept in the same garments of wool, flax or animal skins which they wore during the day. Many wore rectangular blanket-like garments wrapped about themselves in the manner of a cape, often secured with a bronze brooch, under garments were made from linen. Only men wore trousers or breeches but footwear was rare for either sex. Men and women both wore finger rings; women wore necklaces, bracelets and ear rings of various construction and designs.

Benches along the outer walls of their homes were most commonly used for seating; chairs were common in only the homes of wealthier families. Bronze buckets, bowls, sieves and pans were often imported from Rome. Various handmade vessels of clay were constructed by the women of the community and used to store seeds and other food items, frequently stored beneath the plank floors of the sunken huts. Other food utensils were constructed of iron, wood or from animal horns.

Food consisted of wild fruits, fresh game, cheese and curdled milk but the major staple was grain -- barley, rye, wheat, linseed, knotweed and other seeds prepared as a thin porridge or gruel (10). Interestingly, these diets are largely verified by anthropologists studying the stomach contents of those exceptionally well preserved individuals previously drowned in the bogs and swamps for their transgressions against society. Meat was most often consumed as it became available, although some was preserved for future use. The flesh of cattle, hogs, chickens, horses, fish and game animals was roasted or grilled before eating. Some was preserved as sausages. Marrow from the resulting long bones of animals was a preferred food as was beer produced from fermented barley spiced with herbs. No doubt this beer was a favorite when the clansmen gathered to gamble with dice, sing their songs to the music of bone flutes and participate in a spectator sport performed by young naked boys dancing amid an array of swords and spears. It was no disgrace to drink a day and a night while staking all their property and even their liberty on the throw of the dice. These and other forms of diversion were welcomed events in their otherwise demanding lives. Hunting in the vast and dense forests was a preferred past time of German men. Spears, lances and swords were constructed from ash wood with the tip sharpened and hardened by heating in a fire. Bows and arrows were not developed until after the third century AD, but metal swords called ´spatha´ were introduced by the Romans in the fourth century and soon became common to assist both in hunting and warring. In the latter case wooden shields were also used.

Securing sufficient feed for their animals proved difficult as well. Hay was harvested from the few remaining natural meadows for the winter feeding of livestock but most were forced to forage on their own. Some fed their cattle twigs gathered from the forest. Pastures were extensive, to include the forest, but not productive. Each fall animals were slaughtered to reduce the stress upon limited feed supplies and to secure a supply of meat for the winter. Smoking, salting, fermenting and drying were the food preservation techniques in common usage. Salt was always in short supply and much food spoiled. Various herbs and spices were used in cooking to render the meat edible. Each spring those animals surviving the winter were gathered, and though they were often weak, were required to pull plows and carts in preparation of planting. Controlled breeding techniques, proper nutrition, health management and other accepted husbandry practices for livestock of today were unknown, often influenced instead by mystical beliefs and practices. Adding to these perplexing conditions would be the reality of unexplained deaths associated with food poisioning, nutrient deficiencies and diseases. The Black Death or other plagues wiped out 20 to 30 percent of the German population in the second half of the 14th century alone.

While a form of proto-writings has been discovered dating from 4,000 BC, the earliest documentation of a literary Germanic language began in the 4th century AD as Gothic, followed by Old English and Old High German in the eighth century (8). According to Todd (7), these western languages emerged between the Elbe and Rhine Rivers as part of the same region which served as the ancestral homes of the 18th and 19th century Ahmanns, Hillebrands, Rocklages, Ritters and Schakes. Todays´ German linguist consider this local dialect to be among the most properly spoken within the German speaking world. Overall, this region east of the Rhine has been considered by scholars (8) to represent a sphere of extraordinary slowness in developing a uniform and consistent alphabet, in accepting religious doctrines of this era and in acquiring social progress in general.

These Old Saxon people of the Teutoburger Forest would contribute more than language to society and the advancement of Europe. In about the 5th century they colonized along the seashores and rivers of England and simply pushed the older British and Celtic inhabitants into the highlands, eventually establishing the Anglo-Saxon people through domination and intermarriage. They named the Elbe, Ruhr, Lippe, Ah and Rhine Rivers, developed essential crafts, arts and sciences as well as contributing to modern day literature with Beowulf, Siegfried and many other poems, plays and novels. The origin of the word "German" is uncertain but its means "one who shouts as a warrior" or "a neighbor," or even perhaps "neighbors who shout." Even the Cherusci chief Arminius has had his name transliterated into German to the name "Hermann." Ulifila, who was born in 311 AD into the Cappadocian tribe, was reared as a Christian and later became a lector (reader) studying in the Greek tradition. Soon this young man undertook the task of rendering the first translation of the Bible into the Gothic language (11). Thus his influence upon the spread of Christian religious doctrine across the Germanic tribes was monumental, although slow. However, he chose to omit the books of Samuel and Kings because they contained too much fighting, something he thought best not to encourage among the Germans. Another likely descendant of these early Germanic peoples was Martin Waldseemuller of Frieburg, who in 1507 was the first to suggest the name of America for the newly discovered continent which would eventually attract so many Germans in their desire to seek their fortune, to wander and explore. As the Middle Ages came to a close, European culture, Germans included, represented an odd and uneven mixture of what they had learned from their own experiences, from religion, from the Greek and Roman cultures and by exploring. Even after Columbus had discovered America most considered Jerusalem as the center of the world because that was how cartographers piously, and out of ignorance, drew the ´three´ continents of the world. Indeed, the next 500 or so years would witness profound changes for these people, as would others around the world.

The conclusion of the Middle Ages during the 1400´s would witness the beginning of the transformation of European culture into what is considered to have been the rebirth of society, or the Renaissance. Early in the 15th century the great German thinker and ecclesiastic, Nicholas of Cures, had coined the term ´Midia Tempestas´ (Middle Ages) for the interval between 410 to 1410 AD. He accurately foresaw that change was underway. In Germany the pioneering stage was over and nomadic life was almost forgotten. People had become accustomed to living in fixed settlements. The main work of clearing land, and draining it, was completed many generations before. Almost all land had its owners. There were perhaps 20 million people residing within the German portion of the Holy Roman Empire at this time but they represented a diverse mixtures of spoken dialects, religious beliefs and were subjected to complex political systems. Almost every year reports indicated that new lands were being discovered around the world during the 15th,16th and 17th centuries. Not only was there a recovery of lost ancient knowledge but there were new discoveries in the natural sciences with subsequent application of physics and chemistry to technology. The spirit of scientific inquiry would soon flourish. Artists investigated optics and anatomy and in 1543, a polish astronomer, Copernicus, overthrew the accepted system which regarded the earth as the center of the universe. Others contributing to this awakening were Leonardo (1452-1519), Galileo (1564-1642), Gilbert (1544-1603), Vesalius (1514-1564) and Harvey (1578-1657),and many more. It was the English philosopher Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1579) who most clearly understood that knowledge was power.... "It is not an opinion to be held....but a work to be done." He believed that science, if properly managed and directed to the needs of society, could improve lives. By the mid-1700´s the industrial revolution was proving Bacon correct. As a result, development of our modern world society would later unfold. The arts would forever become the benefactor of the works of Johann Wlofgang von Goethe (1749-1832), Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) and Ludwig van Beethoven(1770-1827). Scientific contributions from men such as Theodor Schwann (1810-1882), who developed the cell theory for plants and animals, Gregor Mendel (1822-1884) for his contributions to the science of genetics and Robert Koch (1843-1910) who established the discipline of bacteriology would each significantly influence an individuals outlook upon life as well as entire societies around the world. By 1854 enrollments attained an all time high in the medical schools of Germany. Likewise the theory of evolution advanced by Charles Darwin (1809-1882) would perhaps alter the thought processes of more people than any other single advancement of these times. Significantly, literacy among the general population was increasing as indicated by the presence of 38 German newspapers at one time or another between 1732 to 1800, the same time interval when Germany was still represented by 1,789 independent sovereign powers (states). In 1717, Frederick William of Prussia issued an edict ordering parents to send their children to school. But schools did not exist everywhere, least of all in the countryside. Enrollment statistics indicated that the vast majority of peasant German children at least had potential access to the same basic education as the elite middle class. Interest in literary campaigns were also having some success (12).

New thought process, new knowledge and new opportunities were predictably met differently by various individuals. Indeed our ancestors living in the Teutoburger Forest during these times would contend with these realities, and for the most part they would be rather slow in embracing too much change too rapidly. While they were probably eager for a better life, they would remain conservative in their approach in achieving it. However, before these social changes would greatly influence the lives of our ancestors of the Teutoburger Forest they would experience many turbilant and challenging times. Examples of these forces included the proclaimation by Fredrick III of 1563 requing that the Heidelberg Catechism be used to instruct the youth, the Reformation (1555-1619), the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), the continuing struggle between landlords, state, local and church officals, the presence of moral policemen, among many other issues would all eventually impact every family of Germany. These happenings, with their resulting social impacts, would need to be experienced, modified and eventually woven into the social fabric of the citizenry, three-fourths of whom were rural citizens. As a result, each household of Germany would eventually be confronted with change.

Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Peasant Life - social challenges and changes
The modern day concept of the word ´family´ had not become a part of German thought or language until the end of the Middle Ages. For lack of a suitable word the phrase ´with wife and child´ was used. The concept of the nuclear family of today did not then exist as most lived in households with wife, children, slaves and other persons representing a ´collective family´. Many early scholars concluded that this family structure was a multi-generation arrangement, or an ´extended family.´ Currently scholars consider this an exception to the rule simply because of typically late marriage ages and early deaths for most citizens of this time. Under these conditions the youth of a family were largely looked upon as a source of labor to help sustain peasant households with little chance for children to become educated or persue individual interest and talents. Most of what girls learned was taught them by their mothers plus some religious instruction to include a little reading and writing. Boys were trained similairly, but little if any better than their sisters. The exceptions to this routine were either members of wealthy families or individuals seeking religious instruction. The young shared a world identical to that of the adults. A strong loving commitment to children was not the routine. Even kissing and caressing among married peasants was rare into the 19th century which is considered as a reflection of their somber outlooks upon life, long hours of physical labor, disease and malnutrition. The dualism of marriage and sensuality was first overcome by the few represented in the educated classes. It is conceeded that the ideal marriage and family found its clearest expression in the Period of Romanticism from 1760-1870. This enlightened family structure became prevelant in subsequent literary works and greatly influenced public thought. But it was not until the second half of the 19th century that tendencies towards emancipation from the repressive family system begin to make itself felt in peasant German families. Interestingly, the cottage weaving industry of northwest Germany, which allowed a husband, wife and children to work together, is credited as one of the primary forces in rural Germany to foster greater love and affection among peasant family members (13).

During the Middle Ages children had very limited legal status in society as indicated by sex ratios of 120 or more boys per 100 girls. Infanticide, abandonment, and child abuse are widely documented. De Muse (1975) noted that at least one 13th century law brought child-beating into the public domain: "If one beats a child until it bleeds, then it will remember, but if one beats it to death, the law applies." Peasant children of the 16th and 17th centuries represented an uncertainty to parents who on the one hand were encouraged by their priest to have sex only for procreation while on the other hand they realized that only through sex could children and their future be sustained. Children were an emotional component of the family, loved by their parents and grieved over when they died. Medevial and more recent literature on infancide, child abuse, abandoment and other maltreatment is today considered to possibly have exagerated reality, although these conditions did indeed exist. In his 1975 book, The History of Childhood, de Mause indicates that it was not until 1690 that children may not have been beaten in the home. Much of the child abuse may be traced to the favored status of sons combined with the concept of moral superiority of husbands over their wives. Women were reared to be modest, quiet, chaste, domestically incline and truthful. They were also required to be largely responsible for the children as directed by their husband. Others were also responsible for child abuse. While a limited body of critical child behavior studies are published one German schoolmaster reckoned that he administered 124,000 lashes with a whip to his school children, 136,715 slaps with his hand, 911,527 strokes with a stick and 1,115,800 boxes on the ear over the span of his teaching career. The emotional make-up of these peasant parents and teachers was as ours is today, but they were required to function in a much different physical and social environment than we can readily comprehend. Life was uncertain and difficult representing a very local perspective which often did not benefit the children. Battered children grew up and in turn battered their children.

The institution of marriage, with its various legal aspects, was deeply rooted in ancient oral German history of the Weistumer. Numerious developments were essential before the custom of ´Frauenraub´ - literally kidnaping of the German bride - would change (14). The "marriage act" was first reported during the early Middle Ages. These marriage acts or ´munt´ consisted of an informal exchange of promises and the transfer of property within the family circle. Neither church nor state played a formal role in this private act. The bride was considered the property of her father. These ceremonies required the prospective groom coming to the brides´ home to seek approval from her father. If approval was granted the father handed over his daughter to her prospective husband. This was followed by a procession from the brides house to the grooms house where the wedding was documented and consumated by the ritual ´bedding of the couple´ in the presence of family and friends as witnesses. These marriages then contained the major elements of modern day marriages, presumably to include courtship, parental consent, and ceremonies to document the event with legal implications regarding the conveyance of property.

The Catholic Church first sought to have unmarried German couples seek permission to marry from the priest in the 9th century. But it was not until the 12th century that the practice had much public support at which time the church attempted to fully institutionalize marriage. Three public announcements of the forthcoming wedding were required as were at least two witnesses and a priest. Marriages which failed to meet these standards were considered as ´incomplete´ and the couple subjected to fines as a consequence. The church, as the source of moral wisdom, saw itself responsible in creating and maintaining proper moral behavior among parish members. Issues of divorce, incest, remarrying, rape, out-of-wedlock births, adultry and other related issues were considered the domian of the church. Those misbehaving too excessively were excommunicated from the Catholic Church, effectively restricting the offendors from the kingdom of heaven. Soon other reform minded individuals were discussing marriage. They argued that the church was not the sole authorty regarding marriages, but rather that it was a social institution involving the church, the state and the people, especially the family unit represented by a marriage (14).

Sixteenth century canon law still accepted common consent and the exchanging of vows between marriage partners as the sole requirements for a legitimate and binding union. Church leaders considered these marriages a threat to their authority while the Catholic position on celibate clergy and priest, with all of its failures, was considered hypocritical by laymen and reformers. Likewise, laymen and reformers considered the concept of celibacy itself flawed since by implication non-celibates were made to appear and feel inferior in the eyes of God. Marriage by church definition was an impure relationship between husband and wife. Sex was sanctioned only as an act of procreation. Yet the development and enforcement of moral discipline throughout society, and most notably among the youth, was a primary ambition of laymen or cleric, Protestant or Catholic alike. Truly the mood of Germans was ripe for marriage reform. The Lutheran and Calvinist reformers themselves were pessimistic. The Lutheran author of the 1576 Dance-Devil reveals that he was living in "the last and worst of times" while other reformers were convinced that "The world grows worse as it grows older." None-the-less, after Luther posted his 95 theises at All Saints Church on October 31, 1517, after conviening the Council of Trent, publishing many pamphlets, preaching many, many sermons and countless arguments the reformers of the 16th century saw themselves as liberators by restricting the churches control over marriages, abolition of celibate ideals and the elevation of marriage to its rightful place in society. The guiding social philosophy to follow established that which was moral should be legal, and visa versa (14).

The marriage process was changing. The processes of negotiation and agreement between the groom and the brides father was now seperated in time from the public exchange of vows at a subsequent wedding. Additionally, the public wedding had eclipsed consummation as the final act of marriage validation. Marriage certificates were now issued, greater control over fourth degree or closer consanguinity were imposed, couples were to visit with their pastor to receive instructions before the announcing their intentions and the local parishes were to maintain records of all approved marriages. These registers were to list the names, addresses, date of birth of the couple, the marriage date and the witnesses. Initially these weddings were held in full daylight in front of the church to help quell the use of private weddings. Consequently many couples chose to hold both a private and a church wedding as was still the case in Mecklenburg as late as 1602. Other traditional rites of passage remained, including various forms of charivari which the reformers considered as an evil Jewish custom. Even the two-day or longer drunken wedding feast continued, although most clerics saw it as both wasteful and sinful (14). Long or extended engagements were common as many did not first marry until well into their twenties. Perhaps to accommodate this reality Martin Luther claimed that for purposes of sexual relations an open engagement was as good as a wedding and the couple could legitimately sleep together when engaged (15).

At least three substantive issues were ignored by these reformers. First, men convicted of adultry were not punished as severely as women (German men adultrist were first punished in 14th century). Second a wife was still subject to the rule of her husband and thirdly, marriages were not condoned across certain German social classes unless fines were paid to the church. These oversights of the reformation become obvious as the views of the reformers themselves become exposed. A wife, Luther concluded, by reason of her physical, mental, and emotional nature was clearly intended by God to be the submissive half of marriage. Calvin, too, considered every man "by priviledge of nature" superior to every woman, quoting I Corinthians as his authority. A fourth issue, which was discussed because of health concerns, but not notably changed, was the old profession of prostitution (14). Significantly, persecution of Jews and Gypies was neither discussed nor acted upon, and the practices continued into the 1800´s.

As an aside to the direct changes upon the institution of marriage instigated by states and churches over this span of time is the obvious benefite that the resulting records provide to those who today study genealogy. Church records maintained on marriages, births, deaths and confirmations as well as other local and historical records are indispensible to this present day pursuite.

Although scholars differ upon the specific impact of the Thirty Years War (1618-1649) upon village peasants in Germany, village life was universally changed as a result of the war (14). At various times villages were required to ´host´ troops during their campaigns, although they would do everything possible to escape this assignment. The village of Lemgo, Lippe served in this capacity for several years and claimed that devistation and exhaustion was inflicted upon them as a result. After the war Lemgo civic leaders were petitioning for tax relief from the Lippe Courts. Apparently Lemgo failed in its appeal since other villages considered themselves equally disposed. None-the-less, many villages were severely devistated. Plundering by marauding troops would take what they needed, or desired - food for themselves, crops for their horses, homes for comfort and women for sex. They made no pretence to adhere to a formal provisions ordinance. When they left a village they were just as likely to take available livestock, or any other preferred items with them as they were to leave disease, starvation, pregnant women and death in their wake. Estimates vary widely, but up to half of the population of Germany may have been lost to the Thirty Years War.

People were reduced to begging and stealing for food and other essentials. To make matters worse some villages were inflicted with rampaging rats foraging across their fields and consuming meager stores of staples such as grain. Meat was not consumed for a year or more at a time - conditions were horrible. Social order broke down. Some parents left their children with others as they fled their homes and farms seeking improved conditions. All the attrocities of war were experienced. In spite of prevailing conditions parish priest attempted to maintain church records, or in some cases even attempted to replace those damaged or lost to the war effort (14).

By the 18th century village life was recovering from the war effort and returning to normal. Shortly after the war wages were relatively high reflecting a shortage of labor and a strengthening economy. This trend was short lived however when demand stagnated in the face of rapid population increases spawning a return to very low wages. Since subsistance farming was becoming more and more difficult due to the expanding human population combined with the reality of insufficient land available for farming. People sought other means of support. Two commonly available options were chosen by villagers to provide for their livelyhood. The one exclusively available to young men was to join the growing ranks of mercenary Hessian soldiers in that ever increasing police state. The other option was chosen mostly by women who entered the cottage weaving industry which is seen by historians to also represent "proto-industrialization" of the German countryside, especially in the state of Lippe where the cottage industry was more heavily concentrated than anywhere else in all of Germany (14). In the not too distant future the Industrial Revolution would emerge and once again drastically change the lives of peasants living in German villages.

Life in a Typical German Village, 1580 to 1720
The 1995 book by J. C. Theibault (16) reveals village life in Hesse-Kassel which is about 35 miles southeast of Lippe. This exceptional work may provide the reader with insights into the lives of villagers living much like the Ahmanns, Ritters, Hillebrands, Rocklages and Schakes up to the time when we are first able to document their individual lives, as opposed to their collectives lives in their home villages close to Hesse-Kassel. Theibault critically analyzed the village church books, the town records and other documents available for his recreation of village lifestyles from 1580 to 1720.

He indicates that most villages consisted of 30 to 70 households arranged in a cluster surrounding an open ´public´ area. Farmland surrounding the village was connected by roads and footpaths. Those not living in a village developed farmsteads consisting of up to four households. The lands were owned either by the lordship, kolons or were considered as public lands or common areas such as the forest. These Hesse-Kassel villages were primairly supported by agricultural production and a few trades such as trading in salt, serving as a butcher or a smithy. Most houses were constructed of timber frames and wattle, the larger ones including a courtyard to secure livestock and farm implements. Many houses would display a biblical inscription or intricate carvings in a prominant location. Typically villagers could not recall any of their village history except that it was constructed by their ancestors (16).

The house was the site of a biological family - a lineage - recognized under the name of the head of the family for tax, payment of fines and other administrative purposes. Servants, orphans or lodgers were also considered as a part of the household in which they resided. In theory the head of the family was responsible for the behavior of household members and was to interact with the village head who in turn was to have alligance to the Herreschafts representative (16). The house was both the site of proudction and consumption as a subsistance system of agriculture. Household and farm chores were generally shared, although the husband was in charge of the farming activities while the wife was responsible for the home. Wives, daughters and female servants were to preserve and prepare the food, wash and mend clothing, clean the house and be responsible for the livestock and poultry to include gathering the eggs, milking cows or goats and the birthing of animals. Men were responsible for the land, crops, buildings, farm implements, cutting wood in the forest at the designated intervals, working on the Herreschafts properties and assisting with the maintenance of roads and other public projects. During harvest season the women were also required to assist in the fields and meadows. Both men and women were reported to have committed ´field damage´ to the crops of neighbors and assessed appropriate fines to be paid by the husband. Men were most often fined for plowing and reaping crops from a neighbors field; women for gleaning fields and servants for allowing animals to cause crop damage while grazing.

The church, accompanied by the churchyard and parsonage, was the distinctive landmark of each village and represented its largest public facility. Churches were sometimes built of stone, otherwise timbers were used. A parish often consisted of two or more villages served by one pastor offering weekly or biweekly services. Ringing of the church bell was understood as a summons of villagers to deal with offical business of the church or community, such as drawing lots to determine when families would use the communal brewing pot or to signal a warning of robbers in the community. An explicite protocol was in place as to who could ring the church bell and when it could be rung for church services, school classes or other uses. Some public meetings were also held on the church grounds (16).

In the village of Reichensachsen citizens had developed some unique marriage customs (16). Two witnesses were required to validate when the father granted permission for his daughter to marry the prospective groom. Symbols of an engagement would often be represented by the exchanging of hankerchiefs or other personal effects. Engagements usually extended over two or three years during which time sexual relations were discouraged, although forgiven if necessary. The father of the bride was also listed in the village book as responsible for paying fines assessed upon the couple who had babies born out of wedlock or prior to nine months following the wedding. Fathers of single daughters were also granted a strong influence over the selection of a marriage partner of his daughter. Overall, the father, as head of a household, was very influential in the lives of those for whom he was responsible.

Men also constituted the unified community - community action was taken to represent action by the men. The men of the village were to select one from their rank of peasants to serve as the village head (16). His role was to coordinate issues such as the scheduling of wood cutting for each household in the community forest and other community matters. The village head could call meetings and attempt to influence policy by working with village authorties or perhaps even other villages, although his success was minimunal. Each peasant was to declare his or her home village for purposes of taxation and other legal matters. Full membership in a community required each citizen to practice the religion of that community. Two groups of people who were considered as outsiders and hence excluded from full community participation were Jews and those expelled from a community as a form of punishment.

Administrators of a village were expected to represent the state laws for the Herreschaft (lordship) by collecting taxes, maintaining order and recording court proceedings. Written laws were evolving from the oral Weistumer tradition during this era resulting in new legal practices which were often confusing to many peasants. These changes, combined with those resulting from the struggles of the reformation provided ample opportunity for overlapping jurisdiction and conflicts in administering local policies. Aside from kolons and heuerlings, most villages had schoolmasters, ministers, and police or at least shared them among several villages. The minister played a central role in community affairs. In addition to his church duties he was the moral policeman of the village responsible for overseeing sexual behavior and report sinners to village administrators. A few village members belonged to guilds. The village of Sontra had residents joining the Linen Weavers´ Guild from 1580 to 1618, others joined the Potters´ and the Tailors´ Guilds. Those not working in agriculture may have been employed in the mining industries, the salt works, or in the transportation of goods to and from villages (16).

Rural poverty was the norm in German villages. Even so, poverty was divided into those peasants who were rich and poor by comparison. Those who owned a home, however dilapated, considered themselves rich. Kolons were land owning peasants who had their properties number by size to denote the extent of their wealth. Those attempting to gain kolon status by recently purchasing small plots of land were given the special designation of ´Neubauer´ as was the case for Cord Heinrich Schake at Number 73 in Humfeld in the tiny country of Lippe in 1782. Heuerlings were non-land owning peasants and at the bottom of the social rank of peasants. Other forms of village social stratification were represented by the circle of individuals, relatives or families who would help each other in farming and village activities. Each was a somewhat autonomious group to share work, ideals and opinions. Godparenting was a very serious social responsibility, even to the extent of co-parenting to provide spiritual guidance, support and gifts for the child. Godparents also represented a social link between preferred families as well as using the individuals name for the child. As long as that child survived, the family could not call upon any other individual with the same name to serve as the godparent to subsequent children. Around the 18th century the practice of assigning two or more names to a baby provided an alternative in circumventing this pledge. This practice of naming would frequently result in many people with very similar names so that many ´nick´ names were assigned in the village. The selection of godparents also provided the opportunity to forge preferred social or business relationships within the community (16).