B ANN TLUSTY Professor of History at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, USA. Her publications include Bacchus and Civic Order: The Culture of Drink in Early Modern Europe (2001) and the co-edited collection The World of the Tavern: Public Houses in Early Modern Europe (2002), as well as numerous articles on gendered behaviours including drinking, duelling, gambling, and fraud.

Introduction Keeping the Peace: Household, Citizenship, and Defense Duty and Disorder Negotiating Armed Power: The Control of Arms and Violence The Age of the Sword: Norms of Honor and Fashion Keeping and Bearing Arms: Norms of Status and Gender In and Out of the Commune: The Social Boundaries of Citizenship Martial Sports and the Technological Challenge Communities in Conflict: Competing Jurisdictions in the Empire Citizens versus the State: Household, Community, and Urban Politics Conclusion Bibliography Index

For German townsmen, life during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was characterized by a culture of arms, with urban citizenry representing the armed power of the state. This book investigates how men were socialized to the martial ethic from all sides, and how masculine identity was confirmed with blades and guns.