ABSTRACT
Tavern proprietors may find some consolation in the fact that, freed from the burden of some obligations, they are no longer in danger of being seen either as Satan's servant or the authorities' agent. This chapter looks at the role of the publicans primarily in the eighteenth century. It also looks at the factors which set the framework for their actions; that is, the complex of dependencies and obligations created by the expectations and demands of the authorities on the one hand, and customers on the other. The chapter examines to what extent publicans posed a threat to, or had a stabilizing effect on, public order, and assesses claims of the public house as a breeding ground for agitation and rebellion. It focuses on evidence drawn from four regions in northern Germany - the Lutheran Duchy of Holstein, the reformed Earldom of Lippe and the two Catholic territories, Munster and Paderborn.
