ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the issue of commoner subjects of the Oldenburg king Christian IV and their military obligations in the so-called Torstenson war between Sweden and Denmark in 1643–1645. It attempts to identify those instances, where peasants eligible for militia service either engaged in negotiation with the early modern state and its representatives or pursued their own goals via independent action. Most of the independent military action in Holstein and Bremen-Verden was conducted by the peasant insurgents. There were nevertheless instances in which peasants engaged in bargaining and negotiations with the Oldenburg state over their fiscal and military burdens during Torstenson war. Torstenson war reveals instances, where the peasants who rendered militia service attempted to modify their terms of service through negotiation, bargaining, foot-dragging, or even protestation. Insurgency in Torstenson war was nevertheless directed against the Swedes, and because of its scope, it should be appraised in the context of state-building and the Military Revolution.
