Jeremiah in the village: prophecy, preaching, pamphlets, and penance in the Thirty Years' War

Common people, who experienced the Thirty Years' War outside the arena of power and patronage, saw it as God's punishment and a time for penance. The speculation that the unleashing of God's wrath had already started began with the appearance of the comet of 1618 and Lutheran ministers published pamphlets about God's wrath, encouraging penance. The comet appeared when Lutheran warnings about impending doom had gained ground and political tensions within the Holy Roman Empire had reached a decisive phase resulting in the Thirty Years' War.