Radical Protestant Propaganda of the Thirty Years' War

the equivalent to a loaf of bread, or two glasses of beer. 38 The different methods of sale
make it difficult to quantify the numbers of people who came into contact with the
individual pieces of propaganda. Even though estimates put the number of copies of a
broadsheet print-run at between one thousand and one thousand five-hundred and a
pamphlet print-run at between eight hundred to one thousand two-hundred, 39 each one of
the individual copies could have reached many more people. It is unlikely, for instance, that
each piece of propaganda was read only by its purchaser. Broadsheets in particular were
often passed around or even resold. In addition, illiterate members of society often paid the
newspaper singer to sing the words of a broadsheet, or, alternatively, the singer would
relate the content of a broadsheet to a crowd of people that had gathered. The importance
of word-of-mouth in propaganda circulation must also be borne in mind. It is highly likely
that the content of a piece of propaganda would have been propagated by purchasers, who
discussed its message with other members of the public. 40 In view of this, my investigation
does not enter into hypotheses as to the number of people who read each piece of
propaganda that I examine, but tries instead to explore the effect of the publication on the
audience in general. Estimates of the amount of propaganda produced are also sketchy due
to the fact that over half of the propaganda published during the war has not survived the
ravages of time. 41 It is therefore impossible to know the exact volume of material produced,
or to examine it.
38 Rosseaux, p. 112.
39 Rousseaux, p. 111.
40 Pfeffer, p. 13.
41 Pfeffer, p. 12.
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