In medieval times the marshland villages of Dithmarschen, a district in present Schleswig-Holstein bounded on the south by Saxony , from which it is separated by the Elbe river, and on the west by the North Sea, enjoy remarkable autonomy.
Neighboring princes often try to bring Dithmarschen under their control.
In the fifteenth century, the Ditmarsians confederate in a peasants' republic.
It is not until 1559 and the Last Feud between the King of Denmark and the Ditmarsians that the free peasants are forced to give up their political and religious autonomy by the successful invasion commanded by Count Johan Rantzau from Steinburg, one of the best strategists of the time.
