"Michael Kohlhaas" is an engrossing work by the German author Heinrich von Kleist, based on a 16th-century story of Hans Kohlhase. According to early modern German versions, Kohlhase was a merchant whose grudge against a Saxon nobleman developed into a full-blown feud against the state of Saxony, thus violating the Eternal Peace of 1495. The movement ended in Kohlhase's execution in March 1540.