Death and the Farmer is generally considered the most significant pre-Renaissance German-language prose work, or, according to some, a dramatized philosophy. During the period when Von Tepl was writing the work (1400 AD), Europe was entering a spiritual spring that would lead it to the Renaissance and the Enlightenment.

Von Tepl chooses to replace mourning with argument and consolation with justice. This medieval text remains incredibly contemporary, examining many different questions. What then is the best age to die? Should we mourn or celebrate unexpected death? Is marriage a prison?

Is man an insatiable and arrogant being, a lunatic who constantly reaps the benefits of nature without caring for its protection, as Death accuses him? Should Man protect what he despises?