The Peasants Revolt 1525

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The Peasants Revolt 1525

• The Causes and Effects

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The Peasants War

• Who were the peasants?
• Why did they Revolt?
• Why did Luther denounce them?
• What was the effect of the revolt?
• Was the Reformation in Germany Religious of
  Secular?

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The Peasants War

• While the war is defined as a Peasants War in
  reality they were farmers and Town Artisans.
• For the previous century they had been burdened
  with increasing amounts of Church and Landlord
  taxes. Tetzels Indulgence drive further
  alienated theses farmers from Roman taxation
  and interference in Germany.

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The Peasants War

• In keeping with the time peasants were
  conservative and it was change rather than
  hardship which stimulated violence.
• The increased financial demands coincided with
  the spread of the new ideas in 1520.
• Peasantry deeply religious. Luthers stress upon
  the Bible rather than dogma pleased the peasants,
  but also taught dues payable to the church
  unjustified and should be withheld
• Naïve belief that emperor would redress their
  grievances and Luther would lead them.

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The Peasants War

• The rebellion lacked co-ordination, despite the
  common symbol the Bundschuh (peoples shoe)
• Hundreds of castles and religious houses
  ransacked and towns plundered. Rarely anything
  approaching implementation of a new social order
  outside mob rule.
• Hence easy for princes to rally and overthrow the
  revolt.
• About 100,000 peasants were executed.

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The Peasants War

• Hundreds of priest joined the rebels and declared
  their faith in Luther.
• Catholic historians have used this to argue
  Luther encouraged the uprising.
• No evidence, more likely he was sympathetic
  towards peasant plight but horrified by the mob
  rule and hence wrote his tract Against the
  Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants.

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The Peasants War

• This tract clearly presented Luthers views on
  political issues.
• He went on to advice the princes how they should
  act.
• The slaughter had already begun when this tract
  appeared, but its timing made Luther appear cold
  and cruel. This tract lost Luther considerable
  support among the peasantry, but firmed gained
  support from rulers inclined to reform the
  Church.

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The Peasants War

• Luthers stance was important for the success of
  Lutheranism. It meant that reformed Churchs were
  going to support the princes and not become rival
  authorities.
• This resulted in many princes choosing reform. By
  doing so would relieve the prince of political
  and financial intervention, whist gaining
  effective control of the Church within his
  territory.
• Luther saw uniformity as an essential element in
  preventing communal violence.

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The Peasants War

• The Family
• Luthers ideas about duty and social order
  applied to the family. The prince was the head of
  State, so the father the head of the family. It
  was the duty of other family members to obey.
• This did not preclude love as his letters and
  treatment of his wife shows

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The Knights War

• The Heyday of the Imperial Knights had gone.
  Their role of the Empires policemen had been
  taken over by the local princes.
• The princes resented the Knights presence in
  their territories because they owned large
  armies, castles, but independent of the princes
  authority.
• The knights saw the fragmentation of the Empire
  as a cause of their troubles. They sought a
  united Germany and ending of foreign domination
  -papacy.
• They viewed Luther as an ally.

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The Knights War

• The knights were not coordinated, they came
  together as needs arose.
• Their leaders were Ulrich von Hutten Franz
  Sickingen. Hutten was well known for his violent
  attacks on the Pope. Upon learning of Luther, it
  was decided to provide Luther and other reformers
  with armed protection.
• After 1521 they thought the time ripe for an
  armed uprising against the Pope. They launch an
  attack upon the Archbishop of Trier 1522.

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The Knights War

• The Knights misjudged the situation. The
  Archbishop successfully resisted the knights and
  gained support from local princes who wished to
  end the Knights powers.
• Sickingen defeated (1523) and fled to
  Switzerland. Hutten died of illness. The Knights
  were broken as a power, but just like the
  Peasants after them, they attacked in Luthers
  name. For many afterwards Luthers ideas were
  synonymous with anarchy.

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Questions

1. The publications of 1520 On the Babylonish
   Captivity of the ChurchAddress to the German
   NobilityOf the Liberty of the Christian Man i)
   note the areas of belief each covered, and main
   changes recommendedii) What changes to Religious
   practices did Luther support and why?
2. What were the motives of the Imperial Knights in
   supporting Luther?
3. What were Luthers views about the Peasants War?
   Why did he hold them? What were the effects of
   the war on the development of Lutheranism