and Muntzer hurried back.
By the time he arrived, Germany had plunged into its own Peasants’ Revolt. The poor were on the march, inspired by Luther (who hastened to disown them), and they skirmished with the troops
of the local princes, and attacked monasteries and nunneries.
By May 1525, Muntzer was heading his own peasant army of about eight thousand, and was determined to lead them to the victory foretold in the scriptures. There can be no doubt that he was now
convinced that he was a messiah – or at least, a reincarnation of the prophet Daniel. His chosen symbols were the sword and the rainbow.
His luck took a turn for the worse when Frederick the Wise died, and was succeeded by Duke John. The Duke finally decided that he had to take sides. He appealed to the young commander Philip of
Hesse, who had just put down a rising in his own territories, to come and do the same in Thuringia.
Muntzer summoned his own forces and marched out to meet him. The two armies faced one another on 15 May 1525, Philip’s highly trained and well-equipped army looking down on the unruly mob
of peasants – armed with clubs and pickaxes – from a hilltop. Philip experienced a softening of the heart. He sent a message offering not to attack if the peasants would hand over
Muntzer. The peasants looked up at the army looming above them, and suddenly felt that this was not such a bad idea. But Muntzer once more revealed his skill as a leader; he made a magnificent
speech in which he promised them victory and immunity from the cannons. “I will catch their cannonballs in my sleeves!”
Anabaptists taking the Sacrament
As he spoke, a rainbow appeared in the sky. His followers needed no further convincing, and marched to confront the enemy. As they came closer, Philip of Hesse ordered his cannons to open fire. As the balls cut a swathe through their ranks, the peasants turned and scattered in panic. Philip’s cavalry cut them down as they fled. It was a total rout, and six thousand peasants were to
die.
Thomas Muntzer escaped to nearby Frankenhausen, but the triumphant army soon overran the town. Soon afterwards, they took Mulhausen too. Muntzer was found hiding in a cellar in Frankenhausen,
and was taken captive and tortured. On 27 May 1425, he and Heinrich Pfeiffer were beheaded. That was virtually the end of Germany’s Peasants’ Revolt.
The surviving peasants felt nothing but bitterness against Luther. But in retrospect it seems clear that Luther did the right thing. If he had supported the revolt, he would have been executed
like Muntzer, and Protestantism would have died. As it was, a law was passed declaring that each German state could make up its own mind whether it wanted to be Protestant or Catholic. The majority
opted for Lutheranism. Luther married a nun who had escaped from a convent, had six children, and died at the age of sixty-three, nearly thirty years after he had started the revolution with his
ninety-five theses.
The Massacre of the Anabaptists
The most horrifying episode of this bloody religious war was still to come – the slaughter of the Anabaptists of Munster, under their leader John of Leyden.
Although the German princes had won the Peasants’ War, the spirit of Thomas Muntzer marched on. In these times of revolt and misery – a new outbreak of the Black Death killed
thousands more in 1529 – the poor continued to believe that the Day of Judgement must be at hand. The followers of Muntzer called themselves Anabaptists (or rebaptizers – they believed
that Christians have to be rebaptized in adulthood), and after Muntzer’s death, his torch was taken up by a visionary called Melchior Hoffmann, who also taught that the end of the world was
at hand. Unlike Muntzer, Hoffmann was a peaceable man who advised his followers to wait quietly for the Millennium. But this did not save him. When he proclaimed that Strasbourg was the New
Jerusalem in 1533, and that the Last Trumpet was about to
By the time he arrived, Germany had plunged into its own Peasants’ Revolt. The poor were on the march, inspired by Luther (who hastened to disown them), and they skirmished with the troops
of the local princes, and attacked monasteries and nunneries.
By May 1525, Muntzer was heading his own peasant army of about eight thousand, and was determined to lead them to the victory foretold in the scriptures. There can be no doubt that he was now
convinced that he was a messiah – or at least, a reincarnation of the prophet Daniel. His chosen symbols were the sword and the rainbow.
His luck took a turn for the worse when Frederick the Wise died, and was succeeded by Duke John. The Duke finally decided that he had to take sides. He appealed to the young commander Philip of
Hesse, who had just put down a rising in his own territories, to come and do the same in Thuringia.
Muntzer summoned his own forces and marched out to meet him. The two armies faced one another on 15 May 1525, Philip’s highly trained and well-equipped army looking down on the unruly mob
of peasants – armed with clubs and pickaxes – from a hilltop. Philip experienced a softening of the heart. He sent a message offering not to attack if the peasants would hand over
Muntzer. The peasants looked up at the army looming above them, and suddenly felt that this was not such a bad idea. But Muntzer once more revealed his skill as a leader; he made a magnificent
speech in which he promised them victory and immunity from the cannons. “I will catch their cannonballs in my sleeves!”
Anabaptists taking the Sacrament
As he spoke, a rainbow appeared in the sky. His followers needed no further convincing, and marched to confront the enemy. As they came closer, Philip of Hesse ordered his cannons to open fire. As the balls cut a swathe through their ranks, the peasants turned and scattered in panic. Philip’s cavalry cut them down as they fled. It was a total rout, and six thousand peasants were to
die.
Thomas Muntzer escaped to nearby Frankenhausen, but the triumphant army soon overran the town. Soon afterwards, they took Mulhausen too. Muntzer was found hiding in a cellar in Frankenhausen,
and was taken captive and tortured. On 27 May 1425, he and Heinrich Pfeiffer were beheaded. That was virtually the end of Germany’s Peasants’ Revolt.
The surviving peasants felt nothing but bitterness against Luther. But in retrospect it seems clear that Luther did the right thing. If he had supported the revolt, he would have been executed
like Muntzer, and Protestantism would have died. As it was, a law was passed declaring that each German state could make up its own mind whether it wanted to be Protestant or Catholic. The majority
opted for Lutheranism. Luther married a nun who had escaped from a convent, had six children, and died at the age of sixty-three, nearly thirty years after he had started the revolution with his
ninety-five theses.
The Massacre of the Anabaptists
The most horrifying episode of this bloody religious war was still to come – the slaughter of the Anabaptists of Munster, under their leader John of Leyden.
Although the German princes had won the Peasants’ War, the spirit of Thomas Muntzer marched on. In these times of revolt and misery – a new outbreak of the Black Death killed
thousands more in 1529 – the poor continued to believe that the Day of Judgement must be at hand. The followers of Muntzer called themselves Anabaptists (or rebaptizers – they believed
that Christians have to be rebaptized in adulthood), and after Muntzer’s death, his torch was taken up by a visionary called Melchior Hoffmann, who also taught that the end of the world was
at hand. Unlike Muntzer, Hoffmann was a peaceable man who advised his followers to wait quietly for the Millennium. But this did not save him. When he proclaimed that Strasbourg was the New
Jerusalem in 1533, and that the Last Trumpet was about to
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