The Peasant War in Germany

Union; Union taxes; seizure of a strong city, such as Freiburg, to serve as the centre of the
Union;  opening  of  negotiations  with  the  emperor  as  soon  as  the  Union  hordes  were
gathered, and with Switzerland in case the emperor declined – these were the points agreed
upon.  We  see  that  the  demands  of  the  peasants  and  plebeians  assumed  a  more  and  more
definite  and  decisive  form,  although  concessions  had  to  be  made  in  the  same  measure  to
the more moderate and timid elements as well.
The  blow  was  to  be  struck  about  Autumn,  1513.  Nothing  was  lacking  but  a  Union
banner, and Joss Fritz went to Heilbrun to have it painted. It contained, besides all sorts of
emblems and pictures, the Union Shoe and the legend “God help thy divine justice.” While
he was away, a premature attempt was made to overwhelm Freiburg, but the attempt was
discovered.  Some  indiscretions  in  the  conduct  of  the  propaganda  put  the  council  of
Freiburg  and  the  Margrave  of  Baden  on  the  right  track.  The  betrayal  of  two  conspirators
completed  the  series  of  disclosures.  Presently  the  Margrave,  the  council  of  Freiburg,  and
the imperial government of Ensisheim sent out their spies and soldiers. A number of Union
members  were  arrested,  tortured  and  executed.  But  the  majority  escaped  once  more,  Joss
Fritz among them. The Swiss government now persecuted the fugitives with great assiduity
and  even  executed  many  of  them.  However,  it  could  not  prevent  the  majority  of  the
fugitives from keeping themselves continually in the vicinity of their homes and gradually
returning  there.  The  Alsace  government  in  Ensisheim  was  more  cruel  than  the  others.  It
ordered very many to be decapitated, broken on the wheel, and quartered. Joss Fritz kept
himself mainly on the Swiss bank of the Rhine, but he also went often to the Black Forest
without ever being apprehended.
Why  the  Swiss  made  common  cause  with  the  neighbouring  governments  this  time  is
apparent  from  the  peasant  revolt  that  broke  out  the  following  year,  1514,  in  Berne,
Sollothurne and Lucerne, and resulted in a purging of the aristocratic governments and the
institution of patricians. The peasants also forced through some privileges for themselves.
If these Swiss local revolts succeeded, it was simply due to the fact that there was still less
centralisation in Switzerland than in Germany. The local German masters were all subdued
by the peasants of 1525, and if they succumbed, it was due to the organised mass armies of
the princes. These latter, however, did not exist in Switzerland.
Simultaneously  with  the  Union  Shoe  in  Baden,  and  apparently  in  direct  connection
with it, a second conspiracy was formed in Wuerttemberg. According to documents, it had
existed  since  1503,  but  since  the  name  Union  Shoe  became  too  dangerous  after  the
dispersal of the Untergrombach conspirators, it adopted the name of Poor Konrad. Its seat
was the valley of Rems underneath the mountain of Hohenstaufen. Its existence had been
no  mystery  for  a  long  time,  at  least  among  the  people.  The  shameless  pressure  of  Duke
The Peasant War in Germany
– 48 –

---

Ulrich’s government, and the series of famine years which so greatly aided the outbreaks of
1513  and  1514,  had  increased  the  number  of  conspirators.  The  newly  imposed  taxes  on
wine, meat and bread, as well as a capital tax of one penny yearly for every guilder, caused
the new outbreak. The city of Schorndorf, where the heads of the complot used to meet in
the house of a cutler named Kaspar Pregizer, was to be seized first. In the spring of 1514,
the  rebellion  broke  out.  Three  thousand,  and,  according  to  others,  five  thousand  peasants
appeared  before  the  city,  and  were  persuaded  by  the  friendly  promises  of  the  Duke’s
officers  to  move  on.  Duke  Ulrich,  having  promised  the  abolition  of  the  new  tax,  came
riding fast with eighty horsemen, to find that everything was quiet in consequence of the
promise.  He  promised  to  convene  a  diet  where  all  complaints  would  be  examined.  The
chiefs  of  the  organisation,  however,  knew  very  well  that  Ulrich  sought  only  to  keep  the
people quiet until he had recruited and concentrated enough troops to be able to break his
word and collect the taxes by force. They issued from Kaspar Pregizer’s house, “the office
of  Poor  Konrad,”  a  call  to  a  Union  congress,  this  call  having  the  support  of  emissaries
everywhere.  The  success  of  the  first  uprising  in  the  valley  of  Rems  had  everywhere
strengthened  the  movement  among  the  people.  The  papers  and  the  emissaries  found  a
favourable response, and so the congress held in Untertuerkheim on May 28, was attended
by numerous representatives from all parts of Wuerttemberg. It was decided immediately to
proceed with the propaganda and to strike a decisive blow in the valley of Rems at the first
opportunity  in  order  to  spread  the  uprising  from  that  point  in  every  direction.  While
Bantelshans  of  Dettingen,  a  former  soldier,  and  Singerhans  of  Wuertingen,  a  prominent
peasant,  were  bringing  the  Suabian  Alp  into  the  Union,  the  uprising  broke  out  on  every
side.  Though  Singerhans  was  suddenly  attacked  and  seized,  the  cities  of  Backnang,
Winnenden,  and  Markgroenningen  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  peasants  combined  with  the
plebeians, and the entire territory from Weinsberg to Blaubeuren and from there up to the
frontiers of Baden, was in open revolt. Ulrich was compelled to yield. However, while he
was calling the Diet for June 25, he sent out a circular letter to the surrounding princes and
free  cities,  asking  for  aid  against  the  uprising,  which,  he  said,  threatened  all  princes,
authorities and nobles in the empire, and which “strangely resembled the Union Shoe.”
In the meantime, the Diet, representing the cities, and many delegates of the peasants
who also demanded seats in the Diet, convened on June 18 in Stuttgart.
The prelates were not there as yet. The knights had not been invited. The opposition of
the city of Stuttgart, as well as two threatening hordes of peasants at Leonberg nearby in
the  valley  of  Rems,  strengthened  the  demands  of  the  peasants.  Their  delegates  were
admitted,  and  it  was  decided  to  depose  and  punish  three  of  the  hated  councillors  of  the
Duke – Lamparter, Thumb and Lorcher, to add to the Duke a council of four knights, four
The Peasant War in Germany
– 49 –

---