The Peasant War in Germany

The foregoing rebellions coincided with the five months’ presence of Thomas Muenzer
in the Highland. Though there are no direct proofs of his influence over the outbreak and
the course of the movement, it is, nevertheless, indirectly ascertained. The most outspoken
revolutionaries  among  the  peasants  were  mostly  his  disciples,  defending  his  ideas.
The
Twelve Articles
, as well as the Letter of Articles of the Highland peasants, were ascribed to
him by all the contemporaries, although the first was certainly not composed by Muenzer.
Already, on his way back to Thuringia, he issued a decisive revolutionary manifesto to the
insurgent peasants.
Duke  Ulrich,  who,  since  1519,  had  been  an  exile  from  Wuerttemberg,  was  now
intriguing to regain his land with the aid of the peasants. Since the beginning of his exile be
had  been  trying  to  utilise  the  revolutionary  party,  and  had  supported  it  continuously.  In
most of the local disturbances taking place between 1520 and 1524 in the Black Forest and
in  Wuerttemberg,  his  name  appeared.  Now  he  armed  himself  directly  for  an  attack  on
Wuerttemberg to be launched out of his castle, Hohentweil. However, he was only utilised
by the peasants without influencing them, and without enjoying their confidence.
The  winter  passed  without  anything  decisive  happening  on  either  side.  The  princely
masters were in hiding. The peasant revolt was gaining scope. In January, 1525, the entire
country  between  the  Danube,  the  Rhine  and  the  Lech,  was  in  a  state  of  fermentation.  In
February,  the  storm  broke.  While  the  Black  Forest  Hegau  troops,  under  Hans  Mueller  of
Bulgenbach, were conspiring with Ulrich of Wuerttemberg, partly sharing his futile march
on Stuttgart (February and March, 1525), the peasants arose on February 9 in Ried above
Ulm, assembled in a camp near Baltringen which was protected by marshes, hoisted the red
flag, and formed, under the leadership of Ulrich Schmid, the Baltringen Troop. They were
10,000 to 12,000 strong.
On  February  25,  the  Upper  Allgaeu  troops,  7,000  strong,  assembled  at  Schussen,
moved by the rumour that troops were marching against the dissatisfied elements who had
appeared in this locality as everywhere else. The people of Kempten, who had conducted a
fight against their archbishop throughout the winter, assembled on the 26th and joined the
peasants.  The  cities  of  Memmingen  and  Kaufbeuren  joined  the  movement  on  certain
conditions.  The  ambiguity  of  the  position  of  the  cities  in  this  movement  was  already
apparent. On March 7, the twelve Memmingen articles were proclaimed in Memmingen for
all the peasants of Upper Allgaeu.
A message from the Allgaeu peasants brought about the formation on Lake Constance
of  the  Lake  Troop  under  Eitel  Hans.  This  troop  also  grew  fast.  Its  headquarters  were  in
Bermatingen.
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The  peasants  also  arose  in  Lower  Allgaeu  in  the  region  of  Ochsenbausen  and
Schellenberg,  in  the  localities  of  Zeil  and  Waldburg,  and  in  the  estates  of  Truchsess.  The
movement started in the early days of March. This Lower Allgaeu Troop, which consisted
of 7,000 men, camped near Wurzach.
All  these  troops  adopted  the  Memmingen  articles,  which,  it  must  be  noted,  were  still
more  moderate  than  the  Hegau  articles,  manifesting,  as  they  did,  a  remarkable  lack  of
determination in points relating to the attitude of the armed troops towards the nobility and
the  governments.  Such  determination,  wherever  manifested,  appeared  only  in  the  later
stages of the war, when the peasants learned to know from experience the mode of action
of their enemies.
A  sixth  troop  was  formed  on  the  Danube,  simultaneously  with  the  others.  From  the
entire  region,  Ulm  to  Donauwoerth,  from  the  valleys  of  the  Iller,  Roth  and  Biber,  the
peasants  came  to  Leipheim,  and  opened  camp  there.  From  fifteen  localities,  every  able-
bodied man had come, while reinforcements were drawn from 117 places. The leader of the
Leipheim Troop was Ulrich Schoen. Its preacher was Jakob Wehe, the priest of Leipheim.
Thus,  at  the  beginning  of  March,  there  were  between  30,000  and  40,000  insurgent
peasants  of  Upper  Suabia  in  six  camps  under  arms.  The  peasant  troops  were  a
heterogeneous  lot.  Muenzer’s  revolutionary  party  was  everywhere  in  the  minority  but  it
formed the backbone of the peasant camps. The mass of the peasants were always ready to
venture compacts with the masters wherever they were promised those concessions which
they  hoped  to  force  upon  their  enemies  by  their  menacing  attitude.  Moreover,  as  the
uprising dragged on and the princes’ armies began to approach, the peasants became weary.
Most of those who still had something to lose, went home. Added to all the difficulties was
the fact that the vagabond masses of the low grade proletariat had joined the troops. This
made  discipline  more  difficult,  and  demoralised  the  peasants,  as  the  vagabonds  were  an
unreliable  element,  coming  and  going  all  the  time.  This,  alone,  is  sufficient  explanation
why, at the beginning, the peasants remained everywhere on the defensive, why they were
becoming  demoralised  in  their  camps,  and  why,  aside  from  tactical  shortcomings  and  the
rarity of good leaders, they could not match the armies of the princes.
While  the  troops  were  assembling,  Duke  Ulrich  invaded  Wuerttemberg  from
Hohentweil with recruited troops and a number of Hegau peasants. Were the peasants now
to  proceed  from  the  other  side,  from  Waldburg  against  Truchsess’  troops,  the  Suabian
Union  would  have  been  lost.  But  because  of  the  defensive  attitude  of  the  peasant  troops,
Truchsess  soon  succeeded  in  concluding  an  armistice  with  those  of  Baltringen,  Allgaeu,
and the Lake, starting negotiations and fixing a date for terminating the whole undertaking,
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