The Peasant War in Germany

Thus it came about that when the struggle broke out, the nobles were alone in the field
against the princes. It was obvious that the princes, who, for two centuries had been taking
the ground from under the nobility’s feet, would this time also gain a victory without much
effort.
The  course  of  the  struggle  itself  is  well  known.  Hutten  and  Sickingen,  already
recognised as the political and military chiefs of the middle German nobility, organised in
Landau, in 1522, a union of the Rhenish, Suabian and Franconian nobility for the duration
of  six  years,  ostensibly  for  self-defense.  Sickingen  assembled  an  army,  partly  out  of  his
own  means  and  partly  in  combination  with  the  neighbouring  knights.  He  organised  the
recruiting  of  armies  and  reinforcements  in  Franconia,  along  the  Lower  Rhine,  in  the
Netherlands and in Westphalia, and in September, 1522, he opened hostilities by declaring
a  feud  against  the  Elector-Archbishop  of  Trier.  While  he  was  stationed  near  Trier,  his
reinforcements were cut off by a quick intervention of the princes. The Landgrave of Hesse
and  the  Elector  Palatine  went  to  the  aid  of  the  Archbishop  of  Trier,  and  Sickingen  was
hastily compelled to retreat to his castle, Landstuhl. In spite of all the efforts of Hutten and
the remainder of his friends, the united nobility, intimidated by the concentrated and quick
action of the princes, left him in the lurch. Sickingen was mortally wounded, surrendered
Landstuhl,  and  soon  afterwards  he  died.  Hutten  was  compelled  to  flee  to  Switzerland,
where he died a few months later on the Isle of Ufnau, on the Lake of Zurich.
With this defeat, and with the death of both leaders, the power of the nobility as a body,
independent  of  the  princes,  was  broken.  From  then  on  the  nobility  appeared  only  in  the
service  and  under  the  leadership  of  the  princes.  The  Peasant  War,  which  soon  broke  out,
drove the nobles still more deeply under the direct or indirect protection of the princes. It
proved  that  the  German  nobility  preferred  to  continue  the  exploitation  of  the  peasants
under princely sovereignty, rather than overthrow the princes and priests through an open
alliance with the emancipated peasants.
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Chapter 5
The Peasant War in Suabia and Franconia
From the moment when Luther’s declaration of war against the Catholic hierarchy set into
motion  all  the  opposition  elements  of  Germany,  not  a  year  passed  without  the  peasants
coming  forth  with  their  demands.  Between  1518  and  1523,  one  local  revolt  followed
another  in  the  Black  Forest  and  in  upper  Suabia.  Beginning  in  the  Spring  of  1524,  these
revolts assumed a systematic character. In April of that year, the peasants of the Abbey of
Marchthal  refused  serf  labour  and  duties;  in  May  of  the  same  year,  the  peasants  of  St.
Blasien  refused  serf  payments;  in  June,  the  peasants  of  Steinheim  near  Memmingen
declared they would pay neither the tithe nor other duties; in July and August, the peasants
of  Thurgau  rebelled  and  were  quieted  partly  through  the  mediation  of  Zurich,  partly
through the brutality of the confederacy which executed many of them. Finally, a decisive
uprising  took  place  in  the  Margraviate  of  Stuehlingen,  which  may  be  looked  upon  as  the
real beginning of the Peasant War.
The  peasants  of  Stuehlingen  suddenly  refused  deliveries  to  the  Landgrave  and
assembled in strong numbers. On October 24, 1524, they moved towards Waldshut under
Hans Mueller of Bulgenbach. Here they organised an evangelical fraternity, jointly with the
city middle-class. The latter joined the organisation the more willingly since they were in
conflict  with  the  government  of  Upper  Austria  over  the  religious  persecutions  of  their
preacher, Balthaser Hubmaier, a friend and disciple of Thomas Muenzer’s. A Union tax of
three kreutzer weekly was imposed. It was an enormous sum for the value of money of that
time. Emissaries were sent out to Alsace, to the Moselle, to the entire Upper Rhine and to
Franconia,  to  bring  peasants  everywhere  into  the  Union.  The  aims  of  the  Union  were
proclaimed  as  follows:  abolition  of  feudal  power;  destruction  of  all  castles  and
monasteries; elimination of all masters outside of the emperor. The German tricolour was
the banner of the Union.
The  uprising  spread  rapidly  over  the  entire  territory  of  present-day  Baden.  A  panic
seized the nobility of Upper Suabia, whose military forces were all engaged in Italy, in a
war  against  Francis  I  of  France.  Nothing  remained  for  it  but  to  gain  time  by  protracted
negotiations, meanwhile collecting money and recruiting troops, pending the moment when
it  would  feel  strong  enough  to  punish  the  peasants  for  their  audacity  by  “burning  and
scorching,  plundering  and  murdering.”  From  that  moment  there  began  that  systematic
betrayal, that consistent recourse to perfidiousness and secret malice, which distinguished
the  nobility  and  the  princes  throughout  the  entire  Peasant  War,  and  which  was  their
strongest  weapon  against  decentralised  peasants.  The  Suabian  Union,  comprising  the
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princes,  the  nobility,  and  the  imperial  cities  of  southwest  Germany,  tried  conciliatory
measures  without  guaranteeing  the  peasants  real  concessions.  The  latter  continued  their
movement.  Hans  Mueller  of  Bulgenbach  marched,  from  September  30  to  the  middle  of
October,  through  the  Black  Forest  up  to  Urach  and  Furtwangen,  increased  his  troops  to
3,500  and  took  a  position  near  Eratingen,  not  far  from  Stuehlingen.  The  nobility  had  no
more than 1,700 men at their disposal, and even those were divided. It had to agree to an
armistice,  which  was  concluded  in  the  camp  at  Eratingen.  The  peasants  were  promised  a
peaceful  agreement,  either  directly  between  the  interested  parties,  or  by  means  of  an
arbitrator, and an investigation of complaints by the court at Stockach. The troops of both
the nobility and the peasants were dispersed.
The peasants formulated sixteen articles, the acceptance of which was to be demanded
of the court at Stockach. The articles were very moderate. They included abolition of the
hunting right, of serf labour, of excessive taxes and master privileges in general, protection
against willful arrests and against partisan courts. The peasants’ demands went no farther.
Nevertheless,  immediately  after  the  peasants  went  home,  the  nobility  demanded
continuation  of  all  contested  services  pending  the  court  decision.  The  peasants  refused,
advising  the  masters  to  go  to  the  court.  Thus  the  conflict  was  renewed,  the  peasants
reassembled,  and  the  princes  and  masters  once  again  concentrated  their  troops.  This  time
the movement spread far over the Breisgau and deep into Wuerttemberg. The troops under
Georg  Truchsess  of  Waldburg,  the  Alba  of  the  Peasant  War,  observed  the  peasants’
movements, attacked individual reinforcements, but did not dare to attack the main force.
Georg  Truchsess  negotiated  with  the  peasant  chiefs,  and  here  and  there  he  effected
agreements.
By the end of December, proceedings began before the court at Stockach. The peasants
protested against the court, composed entirely of nobles. In reply, an imperial edict to this
effect  was  read.  The  proceedings  lagged,  while  the  nobility,  the  princes  and  the  Suabian
Union  authorities  were  arming  themselves.  Archduke  Ferdinand  who  dominated,  besides
hereditary  lands  then  still  belonging  to  Austria,  also  Wuerttemberg,  the  Black  Forest  and
Southern Alsace, ordered the greatest severity against the rebellious peasants. They were to
be  captured,  mercilessly  tortured  and  killed;  they  were  to  be  exterminated  in  the  most
expeditious  manner;  their  possessions  to  be  burned  and  devastated,  and  their  wives  and
children  driven  from  the  land.  It  was  in  that  way  that  the  princes  and  masters  kept  the
armistice, and this is what passed for amicable arbitration and investigation of grievances.
Archduke Ferdinand, to whom the house of Welser of Augsburg advanced money, armed
himself very carefully. The Suabian Union ordered a special tax, and a contingent of troops
to be called in three installments.
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