The Peasant War in Germany

joined. Georg Metzler took command, and having received all reinforcements, marched on
April 4 to the monastery of Schoenthal on the Jaxt, where he was joined by the peasants of
the Neckar valley. The latter, led by Jaecklein Rohrbach, an innkeeper at Boeckingen near
Heilbronn,  had  proclaimed,  on  Judica  Sunday,  the  insurrection  in  Flein,  Southeim,  etc.,
while,  simultaneously,  Wendel  Hipler,  with  a  number  of  conspirators,  took  Oehringen  by
surprise  and  drew  the  surrounding  peasants  into  the  movement.  In  Schoenthal,  the  two
peasant  columns,  combined  into  the  Gay  Troop,  accepted  the  Twelve  Articles,  and
organised expeditions against the castles and monasteries. The Gay Troop was about 8,000
strong, and possessed cannon, as well as 3,000 guns. Florian Geyer, a Franconian knight,
also joined the troop and formed the Black Host, a select division which had been recruited
mainly from the Rottenburg and Oehringen infantry.
The Wuerttemberg magistrate in Neckarsulm, Count Ludwig von Helfenstein, opened
hostilities.  Without  much  ado,  he  ordered  all  peasants  that  fell  into  his  hands  to  be
executed.  The  Gay  Troop  marched  against  him.  The  peasants  were  embittered  by  the
massacres  as  well  as  by  news  of  the  defeat  of  the  Leipheim  Troop,  of  Jakob  Wehe’s
execution, and the Truchsess atrocities. Von Helfenstein, who had precipitously moved into
Weinsberg, was there attacked. The castle was stormed by Florian Geyer. The city was won
after a prolonged struggle, and Count Ludwig was taken prisoner, as were several knights.
On  the  following  day,  April  17,  Jaecklein  Rohrbach,  together  with  the  most  resolute
members  of  the  troop,  held  court  over  the  prisoners,  and  ordered  fourteen  of  them,  with
von Helfenstein at the head, to run the gauntlet, this being the most humiliating death he
could  invent  for  them.  The  capture  of  Weinsberg  and  the  terroristic  revenge  of  Jaecklein
against  von  Helfenstein,  did  not  fail  to  influence  the  nobility.  Count  von  Loebenstein
joined  the  Peasant  Alliance.  The  Counts  von  Hohenlohe,  who  had  joined  previously
without offering any aid, immediately sent the desired cannon and powder.
The  chiefs  debated  among  themselves  whether  they  should  not  make  Goetz  von
Berlichingen  their  commander  “since  be  could  bring  to  them  the  nobility.”  The  proposal
found sympathy, but Florian Geyer, who saw in this mood of the peasants and their chiefs
the  beginning  of  reaction,  seceded  from  the  troop,  and  together  with  his  Black  Host,
marched  first  through  the  Neckar  Region,  then  the  Wuerzburg  territory,  everywhere
destroying castles and priests’ nests.
The remainder of the troop marched first towards Heilbronn. In this powerful and free
imperial  city,  the  patriciate  was  confronted,  as  almost  everywhere,  by  a  middle-class  and
revolutionary  opposition.  The  latter,  in  secret  agreement  with  the  peasants,  opened  the
gates  before  G.  Metzler  and  Jaecklein  Rohrbach,  on  April  17,  in  the  course  of  a  general
disturbance. The peasant chiefs with their people took possession of the city. They accepted
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membership  in  the  brotherhood,  and  delivered  12,000  guilders  in  money  and  a  squad  of
volunteers. Only the possessions of the clergy and the Teutonic Order were pillaged. On the
22nd, the peasants moved away, leaving a small garrison. Heilbronn was designated as the
centre  of  the  various  troops,  the  latter  actually  sending  delegates  and  conferring  over
common  actions  and  common  demands  of  the  peasantry.  But  the  middle-class  opposition
and  the  honourables  who  had  joined  them  after  the  peasant  invasion,  regained  the  upper
hand in the city, preventing it from taking decisive steps and only waiting for the approach
of the princes’ troops in order to betray the peasants definitely.
The peasants marched toward the Odenwald. Goetz von Berlichingen who, a few days
previous,  had  offered  himself  to  the  Grand  Elector  Palatine,  then  to  the  peasantry,  then
again  to  the  Grand  Elector,  was  compelled  on  April  24  to  join  the  Evangelist  Fraternity,
and to take over the supreme command of the Gay Bright Troop (in contrast to the Black
Troop of Florian Geyer). At the same time, however, he was the prisoner of the peasants
who  mistrusted  him  and  bound  him  to  a  council  of  chiefs  without  whom  he  could
undertake  nothing.  Goetz  and  Metzler  moved  with  a  mass  of  peasants  over  Buchen  to
Armorbach, where they remained from April 30, until May 5, arousing the entire region of
the Main. The nobility was everywhere compelled to join, and thus its castles were spared.
Only  the  monasteries  were  burned  and  pillaged.  The  troops  had  obviously  become
demoralised.  The  most  energetic  men  were  away,  either  under  Florian  Geyer  or  under
Jaecklein  Rohrbach,  who,  after  the  capture  of  Heilbronn,  also  separated  himself  from  the
troops,  apparently  because  he,  judge  of  Count  von  Helfenstein,  could  no  longer  remain
with a body which was in favour of reconciliation with the nobility. This insistence on an
understanding with the nobility was in itself a sign of demoralisation. Later, Wendel Hipler
proposed  a  very  fitting  reorganisation  of  the  troops.  He  suggested  that  the  Lansquenets,
who offered themselves daily, should be drawn into the service, and that the troops should
no  longer  be  renewed  monthly  by  assembling  fresh  contingents  and  dismissing  old  ones,
but that those of them who had received more or less military training should be retained.
The  community  assembly  rejected  both  proposals.  The  peasants  had  become  arrogant,
viewing the entire war as nothing but a pillage. They wanted to be free to go home as soon
as their pockets were full, but the competition of the Lansquenets promised them little. In
Amorbach, it went so far that Hans Berlin, a member of the council of Heilbronn, induced
the chiefs and the councils of the troops to accept the Declaration of the Twelve Articles, a
document wherein the remaining sharp edges of the Twelve Articles were removed, and in
which,  a  language  of  humble  supplication  was  put  into  the  mouths  of  the  peasants.  This
was  too  much  for  the  peasants,  who  rejected  the  Declaration  under  great  tumult,  and
insisted on the retention of the original Articles.
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