michael sattler and the peasants revolt of 1525

Michael Sattler and the Peasants Revolt of 1525

Michael Sattler and the Peasants Revolt of 1525

Christian Faith, Politics,

and Social Justice

Staufen im Breisgau

• Photo from Google

• Staufen

Peasant or Burger?

Freiburg


• Staufen• Freiburg

St. Peters Abbey


• Staufen• Freiburg

• St. Peter‟s

Freiburg University

“Around 1500 about 6,000 young men were

studying in German universities, of which a

few grew to supra-regional size and

standing, while others, such as tiny Freiberg

im Breisgau could boast a mere 100

students.” Brady, 25

Freiburg University

“Around 1500 about 6,000 young men were

studying in German universities, of which a

few grew to supra-regional size and

standing, while others, such as tiny Freiberg

im Breisgau could boast a mere 100

students.” Brady, 25

“In the Breisgau the people first affected by

Luther‟s message were quite naturally those

close to the academic community—the

professors, students, and graduates of the

University of Freiburg.” Snyder, 50

1512

Abbot Petrus III dies

1512


He had rebuilt St. Peter‟s and established its reputation as a place of learning and Benedictine practice

1512



It is likely that he had been Sattler‟s patron and mentor

1512



It is likely that he had been Sattler‟s patron and mentor

He is replaced by Abbot Jodocus

1513

In 1513 the monastery annals

recorded a Bundschuh revolt on the

outskirts of Freiberg.

1513

In 1513 the monastery annals

recorded a Bundschuh revolt on the

outskirts of Freiberg.

“The Peasants‟ War culminated a

generation of rural conspiracies.

“They began in 1493 with one that

flew the sign of the laced farmers

boot, the Bundschuh.

“In such groups first appeared a

new slogan, „the godly law‟.”

Brady, 186

“In 1514 extremely

unfavorable weather is

reported.

“The monastery helped

the city of Freiburg by

sending in six

wagonloads of wheat.”

“Beginning in 1515 we

have notices of several

self-donations to the

monastery.

“It seems that economic

hardship was the primary

motive.”

Snyder, 42

1514

Poor Conrad Revolt

“For centuries feuding had been

habitual in all of the Empire‟s governing

classes, and the commoners learned from

the nobles.

“By the 15th century revolts by burgers

and peasants became common from

Upper Swabia to the Black Forest.

“The rebels aimed to defend property

and livelihood by forcing the nobles to

negotiate grievances and acknowledge

the rights of their subjects.

“Revolt was, in effect, a mass feud con-

ducted by common people.” Brady, 96

“The Bundschuh and the Poor

Conrad were only the two most

important of a wave of discontent in

South Germany between 1513 and

1517.

1515

“The Bundschuh and the Poor

Conrad were only the two most

important of a wave of discontent in

South Germany between 1513 and

1517.

“Events in this decade were

characterized by growing radicalism

in the rebel demands, and by

growing participation of urban

commoners.

“They were also characterized by

the spread of the principle of godly

law as a justification for revolt.

“Almanacs and astrologers pre-

dicted trouble in 1524.”

Brady and Midelfort, xiii-iv

1515

Erasmus came to Basle in August 1514. His

multi- volume edition of Jerome‟s works was

published in 1516, followed by his text of the

Greek New Testament, and a revised

translation of the Vulgate.

1516-18

Erasmus came to Basle in August 1514. His

multi- volume edition of Jerome‟s works was

published in 1516, followed by his text of the

Greek New Testament, and a revised

translation of the Vulgate.

“The years 1516-18 were the culmination of

Erasmus‟ career. Applauding crowds

surrounded him.”

The Freiburg jurist Ulrich Zasius wrote, “I

am pointed out in public as the man who has

received a letter from Erasmus.”

His colleague on the University faculty,

Wolfgang Capito wrote, “I know and I teach

nothing but Erasmus now.”

“The faith in an easy triumph of pure

knowledge and Christian meekness in a near

future speaks from the preface of Erasmus‟

edition of the New Testament.”

Huizinga, 89-99

1516-18

1517“After 1517 reformist enthusiasm spread

through Germany, fanned by Luther's

eloquence, and by the underlying anti-

clericalism of many Germans, who had long

resented clerical privileges and exactions.

1517“After 1517 reformist enthusiasm spread

through Germany, fanned by Luther's

eloquence, and by the underlying anti-

clericalism of many Germans, who had long

resented clerical privileges and exactions.

“By 1521 the spark ignited in 1517 had

become a conflagration.” Maltby, 24

“With or without permission printers

greedily snapped up and published the

young monk‟s pronouncements.

“Thousands across Europe now read him

and gathered their own impressions.”

Marty, 34-35

1517The monastery's annals report “In the

year 1517, in which Martin Luther

began to spread his teachings, there was

an enormous shortage of crops lasting

the entire year.

“Earthquakes were felt in many

places with enormous injury.

“For many people the earthquakes

were followed by a mortal illness of the

head and the destruction of the mind.”

Snyder, 41

1517The monastery's annals report “In the

year 1517, in which Martin Luther

began to spread his teachings, there was

an enormous shortage of crops lasting

the entire year.

“Earthquakes were felt in many

places with enormous injury.

“For many people the earthquakes

were followed by a mortal illness of the

head and the destruction of the mind.”

Snyder, 41

“Clouds of tough mercenaries, back from

the Italian Wars, scoured the poorly policed

southern regions to make up their lost pay

by robbing peasants and merchants.

“In 1517 rural insurrection flared once

again on the Upper Rhine. Its leader was the

charismatic Joss Fritz, whose banner flew

the Bundschuh.

“It was the beginning of a great wave of

rural insurrections.”

Brady, 123

1518 “The miserable end of Maximilian's

Italian Wars provoked an important

change of mood, which surfaced at

the Diet of Augsburg in 1518. It was

anti-Roman and anti-Italian.






“The humiliation felt at the Italian

defeats was accomplishing what the

Emperor Maximilian's braggadocio

had never been able to do, diverting

attention to the foreign foes

responsible for German woes.”






“The humiliation felt at the Italian

defeats was accomplishing what the

Emperor Maximilian's braggadocio

had never been able to do, diverting

attention to the foreign foes

responsible for German woes.”

“At the Diet of Augsburg Martin

Luther rose out of his provincial

obscurity into the Empire‟s public

life.”

Brady, 123-24; 147

The Political Triangle

Prince

Pope

Emperor

1519

Emperor Maximilian dies.

1519


Famine which began in 1513 continues for a seventh year.

1519



Up to half the monks, and many others, die in a plague epidemic.

1519




An additional tax to finance the Turkish War is imposed.

1519





Luther moves from protest to open revolt.

1519






St. Peters joins the Bursfeld monastic reform.

1519






St. Peters joins the Bursfeld monastic reform.

Michael Sattler is appointed prior of St. Peters.

1520

Pope Leo threatens Luther with excommunication.

1520


Luther responds by publicly burning the papal bull.

1520



Publishes The Babylonian Captivity and The Freedom of the Christian Man.

Says he is now certain “the pope is the Antichrist”.

1520





Suliman the Magnificent at the head of the Turkish army

advances up the Danube Valley.

1520





Suliman the Magnificent at the head of the Turkish army

advances up the Danube Valley.

Charles V, elected emperor at age 20, raises hopes he will solve

the rapidly growing political-religious crisis in Germany.

1521 The Diet at Worms “When Luther arrived

at Worms, some half a

million copies of his

writings were in print,

an explosion unfathom-

able in its uniqueness

and its power.

1521 The Diet at Worms “When Luther arrived

at Worms, some half a

million copies of his

writings were in print,

an explosion unfathom-

able in its uniqueness

and its power.

“Germans immedi-

ately saw that if Luther

was not a damnable

heretic, as Church and

Empire had pronounced

him to be, he was

perhaps a great new

prophet.”

Brady, 156

The Great Division

“If I am not overcome by the testimony of the Holy

Scriptures or the clear arguments of reasons—for I believe in

neither popes nor councils alone as witnesses, since they

have often erred and contradicted themselves—I remain

overcome by the Bible as I have explained it.

“I can and will recount nothing, because it is always

burdensome, unwholesome, and dangerous to act against

one‟s conscience. God help me! Amen.”

The Great Division

“If I am not overcome by the testimony of the Holy

Scriptures or the clear arguments of reasons—for I believe in

neither popes nor councils alone as witnesses, since they

have often erred and contradicted themselves—I remain

overcome by the Bible as I have explained it.

“I can and will recount nothing, because it is always

burdensome, unwholesome, and dangerous to act against

one‟s conscience. God help me! Amen.”

“It is certain that a single monk errors in his opinion,

which is against what all of Christendom has held for

over a thousand years to the present.

“According to Luther's opinion all of Christendom

has always been in error.”

The Great Division

1522

Archduke Ferdinand

“The Habsburgs had pursued an

aggressive policy of acquisition in Alsace

and the Breisgau since the 14th century, and

this continued unabated in the 16th.

“In 1521 Charles V began to transfer

control of his eastern territories to his

brother and in February 1522 the Breisgau

came under Ferdinand‟s direct control.

“Ferdinand was a militant Catholic, and

he moved forward with a purpose, as will

be noted presently. “ Snyder, 51

“By the beginning of the 1520s,

Sattler saw the university that had

provided him with a humanistic

education under Capito and his

other teachers take a very different

direction under Zasius.

“Perhaps Zasius‟ betrayal of

Capito, and thus his betrayal of

humanist ideals, encouraged Sattler

to follow the path he would.

“Given the position of the university in which „the mere appearance of the prince‟ was determinative—to the detriment of the Reformation—he was in a difficult situation.” Muhleisen

The University Divides

“The peasants were clearly feeling the

economic squeeze, but the monastery

was likewise having financial difficulty.

“The increasing financial pressure

from the Habsburg government

exacerbated these conditions.

“The Habsburgs imposed a new tax

on its subjects in 1519, and Abbot

Jodocus passed it on to the monastery‟s

tenants.

Revolt at St. Peter‟s

“The peasants were clearly feeling the

economic squeeze, but the monastery was

likewise having financial difficulty.

“The increasing financial pressure from

the Habsburg government exacerbated

these conditions.

“The Habsburgs imposed a new tax on

its subjects in 1519, and Abbot Jodocus

passed it on to the monastery‟s tenants.

“The peasants refused to pay, where-

upon Abbot Jodocus appealed to the local

Habsburg authorities.

“The peasants in turn appealed to the

local margrave, who in March of 1522

invaded St. Peter‟s with an army of

mercenaries, putting Abbot Jodocus to

flight.” Snyder, 42

Revolt at St. Peter‟s

“On November 7, 1522, an edict was issued from Nuremburg in which preaching in the reformed sense was outlawed.

“All books containing such ideas were banned.

“This edict found an immediate response in Freiburg. The council ordered it read in every guild.

“Any questionable books were to be brought for examination, and a house-to-house search was to be made.

“The result was a public burning of about 2,000 Lutheran books in the Freiburg Munsterplatz, including Bibles. Snyder, 53-54

Book Burning at Freiburg

1523 Country Preachers

In March the Freiburg City Council told the Austrian government that a local country preacher “Instructs the ignorant common people everywhere from the standpoint of the Lutheran doctrine, causing disobedience and Bundschuh offenses.”

“A month later, the Council volunteered that the preacher had been active in and around Freiburg some years before, that he practiced medicine, and that despite their efforts, they had not been able to apprehend him.

“The impact of such undercover evangelists on the Breisgau countryside is difficult to assess, but it is clear that itinerant preachers like this one were able to move freely among the common people.“ Snyder, 54

Anti-Clericalism

A 1523 pamphlet accused the clergy

of straying “by becoming monks, nuns,

and pastors, wearing habits and

tonsures, and screaming day and night

in church at matins, prime, terse,

vespers, and compline.”

Anti-Clericalism

A 1523 pamphlet accused the clergy

of straying “by becoming monks, nuns,

and pastors, wearing habits and

tonsures, and screaming day and night

in church at matins, prime, terse,

vespers, and compline.”

Duke William IV of Bavaria said the

common people in his area openly

declare “They wish to kill all the priests,

saying that in these days the priests

behave so un-priestlike that it would be

impossible and against the Christian

faith to tolerate them any longer.”

Brady, 18, 293

Zurich

In June Zwingli preached his famous

sermon, stating that “So long as the

Council demands payment of the tithe, it

is the civil duty of the Christian to pay it.”

“He received full support from the

Zürich clergy, while the country preachers

Reublin, Stumpf, and the young Zürich

radicals Conrad Grebel and Felix Mantz

opposed him.

“The rural pastors had radicalized

Grebel and Mantz, and by the October

disputation the Zwinglian reformation‟s

division had become a public matter.”

Snyder, 68

1524 The Revolution Begins

Michael Sattler found himself in a veritable hurricane of events that were

far beyond anyone‟s ability to control—and equally beyond the ability of anyone

at the time to understand.

Forced by the civil war that was emerging he was forced to take a stand.

He had three options:







To join the ruling class against the working class, as his abbot had.








To accept the peasants‟ demands, which would have alienated the rest of

his struggling monastic community.








To accept the peasants‟ demands, which would have alienated the rest of

his struggling monastic community.

To find some new political relationship which both parties to the conflict

could accept.

The Twelve Articles

This proposal coalesced German peasant

aspirations into a national movement when it

was published in March 1525.

It‟s origins are still unclear. My hypothesis is

that it was composed by Sattler in 1524.

The Twelve Articles






Whoever wrote it was educated, thought

clearly and in a way characteristic of persons

familiar with legal matters, and who was

attempting to find a way to avoid civil war

through negotiation.

The Twelve Articles






Whoever wrote it was educated, thought

clearly and in a way characteristic of persons

familiar with legal matters, and who was

attempting to find a way to avoid civil war

through negotiation.

Whoever that person was he was also deeply

formed by the scriptures, and by the belief that

they required social justice.

Failure

In December when the tenants of the adjacent monasteries of St.

Blaisen and St. Trudpert plundered St. Trudert‟s—a few km from

Staufen—it was clear a negotiated settlement was not possible.

What was happening in the Breisgau

was happening everywhere in southern

Germany as the year 1524 came to an

end.

On Christmas Day the pastor of Our

Lady‟s Church in Memmingen reported,

“As I went to the altar a great murmur

arose from the Lutheran women and

men, who drove me into the sacristy

with great violence and there reviled

and scolded me with their fists and with

many words of abuse, beat me about the

head and shoulders, pelted me with

stones, tore out the window panes, and

took the candles.”

The attack lasted two hours, and “if

Mayor Keller and six town councilors

had not arrived, I would have been

struck dead.”

The 1525 Revolt

“In the summer of 1524 an

anti-seigneurial revolt erupted

in the southern Black Forest.

“Over the following winter

and into the spring

revolution spread into

the Upper Rhine,

Swabia and Franconia,

and thence northward

into Hesse and Thuringia

and southeastward

to the borders of Hungary.”

Brady, 186

“Over this zone armies

of rebels formed, the

largest counting perhaps

10,000 to 12,000 fighters.

“They swore oaths,

unfurled banners, armed

themselves, called on

burgers and miners to

join them, and were

determined to teach the

nobles and clergy the

justice of their demands.

“By Easter 1525

perhaps 300,000 rebels

lay under arms.”

Brady, 186

“By the high summer most of their formations had either been defeated in battle, dispersed without major fighting, or pacified through negotiations.

“About a third of the rebels—130,000 by a contemporary estimate, somewhat fewer by modern ones—were shot, cut down, blasted, skewered, smashed, hanged, or tortured to death.”

Brady, 186

Valerius Anshelm reported that in the Black Forest “The

lords, having gained their victory, became more ungracious

and unjust than before.”

The peasants were stripped “of their armor and weapons,

their fine clothing, berets, and leather shoes, prohibited from

visiting inns on pain of life and property,” and each house-

hold was fined six gulden “under threat of fire and pillage.”

Many, he reports, “came out shorn like sheep,” and even

the innocent and those who had opposed the rebels “were

secretly and publicly shorn and butchered.”

Brady, 200-01

Switching Sides

On March 25, 1525, a „brother Michael‟ wearing a „white coat‟, appears at a trial of Zurich-area Anabaptist leaders. He is a non-resident, and so rather than being jailed is forced to abjure all Anabaptist beliefs, to swear never to return to Zurich, and is then expelled.

Switching Sides


In early November 1525 the Zurich authorities demand all adherents of Anabaptist beliefs appear for a public three-day debate.

Switching Sides


In early November 1525 the Zurich authorities demand all adherents of Anabaptist beliefs appear for a public three-day debate.

This is followed on November 18 by a trial, which orders the Anabaptist leaders to be imprisoned. However “Michael Sattler from Staufen in the Breisgau is to be released, upon the swearing of an oath of loyalty and the payment of costs.”

Michael Sattler was expelled from Zürich in

November, together with two country preachers. It

is likely they traveled north to Oberglatt. To Oberglatt

Michael Sattler was expelled from Zürich in

November, together with two country preachers. It

is likely they traveled north to Oberglatt.

Hans Kuenzi, a weaver who lived in Oberglatt,

wrote some time after May 21, 1526:

“A person came to me who had been a monk, and

who urged me to teach him to work, for he wished

to eat bread from his own hands. This is the same

Michael who had earlier been your prisoner.

“This Michael has conducted himself at all times

in a quiet manner, and has not dealt with baptism,

and also is not re-baptized.

“At my suggestion he once went with my brother,

on account of a young woman, where he was asked

to read to the group, and where there was quite a

crowd present.” Snyder, 83, 85

To Oberglatt

“When we join Michael Sattler at his

weaver‟s loom in Hans Kuenzi's house,

and consider the events which he

pondered, we see that he continued to

hold to the peasant critique of his

monastic estate, and that he continued to

accept their democratic teaching on

community.

“However he rejected their violence

and the entire project of reforming

society at large according to the scriptural

pattern.

“There can be no reform of society or

„the world‟, for it is ruled by Satan—as

the recent mutual slaughter had amply

demonstrated.”

Snyder, 201-02

Becoming a Weaver

The official charges at their trial name

“Margaretha, the wife of Michael Sattler

from Staufen.”

Valerius Anshelm tells us she had been a

Beguine, and that she was a “refined and

comely little woman”.

Possibly she was the Margaretha in

Aarau to whom a letter was written in

1525. There was a Beguine house in Aarau

which was still in existence in 1509.

“The word Beguine was used loosely in

the 16th century. It could indicate actual

Beguines, but also Beghards, and even

Franciscan Tertiaries.

“A common function of the Beguines

was that of serving as „Marthas‟ (domestic

labor) in the local monasteries.”

Snyder, 101; n.57, 219

Margaretha

Sometime in the summer of 1526 Sattler

crossed the boundary between

sympathizer and leader.

His first recorded action was to travel to

Strasburg where his former teacher Capito

was now a leader of the reformation there.

Several Anabaptists had been

imprisoned in Strasburg and Sattler

successfully plead for their release,

apparently on the basis of religious liberty.

From Strasburg he crossed the Rhine and

took up pastoral responsibility for the

small evangelical community in Horb.

1526 Anabaptist Pastor

Sometime in the summer of 1526 Sattler

crossed the boundary between

sympathizer and leader.

His first recorded action was to travel to

Strasburg where his former teacher Capito

was now a leader of the reformation there.

Several Anabaptists had been

imprisoned in Strasburg and Sattler

successfully plead for their release,

apparently on the basis of religious liberty.

From Strasburg he crossed the Rhine and

took up pastoral responsibility for the

small evangelical community in Horb.

1526 Anabaptist Pastor

“More than a full year went by before

his acceptance of the heavy cross of adult

baptism.

“When he finally did accept a re-

baptism, not only was his commitment

total and unconditional, but the

Anabaptism to which he committed

himself was something newly defined in

both religious and socioeconomic terms.”

Snyder, 198

1527 Schleitheim and Martyrdom

When Sattler accepted leadership in the infant Anabaptist community

in the last half of 1526, he set out to provide this disorganized and

disparate movement with a structure able to survive on-going

persecution. The result was the Schleitheim Confession, which required

non-violence for lay evangelicals, and which has sustained the Amish

and Mennonite communities to the present.

1527 Schleitheim and Martyrdom

When Sattler accepted leadership in the infant Anabaptist community

in the last half of 1526, he set out to provide this disorganized and

disparate movement with a structure able to survive on-going

persecution. The result was the Schleitheim Confession, which required

non-violence for lay evangelicals, and which has sustained the Amish

and Mennonite communities to the present.

Three months later he would be burned at the stake by the Habsburg

government, but his martyrdom would provide a permanent witness to

his commitment to non-violence, one that would have far-reaching

impact.

“That in the course of a meeting men could change their

opinions and come to unity, is not only a striking rarity in

the history of the Reformation, it is also the most important

event in the whole history of Anabaptism.

“Had it not happened, the Anabaptism of Grebel,

Blaurock, and Mantz would have died out, together with

its founders.

“But now it has taken on a viable form and was in a

position to resist the licentiousness of the fanatics, the

coercion of Christian governments, and the persuasiveness

of the preachers.”

— John Howard Yoder, The Legacy of Michael Sattler

Burned

at the

Stake

The New CommunityIn the five centuries after

Michael and Margaretha

Sattler‟s deaths the vision they

died for has been lived out by

communities of other

Christians willing to die rather

than inflict death on others.

The New CommunityIn the five centuries after

Michael and Margaretha

Sattler‟s deaths the vision they

died for has been lived out by

communities of other

Christians willing to die rather

than inflict death on others.

Those communities are

increasingly recognized as

models for the future.

The New Community

It is no longer difficult

to convince Christians we should be non-violent.

The difficult thing now is to convince them

it is possible.

The peacemaker‟s task now is

not telling others what we should do,

but providing examples of what we can do.

And 500 years of Amish and Mennonite life,

lived in communities formed by

Michael Sattler‟s leadership and example,

provides the most convincing answer possible

to that challenge.

Was Michael Sattler a Heretic?

It is certain that Michael Sattler left his

Benedictine monastery some time in 1525.

Whether he left voluntarily we do not know.

It is clear that his political views and those of

his abbot had diverged substantially.

It is also clear that Michael Sattler did not

leave behind his Benedictine formation. The

evidence indicates that Sattler took the Bene-

dictine tradition with him when he transfer-

red his obedience to a lay community.

Did this action make him a heretic? Or did

it make him a missionary? Did he leave the

Catholic faith or was he an early martyr

witness to the principles of social justice, so

badly being disregarded in the medieval era?

Praying the Psalms each day for years on

end leaves an indelible impact. How can

monastic communities join in praying Psalm

82 without being moved by the power of the

poetry?

How long will you judge unjustly,

and favor the cause of the wicked?

Do justice for the weak and the orphan;

Defend the afflicted and the needy.

Rescue the weak and the poor;

Set them free from the hand of the wicked.

This forces us to ask whether Sattler would

not have been a heretic to have remained in

leadership in a monastic community that was

systematically involved in injustice—injustice

that above all affected the poorest of the poor?

michael sattler and the peasants revolt of 1525

Spiritual

google staufenfreiburgst

google staufen peasant

peters abbeyphoto

peasants revolt

bundschuh revolt

peters freiburg university

abbot petrus

tiny freiberg im breisgau