Title: German Peasants' War - Wikipedia
Headings: German Peasants' War
German Peasants' War
Contents
Background
Roman civil law
Luther and Müntzer
Social classes in the 16th century Holy Roman Empire
Princes
Lesser nobility
Clergy
Patricians
Burghers
Plebeians
Peasants
Military organizations
Army of the Swabian League
Peasant armies
Peasant resources
Causes
Threat to prosperity
Serfdom
Luther's Reformation
Class struggle
Outbreak in the southwest
Insurgency expands
Twelve Articles (statement of principles)
Course of the war
Kempten Insurrection
Battle of Leipheim
Weinsberg Massacre
Massacre at Frankenhausen
Battle of Böblingen
Battle of Königshofen
Siege of Freiburg im Breisgau
Second Battle of Würzburg (1525)
Closing stages
Ultimate failure of the rebellion
Historiography
Marx and Engels
Later historiography
See also
Notes
References
Further reading
External links
Further reading

Content: Most of them had little, if any, military experience. Their opposition had experienced military leaders, well-equipped and disciplined armies, and ample funding. The revolt incorporated some principles and rhetoric from the emerging Protestant Reformation, through which the peasants sought influence and freedom. Radical Reformers and Anabaptists, most famously Thomas Müntzer, instigated and supported the revolt. In contrast, Martin Luther and other Magisterial Reformers condemned it and clearly sided with the nobles. In Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants, Luther condemned the violence as the devil's work and called for the nobles to put down the rebels like mad dogs. Historians have interpreted the economic aspects of the German Peasants' War differently, and social and cultural historians continue to disagree on its causes and nature. Contents
1 Background
1.1 Roman civil law
1.2 Luther and Müntzer
1.3 Social classes in the 16th century Holy Roman Empire
1.3.1 Princes
1.3.2 Lesser nobility
1.3.3 Clergy
1.3.4 Patricians
1.3.5 Burghers
1.3.6 Plebeians
1.3.7 Peasants
1.4 Military organizations
1.4.1 Army of the Swabian League
1.4.2 Peasant armies
1.4.3 Peasant resources
2 Causes
2.1 Threat to prosperity
2.2 Serfdom
2.3 Luther's Reformation
2.4 Class struggle
3 Outbreak in the southwest
3.1 Insurgency expands
3.2 Twelve Articles (statement of principles)
4 Course of the war
4.1 Kempten Insurrection
4.2 Battle of Leipheim
4.3 Weinsberg Massacre
4.4 Massacre at Frankenhausen
4.5 Battle of Böblingen
4.6 Battle of Königshofen
4.7 Siege of Freiburg im Breisgau
4.8 Second Battle of Würzburg (1525)
4.9 Closing stages
5 Ultimate failure of the rebellion
6 Historiography
6.1 Marx and Engels
6.2 Later historiography
7 See also
8 Notes
9 References
10 Further reading
11 External links
12 Further reading
Background
In the sixteenth century, many parts of Europe had common political links within the Holy Roman Empire, a decentralized entity in which the Holy Roman Emperor himself had little authority outside of his own dynastic lands, which covered only a small fraction of the whole. At the time of the Peasants' War, Charles V, King of Spain, held the position of Holy Roman Emperor (elected in 1519). Aristocratic dynasties ruled hundreds of largely independent territories (both secular and ecclesiastical) within the framework of the empire, and several dozen others operated as semi-independent city-states.