Title: 
Headings: 
The
 
Political
 
Impact
 
of
 
the
 
Reformation
 

Content: They
 
were
 
not
 
militarily
 
adept
 
like
 
their
 
opponents. Many
 
of
 
the
 
peasants
 
fought
 
with
 
swords
 
against
 
trained
 
soldiers
 
who
 
had
 
horses
 
and
 
guns. They
 
were
 
therefore
 
easily
 
crushed
 
by
 
a
 
fairly
 
small
 
army
 
of
 
princes,
 
who
 
had
 
more
 
money
 
and
 
experience; at
 
the
 
Battle
 
of
 
Frankenhausen,
 
for
 
instance,
 
several
 
thousand
 
peasants
 
were
 
killed
 
by
 
a
 
superior
 
noble
 
army. Despite
 
the
 
peasants’
 
defeat,
 
however,
 
the
 
size
 
of
 
their
 
uprising
 
shocked
 
many
 
European
 
observers
 
of
 
Luther’s
 
message
 
and
 
strengthened
 
the
 
reaction
 
to
 
it. The
 
episode
 
was
 
equally
 
significant
 
because
 
of
 
how
 
Luther
 
responded
 
to
 
it. While
 
he
 
initially
 
supported
 
the
 
peasants’
 
demands
 
and
 
exhorted
 
them
 
to
 
use
 
peaceful
 
methods,
 
as
 
the
 
revolt
 
grew
 
more
 
fevered
 
he
 
spoke
 
out
 
harshly
 
against
 
it. As
 
the
 
nobles
 
their
 
counterattack
 
against
 
the
 
peasants,
 
Luther
 
wrote
 
a
 
diatribe
 
entitled
 
“Against
 
the
 
Robbing
 
and
 
Murdering
 
Peasant
 
Hordes.” Ultimately,
 
he
 
was
 
blamed
 
for
 
inciting
 
the
 
peasants’
 
revolt
 
in
 
the
 
first
 
place
 
and
 
then
 
for
 
betraying
 
the
 
peasants
 
and
 
condoning
 
their
 
slaughter. Making
 
England
 
Anglican
 
King
 
Henry
 
VIII
 
of
 
England
 
considered
 
himself
 
a
 
good
 
Catholic
 
king.