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The Great German Peasant War or Revolt (1524-1527) was one of the most widespread popular uprising in the early modern period. It has often been seen as a precursor of communism and socialism. The uprising engulfed most of the German-speaking lands and created a crisis for Martin Luther and the Reformation. The German Peasant War was a crucial moment in the development of the thought of Martin Luther and the evolution of the Reformation. The uprising, while inspired in part by the Reformation, forced the movement into the hands of the landed nobility and elites in the German-speaking lands. Luther's Reformation became an increasingly conservative movement. The conservative Reformation, forced commoners to establish a faith and church that meet their needs and gave birth to the Radical or Popular Reformation.

The German elite also could use the Roman law, which was increasingly popular in German lands to enforce their rights and increasingly many peasants found themselves forced to hand over more of their resources to the elite or to perform more unpaid labor for their lords. Roman law unlike traditional customs made it much easier for German landlords and nobles to demand extra rents and dues. This resulted in the early sixteenth witness an increasing antagonism between the elite and the lower classes. Then there was the unintended consequences of Luther’s attack on the Church hierarchy. He has shown to many Germans satisfaction that the traditional power of the Catholic Church had only been a social construction and was not sanctioned by God. This was revolutionary. Luther only wanted people to see the Catholic Church as something that was not sanctioned by God, he still believed that the social system in Germany, based on ‘orders’ was pre-ordained by God.<ref> Miller, p119</ref> Many Protestant pastors, such as Thomas Muntzer and they believed that feudalism and the existing social order could be changed and that it was not ordained by God but only designed by the elite for their own advantage and gain.<ref>Scott, Tom. <i>Thomas Müntzer: Theology and Revolution in the German Reformation</i>. London: Macmillan, 1989), p. 45</ref> Many educated peasants had also been disappointed with the course of the Reformation and they believed that it did not go far enough and they wanted a more radical church, one that was not hierarchical and dominated by the local notable.

[[File: Muntzer Two.jpg |thumbnail|left|300px|Battle of Frankenhausen]]

The revolt covered large areas of Europe and it began in Alsace-Lorraine (now in France) and spread as far west as Austria. It was often led by members of the minor nobility and leading peasants in their communities. The revolts usually began with a symbolic act of defiance, such as the refusal to carry out some order or custom. Soon the peasants would begin to arm themselves and formed companies based on local territorial units.<ref> Scott, p. 117</ref> Many of the peasants had served as soldiers but the majority were untrained and only armed with farm implements. The first revolts were in 1524 and they had spread to all of South West Germany by 1525. Soon there were revolts in the Black Forest area. The local elite used their own forces and urban militias to try and quell the disturbances.

Only a strong monarch or government could control the evil nature especially of the lower orders. As a result of the Peasants War, existing trends in the Reformation were confirmed and even became entrenched in Lutheranism. The Protestant Churches were to support the existing social order, that was hierarchal and socially conservative.<ref>Hale, p. 115</ref> Lutheranism in part, because of the Peasant War became a faith that was very much concerned with social order and discipline. Initially, Luther had seemed to promise a Church that was more liberal but after the Peasant’s War it became noticeably more conservative and even reactionary.

The Reformation had always been dependent on the support of the elite. They had helped Luther to defy the Pope. Many had seen in Luther’s teachings an opportunity to enrich themselves and to gain control over their own local churches.<ref>Hale, p. 115</ref> As the secularisation of monasteries and nunneries progressed the nobles and the urban elite had benefitted enormously. This trend continued during the Peasant War and in its aftermath. Moreover the elites began to have more control over the actual running of the newly formed Lutheran Churches. This was despite Luther’s belief in the separation of state and church. He had previously believed that the church should be kept separate from the secular power, which is inherently corrupt and corrupting.<ref> Luther, p. 3</ref>

However, after the Peasant War, Luther became less dogmatic and he seemed to have even acquiesced in the development of churches in German states that were often largely controlled by the local elite.<ref> Hale, p. 118</ref> This was even the case in his native Saxony and was possibly a reflection of the fact that he had felt his position had been weakened by the revolt. Luther was not willing to see Reformed Churches to come totally under the sway of local elites but he seemed more willing after the Peasants War to compromise. After his death, many local nobles effectively became head of the local Lutheran Church. This had not been envisaged by Luther and this outcome was partly a result of the compromises he made with the nobles in the aftermath of the Peasant War.

Martin Luther after the Peasant War was seen as leading a religious movement that was more concerned with the elite than the ordinary people. Historians have come to see Luther after 1525 as promoting ‘a Magisterial Reformation.’<ref> Hale, p. 145</ref> one that was directed and controlled by the traditional rulers. Many pastors and ordinary people, who had been inspired by Luther, now turned against him and this had begun prior to the Peasants War. However, this dissatisfaction with Luther and his teachings became more pronounced after 1524-1527. Soon Protestant pastors and preachers, disillusioned with the ‘Magisterial Reformation’ were teaching a more radical version of Protestantism, one that Luther condemned.<ref> Williams, George H., <i>The Radical Reformation</i>, 3rd ed (Truman State University Press, 2000), p.113</ref> This led to the formation of many sects and groups. They were often persecuted not only by Catholics but also by Lutherans. This was the Radical or Popular Reformation an effort by radicals, based on the Bible to live in accordance with the Word of God and usually contrary to Martin Luther’s teachings.<ref> Williams, p. 116</ref> Many of these groups such as the Anabaptists also were social radicals. Many of the religious sects that emerged after the Peasants War were millenarian movements. Despite being repressed these sects and movements spread all over Europe, although they only managed to hold the allegiance of small numbers of the European population, they were enormously influential especially in America.<ref>Williams, p. 124</ref>

The Peasant War of 1524-1527 was crucial in the development of the Reformation. The ideas of the reformers inspired the peasantry and others to challenge the existing hierarchal order and to change the socio-economic system. They failed to achieve any of their aims and the existing elite only became more entrenched. The new Protestant Churches because of the crisis caused by the Peasant War became more conservative and came under the total control of the elite. Luther’s innate conservatism was reinforced by the Revolt. He condoned the elite’s domination of the new Church and a theology that justified and promoted the existing social and economic system.<ref> Scott, p 114</ref> The common people had no real role in the governance of the new Protestant Churches after the great revolt. This led to a growing frustration among many and this led directly to the Radical or the Popular Reformation. The Peasants War changed the course of the Reformation and led to Lutheran churches that served the needs of the elite and ultimately resulting in the splintering of Protestantism into a myriad of sects.

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*[[How did the Renaissance influence the Reformation?]]

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