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This article will discuss the impact of the Great German Peasant War or Revolt (1524-1527) on Martin Luther and the German Reformation. The war or revolt 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 it was something of a crisis also for Martin Luther and the Reformation. This article will argue that the German Peasant War was a crucial moment in the development of the thought of Martin Luther and the evolution of the Reformation. It will demonstrate that the Peasant War made Luther even more, conservative and in turn this ensured that the Reformation was a movement that was inherently conservative and one that was to be largely controlled by the landed nobility and elites in the German-speaking lands. This in turn also led to the Radical or Popular Reformation and attempt by the common people to establish a faith and church that meet their spiritual needs.

[[File: Muntzer 1.jpg |thumbnail|200px|Grave of Thomas Muntzer]]

==The Peasant Wars Origins==

The German Peasant Wars of 1524-1527 were a mass movement aimed at overthrowing the existing socio-economic system in German-speaking lands <ref> Zagorín, Pérez. Rebels and rulers, 1500–1660 (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1984). pp. 187, 188, 190 </ref>. The Revolt not only involve peasants, but also merchants, artisans, members of the minor nobility and Protestant pastors. They all united to change the prevailing system. There were many reasons for the outbreak. The German Peasants, especially the wealthier groups, wanted to safeguard a hard-earned prosperity that they believed was under threat from the nobility<ref> Zagorin, p. 116</ref>. The wealthy class of German peasant had become relatively prosperous since the Black Death, however, they felt that the nobility was threatening their prosperity. Feudalism had been greatly weakened since the Black Death but many of the rights and privileges of the German nobility still remained. They used these traditional entitlements to seize more of the peasants’ wealth through taxes and dues <ref> Miller, Douglas. Armies of the German Peasants' War 1524–1526 (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2003), p 6, 9, 14</ref>. 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 and peasant leaders did not agree, 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. Thomas Müntzer: Theology and Revolution in the German Reformation. London: Macmillan, 1989), p. 45</ref>. Many of the 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.