Peasants' War

Peasants' War, formerly called the ‘Peasant Revolt’. A series of insurrections of the German peasants in 1524–6. The immediate causes were probably religious, social, economic, and political. M. Luther's doctrine of the priesthood of all believers could be interpreted as postulating greater social equality than it in fact did, and the economic distress of the peasants was real. T. Müntzer's apocalyptic visions, though not responsible for the War, served as an inspiration in the later stages. The rebels consisted of groups of serfs, farmers, townspeople, and minor clergy. They set out their grievances in the Twelve Articles adopted at Memmingen (1525), but they had few real leaders and were brutally stamped out.