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Admin moved page What was the impact of the German Peasant War (1524-1527) on the Reformation? to What was the impact of the German Peasant War (1524-1527) on the Reformation
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, which 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.
====Prince’s The Reformation==of the Lutheran Churches==
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 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. He seemed to have even acquiesced in developing 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 the revolt had weakened his position. Luther was unwilling to see Reformed Churches come totally under local elites' sway, but he seemed more willing after the Peasants War to compromise. After his death, many local nobles effectively became head heads of the local Lutheran ChurchChurches. Luther had not envisaged this, and this outcome was partly due to the compromises he made with the nobles in the aftermath of the Peasant War.
====Popular Luther's Magisterial Reformation====
After the Peasant War, Martin Luther 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 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 before 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,’ taught 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 by God's Word 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>
====Conclusion====
