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Muntzer Two
==Martin Luther and the Peasants War==
Luther was much deeply influenced by the teachings of St Augustine and believed that all legitimate authority should be obeyed and it was a Christian’s duty to do so <ref> St Augustine. The City of God (London, Penguin, 1993), p. 356, 478</ref>. After the Peasants War, Luther became even more conservative and he even argued that every Christian should obey the temporal ruler without question and if requested should serve as an executioner for a tyrant. Luther, especially after the Peasant’s War believed that temporal authority should not be challenged in anyway. Luther promoted this, somewhat reactionary approach, at least in part because of the Peasants War. Many of the rebels had been inspired by Luther and had hoped that he would join them and even lead them. Luther’s ideas had definitely been interpreted by some rebels and Protestant Pastors such as Muntzer as validating radical change in society. Many Catholics in Germany used the Peasant War to attack the reformers and the war caused something of a crisis in the Reformation. Luther and his supporters were fearful that their movement could become tainted by association with the Peasants Revolt. Luther and others sought to distance themselves from the War and supported unequivocally the nobility and the Swabian League. This was not doubt done out of expediency as Luther know that his reform movement could only survive with the support of the elite. He could not been seen to be siding with the peasants or he would risk losing the support of the nobility, including the Saxon Dukes, his own protectors. Luther was also genuinely appalled by the behaviour of the peasants. He was particular appalled by the massacre at the castle of Weinsberg, when peasant rebels had massacred some nobles and the garrison of a castle. This prompted him to write the polemic ‘Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants’. In this work he used strong language to call for the extermination of the rebels who had ‘’become the worst blasphemers of God and slanderers of his holy name” <ref> Luther, Martin, Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants’ (Saxony, 1525), p. 10 </ref> . Luther, under the influence of St Augustine believed that human will was depraved and prone to evil <ref> Hale, JR. Renaissance and Reformation (Pelican, London, 1988), p. 67</ref>. 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.
[[File: Muntzer Three.jpg |thumbnail|200px|Pamphlet of the 12 Articles]]
==Prince’s Reformation==
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.
