Peasant Uprising Crushed: Müntzer Falls at Frankenhausen
A coalition of princely armies annihilated the peasant forces at the Battle of Frankenhausen on May 15, 1525, killing an estimated 6,000 rebels in what became the bloodiest single engagement of the German Peasants' War. The peasants, led by radical preacher Thomas Muntzer, were poorly armed and had no military training. Landgrave Philip of Hesse's cavalry scattered them before the infantry even engaged. Muntzer was captured hiding in an attic, tortured, and beheaded. The Peasants' War, which had mobilized 300,000 people across central Germany demanding abolition of serfdom and feudal obligations, was crushed within months. Martin Luther, who had initially sympathized with peasant grievances, wrote "Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants," urging the nobility to slaughter them without mercy.
May 15, 1525
501 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Anabaptist
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Holy Roman Empire
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battle of Frankenhausen
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insurgents
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Thomas Müntzer
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German Peasants' War
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Insurgency
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Anabaptism
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Thomas Müntzer
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Battle of Frankenhausen
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German Peasants' War
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Holy Roman Empire
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1489
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