The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Vol. VIII: Morality

50
Muenzer Mulberg THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG where all was already in a state of ferment, he de livered inflammatory speeches, and by them as well as by his writings he unsettled the conditions more and more. Munzer longed to be back at Mahlhausen, where his wife had remained, but did not return at the earliest before the beginning of 1525. Pfeiffer had meanwhile returned and had renewed his inflammatory course of action. They both preached openly on the necessity of rebellion, Pfeiffer taking the leading part, since he was the very man to transform Mdnzer's theories into actu ality. The communistic element became more prominent and the number of radicals increased. At the same time warlike preparations were made and men were drilled as soldiers. On Afar. 16 the council was deposed under the leadership of Pfeiffer, and a new council was instituted upon the princi ples established by the preachers. Miinzer held the great mass of the people, but his influence was still greater in Thuringia and in the Harz Mountains, where he incited the people by letters and by the formation of leagues. The inevitable consequences of Miinzer's agitation now appeared. From the South the peasants' movement approached and spread over the whole of Thuringia, the Eichsfeld and the Harz regions. The spiritual center was Mahlhausen with its preachers, though Miinzer did not appear as the real leader. People were not willing to follow him blindly, and there were also disagreements with Pfeiffer which hindered a uni form advance. While Pfeiffer's marauding expe ditions into the Eichsfeld occupied a part of the insurgent forces and carried everywhere devasta tion and destruction, Philipp of Hesse approached after defeating the peasants around Hersfeld and Fulda, and at the same time the peasants who had gathered in the neighborhood of Frankenhausen were threatened by Duke Georg and especially by Count Ernst of Mansfeld. On May 10 Manzer came to their assistance, and immediately broke off the negotiations that had been entered upon with Count Albrecht of Mansfeld. In the face of the superior power of the princes the peasants again entered upon new negotiations, but by false news of victories from outside, by his eloquence and trust in victory, and by his reference to signs sup posed to be given him by God, the prophet once more succeeded in deluding the hesitating people. The bloody battle of Frankenhausen on May 15 decided the issue. On the following day Miinzer was captured and delivered into the hands of Count Ernst of Mansfeld at Heldrungen, was placed under torture, and Georg of Saxony and Philipp of Hesse took pains to convert him. After the surrender of Miihlhausen Mtinzer was led there and put to death together with Pfeiffer. (T. KoLDE.)

BmIJOGRAPHY: A " History of Miinzer " printed at Hagenau, 1525, and reproduced in Walch's ed. of Luther's Works, avi. 159 aqq., is ascribed to Melanchthon. Consult: G. T. Strobel, Leben, Schriften and Lehren Thoma Muntzers, Nuremberg, 1791; J. K. Seidemann, Thomas Manzer, Dresden, 1842; K. E. FSrstemann, Neues Urkundenbuch zur Gesehichle der evangelischen Kirchenreformation, i. 228, Hamburg, 1$42: G. Merx, Thomos Miinzer and Heinrich Pfeiffer 1523-.25, GSttingen, 1889; A. H. Newman, Hist. of Anti-Pedobartism, pp. 87-88, Philadelphia, 1897; K. Kautsky, Communism in Central Europe in the Time of the Reformation, pp. 90-154, London, 1897

(sympathetic and apologetic): H. E. Jacobs, Martin Luther, pp. 253 aqq. et passim, New York, 1898: R. Jordan, Chronik der Stadt Miilhausen, vol. i., Mtihlhausen, 1900; idem, Zur Geachichte der Stadt Muhlhauaen, parts i.-ii., ib. 1901-02; E. Sehling, Die evangelischen Kirchenordnungen des 16. Jahrhunderts, i. 470 aqq., Leipsie, 1902; H. C. Vedder, Balthazar Hiibmaier, pp. 97, 105-107, 160, 182. New York, 1905; H. Barge, Andrews Bodenatein von Karlstadt, 2 vole., Leipaic, 1905; Moeller, Christian Church, iii. 36, 62, 88, 93.