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The Religious Context of the German Peasants' War
Zhu, Xiaoyuan
Zhu, Xiaoyuan
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n3_12_ZHU_Xiaoyuan.pdf
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Abstract
This paper explores the religious ideas of the German Peasants' War and seeks to relate them to values and attitudes of and the tensions within the social groups which were called “the Common Man".The most original part of this paper is its discussion of the role of communal tradition in organizing a peasants' society based on the idea of “ godly law".The pre- reformation peasants' rebels struggled against the lord's abuses which were justified by appeals to the ancient tradition but they did not necessarily condemn the political structure or challenge the legitimacy of feudal lordship. With the crises in the Holy Roman Empire that began in 1500 and continued into the Reformation era however came a political split and a change in religious structure which caused a demand for political reformation and an attack on feudal authority and existing order. The growth of communalization also found new ideological expression and brought against existing rule the opposition of the religious theology. This opposition intensified the peasants' sense of separation from “godless lordship",increasing their concern for the ideas of Christian love common good and brotherly unity.
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2016
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With permission of the license/copyright holder