1 Letter to Stephan Roth at Wittenberg Hermann M hlpfort mayor of Zwickau June 4 1525 As the insurrection of the common people drew to its bloody conclusion some began to criticize Luther for the harsh language he used in calling for the merciless slaughter of the rebellious peasants It is revealing that among these critics was Hermann M hlpfort the mayor of Zwickau an important mining center in southern Saxony near the border of the kingdom of Bohemia M hlpfort himself was a good friend of Luther and the recipient of this letter Stephan Roth was also close to Luther The tone of M hlpfort s letter showed the dismay within the camp of Luther s followers at what he had written at the height of the rebellion M hlpfort pointed out how the common people had turned against Luther and he preached that the nobility would now impose new hardships on the poor God be praised there is peace in and around the city of Zwickau God help us with his grace Doctor Martin has fallen into great disfavor with the common people also with both learned and unlearned his writing is regarded as having been too fickle I am greatly moved to write to you about this for the pastor Nikolaus Hausmann and the preachers here have been greatly disconcerted and amazed by the tracts recently issued since one is clearly contrary to the other First in his Admonition to Peace that Christian man Dr Martin certainly wrote well addressing both sides about the danger of princes and peasants jeopardizing their souls salvation with God s grace he certainly expressed a sound judgment with his proposal about how the matter could be mediated for I with my limited understanding knew of no better counsel But as I know the great and powerful would remit to the poor none of the ruinous and intolerable burdens and may God in heaven take pity on it for such burdens were contrary to God and all justice Afterwards in a second tract A Shocking History and God s Judgment on Thomas M ntzer written after he had received a letter from Thomas M ntzer who so pitiably misled the poor folk Luther became instead the hammer of the poor without regard for their need by calling for the poor alone to be quickly destroyed In the third tract Against the Murdering and Robbing Hordes of peasant which I do not consider theological he called for the private and public murder of the peasants as long as strength coursed through one s veins they should be sent to their judgment before God Is the devil and those who do this to be our Lord God Here I do not agree In my opinion there was no pressing need for this hasty tract There was enough murdering of peasants burghers women and children taking place not only were the poor folk being killed but also their goods and possessions were being taken from their innocent wives and children and burnt God knows these same knights are supposed to be the children of God But we should have more pity for the poor needy and simple folk who were misled by Thomas and others and when Thomas M ntzer s letter arrived Luther might have reacted more thoughtfully 2 See how violently the nobility will impose all their burdens on the people with the sword and shed the blood of the suffering poor who cannot protect themselves from hunger because of their poverty But they the nobility will rely on Martin s tract that this bloodshed will gain them eternal salvation If my gracious lord the elector of Saxony and other princes had issued a public edict calling for regard for the need of the peasantry and they had not then disbanded I would not have had so much pity but no such thing happened Dear Christian brother who will not speak out about the need of the commons in town and village Who will have the strength of spirit not to hold back from doing so Whoever speaks out will be accused of being a rebel and everyone will have to keep silent for fear of tyrants lest it be said that one is speaking against authority I know already that in several places more has been imposed upon the poor than before and they are told openly You owe me this if you do not do it you are opposing me who am your lord and have sovereign authority over you It is said that complaints should be laid before the princes but yea I know no one who will be a just judge We can see how some of the nobility kill stab and shoot whenever they catch sight of the peasantry Now I believe that Doctor Martin has good cause to reprove all rebels for otherwise things would turn out badly But if the self interested and the greedy would remit a little to the poor all this would cease What has moved me so much to write to you besides Martin s rash tract is that poverty has been so much forgotten I also believe that my pious Christian territorial princes young and old who were certainly innocent of this rebellion and of the bloodshed could have averted rebellion in their lands if they had exercised control over the nobility for they have always avoided shedding blood and have not ceased to protect the pious from the wicked But I fear there will be more disobedience I fear truly that more violence will erupt and the nobility will increase their arrogance further There is such boasting and thumping No one I have seen speaks of kindness and forgiveness they say everyone will simply be killed burnt beheaded who now refuses what they had to render before whether justly or unjustly in the way of labor service grazing and the like Martin has not done well in Zwickau and in the countryside and towns he has written the truth in condemning rebellion but the poor have been greatly forgotten Source Michael G Baylor The German Reformation and the Peasants War A Brief History with Documents New York Bedford St Martin s 2012 135 37
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