WORLD WORLDWIDE EUROPE SPAIN - news journal UPDATE - (en) Spain, Regeneration: 500 Years of the Battle of Frankenhausen By EMBAT (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 Last May 15th marked the five hundredth anniversary of the end of a

revolutionary project known as the German Peasants' War. This uprising
was the most massive and widespread revolt until the French Revolution
of 1789. European feudal society was coming to an end. Likewise, the
entire Holy Roman Empire was in crisis. Local and regional powers
renounced the emperor, and the feudal system, in turn, was already
seriously challenged. All social strata conspired against one another in
a complex melting pot of alliances and enmities.

In this context, the peasantry, lacking any form of political
representation, grew weary of maintaining feudal society. Fringe gangs
proliferated throughout southern Germany, as did small riots in some
villages.

The Protestant Reformation emerged at this precise moment and was
supported by some German princes in their confrontation with the
emperor. However, alongside Luther's Reformation, other, much more
radical preachers also emerged, such as Thomas Muntzer of Allstedt.
Muntzer was a supporter of religious communism and the right to violence
by those below. He was deeply millenarian and convinced that the Kingdom
of God was about to fall upon mortals.

In his confession under torture, he literally declared that his primary
objective was "omnia sunt communia." That is, "for all, everything."
This has historically been interpreted as a primitive communism,
inherent to European peasant revolts and Christian heretical movements
in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and modern times.

Therefore, Müntzer was and is considered a leading figure in the
international revolutionary communist movement, and we therefore believe
it is worth remembering this anniversary.

On May 11, 1525, an army of chosen members of the militia called the
Eternal League of God, under the banner of the rainbow, gathered before
the small town of Frankenhausen. The rebel army attracted peasants from
all over Thuringia, as well as petty burghers and commoners from
Mülhausen, reaching a number of 8,000.

Against them, the princes of Saxony and Hesse also assembled an army of
mercenaries. They possessed a large artillery force, 800 armored
cavalry, and 3,000 infantry-although other sources speak of 7,000
lansquenets. Without delay, they occupied several hills near Frankenhausen.

On March 15, the battle began. The peasants, inflamed by Muntzer's
radical speeches, were convinced of victory. Before the battle, they
were practically in a state of ecstasy, especially when the rainbow
appeared in the sky.

The battle was a true carnage. The army of the Chosen was no match for
the princely troops. The artillery smashed Frankenhausen's defenses, and
the infantrymen entered the city with their swords, slaughtering
everyone in an extremely cruel slaughter. It is estimated that between
3,000 and 10,000 peasants were killed, compared to only six casualties
from the princely army.

Muntzer escaped this catastrophic scene. He took refuge in the attic of
a house. A landsquenet recognized him from some documents he was
carrying and handed him over to the duke. After several days of
interrogation and torture, he was taken to Mülhausen and there executed
and beheaded, along with some of the leaders of the uprising.

The German Peasant War, of which this was only an episode, ended with
around 130,000 peasants murdered by the princely and mercenary hordes.
For almost two centuries, half of Europe was under the specter of
revolution. This process was one of the driving forces behind the
abolition of feudalism in Western Europe, and other subsequent processes.

Regarding the revolutionaries, it should be added that due to this
battle and other similar massacres-the Münster Commune of 1935-a
pacifist and rather isolationist spirit began to predominate, which
constitute the essential features of Anabaptism.

At Embat, we wish to remember this episode of authentic social
revolution with socialist characteristics that undoubtedly served as
inspiration for the revolutionary movement of later centuries. Five
centuries later, we find ourselves following the same paths.

Omnia Sunt Communia!

Embat - Organització Llibertària de Catalunya

https://www.regeneracionlibertaria.org/2025/05/20/500-anos-de-la-batalla-de-frankenhausen/
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