The Reformation And The Diet Of Worms In Germany

In the mid-sixteenth century, the religious reformation was led by Luther and his 95 theses as well as the Diet of Worms in the Germanic states. From this reformation, peasants sparked an uprising against the German land-owning nobility and the aristocracy. The tension between the oppressed peasants and influential Germanic aristocracy caused an aggressive response, tabulating another blow for the peasantry and their newfound Lutheran ideals. In 95 Theses, Luther mentions the error in the giving of indulgences within the church system. Previously, before the Reformation, the church gathered things, especially money, from people to assure that “[any] man [will be] absolved from every penalty and saved by papal indulgences;” however, any clergyman

Essentially, the top positions of the church fooled people into debt, making them believe they would have salvation when, in actuality, they were being robbed for no apparent reason. Luther wanted to stop corruption in church and wrong judgment and beliefs in this system. When people suddenly became aware of these wrongdoings through Luther, the peasants in Germany gathered a strong hatred towards the high class. As peasants struggled through hardships, they were being placed into an undesirable state of serfdom unless they paid to their “lords” (Doc 5). With the realization of this oppression placed upon them by the rich class and nobility, the peasants felt that a revolt was necessary to turn around an unjust behavior and to stop the influx of folk to the serfdom; the peasantry revolted against the unfair nature of the lords, who forced them to execute “more services and other dues…without compensation”. Having experienced this ordeal as peasants, Sebastian Lotzer, craftsperson and lay preacher, and Christoph Schappeler, preacher from Memmingen, are reporting how the lords took money from the peasants and were treated poorly, which is likely to be reliable

The peasants “relate[d] the majority of their demands to the Word of God, the Gospel, and brotherly love,” which refers to their new ideals in Lutheranism that heavily emphasize what was in the bible rather than what priests said. As peasants revolted and acted in passionate ways against the aristocracy, they were being described as “led astray, and made witless,” based on their new religious ideas of Lutheranism, which caused them to rebel in attempt to “repress” the princes and nobles as illustrated by Leonhard von Eck, Chancellor of Bavaria (Doc 3). As Chancellor of Bavaria, among the elite of the Germanic states, he reports violence and suggests reason as to why the high class defeated the peasants in the long run since his word is likely to be reliable. From various reports, the peasants were reported to muster a burning passion in the midst of their revolt, screaming “more peasants in the Black Forest have risen, 3,000 strong!” (Doc 7). This fiery combination of repression, passion, and will power demonstrated the peasants in a negative connotation, as they rebelled, and rallied a plethora of responses and reactions from their targets. Count Wilhelm von Henneberg reported peasants burning the houses of nobility, which, to other elites, sounds realistic since he himself is of the nobility (Doc 4). To Emperor Charles V, imperial councilors and officials told him