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The Virgin Mary: From Hans Behem's Message To The Catholic Church

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In 1476, outside of the village of Niklashausen in Germany, an uneducated peasant named Hans Behem was tending to his animals in a field, when a vision of the Virgin Mary appeared to him. The Mother of Christ instructed Hans to burn his drum and to lead a revolution. The time had come to eliminate the widespread corruption in the world and to create a more pure and Godly society. The time had come to put the clergy back in its place and to inspire fellow peasants to no longer accept and tolerate their injustice and repression done by traveling and delivering radical sermons. This story begins with the Virgin Mary appearing to Hans while out in his field. The Virgin Mary informs Hans Behem that he is one of her chosen shepherds. Mary further told Hans that the Lord was not happy with his people. Hans was chosen to deliver this message and preach to the Lord's people through Mary. During this period, the Virgin Mary was seen as a figure that gave peasants their rights. The peasants looked to the Virgin because she is a saint that works towards equal opportunities and rights for all God's people. She is the intermediary for Christ himself. It was never thought that ordinary people like Hans could even have visions of the holy mother. It was viewed that she was sacred and could only be talked with through the clergy. This made the role of Mary …show more content…

This social equality was extremely radical and not something the church was happy to hear. The word of “The Drummer of Niklashausen” soon spread and he gained a massive following. His sermons were an inspiration to the peasant masses across Europe to take arms against the church and the hypocrisy it preached. His sermons became more and more radical over time, eventually going as far as to tell his followers to murder the priests and exposing the sins of the

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