peasants

PEASANTS' REVOLT. The term Peasants' Revolt has been used to describe two separate European conflicts. The first took place in 1381 in England and is also known as Wat Tyler's Rebellion. The second revolt occurred in 1525 in Germany during the early years of the Protestant Reformation. It was led by Thomas Munzer, an exceptionally radical religious reformer. The term Peasants' Revolt is somewhat misleading in both cases, because there were many adherents in both conflicts who …

…the headquarters of rebellious activity. Following his program for a classless society, Munzer's adherents defeated the civil and religious authorities in April 1525. Several cities and some minor German nobles joined his alliance, but the armed forces of the German princes defeated the rebels at the battle of Frankenhausen on May 15, 1525. Munzer himself was captured and tortured before being executed on May 27. He has remained a hero to popular revolutionaries, especially to 20th-century socialists and Communists.