Thursday, May 15, 2025

It is the 15th of May 2025. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

A little over 20 years ago I found myself in central Germany, on my way to Erfurt and was told to stop in the town of Bad Frankenhausen (Bad means “spa” auf Deutsch) to see what was then the largest oil painting in the world (as well as the second most leaning tower in Europe, but that’s for another time). It’s a panorama 404 feet around with a height of 46 feet. It was painted by Werner Tübke and opened for the 500th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Müntzer (the radical reformer we mentioned on last weekend’s show). The highlight of the panorama is the depiction of a tragedy- the battle of Frankenhausen, which forever altered the trajectory of the Reformation and concluded on this, the 15th of May in 1525. As part of the “Peasants' War,” this battle has long been a key moment in the history of the German people.

The battle of Frankenhausen was chosen for the panorama, as was the anniversary of the birth of Muntzer, by the East German Government, which sought to place the radical reformation and this battle as a kind of proto-proletariat revolt against the bourgeois. It might be helpful to know that none other than Frederick Engels, the co-author of the Communist Manifesto, wrote a history of the Peasants' War and idolized Muntzer, who was himself on the 5-mark note in old East Germany.

But we needn’t get bogged down with 20th-century politics in looking at the significance of this, the battle of Frankenhausen. The context for both the peasants' revolt and the Reformation was a perceived accumulation of power in the hands of a few and the corruption that seems to inevitably come from it.

As territorial princes gobbled up land, levied new taxes, and created new laws, the Peasants groaned under the oppression of this feudal arrangement. But the call to obey the magistrate was taught and preached from the pulpits, making outright rebellion unlikely.

Until Luther.

His popularity and fame encouraged others to think in terms of “freedom”. One of Luther’s most popular works was his “On the Freedom of the Christian” in 1520. Now, it doesn’t matter that Luther was calling for a theological freedom- people read, or heard “Freheit” (freedom) and took it as they pleased. Not only that, he was known to attack the monasteries, which for the common person became the symbol of wealth with their choice of land and livestock. In the early 1520s, bands of peasants began to gather and call for political reform. This came to a head with the 12 Articles published in 1525, and when they were published, estimates of 25,000 copies flooded the German countryside. And these articles called for the rights to call and depose pastors, against unseemly tithes and taxes, a right to lumber and hunting, and all of this capped off with “if any of these are proven to be unbiblical, we will retract them”.  

By April of 1525, Peasants began to meet in Thuringia, near Frankenhausen, and they raided a monastery, took a castle, and a town hall. Local rulers George of Saxony (who was anti-Protestant) and Phillip of Hesse (who was pro-Protestant) decided something needed to be done. By the 11th of May in 1525, Thomas Müntzer arrived, and his fiery preaching helped rally the Peasants who gathered, some 7,000 strong, on a nearby hill with as many as 13 cannons. The princely armies likely numbered a little less but had cavalry and included mercenaries.

Despite a rainbow in the sky that morning- the morning of the 15th of May, which the Peasants took as a sign- they were quickly routed with the princely army reportedly chasing the peasants into the town and unleashing a massacre like few others. While seemingly exaggerated reports have 6-7,000 peasants being killed, with casualties for the prince's army at perhaps 6 or 7 total.

Müntzer was captured, and Luther himself would come out against him (they were already enemies) and take the side of the princes- this was essential to his plan for the Reformation to succeed, while it served as the death knell for the Radical Reformation (at least for then and there) 

Frankenhausen has become synonymous with revolution and the putting down of the peasants as a key moment in cementing the “magisterial” reformation- or that Reformation which would be less politically revolutionary and thus more palatable for princes. The battle took place on this, the 15th of May in 1525.

 

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and from Psalm 148:

Praise the Lord from the earth,
    you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,

lightning and hail, snow and clouds,

    stormy winds that do his bidding,

you mountains and all hills,

    fruit trees and all cedars,

wild animals and all cattle,

    small creatures and flying birds,

kings of the earth and all nations,

    you princes and all rulers on earth,

young men and women,

    old men and children.

Let them praise the name of the Lord,

    for his name alone is exalted;

    his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

And he has raised up for his people a horn,

    the praise of all his faithful servants,

    of Israel, the people close to his heart.

Praise the Lord.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 15th of May 2025, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who reminds you that Frankenstein is the town, not the monster, who is also not Frankenstein, that’s the Doctor. He is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who will tell you- Pisa leans at 3.97 degrees, the tower in Frankenhausen currently is at 4.93 and thus leans more but not as much as Suurhausen at 5.19, and is thus the most leaning- I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.