The Palatine Peasants' War (german: pfälzische Bauernkrieg) was part of the general

German Peasants' War The German Peasants' War, Great Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt (german: Deutscher Bauernkrieg) was a widespread popular revolt in some German-speaking areas in Central Europe from 1524 to 1525. It failed because of intense oppositi ...

on the Middle and Upper

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

. The uprising in the Palatine Electorate and its surrounding area took place in April to June 1525.

History

The start of the German Peasants' War in West Rhenish Palatinate was marked by the gathering of a band of peasants, a so-called ''Haufe'', at Nußdorf near

Landau Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990 ...

on 23 April 1525. The Palatine peasant mobs plundered several surrounding monasteries (including the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

commandry of

Heimbach Heimbach is a town in the district of Düren of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the river Rur, in the Eifel hills, approx. 20 km south of Düren. Heimbach has the smallest population of any town in North Rhi ...

near

Zeiskam Zeiskam is a municipality in the district of Germersheim, in Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has a ...

as well as

Hördt Hördt is a municipality in the district of Germersheim, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Personalities *Jakob Baumann (1862-1922), cathedral vicar in Speyer, author, long-standing editor of the diocese newspaper " Der Pilger" * Franz Ham ...

, where the provost was killed) and castles, before they took Neustadt on 6 May without a fight. The peasants' programme was based on the

Twelve Articles The Twelve Articles (German ''Zwölf Artikel'') were part of the peasants' demands of the Swabian League during the German Peasants' War of 1525. They are considered the first draft of human rights and civil liberties in continental Europe after t ...

, which were drawn up at

Memmingen Memmingen (; Swabian: ''Memmenge'') is a town in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is the economic, educational and administrative centre of the Danube-Iller region. To the west the town is flanked by the Iller, the river that marks the Baden-W� ...

and of which 25,000 copies were printed. A second ''Haufe'' gathered near Bockenheim. As a result, the Palatine

prince-elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century onwards, the princ ...

Louis V Louis V may refer to: * Louis V of France (967–987) * Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor and V of Germany (1282–1347) * Louis V, Duke of Bavaria (1315–1361) * Louis V, Elector Palatine (ruled 1508–1544) * Louis V, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt L ...

felt forced into negotiations with the Geilweiler and Bockenheim groups; these began on 10 May in Forst. The complaints were to be handled by a ''

Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non ...

''. The Elector finally resorted to military force against the peasants on 23 May with the support of troops from the Archbishop of

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

, after other princes had defeated the uprisings in Württemberg and in the Alsace. The Palatine peasants mobs were crushingly defeated at the

Battle of Pfeddersheim The Battle of Pfeddersheim (german: Schlacht bei Pfeddersheim) was a battle during the German Peasants' War that took place in June 1525 near Pfeddersheim. The peasants of the Palatinate region had previously joined the uprising in southwest Germ ...

on 23/24 June. Eight thousand peasants were reported to have been killed in the battle.

Literature

* Miller, Douglas (2003). ''Armies of the German Peasants' War 1524-26'', Oxford: Osprey, . * Buzello, Horst et al. (ed.): ''Der deutsche Bauernkrieg.'' Schöningh, Paderborn etc., 1984, , pp. 90ff. (''Uni-Taschenbücher - Geschichte'' 1275) {{Medieval and Early Modern European Peasant Wars German Peasants' War Peasant revolts Rebellions in Germany Palatinate (region)