Personalities & Contemporary Witnesses
Read interesting reports and biographies written by Luther's confidantes and adversaries.
Personalities & Contemporary Witnesses
1489-1525
Thomas Müntzer was born 1489 in the town of Stolberg in the Harz Mountains. Prior to moving to Leipzig to attend University in 1506 and subsequently to Frankfurt (Oder), he lived in Quedlinburg. Müntzer was ordained a Catholic priest in the diocese of Halberstadt and later served at the Church of St. Michael in Brunswick. Subsequently, he took up the office of prefect in a community of canonesses near Aschersleben. There, he founded a private school where the sons of well-to-do burgesses were instructed. In 1520, he went to Zwickau and from there to Prague, Jena, Erfurt, Weimar and Halle. Shortly before Easter of 1523, Müntzer was made pastor of St. John’s Church in Allstedt. There he would marry Ottilie von Gersen from the House of Heygendorf, an escaped nun. During this period, Müntzer worked on reforming the Liturgy and aimed to make German the language of mass. At the same time, he was the leader of the "Allstedt League", a federation of armed peasants, miners and artisans.
Müntzer lost his post in Allstedt after delivering the so-called Sermon to the Princes ("Fürstenpredigt") to the Elector, Johann der Beständige (the Steadfast), and to his son Johann Frederick I. In it, he not only called upon the German princes to cease their resistance to the Reformation but was harshly critical of the social evils of the time. The people of Mühlhausen elected Müntzer to be pastor of the local church of St. Mary’s. He joined the side of the peasants and emerged as one of the leading figures of the German Peasants’ War in Thuringia. Initially, Müntzer had been a follower of Luther. His resistance was not just aimed at ecclesiastical authorities however; it was also against the secular order. It was this revolutionary endeavour which led Luther to distance himself from Müntzer when the Peasants’ War broke out.
After the Battle of Frankenhausen, he was captured and brought to the fortification at Heldrungen, where Müntzer was tortured on the orders of Ernst II, Count of Mansfeld. Incarcerated in the Tower of Heldrungen, he composed a letter to the rebels, pleading with them to cease the fighting to prevent any further bloodshed. Thomas Müntzer was publicly decapitated near Mühlhausen on 27 May 1525, his body and head mounted on stakes as a warning to all.
Born around 1489 in Stolberg
Died on 27 May 1525 near Mühlhausen
Dedicated follower and admirer of Martin Luther
