Medieval Warfare Vol. 6 - The Masses Are Rising

Feast on Medieval Warfare Vol. VI.6 - The Masses Are Rising

Medieval Warfare Vol. VI.6 - The Masses Are Rising

The German Peasants' War

Subject: Kelly Devries, A Look at the German Peasants' Revolt - Lucifer and His Angels

Why would the peasants rebel? The answer once given by historians influenced by Marxist economic and historical thought was that they were oppressed by those who, in a pre-industrial historical context, essentially owned them. This ownership gave these lords the right to determine an almost daily regime of hard agricultural labor for their peasants, whose only respite came from work.
While they were worshipping in their churches or participating in church holy days and other activities, the peasants were simply rebelling against this oppressive forced labor.

Topic: Erich B. Anderson, Landsknechts in the German Peasant Armies - Wildcards

In early April 1525, the peasant army known as the Lake Band swept across Upper Swabia, seizing a considerable number of precious castles from their aristocratic enemies. Led by Dietrich Hurlewagen of Lindau and Hans Jacob Humpis of Senftenau, the formidable peasant group originated near Rappertsweiler on Lake Constance with 12,000 armed men. The large and well-equipped force met little resistance until the morning of April 15, when the 7,000 troops of the Swabian League confronted them outside Weingarten. At first, the two sides exchanged artillery fire, but then, rather than ordering an attack on the peasant troops, the League commander, Georg Truchsess von Waldburg, made a tactical withdrawal behind the village of Gaisbeuren. On April 17, Steward still refused to fight a pitched battle and decided that he would rather sign a treaty with the band, for one important reason: the many landsknechts within their ranks.

Subject: Jean-Claude Brunner, the Prince-Archbishop against the People - The Siege of Salzburg

In July 1525, the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg looked down from the imposing Hohensalzburg Fortress over his angry subjects in the city below. Would the relief force, led by the famous Father of the Landsknechts, Georg von Frundsberg, arrive in time?

Subject: Sidney E. Dean, Götz von Berlichingen, Reluctant Leader - Knight of the Iron Hand

Faithful knight, oath-breaker, robber baron, incorrigible feudal lord, mercenary, landowner: Götz von Berlichingen was all of these. In 1525, he added insurgent leader to his list of nicknames, becoming captain and commander of one of the largest popular armies of the Peasants' War.

Topic: Iason-Eleftherios Tzouriadis, pacifist propaganda in the 16th century - death, violence and sex

As the Middle Ages drew to a close, artists pushed boundaries to take their work to new horizons, exploring new media and themes. Some were now eager to show us both the absurdity and the horror of war as they saw it. What they produced was both startling and profound.

The source: Murray Dahm, Engels on the German Peasants' War - through modern eyes

Friedrich Engels's The Peasant War in Germany was first published in 1850, inspired by the recent events of the 1848 revolution in Germany. Engels saw parallels between the two events and considered the same forces at play (socioeconomic and political rather than religious). It became, and remains, the most prominent history of the war, but should be read with caution.

Special: Danny Lake-Giguere, Royal Forests During the Hundred Years' War - Seeds of War

Historians have been increasingly examining the logistics of medieval warfare. For example, armies needed wood to build everything from ships to crossbows. By the late Middle Ages, the demand for this wood was so great that governments had to find ways to manage its supply.

The Weapon: Paul B. Sturtevant, The Medieval Weapon That Never Was - The Military Flail

Anyone interested in the Middle Ages, from amateur to professor, probably knows what a military flail is. It's one of the most iconic weapons of the period. It has a short handle (about the length of a forearm), a long chain, and a spiked head at the end, and is wielded with one hand. They're everywhere: movies, museums, replica weapon shops. They never existed either.

Knights of the Cinema: Murray Dahm, Silent, Dirty, and Oppressed - Peasants in Film

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