Peter Blickle, Twelve Articles: „The revolutionary explosiveness of the Twelve Articles and the entire Peasants’ War lay in the change of legitimi­zation from the ‚old law‘ and ‚tradition‘ to the ‚gospel‘ and the so-called divine law. The gospel became the legal norm and appropriately repudiated older legal norms: al­though it was customary that peasants could not hunt, this custom was not in accordance with ‚God’s word‘; to be sure, labor should be measured as was customary earlier, but only insofar as this was in agreement with ‚God’s word‘.“ although the death tax was customary, it was “against God.”

Twelve Articles

By Peter Blickle

The Twelve Articles first ap­peared as a pamphlet under the title Dye Grundtlichen vnd rechten haupt Artickel, alter Bauerschafft vnnd Hyndersessen der Gaistlichen vnd Weltlichen oberkayten, von wolchen sy sich beschwert vermainen (The Principal Basic and Just Articles of All the Peasants, about the Difficulties with the Ecclesi­astical and the Secular Authorities by Whom They See Themselves Burdened) at the market in Ulm in March 1525. They take their name from the number of articles (11 and a concluding article) and were so designated by contem­poraries. At times, however, they were also called the “Swa­bian” or “Black Forest” articles, which indicate their origin in south Germany.

The Twelve Articles must be considered the manifesto of the Peasants’ War of 1525. In just two months the pamphlet underwent twenty-eight printings. It served—with the ex­ception of the Tirol and Salzburg—in almost all revolution­ary areas (Württemberg, Alsace, the Black Forest, the upper Rhein, the diocese of Speyer, the archbishopric of Mainz, Franconia and Thuringia, and partially also Switzerland) as the basis of the peasant demands. At times the Twelve Ar­ticles were slightly rewritten; often they were supplemented with regional demands. In Franconia they were presented as the so-called Amorbach Declaration in the form of a man­date by which the nobility and the ecclesiastical princes had to agree, as far as they could be forced to do so by the rebels, to join the movement. Their acceptance by the regent of the archbishopric and the electorate of Mainz, the most impor­tant territory in the empire, in the so-called Miltenberg Treaty was sensational.

The Twelve Articles were closely connected to the Ref­ormation. Several theologians gave their opinions of them. Above all, Martin Luther’s rejection of them caused lively reactions among his contemporaries. To the extent that ne­gotiations were carried out after the defeat of the peasants, the Twelve Articles also served often as a basis for negoti­ation (e.g., the Treaty of Ortenau and the treaty with the peasants of the Markgräfler area); even the imperial Diet of Speyer dealt with them in 1526.

The sweeping effect of the articles can be explained by the fact that on the one hand they presented the demands of the peasants in a comparatively abstract but rhetorically rigorous fashion so that they were understood everywhere— notwithstanding their regional origin—while on the other hand they offered, with the gospel as legitimation, a new legal basis for the formation of the relationship between peasant and lord. The Twelve Articles consisted of the fol­lowing demands. (1) The community must have the right to elect and dismiss clergy, because only in this way can the proclamation of the word of God necessary for salvation be assured. (2) The small tithe (from fruits, vegetables, etc.) is to be abolished; the large tithe (essentially grains) is to be administered by the community for the maintenance of the clergy, for the poor, and for taxes for defense. Insofar as the owners of the tithes can document that they have purchased them legally from the community, they are to be compensated accordingly; if not, the tithe is to be rescinded without compensation for the good of the community. (3) Serfdom is to be abolished, even though the lord’s authority is expressly not to be eliminated. (4) Free hunting and fishing are demanded, particularly with concern for the enormous damage done by game. The owners of fishing rights, as far as they can document the acquisition—much like the provision for the large tithe—will be compensated; otherwise, the community will take over the fishing rights. (5) Forests and woodlands will be returned—again, analogous to the provisions of the large tithe and the fishing rights—to the communities and administered by communal forest offi­cials, so that the peasants are properly supplied with free wood for burning and for construction. (6) Services to the lords must be reduced to a tolerable level according to past custom. (7) The determinations of the bills of enfeoffment with regard to labor must be strictly adhered to so that the peasants can properly manage their property and earn a rea­sonable return. Services for the lords will be performed for compensation when farm duties permit. (8) Since farms can no longer provide tax levys, they must be reevaluated by honorable people according to their productivity. (9) The penalties for punishable crimes must not be increased and arbitrarily passed, but set according to the traditional, writ­ten statutes. (10) Communal fields and arable lands will be claimed by the communities in accordance with the provi­sion for tithes, fisheries, and forests. (11) “Death tax” on inheritance must be abolished since it is an unjust burden on the heirs.

The explosiveness of the Twelve Articles found particular expression in the last article: The peasants stated they were ready to submit all the articles to a test of compatibility with scripture. Thus, the gospel became the norm for all the ar­ticles. Appropriately, the opinions of theologians were sought, and a list, headed by Luther and followed by all other prominent reformers, was compiled. But the revolu­tionary demand lay in the insistence on the biblical principle: if the scriptures justified further demands, the peasants re­tained the right to assert them later.

The revolutionary explosiveness of the Twelve Articles and the entire Peasants’ War lay in the change of legitimi­zation from the “old law” and “tradition” to the “gospel” and the so-called divine law. The gospel became the legal norm and appropriately repudiated older legal norms: al­though it was customary that peasants could not hunt, this custom was not in accordance with “God’s word”; to be sure, labor should be measured as was customary earlier, but only insofar as this was in agreement with “God’s word”; although the death tax was customary, it was “against God.” Finally, it is obvious that the most radical demands (for the election of ministers by the community and the abolition of serfdom) could not have been made without a new principle of legitimization. The election of ministers was necessary to assure the salvation of souls; serf­dom had to be abolished because Christ had freed everyone by his redeeming death on the cross.

The Twelve Articles appeared anonymously. This gave rise to much speculation among contemporaries and started lively controversies among scholars. As a result of subse­quent research, the following may be said. The Twelve Ar­ticles were possibly discussed with the Bundesordnung of the Christian assembly in Memmingen in Upper Swabia. The deliberations were probably completed on 6 or 7 March 1525 and (perhaps a week later) ratified and sent to Augs­burg for printing. The specific demands are closely related to south German, especially Upper Swabian, conditions. It is striking that the peasants of the villages belonging to the imperial city of Memmingen had presented virtually the same complaints to the Memmingen city council only a few days earlier. But some clues also point to the Upper Rhein region, and it is impossible to completely rule out the pos­sibility that the draft of the Twelve Articles and of the Bundesordnung were composed there. The most certain con­clusion about the authorship seems to be, although definite proof is lacking, that the preacher at Saint Martin’s in Mem­mingen, Christoph Schappeler, who was close to Zwingli, and the scribe of the peasants of Baltringen, Sebastian Lotzer, who worked as a journeyman furrier in Memmin­gen, contributed to the theological-evangelical basis of the articles.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:Blickle, Peter. Die Revolution von 1525. Munich, 1975. Idem, “Nochmals zur Entstehung der Zwölf Artikel im Bauernkrieg.” In Bauer, Reich und Reformation: Festschrift für Günther Franz, edited by Peter Blickle, pp. 286-308. Stuttgart, 1982. Idem, “Memmingen: Ein Zentrum der Reformation.” In Mem­mingen: Geschichte der Stadt, pp. 9-73. Memmingen, 1995. Franz, Günther. Der deutsche Bauernkrieg. Munich, 1933. Idem, “Die Entstehung der ‘Zwölf Artikel’ der deutschen Bauern­schaft.” Archiv für Reformations­geschichte 36 (1939), 195-213.

Translated from German by Walter D. Morris.

Source: Hans J. Hillerbrand (Ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation, Vol. 4, New York: OUP, 1996, p. 183f.