The German Peasants’ War and the artists who championed its cause

The German Peasants’ War and the artists who championed its cause

The German Peasants’ War (1524–1525) is one of the largest social and political uprisings of the early modern period in Europe. The peasants, who constituted the majority of the population, were trapped in a system of landlordism that forced them to labour, pay levies, and other feudal obligatio...

Sedition and snail shells: faith and justice in the German peasants’ war

Sedition and snail shells: faith and justice in the German peasants’ war a sermon by Kenneth Padley Sunday 11 May 2205, Choral Evensong In the summer of 1524, the Countess of Lupfen ran out of snail shells. This was a disaster: her maids needed snail shells as a sewing accessory to assist the spooling of thread. Firm action was needed, so the countess ordered the 1200 serfs who lived on her husband’s estates to drop everything and gather shells …