Daily Life During The Reformation (44 page)

APPENDIX 3

Summary of the Articles of the Peasant
Revolt of 1525

The
Peasants justified their revolt that was as much political and social as
religious, through Scripture and offered to withdraw any of their demands if
they were proved contrary to the word of God.

They demanded:

1.
      
To have the
right to choose, appoint and dismiss their own local priests.

2.
      
That the
grain tithe be used to pay their local priest and to supplement the poor,
inasmuch as it is commanded in Scripture. The tithe on cattle should be
withdrawn since it was man’s creation.

3.
      
That
serfdom be abolished since Christian men are free men in the eyes of God.

4.
      
That they
should be allowed to hunt and fish on lands that do not by right belong to
overlords.

5.
      
The poor
should have the right to collect firewood and lumber for carpentry from the
forests.

6.
      
There
should be no excessive services required by the peasants for the landlord.

7.
      
There
should be remuneration for services not previously agreed upon by tenant and
lord.

8.
      
Excessive
rents should be reexamined allowing peasants to collect some benefit from their
labors.

9.
      
Judgments
should be made according to the old written laws and not in accordance with
laws recently imposed.

10.
   
Previous
communal fields, now owned by individuals, should be given back to the
community with remuneration if purchased legally.

11.
   
The death
tax, that places an undue burden on widows and orphans, must be abolished.

12.
   
Peasants
should have future rights to add stipulations that are in line with scripture.

GLOSSARY

Ales
A local church fete held in spring or summer involving food,
drink, and entertainment, to raise money for the Church.

Anabaptist
A radical, religious group heavily persecuted by both Catholics
and Protestants for their views opposing infant baptism.

Annates
Also known as “first fruits,” this was the entire first year’s
profits of a benefice that accrued to the pope.

Apocalypse
Cataclysmic events heralding the approaching end of the world
when God would destroy all evil and raise the righteous to paradise.

Arminianism
The Dutch theologian Arminius, rejecting Calvinism, asserted a
belief in free grace in place of predestination and maintained the importance
of the sacraments in worship.

Benefice
Once a gift of land as a reward for services, it came to signify
a permanent right administered by the Church giving ecclesiastical revenues to
a cleric for the performance of some holy service.

Bull
Official document issued by the pope for public communication.
After the fifteenth century, these were issued only for formal occasions such
as excommunication, beatification, or canonization of a saint.

Canon
A clergyman belonging to the chapter or staff of a cathedral or
collegiate church.

Canon law
The body of laws and regulations for the government of a
Christian church and its members.

Chapter
The body of canons of a cathedral.

Curia (Roman)
Tribunals and offices (the administration) by which the pope
governed the Roman Catholic Church.

Drinckgeld
Literally drinking money—a tip.

Ecumenical
Representing the entire body of churches
in matter of faith.

Elect
Those chosen for salvation by divine
mercy.

Free City
A city of the Holy Roman Empire that owed its allegiance directly
to the emperor.

Heresy
Deliberate deviation from the official religious belief of a
baptized member. When religious authorities thought a belief was heretical,
they made efforts to eradicate the offending believers by excommunication,
banishment, or death.

Humanism
Doctrine centered around human secular concerns and interests,
rejecting mysticism and the supernatural. It proclaimed the dignity and value
of individuals and their capacity for betterment through reason.

Iconoclasm
Destruction of religious symbols and
icons.

Justification
The act that deems a person justified or
righteous before God.

Landgrave
German
Landgraf
, comparable to a count, who owed feudal
duty directly to the Holy Roman Emperor. His jurisdiction might cover a
considerable territory.

Landsknechts
Literally “servant of the country,” applied to the mercenary
soldiers of the Holy Roman Empire. They swore their allegiance to the emperor
and his cause.

Margrave
A
Markgraf
, or margrave, originally a nobleman and a
military governor of a border province who maintained military forces and
fortifications. A Margrave might conquer neighboring territory acquiring more
power and wealth.

Palatinate
A province, controlled by a count palatine (of the palace), which
was at first the representative of a sovereign and later, the ruler of a
territory subject to the crown but with rights of transfer to offspring.

Pluralism
Holding several eccliastical offices at
the same time.

Politique
Used in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in France to
describe moderate Huguenots and Catholics. The term often had a derogatory
meaning of moral or religious indifference.

Prebend
Portion of the cathedral revenues set aside for clerical support
and regarded as a benefice. The right of a member of a chapter to his share in
the revenues of the cathedral.

Predestination
God’s predetermination of the selected
for salvation.

Schmalkaldic League
An alliance of Lutheran princes within the Holy Roman
Empire during the mid-sixteenth century deriving its name from the German town
of Schmalkalden. It had a sizable military to bolster its political and
religious values.

Sabbat
A midnight assembly of witches and warlocks on certain days of
the year, believed to renew allegiance to the devil through mystic and
licentious rites.

Swabian League
Catholic association of twenty-six Swabian cities in south
western Germany united for the protection of trade and peace. Supported by the
Holy Roman Emperor, by nobles, knights, and prelates. It had its own court,
army, and constitution.

Synod
Council convened to decide an issue of Church doctrine or
administration. An ecumenical council is a synod of the whole Church.

Tithe
A 10 percent levy by the landlord, secular or ecclesiastical, on
farm produce or income.

Waldensians
A heretical, severely persecuted Christian spiritual movement,
seemingly begun by Peter Waldo in twelfth-century Italy, which joined the
Reformation toward the end of the sixteenth century.

About the Author

Dr.
JAMES M. ANDERSON is Professor Emeritus at the University of Calgary, Canada.
He has spent many years in western Europe including Spain, Portugal, and
France, both as a Fulbright Scholar and as the recipient of multiple Canada
Council and SSHRC grants, contributing numerous articles and books to the field
of European studies. He is the author of 14 books including
Daily Life
during the French Revolution
(Greenwood 2007),
The Spanish Civil War
(Greenwood
2003),
Daily Life during the Spanish Inquisition
(Greenwood 2002), and
The
History of Portugal
(Greenwood 2000).