Page:Outlines of European History.djvu/705

 The Revolt of Germany against the Papacy 599 Bible did not sanction any of the dues which the lords de- manded of them, and that, since they were Christians like their lords, they should no longer be held as serfs. They were willing to pay all the old and well-established dues, but they asked to be properly remunerated for extra services demanded by the lord. They thought too that each community should have the right freely to choose its own pastor and to dismiss him if he proved negligent or inefficient. There were, however, leaders who were more violent and Luther urges who proposed to kill the " godless " priests and nobles. Hun- meru°to^sup- dreds of castles and monasteries were destroyed by the frantic P''^^^ *^ peasantry, and some of the nobility were murdered with shock- ing cruelty. Luther tried to induce the peasants, with whom, as the son of a peasant, he was at first inclined to sympathize, to remain quiet; but when his warnings proved vain, he turned ' against them. He declared that they were guilty of the most fearful crimes, for which they deserved death of both body and soul many times over. They had broken their allegiance, they had wantonly plundered and robbed castles and monasteries, and lastly, they had tried to cloak their dreadful sins with ex- cuses from the Gospels. He therefore urged the government to put down the insurrection without pity. Luther's advice was followed with terrible literalness by the The peasant German rulers, and the nobility took fearful revenge on the down with peasants. In the summer of 1525 their chief leader was de- great cruehy feated and killed, and it is estimated that ten thousand peasants were put to death, many with the utmost cruelty. Few of the rulers or landlords introduced any reforms, and the misfortunes due to the destruction of property and to the despair of the peasants cannot be imagined. The people concluded that the new gospel was not for them, and talked of Luther as " Dr. Liigner," that is, liar. The old exactions of the lords of the manors were in no way lightened, and the situation of the serfs for centuries following the great revolt was worse rather than better. ^ /