he peasants, on their side, have gone too far in many of their
demands, notably in the refusal to pay tithes, and most of all in the
notion of abolishing villeinage, which Luther declares to be
"straightway contrary to the Gospel and thievish." The great sin of
the princes remains, however, that of having thrown stumbling-blocks
in the way of the Gospel--_bien entendu_ the Gospel according to
Luther--and the main virtue of the peasants was their claim to have
this Gospel preached. It can scarcely be doubted that the ambiguous
tone of Luther's rescript was interpreted by the rebellious peasants
to their advantage and served to stimulate, rather than to check, the
insurrection.

Meanwhile, the movement rose higher and higher, and reached Thuringia,
the district with which Luther personally was most associated. His
patron, and what is more, the only friend of toleration in high
places, the noble-minded Elector Friedrich of Saxony, fell ill and
died on May 5th, and was succeeded by his younger brother Johann, the
same who afterwards assisted in the suppression of the Thuringian
revolt. Almost immediately thereupon Luther, who had been visiting his
native town of Eisleben, travelled through the revolted districts on
his way back to Wittenberg. He everywhere encountered black looks and
jeers. When he preached, the Muenzerites would drown his voice by the
ringing of bells. The signs of rebellion greeted him on all sides.
The "Twelve Articles" were constantly thrown at his head. As the
reports of violence towards the property and persons of some of his
own noble friends reached him his rage broke all bounds. He seems,
however, to have prudently waited a few days, until the cause of the
peasants was obviously hopeless, before publicly taking his stand on
the side of the authorities.

On his arrival in Wittenberg, he wrote a second pronouncement on the
contemporary events, in which no uncertainty was left as to his
attitude. It is entitled, "Against the Murderous and Thievish Bands of
Peasants."[24] Here he lets himself loose on the side of the
oppressors with a bestial ferocity. "Crush them" (the peasants), he
writes, "strangle them and pierce them, in secret places and in sight
of men, he who can, even as one would strike dead a mad dog!" All
having authority who hesitated to extirpate the insurgents to the
uttermost were committing a sin against God. "Findest thou thy death
therein," he writes, addressing the reader, "happy