esitated what he should do. Munzer had
exhorted him and all the princes to be converted, because, said he,
their hour was come; and he had signed these letters: "Munzer, armed
with the sword of Gudeon." Frederick would have desired to reclaim these
misguided men by gentle measures. On the 14th of April, when he was
dangerously ill, he had written to his brother John: "We may have given
these wretched people more than one cause for insurrection. Alas! the
poor are oppressed in many ways by their spiritual and temporal lords."
And when his attention was directed to the humiliation, the revolutions,
the dangers to which he would expose himself unless he promptly stifled
the rebellion, he replied: "Hitherto I have been a mighty elector,
having chariots and horses in abundance; if it be God's pleasure to take
them from me now, I will go on foot."

The youthful Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, was the first of the princes
who took up arms. His knights and soldiers swore to live and die with
him. After pacifying his own states, he directed his march toward
Saxony. On their side, Duke John, the Elector's brother, Duke George of
Saxony, and Duke Henry of Brunswick advanced and united their troops
with those of Hesse. The peasants, terrified at the sight of this army,
fled to a small hill, where, without any discipline, without arms, and
for the most part without courage, they formed a rampart with their
wagons. Munzer had not even prepared ammunition for his large guns. No
succors appeared; the rebels were hemmed in by the army; they lost all
confidence. The princes, taking pity on them, offered them propositions
which they appeared willing to accept. Upon this Munzer had recourse to
the most powerful lever that enthusiasm can put in motion. "To-day we
shall behold the arm of the Lord," said he, "and all our enemies shall
be destroyed." At this moment a rainbow appeared over their heads; the
fanatical host, who carried a rainbow on their flags, beheld in it a
sure prognostic of the divine protection. Munzer took advantage of it:
"Fear nothing," said he to the citizens and peasants: "I will catch all
their balls in my sleeve." At the same time he cruelly put to death a
young gentleman, Maternus von Geholfen, an envoy from the princes, in
order to deprive the insurgents of all hope of pardon.

The Landgrave, having assembled his horsemen, said to them: "I well know
that we princes are often in fault, for we are but men; but God command