Thomas Muentzer

Thomas Muentzer (or Müntzer, Münzer) (1489 or 1490–27 May 1525) was an early Reformation-era German pastor who was a rebel leader during the Peasants' War. Cf. Radical Reformation, Protestant reformers.

Related Topics:
1489 - 1490 - 27 May - 1525 - Reformation - German - Pastor - Peasants' War - Radical Reformation - Protestant reformers

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He was born in the small village of Stolberg in the Hartz Mountains. Thomas Muentzer initially studied for the priesthood, earning the MA degree and completing the Bacculareus biblicus. He became versed in the Greek, Hebrew and Latin languages. After ordination in 1513 he became a priest at St. Michael's in Braunschweig in May 1514.

Related Topics:
Hartz Mountains - 1513 - Braunschweig - 1514

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As early as 1519 Muentzer had accepted the need for ecclesiastical reforms. He joined Martin Luther's Reformation, becoming a pastor in Zwickau in Saxony in 1520 on Luther's recommendation. Luther, however, did not go far enough for Muentzer, who broke with him in 1521 over infant baptism, among other issues, and founded his own sect. For this reason, Muentzer ranks as one of the founders of the Anabaptist movement. Yet doubt exists as to whether he ever received adult "rebaptism".

Related Topics:
1519 - Martin Luther - Reformation - Zwickau - Saxony - 1520 - 1521 - Infant baptism - Anabaptist

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The Zwickau authorities expelled Muentzer in 1521. In 1522 he engaged in a disputation with Luther. In 1523 he married a former nun and became pastor at Allstadt, where he preached until 1524. In 1524, Muentzer became one of the leaders of the uprising later known as the Peasants' War. He led a group of about 8000 peasants at the battle of Frankenhausen (15 May 1525), convinced that God would intervene on their side. Utterly defeated, captured, imprisoned and tortured, Muentzer recanted and accepted the Catholic mass prior to his beheading in Mühlhausen in Thuringia on May 27, 1525.

Related Topics:
1521 - 1522 - 1523 - 1524 - Peasants' War - Battle of Frankenhausen - 15 May - 1525 - Mühlhausen - Thuringia - May 27

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