Battle of Frankenhausen
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Frankenhausen was fought on 15 May 1525. It was the final act of the German Peasants' War
: joint troops of Landgrave Philip I of Hesse
and Duke George of Saxony
defeated the peasants under their Anabaptist
leader Thomas Müntzer near Frankenhausen
in the County of Schwarzburg
.
On April 29, 1525 the struggles in and around Frankenhausen had culminated into an open revolt. Large parts of the citizenry joined the uprising, occupied the town hall and stormed the castle of the Counts of Schwarzburg
. In the following days a rising number of insurgents gathered around the town and when Müntzer arrived with 300 fighters from Mühlhausen
on May 11 several thousand peasants of the surrounding Thuringian
and Saxon
estates camped in the fields and pastures. However Philip of Hesse and his father-in-law George of Saxony were on Müntzer's trail and directed their Landsknecht
troops toward Frankenhausen.
The Princes' troops were mostly mercenaries
. As such they were well equipped, were well trained, and had good morale. The peasants, in contrast, were badly equipped with scythe
s and flail
s, had no training whatsoever, and furthermore were in disagreement whether to fight against or to negotiate with the enemy. Nevertheless on May 14 they had been able to ward off some smaller attacks of the Hesse and Brunswick troopers, though they failed to reap the benefits of their victory. Instead the insurgents arranged a ceasefire and withdrew into a wagon fort
to co-ordinate their further course of action, while the Saxon forces approached.
The next day Philip's troops united with the Saxon army of Duke George and immediately broke the truce, starting a heavy combined infantry, cavalry and artillery attack. The peasants were caught off guard and fled in panic to the town, followed and continuously attacked by the mercenaries. Most of the insurgents were slain in what turned out to be a massacre. Casualty figures are unreliable but peasant losses have been estimated at 3-10,000 and the Landsknecht casualties estimated as low as 6 (2 of whom were only wounded). Müntzer himelf was captured, tortured and finally executed at Mühlhausen on May 27, 1525.
, Werner Tübke
's Frühbürgerliche Revolution in Deutschland ("Early Bourgeois Revolution in Germany"), which is 400 feet (121.9 m) long, 45 feet (13.7 m) high, and housed in its own specially built museum. The painting was ordered by the socialist
leadership of East Germany, who regarded Müntzer as a revolutionary and thus as one of their forebears; work on it went on between 1975 and 1987. However Tübke did not produce a heroic painting, contrary to the state's wishes, but depicted the events at Frankenhausen as a colossal failure for all parties involved.
German Peasants' War
The German Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt was a widespread popular revolt in the German-speaking areas of Central Europe, 1524–1526. At its height in the spring and summer of 1525, the conflict involved an estimated 300,000 peasants: contemporary estimates put the dead at 100,000...
: joint troops of Landgrave Philip I of Hesse
Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse
Philip I of Hesse, , nicknamed der Großmütige was a leading champion of the Protestant Reformation and one of the most important of the early Protestant rulers in Germany....
and Duke George of Saxony
George, Duke of Saxony
George the Bearded, Duke of Saxony , was duke of Saxony from 1500 to 1539.Duke George was a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece.-Early life:...
defeated the peasants under their Anabaptist
Anabaptist
Anabaptists are Protestant Christians of the Radical Reformation of 16th-century Europe, and their direct descendants, particularly the Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites....
leader Thomas Müntzer near Frankenhausen
Bad Frankenhausen
Bad Frankenhausen is a spa town in the German state of Thuringia. It is located at the southern slope of the Kyffhäuser mountain range, on an artificial arm of the Wipper river, a tributary of the Saale. Because of the nearby Kyffhäuser monument dedicated to Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, it is...
in the County of Schwarzburg
County of Schwarzburg
The County of Schwarzburg was a state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1195 to 1595, when it was partitioned into Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. It was ruled by counts from the House of Schwarzburg....
.
On April 29, 1525 the struggles in and around Frankenhausen had culminated into an open revolt. Large parts of the citizenry joined the uprising, occupied the town hall and stormed the castle of the Counts of Schwarzburg
House of Schwarzburg
The House of Schwarzburg was one of the oldest noble families of Thuringia, until its extinction in 1971 with the death of Prince Friedrich Günther...
. In the following days a rising number of insurgents gathered around the town and when Müntzer arrived with 300 fighters from Mühlhausen
Mühlhausen
Mühlhausen is a city in the federal state of Thuringia, Germany. It is the capital of the Unstrut-Hainich district, and lies along the river Unstrut. Mühlhausen had c. 37,000 inhabitants in 2006.-History:...
on May 11 several thousand peasants of the surrounding Thuringian
Ernestine duchies
The Ernestine duchies, also called the Saxon duchies , were a changing number of small states largely located in the present German state of Thuringia, governed by dukes of the Ernestine line of the House of Wettin.-Overview:The...
and Saxon
Electorate of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony , sometimes referred to as Upper Saxony, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established when Emperor Charles IV raised the Ascanian duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg to the status of an Electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356...
estates camped in the fields and pastures. However Philip of Hesse and his father-in-law George of Saxony were on Müntzer's trail and directed their Landsknecht
Landsknecht
Landsknechte were European, predominantly German mercenary pikemen and supporting foot soldiers from the late 15th to the late 16th century, and achieved the reputation for being the universal mercenary of Early modern Europe.-Etymology:The term is from German, Land "land, country" + Knecht...
troops toward Frankenhausen.
The Princes' troops were mostly mercenaries
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
. As such they were well equipped, were well trained, and had good morale. The peasants, in contrast, were badly equipped with scythe
Scythe
A scythe is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass, or reaping crops. It was largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor machinery, but is still used in some areas of Europe and Asia. The Grim Reaper is often depicted carrying or wielding a scythe...
s and flail
Flail
A flail is an agricultural implement for threshing.Several tools operate similarly to the agricultural implement and are also called flails:...
s, had no training whatsoever, and furthermore were in disagreement whether to fight against or to negotiate with the enemy. Nevertheless on May 14 they had been able to ward off some smaller attacks of the Hesse and Brunswick troopers, though they failed to reap the benefits of their victory. Instead the insurgents arranged a ceasefire and withdrew into a wagon fort
Wagon fort
A Laager, also known as a wagon fort, is a mobile fortification made of wagons arranged into a rectangle, a circle or other shape and possibly joined with each other, an improvised military camp....
to co-ordinate their further course of action, while the Saxon forces approached.
The next day Philip's troops united with the Saxon army of Duke George and immediately broke the truce, starting a heavy combined infantry, cavalry and artillery attack. The peasants were caught off guard and fled in panic to the town, followed and continuously attacked by the mercenaries. Most of the insurgents were slain in what turned out to be a massacre. Casualty figures are unreliable but peasant losses have been estimated at 3-10,000 and the Landsknecht casualties estimated as low as 6 (2 of whom were only wounded). Müntzer himelf was captured, tortured and finally executed at Mühlhausen on May 27, 1525.
Aftermath
At Frankenhausen, the battle is depicted, along with many other scenes of that age, on the world's largest oil paintingOil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
, Werner Tübke
Werner Tübke
Werner Tübke was a German painter, best known for his monumental Peasants' War Panorama located in Bad Frankenhausen.-Early Bourgeois Revolution in Germany:...
's Frühbürgerliche Revolution in Deutschland ("Early Bourgeois Revolution in Germany"), which is 400 feet (121.9 m) long, 45 feet (13.7 m) high, and housed in its own specially built museum. The painting was ordered by the socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
leadership of East Germany, who regarded Müntzer as a revolutionary and thus as one of their forebears; work on it went on between 1975 and 1987. However Tübke did not produce a heroic painting, contrary to the state's wishes, but depicted the events at Frankenhausen as a colossal failure for all parties involved.