Skip to main content

Full text of "Communism in Central Europe in the time of the Reformation"

See other formats 


a;^^ 


J"'      .      .^>^     "-''.  _    fT-^-^ 


>^" 


4/>    C>- 


—I     -^'5^'  /^ 


-  ?   i 


r 


(  :!. 


3 


u>^^ 


^ 


C-v^  \' 


.'..^^^^  ^■V'^ 


,^■. 


pi 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/communismincentrOOkautuoft 


COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE  IN  THE 
TIME   OF  THE  REFORMATION 


r-v^&^^ere- 


Communism  in  Central  Europe 

in  the  Time  of  the 

Reformation 


By 

Karl  Kautsky 


EDITOR  OF  DIE  NEUE  ZEIT,  AUTHOR  OF  "THE 

GROWTH   OF   POPULATION   AND  SOCIAL 

PROGRESS,"  "FROM   PLATO  TO 

THE  ANABAPTISTS," 

'       ETC. 


Translated  by  J.  L.  and  E.  G.  MuUiken 


LONDON 

T.    FISHER    UNWIN 
1897 


All  rights  reserved 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   I 

PAGE 

HERETICAL  COMMUNISM.      ITS    GENERAL  CHARACTER  .  .  I- 


CHAPTER   n 

THE    TABORITES 29 

CHAPTER   HI 

THE    BOHEMIAN    BRETHREN  .  .  .  .  .  .  78 

CHAPTER   IV 

THE    GERMAN    REFORMATION    AND   THOMAS    MUNZER  .  .  90 

CHAPTER  V 

THE    ANABAPTISTS 155 


'f^ 


CHAPTER  I 

HERETICAL  COMMUNISM.      ITS   GENERAL  CHARACTER 

I.    The    Papacy    the    Centre    of    the    Attacks    of  Herettca 

Communism. 

NOTHING  can  be  more  erroneous  than  the  widespread 
idea  that  communism  is  antagonistic  to  the  existence 
of  man — antagonistic  indeed  to  human  nature  itself.  This  is 
not  the  case.  Communism  dates  from  the  childhood  of  the 
race,  and  has  been  the  social  foundation  of  almost  all  nations, 
even  to  the  present  day. 

The  history  of  communism  bristles  with  far  greater 
difficulties  than  those  encountered  by  the  historian  of  other 
phases  of  national  growth.  But,  obscure  as  the  subject  is, 
owing  to  the  lack  of  trustworthy  sources  of  enlightenment, 
we  believe  that  such  knowledge  as  we  possess  will  be 
sufficient  to  enable  us  to  give  some  insight  into  its  character 
and  tendencies.  As  some  assistance  to  our  scanty  informa- 
tion, we  propose  to  glance  over  all  the  better-known 
evidences  we  can  gather  of  the  progress  of  communism 
during  the  period  of  the  Reformation,  and  to  consider  its 
political  effects,  even  though  so  little  is  known  of  the  course 
of  its  inner  development  that  all  statements  with  regard  to  it 
must  rest  on  conjecture  alone. 

The  great  difficulties  which  confront  us  in  our  efforts  to 
gain  a  more  intimate  knowledge  of  the  growth  of  communism 
lie  in  the  purely  oral  character  of  the  teaching,  and  the 
secrecy  with  which  heretical  sects  were  forced  to  carry  out 
their  propaganda  and  organisation.  Our  information  is 
derived,  not  from  the  literature  of  the  communists  themselves 
but  solely  from  that  of  their  opponents.     Their  mysticism 


2  ~~-~--<OA/ilf tW/SM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

constitutes  anoti^r  difficulty,  and  there  is  yet  a  greater 
arising  foom  the  want  of  distinct  outward  differences 
between  the  various  heretical  sects.  Their  persecutors  took 
no  pains  to  form  an  unprejudiced  estimate  of  them,  or  to 
give  an  unbiassed  statement  of  their  doctrines,  or  even  to 
make  any  distinction  between  them.  The  designations  by 
which  single  sects  were  known  were  chiefly  nicknames 
invented  by  their  opponents  and  indicating  the  most 
opposite  tendencies.  In  the  present  day,  it  would  be  an 
exaggeration  to  assert  that  all  "  Nihilists "  must  necessarily 
be  socialists,  and  even  more  untrue  to  declare  that  no 
socialists  exist  among  the  Nihilists.  Similarly,  it  cannot 
be  said  that  the  Waldenses,  Beghards,  Lollards,  &c.,  were 
wholly  and  entirely  communists.  Nevertheless,  we  must  not 
jump  to  the  conclusion  that  these  sects  had  never  shown 
any  communistic  tendencies,  for  that  would  be  to  "empty 
the  bath  of  water  and  child."  Such  tendencies  are  clearly 
enough  evidenced,  exhibiting  no  accidental,  but  rather  a 
perfectly  normal  character — a  character  which  repeatedly 
shows  itself  during  the  Middle  Ages  in  all  places  where 
traces  of  communism  became  noticeable. 

The  most  salient  feature  of  the  communism  of  the  twelfth 

I  century  is  that  antagonism  to  the  Papal  power,  which  lent  to 

I  the  movement  an  ever-increasing  heretical  character.     It  was 

almost  imperative  for  those  who  had  the  interest  of  the  poor 

» at  heart  to  rebel  against  the  Papal  Church,  standing  as  it  did 

I  in   the   front   rank  of  the  propertied  classes  of  the  Middle 

I  Ages.     It  was  the  wealthiest  and   the  greatest  among  the 

exploiters,  and  held  sway  over  the  whole  social  life  of  the 

times,  intellectually  as  well  as  economically. 

Its  dominance  might  be  compared  to  that  of  La  Haute 
Finance^  or  the  Stock  Exchange  in  the  present  century.  In 
these  days  great  banking  institutions  control  social  and 
political  life,  and  in  the  Middle  Ages  the  Papal  hierarchy 
was,  in  a  similar  way,  the  mightiest  of  all  the  ruling  powers, 
and,  like  the  Stock  Exchanges,  decided  the  fate  of  Ministries 
— nay,  even  of  Kings — founding  and  overturning  kingdoms. 
The  jurisdiction  of  the  Papal  power  was  quite  as  much 
disputed,  however,  as  is  that  of  La  Haute  Finance  at  the 


HERETICAL   COMMUNISM  3 

present  time.  Both  have,  in  common,  the  faculty  of  exciting 
the  enmity  of  all  other  ranks  of  society — not  only  of  the 
exploited  classes,  but  also  of  the  exploiters.  Both  are 
compelled  to  relinquish  much  of  their  spoils  to  the  greatest 
of  all  exploiters,  and  both  view  the  treasures  of  the  latter 
with  eager,  covetous  eye.  Nothing  is  more  erroneous  than 
the  opinion  that  the  obedience  shown  to  the  Papal  power 
during  the  second  half  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  either 
hearty  or  stupid.  It  was  neither.  It  might  rather  be  I 
designated  as  a  sullen  submission,  always  resentful,  and/ 
rebellious  whenever  chance  offered.  But  so  long  as  the 
foundations  of  a  new  order  of  society  and  government  were 
non-existent,  the  Papacy  was  quite  as  impregnable  as  La 
Haute  Finance  has  hitherto  proved  itself  to  be.  Every 
conflict — nay,  every  far-reaching  social  catastrophe,  every  war, 
every  pestilence,  every  famine,  every  rebellion,  served  then, 
as  in  the  present  day,  only  to  increase  the  opulence  of  the 
spoiler  of  spoilers. 

This  condition  of  affairs  was,  on  the  whole,  favourable  to 
the  propagation  of  communistic  ideas,  but  highly  unfavour- 
able to  the  development  of  the  special  class-conflict  carried  f 
on  by  the  poor.  To  illustrate  the  comparison  with  La  Haute 
Finance  still  further,  we  might  say  that  the  circumstances 
were  similar  to  those  existing  during  the  ascendency  of  the 
French  bourgeoisie  (1830  to  1848).  At  that  time,  owing  to 
its  monetary  power,  and  to  a  miserable  electoral  law,  in 
conjunction  with  the  political  insignificance  of  the  working 
classes,  La  Haute  Finance  held  an  almost  unlimited  sway  by 
m.eans  of  Parliament  and  King.  It  roused  the  opposition 
not  only  of  farmers  and  wage-earners,  but  also  that  of  the 
industrial  capitalists  and  shopkeepers.  The  struggle  against 
the  common  enemy  united  these  classes,  and  to  a  great 
extent  effaced  the  antagonism  between  them.  It  was, 
therefore,  difficult  for  the  proletariat  to  acquire  a  special 
class-feeling,  and,  in  consequence,  it  usually  remained  under 
the  leadership  of  the  petty  townsmen,  or,  rather,  of  the 
bourgeoisie.  Another  result  was  the  lulling  of  the  distrust  felt 
by  the  bourgeoisie  for  the  proletariat.  They  were  formerly 
disposed  to  forget  that  their  riches  depended  on  the  poverty 


4  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

of  the  latter,  and,  their  pity  being  roused  for  the  poor  and 
outcast,  they  felt  encouraged  to  make  efforts  for  the  abolition 
of  poverty.  Many  of  them  even  coquetted  with  socialism, 
the  most  widely-read  authors  of  that  time  being  socialists, 
among  whom  we  need  mention  only  Eugene  Sue  and 
Georges  Sand. 

Then  followed  the  revolution  of  1848.  The  kingdom  of 
La  Haute  Finance  was  overthrown  and  deprived  of  its 
political  privileges.  Political  power  fell  into  the  hands  of 
industrial  capitalists,  petty  bourgeois,  small  farmers,  and 
labourers.  The  common  enemy  had  scarcely  been  overcome, 
however,  before  the  special  interests  and  antagonisms  of  these 
classes  became  more  or  less  prominent,  or,  at  any  rate, 
were  brought  vividly  to  their  own  consciousness.  The 
most  manifest  and  bitter  opposition  was  that  between  the 
bourgeoisie  and  the  proletariat.  The  revolution  had  shown 
the  latter  its  power,  and  had,  moreover,  proved  that  socialism, 
far  from  being  the  dream  of  visionary  literati  which  some 
imagined  it  to  be,  had,  in  fact,  taken  a  strong  hold  of  the  most 
revolutionary  class,  and,  ceasing  to  be  a  plaything,  threatened 
to  become  a  deadly  weapon. 

Thenceforward  the  bourgeoisie  resisted  with  all  its  energy 
not  only  each  independent  movement  of  the  working  class, 
but  also  everything  that  seemed  to  savour  of  socialism.  In 
fact,  their  excited  imagination  pictured  as  a  proof  of  socialism 
many  a  deed  which  was  simply  the  expression  of  the  most 
harmless  philanthropy.  Socialism  was,  in  consequence,  boy- 
cotted in  bourgeois  society,  and  its  partisans  were  forced  to 
decide  between  two  alternatives.  If  they  chose  to  remain 
loyal  to  their  opinions,  they  were  excluded  from  association 
with  their  compeers,  and  their  names  never  more  mentioned  ; 
if  they  wished  to  avoid  such  a  fate,  they  were  obliged,  once 
for  all,  to  renounce  any  ideas  that  so  much  as  savoured  of 
socialism.  From  that  moment  socialism  in  a  political  and 
literary  sense  was  dead ;  dead,  i.e.,  until  the  aspiring  class  had 
grown  sufficiently  strong  to  compel  respect  by  its  own  might. 

Similar,  but  naturally  much  more  protracted,  was  the 
development  of  socialism  in  the  Middle  Ages,  in  which 
the  Reformation  played  the  role  taken  by  the  representatives 


HERETICAL  COMMUNISM  5 

of  labour  in  the  year  1848.  But,  slow  as  this  growth  was,  it 
can  be  distinctly  traced  in  Germany  during  the  fifteenth  and 
in  the  first  part  of  the  sixteenth  centuries,  when  circumstances 
were,  in  many  respects,  much  more  favourable  to  communistic 
tendencies  throughout  society  than  in  the  former  half  of  our 
own  century. 

II.  T/ie  Antagonism  between  Rich  and  Poor  in  the  Middle 

Ages. 

The  distinctions  between  rich  and  poor,  though  more  openly 
and  aggressively  displayed,  were  not  nearly  so  great  during 
the  Middle  Ages  and  Reformation  period  as  they  have  become 
in  the  present  capitalised  state  of  society.  Then,  as  now,  these 
distinctions  were  chiefly  found  in  towns  ;  but,  whereas  modern 
towns  count  their  millions  of  inhabitants,  ajid  the  districts  of 
the  poor  lie  far  removed  from  those  of  the  wealthy,  in  the 
times  of  which  we  are  treating  a  population  of  from  10,000  to 
20,000  constituted  a  large  city,  and  men  were  drawn  more 
closely  together.  Moreover,  life  was  carried  on  to  a  far  greater 
extent  in  public — work  as  well  as  pleasure — and  the  joys  and 
sorrows  of  one  clAss  remained  no  secret  to  the  others.  Political 
life  and  festal  life  went  on  chiefly  in  open  places — in  the 
markets  and  squares,  in  churches  and  halls.  The  market- 
places were  the  scenes  of  trade,  but,  when  possible,  the 
work  of  the  handicrafts  was  pursued  in  the  streets,  or,  at 
least,  with  open  doors. 

One  feature  of  those  times,  however,  stands  out  in  marked 
contrast  to  our  own.  In  these  days  the  chief  object  which  the 
capitalist  sets  before  himself  is  the  accumulation  of  wealth. 
Your  modern  capitalist  can  never  have  enough  money.  His 
great  desire  is  to  employ  his  whole  income  in  amassing  capital, 
expanding  his  business,  undertaking  fresh  enterprises,  or 
ruining  his  competitors.  After  acquiring  his  first  million 
he  strives  for  a  second,  for  he  fears  being  outstripped  by 
some  rival,  and  wishes  to  secure  his  possessions.  The 
capitalist  never  employs  his  whole  income  for  his  personal 
consumption  unless,  indeed,  he  is  a  fool  or  a  spendthrift, 
or  unless  his  income  is  insufficient  for  his  wants. 


! 


6  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

Moreover,  the  wealthiest  millionaire  can  lead  the  simplest 
of  lives  without  diminishing  the  respect  in  which  he  is  held. 
Whatever  luxury  he  may  permit  himself,  he  keeps  out  of  sight 
of  the  general  public — in  ball-rooms,  chambres-separ^es^  in 
hunting-boxes,  card-rooms,  &c.  Consequently,  the  millionaire 
is  indistinguishable  from  the  mass  of  his  fellow-citizens  when 
he  is  in  the  street. 

A  very  different  state  of  things  existed  under  the  system  of 
natural  production  and  petty  manufacture.  The  incomes  of 
the  rich  and  powerful,  whether  in  natural  products  or  money, 
could  not  be  invested  in  shares  or  government  bonds.  The 
only  use  to  which  they  could  put  their  revenues  was  that  of 
consumption,  or — so  far  as  they  consisted  in  money — in  the 
accumulation  of  valuable  and  imperishable  things — precious 
metals  and  precious  stones.  The  larger  the  incomes  of 
temporal  and  spiritual  princes  and  nobles,  of  patricians 
and  merchants,  the  greater  their  luxury.  Being  by  no 
means  able  to  expend  their  wealth  on  themselves,  they 
employed  it  in  keeping  up  large  establishments  of  servants, 
in  the  purchase  of  fine  horses  and  dogs,  in  clothing  themselves 
and  their  dependents  in  sumptuous  apparel,  in  building  lordly 
palaces  and  furnishing  them  as  magnificently  as  possible. 
The  craving  for  amassing  treasure  contributed  only  to  the 
increase  of  luxury.  The  haughty  lord  of  the  Middle  Ages 
did  not,  like  the  timorous  Hindoo,  bury  his  treasure  in  the 
ground  ;  nor  did  he  deem  it  necessary  to  shield  it  from  the 
sight  of  thieves  and  tax-collectors,  as  do  our  modern  capitalists. 
His  wealth  was  the  sign  and  source  of  his  power,  and  he 
displayed  it  proudly  and  ostentatiously  in  the  sight  of  all  men  ; 
his  garments,  his  equipages,  his  houses,  glittering  with  gold 
and  silver,  with  precious  stones  and  pearls.  That  was  indeed 
a  golden  age  ;  and  a  golden  age  for  art  as  well. 

The  misery  of  those  times,  however,  made  itself  quite  as 
conspicuous  as  the  widespread  opulence.  The  proletariat 
was  only  in  the  first  stage  of  development ;  though  it  was 
powerful  enough  to  spur  deep-thinking  and  sensitive  men  to 
meditate  upon  the  ways  and  means  by  which  want  could  be 
banished  from  the  world,  it  was  not  sufficiently  strong  to  count 
as  a  danger  to  state  and  society. 


HERETICAL   COMMUNISM  7 

Thus  the  primitive  Christian  doctrine  which  had  found  its 
chief  supporters  among  a  tatterdemalian  proletariat,  now  fell 
on  fertile  soil ;  the  doctrine  that  poverty  is  no  crime,  but 
rather  a  providential,  God-given  condition,  demanding  earnest 
consideration.  According  to  the  teaching  of  the  gospel  the 
poor  man  was  a  representative  of  Christ  who  had  said  : 
"  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of 
these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  Me  "  (Matt.  xxv.  40). 
In  practice  the  proletarian  did  not  benefit  to  any  great  extent 
by  this  precept,  for  "  the  representative  of  Christ "  was  some- 
times treated  in  a  most  unchristian  manner.  But  society  was 
still  far  from  possessing  those  contrivances  of  the  modern  police 
system  which  are  intended  to  sweep  all  social  as  well  as  other 
rubbish  from  the  path  of  the  rich,  not  for  the  purpose  of 
preventing  misery,  but  merely  to  hide  it  out  of  sight.  During 
the  Middle  Ages  the  poor  were  not  shut  up  in  almshouses, 
workhouses,  reformatories,  and  the  like.  Begging  was  an 
acknowledged  right ;  every  church  service,  and  especially 
every  church  festival,  united  the  greatest  splendour  and  the 
most  abject  want  under  the  same  roof — the  roof  of  the  Church. 

At  that  time,  as  at  the  present,  society  could  be  defined  by 
the  Platonic  description,  "  the  two  nations."  In  the  decline  of 
the  Middle  Ages  however,  the  "  two  nations  "  of  the  rich  and 
the  poor  still  remained,  at  least,  two  neighbourly  ones,  under- 
standing and  knowing  each  other.  In  these  latter  days  they 
have  become  such  complete  strangers,  that  when  the  "  nation  " 
of  the  wealthy  desires  to  learn  something  about  that  of  the 
proletarians  a  special  expedition  is  required,  as  if  it  were  a 
question  of  exploring  the  interior  of  Africa. 

In  the  Middle  Ages  the  rich  had  no  need  to  study  the 
proletariat  in  order  to  understand  it.  Unveiled  misery  rhet 
the  observer  everywhere,  in  glaring  contrast  with  wanton  and 
excessive  luxury.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  this 
contrast,  besides  arousing  the  anger  of  the  lower  classes, 
should  have  excited  the  nobler  spirits  of  the  higher  ranks 
against  it  and  in  favour  of  tendencies  towards  the  re-estab- 
lishment of  equality. 


8  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

III.   Tke  Influence  of  Christian  Tradition. 

The  transmission  by  tradition  of  ideas  originating  in 
earlier  conditions  of  society  has  an  important  influence  on 
the  march  of  events.  It  often  retards  the  progress  of  new 
social  tendencies,  by  increasing  the  difficulty  of  arriving  at 
an  apprehension  of  their  true  nature  and  requirements.  At 
the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages,  on  the  contrary,  it  favoured 
their  development. 

After  the  violent  disturbances  which  took  place  during  the 
general  migrations  of  nations  and  the  barbarism  that  followed 
it,  and  from  the  time  of  the  Crusades,  the  peoples  of  occi- 
dental Christendom  began  to  rise  to  a  scale  of  civilisation 
which,  in  spite  of  its  peculiar  characteristics,  accorded  in 
many  respects  with  the  highest  point  attained  by  Attic  and 
Roman  society  just  before  the  decline.  Literature,  that 
^treasury  of  thought  bequeathed  by  this  society  to  succeeding 
[generations,  harmonised  fully  with  the  needs  of  the  newly 
rising  classes  at  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

The  revival  of  ancient  literature  and  learning  fostered  to 
an  extraordinary  degree  the  self-consciousness  and  self- 
knowledge  of  these  classes,  and  in  consequence  became  a 
powerful  motive  force  in  social  progress.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances tradition,  usually  conservative  in  its  influence, 
became  a  revolutionary  factor. 

It  was  natural  that  each  class  should  appropriate  to  itself 
from  the  treasury  of  tradition  whatever  best  accorded  with 
its  condition.     Burgesses  and  princes  appealed  to  the  Roman  { 
law,  because  it  appeared  to  them  well  adapted  to  the  needs  ) 
of  simple  production,  trade,  and  the  despotic  power  of  the  \ 
State.     They  rejoiced  in  pagan  literature — a  literature  of  the   1 
pleasures  of  life  and  even  of  wantonness. 

Neither  the  Roman  law  nor  classic  literature  could  please 
the  proletariat  and  its  sympathisers  ;  they  found  what  they 
were  seeking  in  another  product  of  Roman  society — the  / 
Gospels.  The  traditional  communism  of  primitive  Christianity 
was  well  suited  to  their  own  necessities.  As  the  foundations 
of  a  higher  order  of  communistic  production  were  not  yet  laid, 
theirs  could  only  be  an  equalising  communism  ;  which  meant 


HERETICAL   COMMUNISM  9 

the  division  and  distribution  of  the  rich  man's  superfluity 
among  the  poor  who  were  destitute  of  the  necessaries  of  Hfe. 

The  communistic  doctrines  of  the  Gospels  and  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  did  not  create  the  analogous  tendencies  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  but  they  favoured  the  growth  and  dissemina- 
tion of  the  latter  quite  as  much  as  the  Roman  law  aided  the 
development  of  absolutism  and  the  bourgeoisie. 

Hence  the  Christian  and  religious  basis  of  the  communistic  I 
tendencies.  Conflicts  were  inevitable  with  the  Church,  the 
richest  among  the  rich,  which  had  indeed  for  a  long  time 
denounced  the  demands  of  the  prevailing  communism  as  a 
devilish  heresy,  and  had  sought  by  all  kinds  of  sophistries  to 
distort  and  obscure  the  communistic  purport  of  primitive 
Christian  writings. 

If,  however,  the  effort  to  establish  a  communistic  order  of 
society  necessarily  conduced  to  heresy,  so,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  struggle  with  the  Church  favoured  the  growth  of  com- 
munistic ideas.     The  time  had  not  yet  come  when  men  could 
harbour  the  thought  of  dispensing  with  the  Church.     It   is 
true  that  during  the  declining  period  of  the  Middle  Ages 
there  existed  in  the  towns  a  culture  far  above  that  repre- 
sented by   the   hierarchy.      The    newly   rising   classes — the 
princes  with  their  courtiers,  the  merchants,  the  Roman  jurists 
— were  at   that  time  far  from  being  Christian-minded,  and 
were,  indeed,  still  less  so  the  nearer  to  Rome  they  resided. 
The  metropolis  of  Christendom  was  itself  the  headquarters 
of    unbelief.      Any   new   form    of    government    or    secular 
bureaucracy  which  could  step  into  the  place  of  the  spiritual 
organisation   had   scarcely  begun    to   be  fashioned,  and  the  . 
Church  as  a  supreme  governing  power  remained  indispens-jL^ 
able  for  the  ruling,  i.e.^  for  the  unbelieving  classes.     The  task  [ 
of  the  revolutionary  portions  of  society  was  not  to  destroy; 
the  Church,  but  to  conquer  it,  and,  by  its  means,  to  govern  / 
the  community  and  advance  their  own  interests,  just  as,  in; 
the  present  day,  it  is  the  work  of  the  proletarians  to  conquer ' 
the  state  and  make  it  subservient  to  their  own  ends. 

The  increase  of  unbelief  among  the  upper  classes  led  them 
to  concern  themselves  more  than  hitherto  about  the  orthodoxy 
of  the  lower  orders,  and  to  use  every  means  in  their  power 


7 


lo  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

to  withhold  from  the  latter  every  form  of  culture  which  could 
raise  their  views  above  the  horizon  of  the  Christian  doctrines ; 
no  very  difficult  task  certainly,  for  the  social  condition  of  the 
peasants,  handicraftsmen,  and  proletarians  was  such  that  it 
was  impossible  for  them  to  attain  to  a  higher  culture. 

Nevertheless,  the  Papal  Church  gained  very  little  by  this 
circumstance ;  for  it  did  not  prevent  the  development  of 
great  popular  movements  against  the  money-making  hier- 
archy. Its  only  effect  was  to  enable  the  participants  in  these 
movements  to  appeal  with  greater  weight  to  religious  argu- 
ments in  confirmation  of  the  reasonableness  of  their  efforts. 

The  literary  productions  of  primitive  Christianity  offered 
Ian  arsenal  full  of  weapons  to  all  those  who,  on  any  grounds 
1  whatsoever,   might   wish    to   confiscate    the   wealth    of    the 
[Church  ;  for  it  was  fairly  evident  from  these  writings  that 
[Jesus  and  His  disciples  were  poor,  and  that  they  required 
voluntary  poverty  in  their  followers  ;  but  the  wealth  of  the 
Church  belonged   not   to  the  priesthood,  but   to   the  com- 
munity. 

The  return  to  primitive  Christianity,  the  restoration  of 
"  the  pure  Word  of  God "  which  the  Papal  Church  had 
falsified  and  interpreted  in  a  sense  opposed  to  the  true  one 
— these  were  the  objects  striven  for  by  all  parties  and  classes 
who  were  enemies  to  the  papacy.  It  must  be  confessed  that 
each  of  these  parties  construed  the  "  pure  Word  of  God  " 
differently  and  in  a  manner  consonant  with  its  own  interests. 

iOnly  on  one  point  were  they  unanimous — the  despoliation  of 
the  Church.  It  is  true  that  the  various  Protestant  parties 
diverged  from  each  other  widely  with  regard  to  the  question 
whether  that  "  pure  Word "  demanded  the  reorganisation  of 
the  Church  government  or  the  introduction  of  the  community 
of  goods.  As,  however,  according  to  the  evidence  of  tradi- 
tion, democratic  organisation  and  community  of  goods  had 
existed  in  primitive  Christianity,  any  one  who  reverenced 
that  form  of  Christianity  must  have  had  very  large  interests 
in  the  opposite  state  of  things  to  enable  him  to  find  anything 
in  the  "pure  Word  of  God"  upholding  different  views. 
Hence  every  candid  member  of  the  propertied  classes  who 
took  part  in  a  heretical  movement,  and  was  in  a  position  to 


HERETICAL  COMMUNISM  ii 

raise  himself  mentally  above  the  interests  and  prejudices  of 
his  particular  faction,  could  with  comparative  ease  be  won 
over  to  democratic  communism.  This  was  especially  the 
case  so  long  as  the  Papal  government  was  regarded  by  the 
wealthy  classes  opposing  it  as  an  overpowerful  enemy,  while 
at  the  same  time  communism  seemed  to  be  the  harmless  toy 
of  eccentric  idealists.  Their  partisanship  of  the  communistic 
doctrine  would,  however,  cease  when  they  were  confronted 
with  the  necessity  of  uniting  all  antagonistic  elements  in  one 
phalanx.  At  first  heretical  communism  showed  itself  to  be 
dangerous  only  to  the  accumulation  of  wealth  by  the  papacy, 
and  hence  easily  acquired  the  tolerance  of  the  upper  classes, 
where  these  were  heretically  minded. 

Taking  all  these  circumstances  into  consideration,  it  is 
comprehensible  that,  at  the  period  when  heretical  movements 
had  as  their  object  the  overthrow  of  the  Papal  power,  com- 
munistic tendencies  were  able  to  acquire  a  force  and  vogue 
out  of  all  proportion  to  the  strength,  extent,  and  self-con- 
sciousness of  the  proletariat. 

But  directly  they  made  any  attempt  to  assail  the  whole 
existing  order  of  society,  instead  of  uniting  their  efforts  with 
those  of  the  wealthy  classes  against  the  papacy  only,  the 
collapse  of  heretical  communistic  movements  was,  as  a  rule, 
sudden  and  inevitable,  apparently  leaving  no  trace  behind  it. 

The  class-character  of  these  movements  from  the  twelfth 
and  thirteenth  centuries  to  the  era  of  the  Reformation  was 
much  more  effectually  concealed  by  the  veil  of  religion, 
under  whose  guise  they  first  made  their  appearance,  than  was 
the  case  with  the  other  popular  agitations  of  that  period. 
This  resulted  from  the  circumstances  already  enumerated, 
viz.,  the  lack  of  class-feeling  among  the  poor,  a  proportion- 
ately greater '  interest  in  communistic  strivings  among  the 
wealthy  (merchants,  nobles,  and  particularly  the  ecclesiastics), 
and  the  powerful  literary  influence  of  the  communistic  records 
of  primitive  Christianity. 

Nevertheless,  the  spirit  of  the  proletariat  had  already 
impressed  itself  upon  communistic  movements.  The  prole- 
tariat of  the  Middle  Ages  differed  from  the  proletariat  of 
Rome  in  the  days  of  her  degeneration,  and  also  from  that 


12  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

of  modern  times.  Moreover,  the  communism  which  it  upheld 
differed  from  that  of  primitive  Christianity  and  from  that  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  It  constituted  a  transitional  stage 
between  the  two. 

IV.  Communism  in  Articles  of  Consumption. 

Modern  communism  or  collectivism  is  built  upon  the 
economic  revolution  which  capitalism  has  brought  about  by 
doing  away  with  production  on  a  small  scale.  In  the  Middle 
Ages  petty  production  still  prevailed.  In  every  industrial 
establishment  division  of  labour  (except  that  between 
husband  and  wife)  had  scarcely  developed,  and  even  in 
general  affairs  was  in  its  infancy.  The  greater  part  of  the 
population  belonged  to  the  peasantry,  who  nearly  all  sup- 
plied their  own  needs.  In  such  a  primitive  stage  society 
demands  private,  not  a  collective,  property  in  the  means  of 
production.  Modern  socialism  wishes  to  make  the  nationali- 
sation of  the  means  of  production  the  basis  of  society, 
widely  differing  in  this  respect  from  the  communism  of  the 
Middle  Ages  and  from  that  of  the  Reformation  period.  In 
so  far  as  the  latter  was  not  satisfied  with  simply  denying  the 
right  to  private  property,  and  inscribing  on  its  banner  the 
equality  of  the  "  beggar's  wallet "  and  universal  poverty,  and 
in  so  far  as  it  attained  to  the  formation  of  a  social  programme 
and  organisation,  it  founded  these  on  a  communism  of  the 
consumers,  not  of  the  producers  ;  on  communal  housekeeping,  i 
not  on  communal  labour.  Whenever  we  find  co-operative  1 
production  among  communistic  sects  of  the  Middle  Ages,  | 
it  is  the  effect,  not  the  cause  of  housekeeping  in  common. 

A  good  insight  into  the  nature  of  this  communism  is 
offered  to  us  in  the  description  of  the  origin  of  the  Beghard 
Houses  in  Bruges,  given  by  a  certain  Damhouder,  in  the 
thirteenth  century.  "  Thirty  years  ago,"  he  relates,  "  thirteen 
weaver^  lived  here ;  unmarried  laymen,  who  earnestly  en- 
deavoured to  lead  a  life  of  piety  and  brotherhood.  They 
hired  from  the  Abbot  Eckhuten  a  large  and  comfortable 
building  with  a  piece  of  ground  near  the  town  wall,  for  a 
yearly  rental  of  six  pounds  groschen  {libris  grossoruin\  and 


HERETICAL   COMMUNISM  13 

a  certain  amount  of  wax  and  pepper.  It  was  not  long  before 
they  began  to  carry  on  their  trade,  conducting  their  house- 
hold in  common,  and  paying  its  expenses  out  of  the  proceeds 
of  the  common  labour  {ex  coinmunibus  laboiibus  simul  con- 
vivere  coeperuni).  They  lived  under  no  strict  rule,  nor  were 
they  bound  by  any  vows,  but  all  wore  a  brown  costume,  and 
formed  themselves  into  a  pious  community  of  Christian 
freedom  and  brotherhood."  ^  They  bore  the  name  of 
"  Weaving  Friars."  Not  until  1450  did  the  Beghards  of 
Bruges  give  up  their  looms  and  join  the  Franciscan  monks, 
and  then  only  to  protect  themselves  from  persecution. 

The  organisation  of  the  society,  termed  the  "  Fraternity 
of  Life  in  Common,"  is  also  characteristic.  It  was  founded 
by  Gerhard  Groot  van  Deventer  in  the  Netherlands  in  the 
fourteenth  century.  The  members  of  the  "  Fraternity," 
though  closely  bound  together,  formed  a  free  society.  No 
vow  for  life  was  required  on  admission,  and  the  Friars  were 
not  strict  concerning  the  rules  as  were  the  monks.  The 
ordinary  disposition  of  the  Fraternity  was  as  follows.  About 
twenty  Friars  lived  together  in  one  house,  having  money 
and  food  in  common.  The  novice  had  a  year's  probation,, 
during  which  he  underwent  very  severe  treatment.  He  was 
expected  to  relinquish  his  private  property  for  the  common 
use.  Florentius  (a  friend  and  pupil  of  Gerhard)  says  in  his 
address  :  "  Woe  to  him  who,  living  in  the  community,  sought 
his  own  interests,  or  said  that  anything  was  his."  The  duties 
of  the  Friars  were  equally  divided.  The  various  handicrafts 
necessary  for  the  whole  community  were  carried  on  by  special 
persons.  Among  the  laws  of  the  Fraternity  at  Wesel,  we  find 
the  regulations  for  the  Friars  as  clothiers,  barbers,  bakers, 
cooks,  gardeners,  and  cellarers,  as  well  as  teachers,  secretaries, 
bookbinders,  librarians,  and  readers.  In  spite  of  this  division 
of  labour,  however,  a  certain  interchange  of  duties  was 
expected.  The  clerical  and  learned  Friars  undertook,  as  far 
as  possible,  every  handicraft  (the  charge  of  the  kitchen  they 
were  all  obliged  to  take  in  turn),  and  the  serving-men  shared 
in  all  the  work  which  was  the  province  of  the  clergy  ;  so  that, 

^  See  Mosheim,  De  Beghdrdis  et  Beguinabu  commenlarius,  p.  177. 
Leipzig,  1790. 


14  COMMUNISM   IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

in  mutual  assistance,  the  entire  community  always  resembled 
a  family  of  co-workers.  Certain  hours  daily  were  fixed  for 
writing,  of  which  a  specified  number  were  devoted  to  the 
benefit  of  the  poor."  ^ 

This  community  bore  the  character  of  a  monastic  insti- 
tution, and  we  shall  yet  see  that  even  the  Anabaptists  of  the 
J  sixteenth  century  could  not  completely  avoid  following  in 
/  the  same  steps.  In  two  essential  points  only  did  they  differ 
from  the  monastery  :  first,  in  having  no  binding,  life-long 
vow,  and  in  remaining  a  free  society  out  of  which  it  was 
possible  to  withdraw ;  and,  secondly,  in  their  independence 
of  all  ecclesiastical  control.  In  fact,  they  usually  became 
directly  hostile  to  the  Papacy,  and  we  find  that  their 
animosity  increases  as  we  approach  the  end  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  ^ 

It  is  obvious,  however,  that  public  communistic  association 

inimical  to  the  Papacy  could  be  formed  only  in  those  places 

where   people   were   successful   in   overthrowing    the  Papal 

1  domination.       In    localities   in    which   the   communists    first 

I  declared    war    against    the    Pope,    we    can    find    no    such 

'  dissociations. 

•""  The  earliest  public  organisation  of  heretical,  revolutionary 

communism  is  met  with  in  the  country  which  was  the  first 

to  throw  off  the  Papal  yoke  and  to  carry  out  victoriously  a 

reformation   of  the  Church,  viz.,  in  Bohemia.     But  we  shall 

n  see   that   even   this  organisation  was  based  upon  the  com- 

[  munity  in  articles  of  consumption. 

— ''^   This  heretical  communism  presents  the  greatest  contrast  to 

that  of  the  monks,  in  that  the  latter  were  the  most  determined 

|r  defenders   of  the    Papacy,   with   which   they   stood   or   fell. 

V  Moreover  the  monks,  having  long  ceased  to  be  workers,  had 

I  become  exploiters,  their  communism  consisting  merely  in  the 

common   consumption   of  booty.     But   the   economic   basis 

of  heretical  communism  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  monastery, 

\  viz.,  a  community  of  the  household  ;  and  this  gave  rise  to  a 

series  of  features  common   to  both    monastic  and  heretical 

communism,  much  as  these  were  opposed  in   other  points. 

'  UUman,  Reformatoren  vor   der   Reformation,    vol.    ii.   pp.  79-102. 
Hamburg,  1842. 


HERETICAL   COMMUNISM  15 

The  monk  and   the  communist  were  in  agreement  in  one 
point  only — in  their  aversion  to  marriage. 
This  is  a  subject  which  merits  closer  examination. 


V.  Aversion  to  Marriage. 

Communism  in  the  means  of  production,  after  which  the 
modern  social  democrat  strives,  is  quite  compatible  with 
separate  family  life.  Not  so,  however,  common  property  in 
the  articles  of  consumption.  The  private  household — the 
private  family — has  always  a  tendency  to  demand  a  recog- 
nition of  private  property!  IVhere"  the  right  to  private 
property  has  been  abolished  and  separate  family  life  has 
been  permitted,  communism  of  this  particular  kind  has 
proved  to  be  untenable. 

Communism  in  articles  of  consumption,  therefore,  leads  to 
a  Certain  hostrlify  to  separate  famHy  "Itfej^'ahd  iiecessa  also 
'~t6~a  certain  disiiice  to  individual  ma;rriage7  Thisis  particularly 
the  case  where  the  conirhuniity  Ts^'TTvmg"  in  the  midst  of  a 
society  in  which  the  right  of  inheritance  has  already  been 
established.  The  practice  of  individual  marriage  inevitably 
prepared  the  way  for  a  reversion  to  private  family  life,  for 
the  separate  interests  of  a  man  and  wife  were  in  natural 
opposition  to  the  general  interests  of  the  communistic  circle 

This  hostility  was,  indeed,  necessary  so  long  as  the 
production  of  the  community  was  too  limited  for  com- 
munism to  be  founded  on  the  practice  of  holding  property 
■  in  common,  and  its  aim  continued  to  be,  as  at  first,  not 
a  universal  co-operative  association,  but  an  all-embracing 
family. 

This  is  no  mere  speculative  conclusion.  We  find  this 
aversion  to  family  life  and  marriage  in  Plato,  in  the  Essenes, 
in  the  cloister,  and  also  in  some  communistic  societies  in  the 
United  States. 

These  examples  not  only  prove  that  aversion  to  marriage 
is  necessarily  connected  with  this  primitive  communism,  but 
also  that  the  feeling  can  be  expressed  in  very  different  ways  ; 
by  the  demand  for  celibacy  on  the  one  hand,  and  by  the 
common  possession  of  women  on  the  other.     The  latter  was 


y\ 


1,6  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

required  alike  by  Plato  and  by  the  Perfectionists  of  Oneida. 
Dislike  to  marriage  by  no  means  implies  hostility  to  women. 
On  the  contrary,  the  emancipation  of  woman  from  separate 
households  always  has  the  tendency  to  raise  her  position  in 
the  community.  This  can  be  seen  in  Plato's  description  of 
i  communism,  and  is  still  exemplified  in  the  American  com- 
munistic colonies. 

The  general  bias  of  mediaeval  communism  on  the  marriage 
question  is  easily  understood,  as  well  as  its  uncertainty  on 
the  point.  The  consequences  of  its  tenets  drove  its  partisans 
to  require  either  complete  continence,  or  the  possession  of 
women  in  common ;  but  their  whole  environment,  their  petty 
citizenship  and  small  peasant  households  made  separate 
families  and  separate  marriages  necessary.  It  is  in  the 
opinions  held  concerning  the  relation  of  the  sexes  that 
custom  is  an  all-powerful  factor ;  it  is  here,  too,  that  new 
ideas  have  continually  to  encounter  the  greatest  difficulties, 
for,  in  the  sexual  sphere,  the  extraordinary  always  appears  to 
be  disgusting  and  repulsive. 

Mediaeval    communists    held    very    cJi  verse -.opinions    on 
macfnage :  one  marked  characteristic,.. hpyife^^ 
thfet¥i   air,  viz.,   a   determined   hostility  to   the    matrimonial 

state. '* -"*"' 

-"'This  hostility  appears  among  the  oldest  of  mediaeval  com- 
munistic sects — the  Waldenses,  which  arose  in  the  South  of 
France  in  the  second  part  of  the  twelfth  century.  They 
divided  their  adherents  into  two  classes — the  perfect  {perfecti)^ 
and  the  novices  idiscipult).  For  the  first,  communism  and, 
perhaps,  celibacy,  also,  was  ordered  ;  at  all  events,  the  latter 
state  was  deemed  desirable.  The  novices  idiscipult),  on  the 
contrary,  were  allowed  to  marry,  and  also  to  have  worldly 
possessions.  In  return,  it  was  the  duty  of  the  novices  to 
support  the  perfecti,  who  were  to  consider  themselves  dead  to 
the  vanities  of  this  world.  This  sort  of  communism  reminds 
us  of  the  platonic  theory  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  the  Beggar 
monks  on  the  other.  In  the  Platonic  republic,  people  were 
also  divided  into  two  classes — the  ordinary  people  and  the 
guardians.  Communism  and  the  avoidance  of  marriage 
were    prescribed    for    the    latter    only.       Like    Plato,    the 


HERETICAL   COMMUNISM  17 

Waldenses  proclaimed  the  equality  of  the  sexes,  one  of  their 
heretical  opinions  being  that  women  could  preach  as  well  as 
men  ;  an  opinion  condemned  by  the  Pope.  Men  and  women 
went  about  together,  giving  umbrage  to  pious  souls,  who 
considered  that,  under  such  circumstances,  celibacy  was  not 
synonymous  with  perpetual  chastity.^ 

A  similar  account  is  given  of  the  Apostolicajis,  a  sect 
founded  by  Gerardo  Segarelli  at  Alzano,  near  Parma,  about 
1260.  They  called  each  other  brothers  and  sisters,  after  the 
manner  of  the  early  Christians.  Living  in  strict  poverty, 
they  were  not  permitted  to  have  either  houses  of  their  own, 
or  provisions  for  the  next  morning,  or  anything  that  was 
comfortable  or  convenient.  If  hunger  raged  among  them 
they  begged  for  food  from  the  first  person  they  met,  without 
specifying  any  article  in  particular,  and  ate  without  discrimi- 
nation whatever  any  one  gave  them.  If  a  wealthy  man 
entered  the  community,  he  was  obliged  to  renounce  the 
possession  of  his  property,  resigning  it  for  the  common  use 
of  the  Brotherhood.2  Marriage  was  forbidden.  "  The  Brothers 
who  go  into  the  world  to  preach  repentance  have  power  to 
take  about  with  them  a  sister  as  an  Apostle  ;  not  as  a  wife, 
but  as  a  helper.  They  call  their  female  friends,  who  were 
allowed  to  accompany  them,  their  sisters  in  Christ,  and  firmly 
denied  that  they  lived  with  them  in  a  conjugal  or  improper 
manner,  although  they  shared  the  same  bed.3 

'  Hoc  quoque  probosum  in  eis  videbatur,  quod  viri  et  mulieres  simul 
ambulabant  in  via  et  plerumque  simil  manebant  in  una  domo  et  de  eis 
diceretur  quod  quandoque  simul  in  lectulis  accubabant.  (Chron.  Urspug 
ad  ann.,   1212.    See  in   Gieseler,  Kirchengeschichte,   vol.  ii.,   book   11, 

P-  325-) 

'  Mosheim,  Versuch  ciner  unparteiischen  und  grilndlicher  Ketzerges-. 
chichte.     Helmstadt,  1746,  p.  224. 

^  Mosheim,  op.  cit.,  p.  226,  also  p.  321.  The  same  thing  is  related  of 
the  Waldenses,  and  of  the  holy  men  during  the  first  few  centuries  of 
Christendom.  "  Disdaining  an  ignominious  flight,  the  virgins  of  the 
warm  climate  of  Africa  encountered  the  enemy  in  the  closest  engage- 
ment ;  they  permitted  priests  and  deacons  to  share  their  bed,  and 
gloried  amidst  the  flames  of  their  unsullied  purity.  But  insulted  nature 
sometimes  vindicated  her  rights,  and  this  new  species  of  martyrdom 
only  served  to  introduce  new  scandal  into  the  Church."  (Gibbon, 
Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  p.  381.) 

3 


l8  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

Mosheim  thinks  (merely  on  the  ground  of  probability, 
and  unsupported  by  definite  information)  that  this  pro- 
hibition of  marriage  and  possession  of  property  referred 
only  to  the  Apostles — t.e.,  to  the  "  agitators,"  and  not  to 
the  common  Brothers.  If  this  be  so,  they  would  resemble 
the  Waldenses  very  closely.  Certain  it  is,  however,  that  they 
declare  communism  to  be  an  indispensable  antecedent  to 
perfection. 

In  the  Netherlands  and  in  Germany  communistic  sects 
were  grouped  together  under  the  name  of  Beghards.  This 
sect  was  at  first,  especially  in  the  Netherlands,  an  association, 
or  brotherhood,  of  unmarried  craftsmen,  living  as  we  have 
seen,  in  common  households.  In  the  Beghard  Houses  celi- 
bacy was  enforced. 

While,  however,  all  these  sects  comprehended,  under  the 
term  "celibacy,"  the  restraint  from  every  kind  of  sexual 
intercourse,  the  "  brothers  and  sisters  of  the  Free  Spirit " 
(a  sect  which  sprang  up  in  France  in  the  fifteenth  century) 
found  a  bolder  and  plainer  solution  of  the  matrimonial 
problem.  Next  to  communism  they  claimed  full,  unbridled 
liberty  for  mankind,  their  conception  of  celibacy  being  com- 
plete sexual  freedom,  although  marriage  was  prohibited. 

VI.   TAe  Mystic  and  the  Ascetic. 

We  must  now  deal  with  another  characteristic  which 
mediaeval  communism  has  in  common  with  monasticism, 
and  explain  wherein  both  of  these  differ  from  modern 
socialism.  We  refer  to  its  inclination  to  mysticism  and 
asceticism. 

One  of  the  radical  reasons  for  the  tendencyjto\yards  mysti- 
ciBSi  was  the  ignOTance.of„the_|pceat_  masses  of  the  people. 
'~:A5"pTt)dii"ction  and  trade  developed,  the  ascendency  of  social 
over  individual  life  increased,  social  relations  became  more 
secluded  and  secret,  and  mankind  was  visited  by  terrible 
social  evils.  The  people  remained  ignorant  and  helpless 
before  these  misfortunes,  and  the  lower  the  rank  of  the 
people,  the  greater  their  ignorance  and  helplessness. 

The  ruling  and  rising  classes,  particularly  the  merchants 


HERETICAL   COMMUNISM  19 

and  princes,  found  their  level  under  the  new  conditions  by 
means  of  the  poh'tical  wisdom  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome 
and  the  Roman  law.  It  was  difficult  for  the  lower  classes 
to  acquire  this  knowledge  ;  more  difficult  than  in  the  present 
day,  for  at  that  time  it  was  confined  to  its  own  languages, 
differing  from  the  speech  of  the  people — i.e.,  Latin  and  Greek.       I 

This  was  not,  however,  the  chief  reason  why  knowledge 
did  not  penetrate  into  the  lower  classes.  The  fact  was  that 
the  people  refused  to  receive  it,  because  they  thought  it 
would  be  prejudicial  to  their  interests.  — ^ 

Development  of  knowledge  is  as  little  independent  as  the  l 
development  of  art.  That  knowledge  thrives  is  due  not 
merely  to  definite  previous  conditions  which  scientific  in- 
vestigation first  renders  possible,  but  also  to  certain  wants 
which  urge  on  scientific  research.  Not  every  community 
and  social  class  feels  the  need  for  deeper  investigation  into 
the  real  connection  between  things  in  nature  and  society, 
even  if  the  necessary  previous  conditions  are  present.  A 
class  or  community  which  is  in  process  of  decline,  or  hope- 
lessly'Tr6a'deYi"-d'5Wfr'%'6tTlefS;'"iVlir  to 

^the~kiw^wledf2e:3jfc3XQ^T;;:;It**'\viW  itftetligence  to 

define  clearly  that  which  ts,  but  will  try  to  discover  argu- 
ments by  means  of  which  it  can  pacify,  console,  and — deceive 
itself ;  and  this  is  quite  apart  from  the  necessity  of  deluding 
its  opponents  as  to  its  strength  and  capabilities.  In  the 
society  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  of  the  Renaissance,  the 
future  did  not  belong  to  the  poor  and  oppressed,  but  to  the 
rich  and  powerful,  to  the  nobles  and  capitalists.  The  latter 
classes  had  every  reason  to  promote  learning,  which  favoured 
the  possessors  of  power  in  proportion  to  their  comprehension 
of  the  truth.  Even  where  learning  was  quite  free  and  in-  ^ 
dependent  of  them,  it  promoted  their  power.  ^J 

The  time  was  yet  far  distant  when  the  visible  future  was 
to  belong  to  communism — to  the  proletariat.  The  more 
the  poor  and  oppressed  thought  they  understood  what  was 
the  truth,  the  more  wretched  must  they  have  deemed  it. 
Only  a  miracle  could  completely  overthrow  the  big  lords, 
and  bring  prosperity  and  freedom  to  the  famishing  classes. 
But  they  longed  for  that  miracle  from  the  very  bottom  of 


20  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

their  hearts,  and  were  forced  to  believe  in  it,  if  they  would 
not  despair.  They  began  to  detest  the  newly  dawning 
culture,  which  did  their  tormentors  such  good  service,  quite 
as  much  as  they  hated  the  beliefs  of  the  Papal  Church  which 
they  were  attacking.  They  turned  away  from  the  miserable 
and  comfortless  reality,  and  sought  to  lose  themselves  in 
brooding  meditation,  in  order  to  derive  some  consolation 
and  assurance.  Against  the  arguments  of  science  and  truth, 
they  set  the  voice  from  within — *'  God's  voice,"  "  Revelation," 
"  Interior  light " — expressions  which  mean,  in  reality,  the 
%  voice  of  their  longing  and  their  wants.  This  inner  voice 
resounds  the  louder  and  more  triumphantly  the  more  the 
contemplator  secludes  himself  from  mankind,  keeps  at  a 
distance  all  disturbances,  and  fires  his  fancy  by  the  various 
methods  of  ecstasy,  and  especially  by  hunger  and  prayer. 
Thus  these  enthusiasts  arrived  at  a  belief  in  miracles  which 
finally  developed  into  a  faith  as  firm  as  a  rock  :  so  firm, 
indeed,  that  they  became  able  to  communicate  it  to  others 
whom  the  same  wants  and  the  same  longings  made  only  too 
ready  to  receive  it. 

A  characteristic  example  of  this  mode  of  thinking  is 
presented  to  us  in  Thomas  Miinzer's  writings,  particularly 
in  his  explanation  of  the  second  chapter  of  Daniel,  which 
treats  of  King  Nebuchadnezzar's  dream  (the  image  of  iron 
and  gold  with  feet  of  common  clay,  which  a  stone  shattered) — 
a  highly  profitable  dream  for  revolutionary  interpretation. 

This  is  what  Miinzer  says  about  the  dream  which  the 
king's  astrologers  could  not  explain  :  "  They  were  godless 
hypocrites  and  flatterers,  who  only  spoke  what  their  rulers 
wished  to  hear,  like  the  theologians  of  our  own  times,  who 
sacrifice  their  convictions  for  the  sake  of  the  loaves  and 
fishes.  These  learned  men  were  led  astray  by  the  notion 
that  they  could  separate  good  from  evil  without  the  advent 
of  tjie  Holy  Spirit.  But  the  Gospel  comes  down  from  God 
into  the  heart.  St.  Paul,  therefore,  repeats  the  testimony  of 
Moses  and  Isaiah  (Rom.  x.),  and  speaks  of  the  inner  '  Word,' 
to  be  heard  in  the  lowest  depths  of  the  soul  through  the 
Revelation  of  God  ;  and  whosoever  does  not  become  con- 
scious of,  and  sensitive  to,  it  through  the  living  witness  of 


HERETICAL   COMMUNISM  2i 

God  (Rom.  viii.),  has   no   well-founded  knowledge  of  God, 
though  he  may  have  devoured  a  hundred  thousand  Bibles." 

"  An  elect  who  wishes  to  know  whether  a  vision  or  dream 
comes  from  God,  or  from  nature,  or  the  devil,  must  also  with 
his  heart  and  soul  and  mind  take  leave  of  all  the  temporal 
comforts  of  his  flesh." 

In  the  most  extravagant  and  millenarian  fashion,  Miinzer 
pictured  to  himself  the  new  society  of  the  future  as  a  para- 
dise on  earth.  "  Yes,"  he  cries,  "  the  advent  of  belief  must 
touch  us  all,  and  be  held  fast  in  order  that  we,  fleshly,  earthly 
men  may  become  gods  through  the  incarnation  of  Christ, 
and  therefore  with  Him  be  children  of  God,  taught  and 
sanctified  by  Himself.  Yes,  indeed,  far  rather  be  wholly 
and  entirely  transformed  in  Him  in  order  that  the  earthly 
life  may  be  changed  into  the  heavenly."  ^  This  is  a  small 
'specimen  of  Apocalyptic  mysticism.  In  contrast  to  modern 
communism,  asceticism  was  also  a  distinguishing  feature  of 
this  period. 

Production  was  not  sufficiently  developed  to  provide  means 
for  a  refined  enjoyment  of  life  by  the  masses  of  the  people. 
He,  therefore,  who  desired  equality  among  mankind,  could 
see  evils  not  only  in  luxury,  but  also  in  art  and  science, 
which,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  were  often  enough  the  hand- 1 
maids  of  luxury.  Communists,  as  a  rule,  went  further  than! 
this.  In  the  face  of  the  vast  amount  of  misery  in  the  world, 
it  seemed  to  them  that  not  only  were  arrogance  and  frivolity 
sins,  but  that  even  the  most  harmless  pleasures  were  sins  also. 
Melancthon  was  very  indignant  over  this  mode  of  viewing 
things,  and  relates,  in  his  History  of  Thomas  Miinzer,  that 
the  latter  taught :  that  "  one  must  attain  to  a  right  and 
Christian  godliness  in  the  following  manner:  Firstly,  open 
vices  must  be  abandoned,  such  as  adultery,  murder,  blas- 
phemy, &c.  At  the  same  time,  the  body  must  Ji^p  mortified 
and  subdued  by  fasting,  bad  clothing,  speaking  but  little, 
looking  morose,  leaving  the  beard  untrimmed.  Such  childish 
discipline  as  this  he  called  mortification  of  the  flesh  and 
the  cross  as  described  in  the  Gospels.     His  whole  preaching 

'  Atissgestrickie  emplossung  des  falschen  Glaubens  der  ungeirewen  Welt. 
Mulhaisen,  1524. 


22  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

was  based  upon  this."  This  gloomy  Puritanism  brought 
the  communists  into  opposition,  not  merely  with  the  ruling, 
but  frequently  also  with  the  labouring  classes  of  the  day, 
who  were  still  strong  in  their  ancient  love  of  life,  and  full 
of  cheerful  good-humour.  In  many  places  communists  were 
hated  by  the  peasants  and  workmen  as  hypocrites.  It  was 
when  the  progress  of  the  Reformation  led  to  the  oppres- 
sion and  ill-treatment  of  the  latter  classes,  and  when  the 
restoration  of  princely  absolutism  made  their  resistance 
appear  hopeless,  that  the  spirit  of  Puritanism  began  to  take 
root  among  the  peasants  and  petty  traders.  But  this  was 
after  the  rise  of  capitalist  production,  which  made  saving 
the  favourite  virtue  of  the  small  employers  because  it  pro- 
mised them  the  quickest  advancement  into  the  ranks  of  the 
great  profit-winners. 

Puritanism,  however,  differed  in  essential  points  from  the 
asceticism  of  Christendom  in  the  first  centuries.  The  charac- 
ter of  Christian  asceticism  in  its  beginning  was  chiefly 
determined  by  the  ragged  proletariat  whose  prominent 
peculiarities  (moralists  might  call  them  vices)  were  idleness, 
dirt,  and  stupidity.  Primitive  Christian  asceticism  was  nothing 
but  a  system  of  more  refined  methods  to  bring  these 
peculiarities  to  the  apex  of  perfection.  It  was  the  same 
with  the  Indian  (Brahmin  and  Buddhist)  asceticism,  which, 
developed  under  similar  conditions. 

The  proletarians  of  mediaeval  times  were,  in  a  great 
measure,  workmen,  and  could  not  permit  themselves  the 
luxury  of  such  self-abnegation  ;  they  did  not  live  on  the 
liberality,  i.e.,  the  gains,  of  others  as  did  the  anchorites, 
but  on  their  own  exertions ;  they  were,  therefore,  obliged  to 
bestir  themselves  in  order  to  provide  for  their  wants  in  the 
world,  if  they  would  not  starve.  Neither  stupidity  nor 
idleness  was  compatible  with  their  existence  ;  they  were 
not  degraded  enough,  and,  moreover,  stood  too  near  a 
thriving  and  well-to-do  peasantry  and  tradespeople  to  be 
able  to  reconcile  themselves  to  dirt.  Neither  stupidity, 
idleness,  nor  dirt  offered  any  attractions  to  those  who  were 
superior  enough  to  be  capable  of  adopting  communistic 
ideas.     All  accounts   unite   in  asserting   that  the   members 


HERETICAL  COMMUNISM  23 

of    the   communistic    sects   of    mediaeval   and    Reformatio^, 
times   were   distinguished  above  their  fellows   by  diligence 
respectability,  and  sobriety.    By  reason  of  these  qualities  they 
even  received  ready  employment  as  workmen  in  some  places. 

One  well-authenticated  proof  of  this  is  offered  by  the 
Anabaptists,  in  Moravia,  where  they  had  succeeded  in 
establishing  themselves  in  various  localities,  and  founding 
a  few  colonies  of  peace-loving  folk,  who  were  as  communistic 
as  the  surroundings  in  which  they  lived  permitted.  Gindely, 
who  by  no  means  sympathises  with  them,  says  : — 

"Among  the  various  parties,  Anabaptists  were  sporadic 
in  Bohemia,  but  existed  in  great  masses  and  in  very  many 
communes  in  Moravia.  They  had  immigrated  into  the  latter 
country  before  1530  and  had  rapidly  increased  into  more  than 
seventy  communities.  The  State  persecuted  them  with  more 
or  less  zeal,  but  they  maintained  themselves  in  spite  of  this, 
thanks  to  the  protection  of  a  few  noble  families,  who  had 
good  grounds  for  what  they  did. 

"  Such  was  the  position  in  which  Maximilian  found  them 
in  Moravia,  though  they  had  previously  been  frequently  and 
in  vain  proscribed.  Following  his  father's  custom,  he  made 
a  proposal  to  the  Diet,  in  1 567,  to  expel  this  people  within 
a  short  time.  And  now  a  new  and  entirely  unexpected 
departure  from  old  tradition  took  place  on  the  part  of  the 
nobles.  In  union  with  the  knights  (the  prelates  and  towns 
did  not  take  part  in  this  petition)  they  begged  the  emperor 
to  allow  the  Anabaptists  to  remain  in  their  own  homes.  Not 
.  because  the  people  were  still  unconvicted  heretics,  nor  because 
any  one  had  an  interest  in  their  conversion  ;  no,  it  was  set  on 
foot  on  far  more  practical  grounds,  namely,  that  the  Ana- 
baptists were  even  more  profitable  subjects  than  the  Jews, 
and  could  not  be  banished  without  great  material  injuries. 
Catholics,  Utraquists,  as  well  as  Bohemian  Brethren,  bowed 
before  the  weight  of  their  own  argument.  The  Anabaptists 
were,  in  fact,  everywhere  extremely  industrious,  thrifty,  and 
temperate,  and,  moreover,  by  far  the  cleverest  workmen  in 
Moravia."  ^ 

'  A.  Gindely,  Geschichte  dcr  bohmischen  Brtider.  Prag.,  1857,  vol.  ii. 
p.  19. 


24  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

We  hear  of  the  same  thing"  in  the  primitive  communistic 
colonies  of  America  where  Nordhoff  found  many  instances 
of  communistic  industry  and  sobriety,  and  his  testimony  has 
been  corroborated  by  Professor  Ely,  Mr.  E.  B.  Smalley,  and 
others.  There  is  nothing  more  absurd  than  the  idea  that 
work  is  not  carried  on  systematically  in  communistic  associa- 
tions ;  experience  has  long  proved  the  contrary. 

VII.  Internationalism  and  the  Revolutionary  Spirit. 

In  one  point  early  Christian,  mediaeval,  and  modern  com- 
munism are  in  accord,  i.e.,  in  their  internationalism,  in  which 
they  are  quite  distinct  from  Platonism,  the  latter  being  merely 
/local.  Platonism  was  instituted  for  a  few  municipalities  and 
their  adjacent  territories.  Ever  since  the  Christian  era,  on 
the  contrary,  every  communist  has  worked  for  the  good  of 
mankind  in  general,  or  at  all  events  for  the  universal  national 
sphere  of  civilisation  in  which  he  happened  to  live.  The  local 
limitation  of  Plato's  communism  is  in  accord  with  the  peculiar 
conditions  of  peasant  and  petty  trade  methods  of  produc- 
tion. 

Capitalists  and  the  proletarians  overcome  local  limitations. 
The  merchant  does  not  live  for  his  local  customers  alone,  but 
principally  to  carry  on  business  between  home  and  foreign 
markets.  The  more  intimate  and  easy  this  traffic,  the  greater 
his  prosperity.  Hence  the  merchant  is  international,  or,  to 
express  it  better,  interlocal.  Wherever  he  can  make  a  profit, 
he  is  at  home. 

The  interlocalism  of  the  merchant  has  its  source  in  his 
commerce  with  foreign  countries  ;  and  his  position  in  the 
foreign  market  depends  on  the  power  of  the  State  to  which 
he  belongs  (whether  it  be  an  ancient  city  or  a  modern 
nation).  A  strong  governmental  power  is  necessary  to  his 
prosperity,  and,  above  all,  a  strong  military  power.  Hence 
he  is  always  a  patriot  either  at  home  or  abroad,  and  par- 
ticularly in  the  latter  case.  We  see  that  he  has  been,  ever 
since  mediaeval  days,  on  the  side  of  princely  power  and 
Chauvinism  in  every  place  where  the  conditions  are  favour- 
able to  absolutism. 


HERETICAL   COMMUNISM  25 

The  interlocal  feeling  of  the  proletarian  arises  from  other 
causes.  He  possesses  nothing  to  chain  him  to  the  soil ;  his 
home  offers  him  nothing  but  oppression  and  a  short  purse, 
and  these  he  can  find  anywhere.  The  smallest  prospect  of 
bettering  his  lot  in  some  other  place  is  sufficient  to  make 
him  pluck  up  stakes  and  journey  thither.  Governmental 
power  is  the  strongest  protector  of  those  who  ill-treat  and 
despoil  him.  From  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Republic  to  the 
first  decade  of  our  century,  the  proletarian  had  no  hope  of 
overcoming  the  government,  or  of  making  it  useful  to  him,  or 
of  influencing  it  the  least  in  his  favour.  The  State  has  been 
the  proletarian's  greatest  enemy.  Not  much  wonder,  then, 
that  he  has  found  it  easy  to  draw  the  conclusions  natural  to 
this  state  of  things.  The  special  characteristics  of  all  sects 
of  communists,  from  the  early  Christians  down  to  our  own 
century,  has  been  not  only  indifference  but  undisguised 
aversion  to  the  government,  to  participation  in  politics,  and 
the  defence  of  the  country.  Anarchism  is  a  posthumous 
child  of  these  conditions  of  society.  This  aversion  could 
only  be  subdued  in  times  of  revolution,  when  it  seemed  as 
if  the  power  of  the  State  were  tumbling  to  pieces,  thus 
putting  the  proletariat  in  a  position  to  secure  that  power  for 
itself  In  the  time  of  reaction,  however,  a  disgust  for  all 
politics  would  again  set  in  with  even  greater  force.  We  shall 
see  that  such  was  the  case  among  the  Bohemian  Brethren 
after  the  downfall  of  Tabor,  among  the  Anabaptists  after  the 
Peasant  War,  and  among  the  Mennonites  after  the  suppres- 
,sion  of  the  Munster  rising. 

But,  since  the  time  of  the  early  Christians,  the  communists 
have  always,  and  under  all  circumstances,  laid  stress  on  the 
duties  of  international  and  interlocal  solidarity. 

In  foreign  lands  the  merchant  steps  forward  as  a  com- 
petitor— as  the  opponent  of  the  native  born.  He  founds  his 
aspirations  not  on  their  good-will,  but  on  the  power  of  his 
country  to  protect  him.  The  proletarian  on  foreign  soil 
shows  himself  as  a  struggler  against  the  same  spoliation  as 
that  from  which  he  suffered  at  home.  He  cannot  count 
upon  the  protection  of  his  government,  but  he  can  very  often 
rely  on  that  of  the  proletarians  in  the  regions  into  which  he 


26  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

has  wandered,  and  by  whose  side  he  is  fighting  a  common 
enemy. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  where  the  proletarian  looks 
upon  himself  rather  as  a  seller  of  his  labour-powers  than  as 
a  combatant,  he  is  more  inclined  to  regard  his  proletarian 
associates  as  rivals  than  as  brothers-in-arms,  and,  in  such  a 
case,  the  disposition  towards  international  solidarity  is  over- 
come without  much  difficulty. 
I  This,  however,  does  not  apply  to  communists  :  they  are  in 
the  first  line  of  combatants  against  exploitation  and  oppres- 
sion, and,  in  every  place,  they  encounter  the  same  opponents, 
and  suffer  from  the  same  persecution.  This  it  is  which  welds 
them  together.  From  the  days  of  early  Christendom  there 
has  always  been  one  special  peculiarity  among  communists, 
viz.,  that  they  form  one  all-embracing  family,  that  the  foreign 
comrade  is  just  as  much  a  brother  as  the  native  born  ;  and 
that,  in  whatever  part  of  the  world  he  may  happen  to  be,  if  he 
finds  comrades  he  is  at  home.  Thanks  to  this  peculiarity 
and  to  the  lack  of  possessions,  it  was  easy  for  their  leaders, 
their  agitators,  to  go  from  place  to  place.  Poor  they  always 
were,  for  the  man  of  property  who  joined  them  was  obliged 
to  distribute  his  means  among  the  needy.  The  protagonists 
of  the  sect  were  constantly  travelling,  sometimes  displaying 
a  power  of  locomotion  and  covering  an  extent  of  ground  in 
their  journeys  which  would  be  quite  respectable  even  in  these 
days   of   railways.     Thus,  for    example,  the  Waldenses    of 

L Bohemia  were  by  this  means  able  to  keep  up  a  constant 
communication  with  those  of  Southern  France. 

For  this  reason,  communists  became  of  the  greatest  import- 
ance in  the  conjoint  revolutionary  movements  of  the  lower 
classes  of  their  time.  The  greatest  check  to  their  progress 
was  the  local  narrow-mindedness  of  the  peasantry  and  petty 
citizens,  which  did  them  enormous  injury  in  the  face  of  their 
well-organised  enemies.  Wherever  this  narrow-mindedness 
was  conquered  and  revolutionary  risings  in  isolated  localities 
were  brought  into  communication  with  each  other,  it  was 
essentially  the  work  of  the  communist  wandering  preachers, 
and  it  was  mainly  due  to  their  centralising  influence  that  the 
peasant  insurrection  of  1381  in  England   and  the  Taborite 


HERETICAL  COMMUNISM  27 

movement  in  Bohemia  were  so  successful.  During  the  great 
Peasant  War  in  Germany,  in  1525,  they  were  active  in  a  simi- 
lar way,  but  German  particularism  was  too  strong  for  them  ; 
apart  from  the  fact  that  this  rebellion  was  in  a  great  measure 
thwarted  by  the  want  of  cohesion  among  the  peasantry. 

Here  we  must  notice  another  important  characteristic  of   ; 
heretical  communism,  the  last  which  we  desire  to  deal  with 
in  this   connection — a   characteristic  which   distinguishes  it 
from  early  Christian   communism,  and   makes   it  analogous  jf 
with  that  of  modern  times  :  its  revolutionary  spirit. 

The  people  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the  exploited  classes,  z>., 
the  peasantry,  petty  traders,  and  proletariats,  were  different 
from  the  population  of  declining  Rome.  Capable  of  carry- 
ing arms  and  boorishly  insolent,  they  had  no  comprehension 
of  the  teaching  which  commands  men  that  "  Whosoever 
shall  smite  thee  on  thy  right  cheek,  turn  to  him  the  other 
also  ; "  which  interdicts  the  taking  of  the  law  into  one's 
hands  by  "  Vengeance  is  mine,  saith  the  Lord,"  and  "  All 
they  that  take  the  sword  shall  perish  with  the  sword  ; "  which 
advocates  uncomplaining  sorrow  and  suffering  as  a  Christian 
duty.  As  soon  as  the  populace  in  general  could  read  the 
Bible  for  themselves  (the  Roman  Catholic  priesthood  under- 
stood well  why  they  wished  to  make  the  knowledge  of  this 
book  their  own  privilege),  they  did  not  draw  from  the  New 
Testament  its  lessons  of  humility  and  self-denial,  but  thos 
of  hatred  to  the  rich.  The  favourite  portion  of  the"  New 
Testament  to  the  heretics  of  the  lower  classes  was  the  ^1 
Apocalypse,  that  revolutionary  and  blood-curdling  imagina-  1 
tion  of  an  early  Christian  brain,  in  which  the  Apostle"^ 
exultingly  predicts  the  downfall  of  existing  society  amidst 
deeds  of  horror  compared  with  which  everything  hitherto 
exhibited  in  acts  and  threats  by  the  most  debased  anarchism 
appears  mild.  In  addition  to  the  Apocalypse,  they  zealously 
studied  the  Old  Testament,  which  is  full  of  examples  of 
peasant  democracy,  and  teaches  not  only  hatred  of  tyrants, 
but  also  active  and  restless  opposition  to  them,  as  well  as  to 
the  rich  and  powerful.  The  adherents  of  the  communistic 
sects  were,  in  general,  too  weak  to  entertain,  in  times  of  peace, 
the  thought  that  they  could  overthrow  existing  society  by 


28  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL   EUROPE 

their  own  power,  in  order  to  set  up  communism  in  its  place. 
If  they  were  not  servile  and  submissive  like  the  baser 
proletariat  of  declining  Rome,  they  were  still  a  universally 
peace-loving  folk  up  to  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  and 
such  evidence  as  we  have  unanimously  bears  out  the  fact 
that  love  of  peace  and  patience  were  as  much  their  charac- 
^r-istics  as  were  industry  and  sobriety. 
y^  But  when  insurrectionary  times  came,  when  peasant  and 
/  trader  rose  around  them,  then  revolutionary  enthusiasm 
I  seized  the  communist  also.  It  then  appeared  to  them,  or 
at  least  to  a  portion  of  them  (for  they  were  often  divided 
over  this  question),  that  the  time  had  come  when  God  would 
show  strength  in  weakness,  and  when  no  miracle  seemed 
impossible.  They  threw  themselves  into  the  revolutionary 
movement  to  make  it  serve  the  purposes  of  communism,  and 
having  once  cast  in  their  lot  with  the  rest,  no  compromise 
with  the  existing  powers  was  possible.  They  soon  obtained 
the  upper  hand  over  the  vacillating  and  procrastinating 
factions,  easily  became  leaders  of  movements  (like  the 
Taborites  among  the  Hussites,  Mlinzer  and  his  adherents 
among  the  rebels  of  the  Thiiringian  Peasant  War),  and 
gave  even  these  a  communistic  colouring,  thus  lending  to 
communism  the  appearance  of  a  strength  which  in  reality 
it  did  not  possess.  As  a  result,  a  combination  of  all  the 
propertied  classes  rose  against  it,  furious  with  rage,  and  com- 
pletely shattered  it. 
/  "  It  is  this  spirit  of  revolt  in  the  communistic  agitation  of 
\  the  lower  classes  which,  in  spite  of  many  resemblances,  most 
clearly  distinguishes  it  from  the  communism  of  the  early 
Christians,  and  bears  the  most  important  testimony  to  its 
kinship  with  modern  proletarian-communistic  movements. 

Early  Christian  communism  was  unpplitical^  and^ j^-assive. 
Proletarian  communism,,,  on  _.the  £ontrar^  ever  since  the 
"Middle  Ages,  has  necessarily  been  political  and  rebellious 
'when  circumstances  were^fayjooiraEIe.  Like  the  social  de- 
"mocracy  of  the  present  day,  its  aim  has  been  the  dictator- 
ship of  the  proletariat,  as  the  most  efficacious  means  of 
bringing  about  a  communistic  society. 


CHAPTER    II 

THE   TABORITES 
I.   The  Great  Schism. 

Fl^vvaj  in  Bohemia  that,  t^^^  qarlieAt  successful  moYement 
of  the  Reformation  occurred  ;  it  was  there  that  heretical 
coriTmunism  found  the  first  opportunity  of  clearly  differentia- 
ting itself  from  the  other  heretical  sects.  The  Bohemian 
movement  was  of  great  importance  to  the  German  com- 
munism of  the  Reformation  asitwas  the  forerunner  of  the  latter. 
Hence  our  attention  must  be  first  directed  to  the  Hussites. 

How  was  it  that  the  Reformation  movement  was  first 
successful  in  Bohemia  ? 

German  historians  maintain  that  only  Germanic  nations 
possess  the  inward  fervour,  the  true  sense  of  religion, 
necessary  to  produce  an  urgent  desire  for  reform. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  we  find  that  the  first  Reforma- 
tion movement  took  place  among  the  Latin  nations  in  Italy 
and  the  South  of  France.  We  need  only  mention  Arnold  of 
Brescia,  and  the  Albigenses.  If  these  movements  were  not 
equally  successful  with  that  of  Wycliffe,  it  must  be  attributed 
to  other  circumstances  than  the  lack  of  religious  fervour. 

It  is  not  within  our  province  to  explain  how  necessary  the 
Papacy  was  for  a  long  time  to  the  nations  of  Christendom, 
and  how  many  were  the  important  functions  which  it  fulfilled 
in  their  political  life.  These  functions,  however,  became  more 
and  more  superfluous  from  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century, 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Church  of  Rome  was  gaining 
more  and  more  experience  as  to  the  ways  and  means  by 
which  it  could  tax  the  Christian  nations,  and  render  them 
contributors  to  its  treasury. 


30  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

The  Church  had  become  the  largest  landowner  in  all 
Western  Christendom,  nearly  one  third  of  all  the  land  in 
Germany,  France,  and  England  belonging  to  her.  But  she 
did  not  derive  her  revenues  from  landed  property  only.  She 
knew  how  to  prey  upon  the  faithful  in  every  way.  In  pro- 
portion to  the  Church's  growth  in  wealth,  her  centralisation 
and  dependence  on  the  Pope  had  increased.  The  greater  the 
treasure  she  amassed,  the  larger  was  the  portion  which  found 
its  way  to  Rome. 

But  the  opposition  which  raised  its  head  in  various 
Christian  countries  against  the  Papacy  grew  stronger,  not 
only  in  the  ranks  of  the  working-classes  producing  the 
treasures  the  Romish  Church  attracted  to  itself,  but  also 
among  all  grades  of  the  ruling  classes,  who  looked  covetously 
at  the  wealth  which  they  would  have  liked  to  pocket  them- 
selves. Under  these  circumstances  the  desire  for  Church 
reform  became  more  pronounced ;  i.e.,  the  desire  for  the 
abolition  of  Papal  domination  and  the  Church's  power  of 
taxation,  and  also  for  the  secularisation  of  Church  property. 
But  it  did  not  everywhere  lead  to  a  violent  breach  with  Rome, 
or  to  the  foundation  of  a  separate  Church.  It  was  not  to 
the  interest  of  the  ruling  classes  in  every  country  to  counten- 
ance so  revolutionary  an  act  against  existing  powers  ;  a 
proceeding  which  might  perhaps  have  endangered  their  own 
authority. 

In  Italy,  no  opposition  to  the  Church  arose.  The  large 
sums  which  the  Popes  extorted  from  Christendom  flowed 
into  that  country,  and  became  a  means  of  advancing  its 
commerce  and  industry.  The  Papal  power  was  looked  upon 
as  a  rampart  against  the  enemies  of  the  nation,  preventing  its 
neighbours,  France  and  Germany,  from  making  plundering 
raids  ;  for  these  nations  eagerly  coveted  its  wealth.  Thus  the 
decline  of  Papal  power  portended  the  beginning  of  foreign 
rule.  How  could  Italy,  therefore,  be  expected  to  throw  off 
the  Papal  yoke? 

The  kings  of  France  were  likewise  not  interested  in  such  a 
movement.  They  had  become  much  more  powerful  than  the 
Pope  himself,  and  were  able  to  make  tools  of  their  former 
masters.     To  such  an  extent  did  the  power  of  the  French 


THE  TABORITES  31 

monarchs  transcend  that  of  the  Popes,  that  in  the  fourteenth 
century  they  were  able  to  force  the  latter  to  transfer  their 
residence  from  Rome  to  Avignon. 

Scarcely,  however,  had  the  Papacy  fallen  under  French 
domination,  when  France  was  drawn  into  the  great  Hundred 
Years'  War  with  England.  In  the  latter  country  the  King  and 
Parliament  had  about  this  time  become  strong  enough  to 
resist  Papal  presumption  ;  and  the  fact  that  the  Pope  allowed 
himself  to  be  made  the  tool  of  her  national  enemy  was 
another  reason  which  strengthened  the  anti-papal  feelings 
in  England.  A  fruitful  soil  was  thus  prepared  for  Wycliffe, 
who  was  constantly  striving  for  the  separation  of  England 
from  the  Roman  Church,  and  for  the  secularisation  of  Church 
property. 

Matters,  however,  did  not  reach  this  point,  a  compromise 
being  effected  between  the  Pope  and  the  English  upper 
classes.  These  became  alarmed  at  the  rising  of  the  peasantry 
in  1 38 1,  and  at  the  gradual  strengthening  of  the  Lollard 
movement,  which  contained  in  itself  numerous  communistic 
elements.  With  such  a  rebellious  population  threatening 
them,  it  appeared  rather  dangerous  to  both  king  and 
nobility  to  enter  on  any  revolutionary  action  with  the  in^ 
tention  of  rendering  themselves  independent  of  the  Pope, 
and  confiscating  Church  property.  A  compromise  with  the 
Papal  See  was  all  the  more  easily  arrived  at,  as  the  latter  was 
just  then  ceasing  to  be  the  tool  of  French  policy  ;  having 
been  warned  by  the  rise  of  Wycliffeism  that  a  continuance  of 
its  present  subservience  would  inevitably  jeopardise  its  posi- 
tion throughout  Europe.  Hence  the  longing  of  the  Papal 
Court  for  a  return  to  Rome,  where  it  would  be  further 
removed  from  French  influence. 

The  Wycliffe  movement  also  showed  the  Papal  authorities 
the  danger  threatening  their  position  as  Princes  of  the  Church. 
It  pointed  out  to  them  the  necessity  of  seeking  a  firm  support 
in  their  secular  estates.  The  continued  loss  to  the  Papacy  of 
its  dominance  and  powers  of  exploitation  in  England,  France, 
and  the  provinces  of  Castile  and  Aragon,  reduced  it  to  greater 
dependence  upon  the  power  and  wealth  of  the  Princes.  All 
the  more  important,  therefore,  became  the  control  of  its  own 


32  COMMUNISM  m  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

territories  in  conjunction  with  its  spiritual  dominion  of  the 
world  at  large,  and  all  the  more  imperative  the  necessity  of  a 
return  to  its  native  soil. 

If  the  Papal  Court  had  every  reason  to  yearn  for  Rome,  the 
Italians  had  equal  cause  for  desiring  its  return.  The  "  Baby- 
lonian Captivity  "  (as  it  was  called)  of  the  Pope  in  Avignon 
had  clearly  proved  how  essential  to  their  country  was  the 
presence  in  Rome  of  the  Head  of  the  Church,  the  city  of  Rome 
itself  being  the  chief  sufferer. 

This  passionate  desire  for  the  return  of  the  Pope  found  its 
grandest  exponent  in  Petrarch.  In  his  letters  and  poems  he 
paints  in  vivid  colours  the  misery  and  filth  to  which  the 
palaces  and  altars  of  the  saints  in  Rome  had  sunk  since  the 
removal  of  the  Holy  See,  and  how  the  Eternal  City  was  fall- 
ing to  ruin,  like  a  wife  abandoned  by  her  spouse.  The 
presence  of  the  righteous  ruler  would  disperse  the  cloud 
hanging  over  the  seven  hills.  It  would  redound  to  the  ever- 
lasting fame  of  the  Papal  power,  to  the  prosperity  of  Rome, 
and  to  the  peace  of  Italy,  if  a  Pope  had  the  courage  to  cut 
himself  loose  from  the  enthralment  of  France.  In  Avignon 
the  Papacy  must,  from  the  very  nature  of  things,  be  stifled  in 
luxury  and  vice,  and  incur  the  hatred  and  contempt  of  the 
whole  world.  No  one  has  more  sharply  criticised  the  Papal 
power  than  Petrarch  ;  but  his  object  in  doing  so  was  not  to 
weaken  or  destroy  it,  but  to  lure  it  back  to  Italy.  In  his 
opinion  the  depravity  of  the  Curia  did  not  lie  in  its  shameless 
spoliation,  but  in  the  fact  that  it  spent  the  proceeds  of  its 
cupidity  in  Avignon  instead  of  Rome.  The  climate  of  the 
former  was  destructive  to  the  moral  health  of  the  Papacy. 
Once  back  in  Rome  its  recovery  would  be  immediate. 

In  addition  to  the  economic  reasons  which  influenced  the 
Italians  there  were  others  of  a  political  character. 

The  awakening  of  a  feeling  of  nationality  is  most  intimately 
connected  with  the  development  of  industry.  If  industry  has 
attained  to  the  level  of  capitalisation,  its  interests,  and  above 
all  the  interests  of  capitalists,  demand  a  national,  centralised 
government  with  a  monarch  at  its  head  ;  a  government  which 
can  secure  to  capitalists  the  home  market,  and  give  them 
sufficient  scope  and  freedom  of  movement  in  the  markets  of 


THE   TABORITES  33 

the  world.  This  was  first  clearly  shown  in  the  seventeenth 
century;  but  the  first  germs  of  the  modern  feelings  of 
nationality  can  be  traced  back  to  the  fourteenth  century, 
when  it  had  its  rise  under  peculiar  conditions,  and  did  not 
for  a  long  period  acquire  the  strength  of  a  self-evident 
instinct. 

This  feeling  first  manifested  itself  in  the  highly  developed 
nation  of  Italy,  which,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  had,  more 
than  any  other  nation,  the  most  pressing  need  of  a  union  of 
its  powers  under  one  government.  Such  a  union  was  abso- 
lutely necessary,  if  an  end  was  to  be  put  to  the  ceaseless 
internecine  wars  among  its  petty  states,  if  quiet  and  order 
were  to  be  restored,  and  if  the  country  was  not  to  remain 
a  prey  to  foreigners,  as  in  fact  it  had  then  become  and  con- 
tinued to  be  until  the  second  half  of  this  century. 

The  only  power  seemingly  in  a  position  to  give  unity  to  Italy 
and  to  acquire  ascendency  over  its  different  sovereigns  was  the 
Papacy,  and  hence  on  the  first  appearance  of  Wycliffeism  the 
Pope  began  seriously  to  meditate  a  return  to  Rome.  The  time 
was  opportune  for  such  a  step,  as  the  war  with  England  had 
terminated  fatally  for  France,  making  her  opposition  appear 
less  dangerous. 

The  first  attempt  to  fly  from  Avignon  was  made  by  Urban 
V.  In  spite  of  the  protest  of  Charles  V.  of  France  and  the 
cardinals  (for  the  most  part  creatures  of  the  French  throne), 
this  Pope  embarked  at  Marseilles  and  went  vid  Genoa  to 
Rome,  where  he  was  received  with  acclamations.  But  soon 
after,  in  1370,  the  French  cardinals,  who  had  found  more 
to  amuse  them  in  France,  again  became  paramount,  and 
Urban  returned  to  Avignon.  (Gibbon  maintains  that  it  was 
chiefly  a  question  of  Burgundy  wine,  which  could  not  be  pro- 
cured in  Italy.) 

The  second  attempt  was  made  in  1376,  by  Gregory  XI.,  who 
remamed  in  Rome  until  his  death  (1378).  Fearing  that  the 
French  cardinals  would  again  elect  a  Pope  friendly  to  France, 
the  people  of  Rome  rose  in  arms,  surrounded  the  Conclave* 
and  with  a  cry  "Death,  or  an  Italian  Pope!"  forced  the 
cardmals  to  elect  an  Italian,  Urban  VI.  As  soon  as  they 
were   able,   however,   the    French   cardinals   withdrew   from 

4 


34  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL   EUROPE 

Rome,  declared  the  election  extorted  and  invalid,  and  chose 
another  Pope,  Clement  VII. 

This  was  the  origin  of  the  great  schism  in  the  Church  ; 
and  we  have  dealt  thus  fully  with  its  causes,  on  account 
of  its  importance  both  in  the  history  of  the  Papacy  and  of 
the  heretical  sects. 

Two  co-existent  Popes  were  not  an  unheard-of  thing,  but 
it  was  a  novelty  that  each  Pope  should  exhibit  a  distinct 
national  character.  One  was  supported  by  France  and 
Spain,  the  other  by  Italy,  Germany,  and  England.  A  third 
subsequently  appeared  upon  the  scene,  who  was  acknow- 
ledged almost  solely  by  the  Spaniards.  Hence  the  disruption 
of  Catholic  Christendom  at  a  later  date  into  separate  national 
Churches,  found  its  prelude  in  this  ecclesiastical  schism. 
This  was  not  a  case  of  dogma,  nor  of  purely  personal  effort, 
but  of  national  and  political  antagonism. 

A  furious  conflict  ensued  between  the  several  Popes,  in 
which  neither  of  them,  nor  of  their  respective  adherents, 
gained  the  upper  hand.  The  whole  Church  was  out  of  joint, 
and  society  bade  fair  to  share  the  same  fate.  Society  was 
indeed  menaced  by  the  bitterest  antagonisms,  as  had  been 
shown  by  the  Jacquerie  in  France  and  the  revolt  of  the  ■ 
peasantry  in  England.  Hence  it  became  a  question  of  put- 
ting an  end  to  this  dislocation  and  of  re-organising  the  Church, 
or  as  was  said,  of  "  reforming  it  in  its  head  and  in  its  limbs." 
As  the  Papacy  was  wholly  incapable  of  such  a  task,  it  had  to 
be  carried  out  by  other  powers.  A  series  of  international 
Congresses  were  convened — Councils  of  the  Church — at 
which,  however,  the  delegates  of  the  secular  princes  had  quite 
as  much  to  say  as  those  of  the  ecclesiastical  organisations. 

The  Papacy  resulting  from  these  Councils  stood  far  below 
that  which  had  once  vanquished  the  Hohenstaufens.  It  is 
true  that  thenceforward  the  Popes  were  less  under  the  in- 
fluence of  an  individual  nation  than  those  of  Avignon,  but 
national  churches  had  been  formed  virtually  subject  to  the 
respective  sovereigns.  The  Pope  was  thereafter  compelled  to 
share  his  rule  and  spoils,  if  he  would  not  lose  them  altogether, 
and  his  share  was  limited  and  strictly  defined  by  special 
treaties  (concordats  or  pragmatic  sanctions). 


THE   TABORITES  35 

This  was  the  condition  of  things  in  France,  England,  and 
Spain.  In  Italy  the  Romish  Church  was  from  the  outset  the 
national  one. 

Germany  was  the  only  country  in  which  no  national 
Church  was  formed  at  the  period  of  the  Councils.  It  was  too 
much  disrupted  to  be  able  to  control  and  limit  the  spoliation 
and  government  of  the  German  Church  by  the  Pope.  P>om 
that  time  Germany  became  the  primary  object  of  the  Papal 
greed  for  power  and  wealth. 

One  member  of  the  German  Empire,  however,  formed  an 
exception — the  kingdom  of  Bohemia. 

II.  Social  Conditions  in  Bohemia  before  the  Hussite  Wars. 

,^ilL^..1^5...^^£^.P^i^^^^  perhaps,   no    country 

^™l^^^^^.-^°J.^P^^  ^"  economic  development  during  t,he  four- 
teenth century  as  Bohemia.  In  England  this  was  specially 
favoured'b'y  the  wool  trade,  and  by  successful  predatory 
incursions  into  France  ;  in  Bohemia  by  its  silver  mines,  in 
which  that  of  Kuttenberg  ranked  foremost.  Opened  up'  in 
1237,  it  continued  until  into  the  fifteenth  century  to  be  by  far 
the  richest  silver  mine  of  Europe,  its  annual  yield,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century,  amounting  to  about 
100,000  marks  of  silver  (a  mark=i  lb.). 

The  rapid  development  of  Bohemia's  power  at  that  time, 
and  the  splendour  of  the  reigns  of  Ottocar  II.  (i 253-1278) 
and  Charles  I.  (Charles  IV.  of  Germany,  1346- 1378)  depended 
chiefly  on  those  mines.  Moreover,  though  they  were 
supported  by  the  Pope,  both  the  latter  king  and  his  son 
Wenzel  owed  their  succession  to  the  imperial  throne  of 
Germany  principally  to  the  Kuttenberg  mines,  which  supplied 
them  with  the  means  necessary  for  the  purchase  of  electoral 
votes — a  method  often  resorted  to  at  that  period. 

Thanks  to  Kuttenberg's  capacity  of  production,  trade  and 
industry,  as  well  as  the  arts  and  sciences,  flourished  in 
Bohemia,  and  above  all  in  Prague,  which  at  that  period  had 
become  "golden  Prague,"  covered  with  splendid  buildings 
and  the  seat  of  the  first  University  of  the  German  Empire 
(founded    1348).     Nor    did   the   Church   go   empty-handed 


36  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

Its  greed  great,  its  scent  keenrAit  knew  where  there  was 
anything  to  get,  and  moreover  how  to  get  it.  Hence 
monasteries  and  churches  in  Bohemia  were  exceptionally- 
wealthy,  especially  under  Charles  IV. 

^neas  Sylvius,  afterwards  Pope  Pius  II.,  who  was  well 
informed  concerning  the  possessions  of  the  Church,  writes  in 
his  History  of  the  Bohemiaus :  "  I  believe  that  in  our  age 
there  was  in  all  Europe  no  country  in  which  so  many  and 
such  magnificent  and  richly  adorned  places  of  worship 
were  to  be  found  as  in  Bohemia.  The  churches  were  heaven 
inspiring ;  .  .  .  their  high  altars  loaded  with  gold  and  silver, 
enclosed  the  relics  of  the  saints  ;  the  priestly  vestments 
richly  ornamented  and  embroidered  with  pearls,  and  the 
vessels  of  the  most  costly  description  ;  ...  it  was  astonish- 
ing not  only  in  the  cities  and  market-towns,  but  even  in  the 
villages." 

But  the  exceptional  opulence  of  the  Church  in  Bohemia 
only  served  to  increase  its  spoliation  by  the  Pope. 

Next  to  the  Church  and  the  King  and  his  courtiers,  the 
shareholders  of  the  Kuttenberg  mines  derived  the  greatest 
profits  from  land.  In  the  fourteenth  century  these  share- 
holders were  no  longer  simple  mine  labourers,  but  merchants 
of  Prague  and  Kuttenberg,  and  capitalists  who  employed 
labour. 

It  was  natural  that  the  development  of  manufacture  and 
trade  should  give  rise  to  the  same  phenomena  in  Bohemia  as 
elsewhere.  Together  with  the  great  antagonism  between  the 
Papal  Church  and  the  bulk  of  the  population,  there  existed 
an  antagonism  between  traders  and  consumers,  between 
masters  and  journeymen,  between  capitalists  and  those 
engaged  in  house  industries  ;  while  that  between  the  large 
landed  proprietors  and  small  tenants  was  continually 
becoming  more  acute.  It  was  not  inconsistent  with  this 
antagonism  that  the  universal  tendency  of  that  period 
should  be  towards  raising  the  peasantry  from  serfdom  by 
commuting  labour-rents  into  money-rents,  which  existed  even 
in  Bohemia. 

This  phenomenon  demands  a  more  detailed  examination. 
To  make  it  comprehensible  we  must  glance  at  the  change  in 


I 


THE   T ABO  RITES  37 

the  condition  of  the  peasantry  which  had  been  brought  about 
by  the  development  of  the  municipal  system  and  of  industry 
in  Bohemia,  as  well  as  throughout  Europe. 

The  growth  of  cities  created  a  market  not  only  for 
industrial  but  also  for  agricultural  products.  As  towns 
increased  in  size,  tradesmen  and  craftsmen  became  less  able 
to  produce  all  the  necessary  means  of  subsistence  and  raw 
materials.  They  purchased  from  the  neighbouring  farmers 
whatever  these  produced  in  excess  of  their  own  requirements, 
and  in  exchange  gave  their  own  or  imported  manufactures, 
or  money.  Thus  the  peasants  became  possessed  of  money. 
The  natural  result  of  this  was  an  effort  to  convert  their 
rents,  which  had  hitherto  been  paid  in  produce  and  labour 
into  money-rents,  a  change  which  would  make  them  free 
men  having  complete  control  over  their  own  possessions. 
The  landowners  themselves  must  often  have  wished  for  this 
change,  as  they  also  began  to  be  in  want  of  money. 

It  might  be  thought  that  this  effort  of  the  two  classes 
towards  the  same  goal  would  have  produced  only  harmony 
and  contentment. 

Nothing  can  be  less  true.     Under  the  system  of  payment 
in  kind,  farmers   had    no    great   incentive   to   increase  their  .       . 
produce,  as  it  was  limited  by  the  personal  needs  of  the  land-  \ 
lords   and   their    retainers.     The    greed  for    money,    on    the 
contrary,  is  limitless,  since  it  is  impossible  ever  to  have  too 
much   of  it.      From  that  time  we  find  a  far  stronger  impulse 
among  the  owners  of  property  to  increase  the  burdens  of  the   f ,',■? 
peasantry,  while  a  counter  pressure  sprang  up  simultaneously 
on  the  part  of  the  oppressed.     So  long  as  the  peasants  could 
not  sell  the  excess  of  their  natural  produce,  it  was  a  small 
sacrifice  for  them  to  give  it  up ;  but  when  there  existed  a 
market  for  it,  the  relinquishment  of  it  to  the  landlord,  or  the 
giving  up  of  the  proceeds  of  its  sale,  meant  a  renunciation  of 
pleasures  which  soon  became  necessaries. 

There  was  another  conflicting  element  between  the  two 
classes.  Before  the  development  of  the  town,  the  peasant 
had  no  asylum  to  which  he  could  flee  from  an  oppressor. 
Now  the  town  offered  a  place  of  refuge  of  which  many  a  one 
availed  himself.     Well-to-do  farmers  contrived  to  profit  by 


38  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL   EUROPE 

the  pecuniary  embarrassment  of  their  landlords,  and  in  this 
way  free  themselves  completely  from  their  burdens.  Thus 
the  number  of  forced  labourers  became  smaller,  and  the 
business  of  the  manorial  farms  often  suffered  in  consequence. 
Hence  when  the  peasants,  under  the  segis  of  the  rising 
towns,  increased  their  efforts  to  throw  off  or  diminish  their 
burdens,  the  landlords  simultaneously  exerted  themselves 
strenuously  to  bind  their  serfs  more  firmly  to  the  manor,  and 
to  augment  their  compulsory  service. 

There  was  still  a  third  element  of  antagonism.  The 
J  imoment  agricultural  produce  acquired  a  market  value,  all 
land,  whether  under  cultivation  at  the  moment  or  not,  pos- 
sessed a  market  value.  As  soon  as  the  towns  had  attained 
to  power  and  importance,  the  time  had  gone  by  when  the 
population  was  so  sparsely  scattered  that  the  land  was 
looked  upon  as  practically  boundless,  and  every  one  wishing 
to  possess  it — were  he  simply  peasant,  or  mighty  landlord 
with  his  tenants,  or  an  association  of  monks — could  easily 
obtain  as  much  as  he  wanted,  either  from  the  lord  of  the 
manor,  or  from  the  Markgenossenschaft  (the  primitive  society 
of  the  members  of  a  commune  holding  land  in  common). 
Now,  although  the  stage  had  not  yet  been  reached  at  which 
every  tract  of  arable  land  had  been  put  under  cultivation, 
yet  the  population  had  already  become  so  dense  that  land  no 
longer  seemed  inexhaustible.  The  possession  of  it  began  to 
be  a  privilege,  and  indeed  a  privilege  so  valuable  that  the 
most  violent  conflicts  broke  out  concerning  it.  The  Mark- 
genossenschaft now  proclaimed  their  collective  land  to  be  the 
private  joint  property  of  the  families  constituting  the 
corporation.  Side  by  side  with  the  members  of  the  Mark- 
genossenschaft a  class  soon  began  to  form  itself,  composed  of 
the  less  privileged  inhabitants  of  the  commune. 

On  the  other  hand,  however,  endeavours  were  made  by  the 
lords  of  the  manor,  whose  power  in  the  commune  was  indeed 
preponderant,  to  seize  these  lands  and  convert  them  into 
their  own  private  property,  at  the  same  time  graciously 
conceding  usufructuary  rights  to  the  fellows  of  the  Mark- 
genossenschaft. 

The  greater  the  strides  made  in  economic  development, 


THE    TABORITES  39 

the  more  intense  became  all  these  antagonisms,  and  the 
greater  the  embitterment  between  landlords  and  peasants. 
Conflicts  were  more  easily  excited  between  these  two  classes 
— conflicts  which,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  were  only  local,  but 
which  in  some  cases  broke  forth  simultaneously  throughout 
whole  provinces  and  even  whole  countries,  growing  finally 
into  regular  wars — peasant  wars. 

The  fortunes  of  war  sometimes  favoured  one  side  and 
sometimes  the  other.  In  general,  however,  it  may  be  said 
that  in  spite  of  isolated  defeats,  the  peasantry  of  the 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries  (earlier  still  in  Italy)  had 
permanently  bettered  their  position. 

The  causes  of  this  improvement  may  be  understood  in  part 
from  what  has  already  been  said.  Legal  methods,  and  even 
physical  compulsion,  were  of  little  use  when  the  towns  lent 
their  protection  and  shelter  to  the  fugitive  peasants.  In 
order  to  retain  for  their  own  benefit  the  labour  power  of  the 
peasantry,  the  lords  of  the  soil  were  compelled,  therefore,  to 
treat  them  better,  and  make  their  existence  endurable. 

The  financial  embarrassment  of  the  landlords  also 
frequently  aided  the  peasants.  In  the  twelfth  century 
Christendom  had  grown  sufficiently  strong,  not  only  to  defend 
itself  against  its  enemies,  but  even  to  assume  the  offensive 
against  the  Orientals,  whose  wealth  and  high  culture  had 
excited  the  greed  for  plunder  of  the  military  and  priestly 
'  castes  of  the  Christian  world.  The  Crusades  began  with  the 
most  vigorous  union  of  the  feudal  lords  of  all  lands,  those 
adventure-seeking  and  booty-craving  members  of  the  higher 
classes.  But  initiated  amidst  great  illusions,  these  wars  ended 
lamentably,  their  results  bearing  no  fit  ratio  to  the  sacrifices 
they  entailed.      They   enriched  many  towns,  especially    in 

I  Italy,  but  they  caused  the  ruin  of  a  large  part  of  the 
European  nobility,  and  instilled  into  the  rest  of  the  higher 
classes  those  longings  for  the  productions  of  a  higher  culture, 
which  in  Europe  were  not  to  be  obtained  without  great  expen- 
diture. It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  the  financial  embar- 
rassment of  the  nobility  rapidly  increased.  If  in  some  cases 
this  led  to  an  effort  to  extort  still  more  from  the  peasant,  it 
often  burdened  the  landlord  also  with  a  load  of  debt,  and 


40  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

forced  him  to  agree  to  absolve  the  peasant  from  his  burdens 
upon  the  payment  of  a  round  sum.  The  higher  nobility 
suffered  comparatively  little  from  these  conditions,  but  the 
inferior  ranks  were  rapidly  ruined,  and  to  all  intents  and 
purposes  lost  their  independence. 

One  more  circumstance  must  finally  be  noticed.  While  the 
population  was  increasing,  the  closing  of  the  land-corporations 
and  their  absorption  by  the  lords  of  the  manor  made  it 
exceedingly  difficult  to  find  room  for  new  settlers.  The 
surplus  population  was,  in  consequence,  compelled  to  seek 
a  livelihood  outside  of  agricultural  pursuits,  and  especially 
in  urban  handicrafts,  or  in  war-service.  Together  with  the 
ruined  lower  nobility,  sturdy  country  youths,  whose  services 
were  not  required  at  home,  gave  themselves  up  to  the  trade 
of  soldiering,  and  flocked  to  the  well-to-do  towns,  or  to  those 
nobles  who  paid  them  well  and  held  out  the  prospect  of  rich 
booty.  They  sought  service  under  princes,  or  such  fortunate 
army-leaders  as  were  beginning  to  make  a  business  of  war, 
and  to  contract  for  troops. ^ 

Side  by  side  with  the  army  of  the  feudal  caste  (the  mounted 
men,  or  knights),  another  was  now  formed  consisting  of  paid 
peasants,  and  foot-bands  once  more  assumed  a  military 
importance. 

But  these  levied  peasants  had  not  as  yet  become 
proletarians.  They  were  farmers'  sons  who,  after  completing 
their  war-service,  returned  home  to  take  part  in  the  labours 
of  the  family,  or  to  set  up  their  own  firesides.  They  brought 
with  them  the  implements  and  weapons  of  war,  and  the 
veteran's  skill  in  the  use  of  them.  French  knights  of  the 
fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  often  enough  had  a  taste 
of  the  quality  of  the  English  bow  and  the  Swiss  pike. 

At  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  and  beginning  of  the  fifteenth 
centuries  serfdom  had  in  fact  ceased  in  Bohemia  as  well  as  irii 
England,  but  attempts  were  not  wanting  among  the  landlords 

'  Mercenary  armies  existed  in  Italy  as  early  as  the  thirteenth  centuryj 
According  to  Sismondi,  the  first  paid  troops  consisted  of  men  who  had! 
been  banished  and  proscribed  ;  of  which  the  urban  party-strifes  supplied 
a  large   number.      (Sismonde   de    Sismondi,   Hisioirc    des   republiques^ 
italiennes  du  moyeii  age.      Paris,  182,  vol.  iii.  p.  260.) 


THE  TABORITES  41 

to  re-inaugurate  the  system  ;  attempts  which  were  a  fruitful 
source  of  social  discontent' 

But  the  greatest  discontent  must  have  been  among  the 
members  of  the  inferior  nobility  who,  themselves  not  much 
above  the  higher  class  of  peasants,  possessed  very  limited 
sources  of  revenue  and  could  not,  like  the  great  barons, 
squeeze  anything  of  importance  out  of  their  tenants,  but 
who,  unfortunately,  had  formed  their  standard  of  life  on 
the  pattern  of  the  great  barons  and  wealthy  merchants. 
At  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century  this  class  went 
rapidly  to  ruin.  The  royal  power  was  already  too  strong 
in  Bohemia  to  permit  the  formation  of  a  body  of  robber- 
knights,  although  many  earnest  attempts  were  made  to 
that  end. 

As  Bohemia  was  a  part  of  the  German  Empire,  a  profitable 
national  war  was  impossible,  hence  the  members  of  the 
Bohemian  knighthood  were  driven  almost  exclusively  to 
mercenary  war-service  as  a  means  of  retrieving  their  fortunes. 

The  development  of  silver  mining  was  not  only  a  potent 
factor  in  the  encouragement  of  manufacture  and  trade,  and, 
through  these,  in  the  growth  of  the  above-mentioned  antagon- 
isms, but  it  produced,  as  a  necessary  consequence,  a  revolution 
in  prices,  by  which  they  were  especially  embittered. 

The  discovery  and  working  of  the  rich  silver  mines  of 
Bohemia  must  have  brought  about  a  rise  in  the  prices  of 
all  goods.  It  must  have  had  the  same  effect  in  that 
country  as  was  caused  in  Germany  at  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  century  by  the  rich  yield  of  the  Saxon  and 
Tyrolese  mines,  and  has  been  produced  throughout  Europe 
since  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  by  the  discovery 
and  development  of  the  gold  and  silver  deposits  in  America. 
We  have  not  been  able  to  find  proofs  of  this  in  the  various 
histories  of  Bohemia,  but  if  in  this  matter,  as  in  others,  the 
axiom  holds  good,  that  under  the  same  conditions  like  causes 
produce  like  effects,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  the 
fourteenth  century  there  was  a  complete  revolution  of  prices 
in  Bohemia. 

It  was  inevitable  that  the  different  classes  should  be  affected 

'  Palacky,  Geschichie  von  Bohtnen,  i.  2  p.  34,  sqq. ;  ii.  2  p.  30 ;  iii.  2  p.  38. 


42  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

in  various  ways  by  this  revolution.  Some  were  injured,  others 
benefited  ;  some  were  merely  touched  by  it,  others  completely 
shattered  ;  but  in  every  circumstance  of  social  intercourse 
in  which  a  money  payment  was  the  medium,  the  social 
antagonism  comprised  in  it  could  not  fail  to  be  intensified  by 
this  rise  in  prices.  The  greatest  sufferers  must  have  been 
those  classes  who  received  their  incomes  in  money  and  did 
not  possess  the  power  to  increase  those  incomes  proportionately 
to  its  decreased  value.  In  the  towns  these  classes  formed  the 
lowest  strata  of  the  wage-earning  population  ;  in  the  country 
they  were  the  petty  nobility. 

But   above   all    these   social    antagonisms    stood    another 

1  still  more  potent — the  national.     In  Bohemia  the  hatred  of 

I  Germany  was  combined  with  that  felt  for  the  Papal  Church. 

f  In  the  thirteenth  century  Bohemia  was  economically  far  behind 

the  times.      Its  Western  German  neighbours  were  much  in 

advance   of   it   in   social  development.      After   the   opening 

of    the    Kuttenberg    mines,    the     marvellous     progress    in 

industry,  trade,  art,  and  science  had  been  made  possible  in 

Bohemia  only  by  the  fact  that  its  rulers  attracted  German 

emigrants  thither.     The  two  favourite  monarchs  of  Bohemian 

patriots,    Ottocar    II.    and    Charles    I.,   were   the   very   ones 

who  most  encouraged  the  immigration  of  German  peasants, 

craftsmen,  and    merchants,  as  well  as  German   artists   and 

savants. 

Kuttenberg  was  a  purely  German  town,  and  quite  as  much 
so  were  the  other  mining  towns,  such  as  Deutschbrod  and  Iglau. 
Together  with  these,  however,  numerous  other  towns  had 
been  either  founded  by  Germans,  or  were  so  largely  peopled 
by  them,  that  the  municipal  authority  fell  into  their  hands, 
and  this  the  more  readily  as  they  represented  the  well-to-do 
classes — the  merchants  and  prominent  handicraftsmen.  The 
petty  craftsmen,  the  mass  of  day-labourers,  and  other  of  the 
lower  urban  population,  were  native-born  Czechs. 

The  University  was  also  under  the  control  of  the  Germans. 
It  was  a  self-governing  institution,  modelled  after  the 
University  of  Paris,  and  divided  into  four  "nations,"  each 
of  which  had  a  vote  in  the  management.  The  Bohemians, 
however,  were  always  in  a  hopeless  minority,  as  they  were 


THE    TABORITES  43 

Opposed  by  the  Bavarian,  Saxon,  and  Polish  "  nations,"  the 
last  named  being  composed  chiefly  of  Germans  (Silesians,  &c.). 
This  is  not  an  insignificant  fact.  In  those  times  a  university 
was  a  scientific  and  political  power  of  the  first  rank,  and  had 
an  importance  equal  to  that  possessed  by  the  press  and 
universities  combined  at  the  present  day.  Externally,  also, 
it  was  a  mighty  organisation.  Like  those  of  Paris,  the 
buildings  of  the  University  of  Prague,  together  with  the 
residences  of  the  professors  and  students,  formed  a  distinct 
quarter  of  the  town,  having  probably  its  own  surrounding 
walls,!  and  as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century 
the  number  of  students  amounted  to  many  thousands.  yEneas 
Sylvius  tells  us  in  his  History  of  the  Bohemians  that  when, 
in  1409,  the  German  students  quitted  the  town,  two  thousand 
left  in  one  day.  Three  thousand  followed  a  few  days  later, 
and  founded  the  University  of  Leipzig.  It  can  be  safely 
assumed,  therefore,  that  the  total  number  of  students  at  that 
time  in  the  university  was  not  less  than  ten  thousand. 

There  were  also  numerous  establishments  connected  with 
the  university,  such  as  lands  and  buildings  endowed  for  the 
use  and  enjoyment  of  the  professors  and  poorer  students ; 
and  all  this  wealth  and  power  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
Germans.  Bitterly  did  the  Czech  professors  complain  that 
they  were  forced  to  starve  as  country  schoolmasters,  while 
their  German  colleagues  obtained  all  the  fat  appointments 
in  the  University ;  and  that  whenever  the  interests  of  the 
Czech  "  nation "  clashed  with  those  of  the  German,  the 
authorities  invariably  sided  watli  the  latter. 

To  all  this  was  added  the  fact  that  the  Church  had  become  \ 
an  institution  of  spoliation  for  the  benefit  of  the  Germans. 
The  poor  livings  were,  it  is  true,  turned  over  to  the  Czechs ; 
but  the  monasteries  were  for  the  most  part  in  the  possession  '< 
of  the  Germans,  as  well  as  the  higher  appointments  of  the 
secular  clergy. 

Thus  the  animosity  to  the  Church  conspired  with  the  hatred  i 
of  the  Germans  in  uniting  the  whole  Czech  nation  in  solid  \ 
phalanx  against  those  two  spoilers. 

This   gave    rise   to    the    national    feeling   which    suddenly 
'  Maurer,  Siadledeifassung,  ii.  p.  37. 


44  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

appeared  in  Bohemia  in  the  fourteenth  century.  But  in 
its  beginnings  this  feeling  assumed  the  most  diverse  forms 
in  different  countries/being  determined  in  each  case  by  the 
special  circumstances  which  called  it  forth.  In  Italy  and 
Germany  it  sprang  chiefly  from  a  longing  for  political  unity. 
Among  the  patriots  of  the  former  country  it  led  to  an 
adulation  of  the  Papacy ;  in  those  of  Germany  to  an 
enthusiasm  for  a  powerful  empire.  In  France  and  England 
the  most  prominent  national  feeling  was  a  reciprocal  hatred 
between  the  two  countries.  In  Bohemia,  on  the  contrary,  it 
made  its  appearance  as  a  special  kind  of  class  antagonism. 

The  peculiar  form  assumed  by  this  antagonism  can  be  easily 
understood  from  what  has  been  said.  The  Germans  expected 
and  received  the  most  lucrative  appointments  among  the 
secular  clergy,  in  the  monasteries  and  in  the  University, 
the  latter  at  that  time  an  essentially  theological  institution. 
If  the  Czechs  had  every  reason  for  rearing  a  barrier  against 
the  spoliation  carried  on  by  the  Church,  and  for  craving  its 
possession,  the  Germans  had  quite  as  good  grounds  for  resisting 
their  efforts. 

'  Such  was  the  atmosphere  in  which  the  movement  against 
the  Pope  and  the  Germans  had  its  birth,  a  movement  which 
has  received  the  name  of  the  Hussite  War  from  its  most 
prominent  literary  advocate,  Johannes  Huss. 

III.   Tke  Beginning  of  the  Hussite  Movement. 

In  its  beginnings  the  Hussite  movement  borrowed  the  most 
weighty  of  its  arguments  and  claims  from  Wycliffeism,  for 
as  soon  as  the  doctrines  of  the  English  reformer  reached 
Bohemia  they  were  eagerly  seized  upon  and  propagated. 
But  while  Huss  adhered  closely  to  Wycliffe's  teachings,  it  is 
a  gross  exaggeration  to  assert  that  those  teachings  produced 
the  Hussite  movement.  They  supplied  the  Hussites  with 
arguments  of  the  greatest  utility,  and  influenced  the  formula- 
tion of  the  demands  put  forward  by  them  ;  but  the  cause, 
strength,  and  aim  of  the  movement  had  their  roots  deep  in 
circumstances  which  were  wholly  indigenous  to  Bohemia.  In 
the  reign  of  Charles  I.   they  had  already  found  expression 


THE   TABORITES  4^ 

in  Milic  of  Kremsier  and  Mathias  of  Janow,  long  before 
Wycliffeistic  writings  had  penetrated  to  Bohemia,  which  did 
not  take  place  till  about  1380,  in  the  last  years  of  the  curate 
of  Lutterworth. 

Wenzel,  son  of  Charles  I.,  and  the  fourth  Bohemian  king 
of  that  name  (i 378-1419),  endeavoured  as  far  as  possible 
to  suppress  existing  antagonisms.  As  he  was  repugnant  to 
accepting  the  German  crown  on  account  of  his  powerlessness, 
it  was  not  necessary  for  him  to  be  a  "  parson-king  "  like  his 
father.  Although  he  endeavoured  to  subjugate  the  Church 
to  his  own  control,  and  was  thus  put  in  touch  with  the  efforts 
of  the  Czech  patriots  and  Church  reformers,  he  was  forced 
to  recognise  the  fact  that  Bohemia's  flourishing  economic 
condition,  and  with  it  the  greater  part  of  his  power,  depended 
on  Germans.  While  favouring  the  strivings  of  the  Czechs, 
he  did  not  wish  the  Germans  to  be  injured  thereby.  To  this 
highly  contradictory  situation  we  must  ascribe  the  vacillating 
policy  of  Wenzel,  who  one  day  encouraged  the  Czechs  and 
the  friends  of  reform  (e.g:,  in  the  question  of  the  University), 
and  the  next  day  endeavoured  to  repress  them — sometimes 
in  vain.  Although  the  Germanic  spirit  and  influence  declined 
in  power  and  importance  under  his  rule,  his  wavering,  con- 
tradictory, and  frequently  capricious  policy  succeeded  almost 
to  the  end  of  his  life  in  preventing  any  violent  encounter 
between  the  antagonistic  parties. 

The  explosion  came  only  when  Bohemian  affairs  were 
interfered  with  by  foreign  powers,  who,  instead  of  a  policy 
of  vacillation  and  compromise,  preferred  that  of  a  strong  hand, 
and,  by  their  attempt  to  stamp  out  the  brand  with  a  firm,  foot, 
caused  the  whole  structure  to  burst  into  flame. 

Johannes  Huss  (from  1398  professor  in  Prague  University, 
and  from  1402  pastor  of  Bethlehem  Chapel),  the  most  pro- 
minent literary  representative  of  the  anti-Papal  and  anti- 
German  movement,  enjoyed  the  favour  of  Wenzel,  who 
appointed  him  father-confessor  to  Queen  Sophia.  The 
University,  which  was  at  that  time  in  the  hands  of  the 
Germans,  turned  at  first  against  Huss  and  Wycliffe,  whose 
doctrines  Huss  propagated,  and  pronounced  forty-five  of 
Wycliffe's   Theses   to    be    heretical.      The    quarrel    of  the 


46  COMMUNISM  IN   CENTRAL  EUROPE 

University  became  more  and  more  a  national  one,  in  which 
the  Czechs  and  the  friends  of  reform  were  in  the  minority. 
Wenzel  finally  interposed  and  gave  three  of  the  four  votes 
of  the  University  to  the  Bohemian  "  nation,"  and  the  re- 
maining one  to  the  other  nations  combined,  whereupon  the 
majority  of  German  professors  and  students  left  the  country. 
The  University  now  declared  for  Huss,  and  appointed  him 
Rector. 

Huss  had  then  to  deal  with  the  Archbishop  of  Prague,  and, 
lastly,  with  the  Pope  himself  Fiercer  and  fiercer  grew  the 
struggle,  and  wider  and  wider  the  gulf  between  Huss  and  the 
Church.  The  conflict  became  especially  sharp  when,  in  141 1, 
Pope  John  XXHI.,  being  in  want  of  money,  again  made 
preparations  for  the  sale  of  Indulgences,  which  took  place 
in  Prague  i  h  1 41-2. 

Huss  raised  the  most  violent  opposition  to  this  sale,  as  well 
as  to  the  money-seeking  Pope,  whom  he  denounced  as  anti- 
Christ.  It  soon  culminated  in  a  severe  encounter  between 
the  Catholic  Germans  and  the  Hussite  Czechs,  the  latter  of 
whom  burnt  the  Papal  Bull,  and  even  threatened  the  priest- 
hood. 

It  seemed,  indeed,  at  that  time,  as  if  these  bitter  antagonisms 
were  about  to  measure  their  strength  in  open  conflict ;  but 
Wenzel  was  once  again  able  to  preserve  peace  by  a  cold- 
blooded neutrality.  In  December,  141 2,  he  expelled  Huss 
from  Prague,  and  soon  afterwards  prepared  the  same  fate 
for  four  papistically-minded  theologians ;  he  simultaneously 
destroyed  the  preponderance  of  the  Germans  in  Prague  by 
decreeing  that  in  future  half  of  the  town-councillors  should 
be  Czechs. 

In  1414,  the  great  Church  Council  assembled  in  Constance. 
Its  mission  was  to  reunite  and  reorganise  the  Papal  Church — 
a  task  which  involved  not  only  the  setting  aside  of  the  three 
existing  Popes  and  the  installation  of  a  new  one,  but  also  the 
suppression  of  Bohemian  heresy.  Wenzel  had  been  deprived 
of  the  imperial  crown  by  the  German  Electors  in  1400,  and 
his  brother  Sigismund  (who,  since  1410,  had  been  Emperor 
of  Germany  and  was  heir  presumptive  to  the  throne  of 
Bohemia)  had  special  interest  in  the  suppression  of  Hussism, 


THE   TABORITES  47 

as  this  sect  threatened  the  defection  of  bohemia  not   only 
from  the  Church  but  also  from  his  Empire. 

Huss  was  cited  before  the  Council.  Full  of  confidence, 
he  set  out  on  the  journey  to  Constance,  relying,  not  on  the 
letter  of  safe-conduct  given  him  by  Sigismund,  but  on  his 
good  cause.  Like  so  many  idealists  before  and  after  him,  he 
saw  only  differences  of  opinion  and  misapprehension  where 
there  were  actually  irreconcilable  antagonisms.  If  he  could 
only  clear  up  these  misapprehensions  and  refute  these 
opinions,  the  irresistible  strength  of  his  ideas  would,  he 
thought,  be  manifest.  But  he  failed  to  convince  the  pious 
fathers,  either  that  Apostolic  poverty  was  enjoined  upon 
the  followers  of  Christ,  or  of  the  truth  of  his  dictum  that  a 
spiritual  or  secular  ruler,  be  he  Pope  or  King,  ceases  to  be 
lawful  the  moment  he  incurs  the  guilt  of  a  deadly  sin. 

This  democratic  principle  seriously  offended  Sigismund  as 
well  as  the  Council. 

That  Bohemia  arose  in  its  might  in  favour  of  Huss  only 
bore  witness  to  his  dangerous  power,  and  was  one  more 
reason  why  the  Council  should  render  him  harmless.  After  it 
had  vainly  sought  by  threats  and  long  imprisonment  to 
induce  him  to  recant,  it  condemned  the  reformer  and  his 
doctrines  on  July  6,  141 5,  and  handed  him  over  to  the  secular 
judges.  Sigismund  was  sufficiently  devoid  of  character  to 
break  his  word  ;  and,  in  spite  of  the  letter  of  safe-conduct, 
Huss  was  sentenced  to  the  stake. 

This  reduced  the  Bohemians  to  the  alternative  of  rebellion, 
•or  subjection  to  the  Church  and  the  Germans.  They  chose 
rebellion. 

A  few  of  the  more  resolute  among  the  followers  of  Huss 
had  already  openly  renounced  the  Church.  They  upheld 
the  claim  previously  raised  by  Mathias  of  Janow,  that  the 
Holy  Sacrament  should  be  administered  to  the  people  in 
both  kinds.  The  use  of  the  chalice  had  hitherto  been  con- 
fined to  the  priests.  It  was  quite  in  accordance  with  their 
doctrine  which  had,  as  one  of  its  aims,  the  abolition  of  the 
privileges  of  the  priesthood,  that  it  should  also  declaim 
against  the  external  sign  of  their  privileged  condition.  The 
chalice,  i.e.,  the  lay  chalice,  became  from  that  time  the  symbol 


48  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

of  the  Hussites.  According  to  the  usual  popular  representa- 
tion of  history,  the  only  question  at  issue  during  the  gigantic 
struggles  of  the  Hussite  war,  was  essentially  whether  or  not 
the  Holy  Communion  ought  to  be  administered  in  both 
kinds  ;  and  in  this  connection  "  enlightened  minds  "  never 
tire  of  pointing  out,  with  much  self-satisfaction,  how  narrow- 
minded  the  people  of  that  time  were,  and  how  luminous,  on 
the  contrary,  are  the  free-thinkers  of  the  present  day. 

This  picture  of  the  Hussite  movement  is  about  as  true 
and  well  founded  as  would  be  a  representation  in  coming 
centuries  of  the  revolutionary  conflicts  of  our  times,  in  which 
it  should  be  made  to  appear  that  the  people  of  the  nineteenth 
century  were  so  ignorant  as  to  attribute  a  superstitious  im- 
portance to  particular  colours,  so  that  the  bloodiest  battles 
raged  over  the  questions  whether  the  French  colours  should 
be  white,  red  white  and  blue,  or  red  ;  those  of  Hungary 
black  and  yellow,  or  red  white  and  green  ;  and  that  for  a 
long  time  a  wearer  of  a  black  red  and  gold  ribbon  was 
punished  by  severe  imprisonment  in  Germany. 

What  the  various  flags  are  to  the  nations  of  to-day,  the 
"^     chalice  was  to  the   Hussites.     It  was  their  standard,  round 
which  they  rallied,  and  which  they  defended  to  the  last ;  but 
it  was  not  an  object  of  strife. 

It  was  precisely  the  same  with  the  different  forms  of  the 
Holy  Communion  which  made  their  appearance  in  the  Re- 
formation of  the  sixteenth  century. 

The  casting  off  of  the  fetters  of  the  Catholic  Church — 
an  act  of  whicHtKe  symbol  was  the  acceptance  of  the  lay 
chalice — became  universal  after  the  execution  of  Johannes 
Huss.  The  ice  was  broken,  and  the  practical  consequences 
of  renouncing  the  Church  soon  ensued — those  consequences 
which  were  fundamentally  the  object  of  the  whole  conflict. 
Masses  of  the  lower  population  in  Prague  now  began  to  rise 
from  time  to  time,  not  merely  in  demonstrations,  but  some- 
times to  expel  the  secular  clergy  and  monks,  and  plunder  the 
churches  and  monasteries ;  the  greatest  gainers  by  these  up- 
risings being  the  nobility.  Not  in  vain  had  they  become  the 
most  zealous  advocates  of  Hussite  doctrines.  To  revenge 
the  death  of  Huss,  and,  of  course,  out  of  pure  enthusiasm 


THE  T ABO  RITES  49 

for  the  faith  (?),  they  now  sent  challenges  to  bishops  and 
monasteries,  and  began,  wherever  possible,  to  seize  the 
possessions  of  the  Church. 

Wenzel  was  powerless  in  the  face  of  the  storm.  In  vain 
did  Sigismund  and  the  Pope  endeavour  to  goad  him  into 
energetic  measures  against  the  rebels.  The  Bohemian  king 
deemed  it  most  prudent  to  act  as  if  he  saw  nothing.  Matters 
finally  went  so  far  that  Sigismund  threatened  his  brother 
with  war  if  he  did  not  interpose  in  the  Hussite  revolt.  The 
threat  was  effective  :  Wenzel  turned  against  the  Hussites, 
and  tried  to  bring  back  the  exiled  clergy.  Thereupon  a 
tumult  arose  in  Prague,  during  which  the  masses  of  the 
lower  population,  led  by  Johann  Ziska,  seized  the  town  on 
July  30,  1419. 

The  king  had  fled  before  the  threatening  catastrophe  to 

his  stronghold  in  Wenzelstein,  and  when  the  dire  news  was 

brought  to  him  fell  into  the  most  ungovernable  rage.     This 

,was   the  probable   cause  of  the  attack  of  apoplexy  which 

followed  and  from  which  he  died  a  few  days  afterwards. 

Bohemia  was  left  without  a  king,  a  prey  to  the  Hussite 
heresy. 

IV.   The  Internal  Parties  of  the  Hussite  Movement. 

So  long  as  the  heresy  in  Bohemia  was  kept  under  by 
Church  and  State,  it  displayeH*  only  its  national'  ariiJ  ecclesias- 
ticaTTEaTaHensHc"'T'oF"ffie'''n^^  the  people  tKehatibnal 

enemjTand  tlie  clerical  enemy  were  9  and  the  same  person, 
lipB^'aTcomttton"  hatred  had  united  the  differeHr social  strata. 
""  N  o  w  that  the  '  eneffiy '  had  been  repelled,  aindtlili  "pure 
Word  of  God  "  was  triumphant,  it  soon  became  evident  that 
this  Word,  though  equally  applicable  to  all,  was  viewed  in 
the  most  diverse  lights  by  the  various  classes,  according  to 
their  respective  interests. 

Hussism  divided  itself,  in  general,  into  two  great  parties, 
each  of  which  had  its  centre  in  a  town,  viz.,  Prague  and 
Tabor  ;  while  Kuttenberg  became  the  head-quarters  of  the 
scanty  remnant  of  Catholicism. 

Next  to  Prague,  Kuttenberg  was  at  that  time  the  largest 
and  most  powerful  town  in  Bohemia,  and  the  German  share- 

5 


50  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

holders  and  labourers  in  its  mines  had  every  reason  for 
remaining  Catholic,  as  no  one  had  more  to  lose  by  the 
success  of  the  Hussites.  Nowhere  else,  therefore,  did  the 
Catholics  display  so  much  fanaticism.  They  put  to  death 
every  Hussite  who  fell  into  their  power — and  their  victims 
were  numerous.  Indeed,  the  Bohemians  affirmed  that  the 
Kuttenbergers  had  established  a  prize  fund  for  the  capture 
of  Hussites,  sixty  Prague  groschen  being  paid  for  an  ordinary 
heretic,  and  three  hundred  for  a  heretic  priest. 

In  addition  to  Kuttenberg,  there  were  a  few  small  towns 
in  which  the  Germans  had  succeeded  in  maintaining  them- 
selves and  which  remained  true  to  the  Catholic  cause.  In 
the  course  of  the  Hussite  wars,  however,  the  greater  number 
of  these  towns,  and  even  Kuttenberg  itself,  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Hussites,  and  became  Bohemianised.  After 
Kuttenberg  had  been  definitely  lost  to  Catholicism,  the 
centre  of  the  party  gravitated  to  Pilsen. 

Together  with  these  few  towns,  a  small  fraction  of  the 
nobility  still  remained  true  to  the  old  faith,  partly  because 
they  hoped  to  fare  better  with  the  monarchical  court,  and 
partly  through  disgust_for_the.. democratic  tendencies  which 
were  developing  in  Hussism. 

'-'Th'e  "majority  of  the  n^ility,  however,  held  fast  to  the 
Hussite  cause,  being  induced  to  do  so  by  the  Church  posses- 
sions which  they  seized.  Their  ideal  government  (especially 
among  the  higher  ranks)  was  an  aristocratic  republic,  with  a 
mock  king  at  its  head.  As  Sigismund  was  not  available 
for  that  purpose,  they  sought  a  substitute  in  Poland  and 
Lithuania  ;  but  no  prince  of  any  importance  cared  to  put 
his  head  into  the  wasp's  nest. 

The  larger  portion  of  the  population  of  Prague  sided  with 
the  aristocratic  party.  In  a  series  of  revolts  in  that  town, 
the  lower  classes  had  taken  the  reins  of  government  into 
their  own  hands,  after  having  expelled  the  German  priests 
and  aristocrats.  In  addition  to  the  Council,  there  now 
existed  the  assembly  of  the  entire  commune,  in  which 
every  man  had  a  vote  who  carried  on  an  independent 
business.  The  Councillors  were  probably  chosen  from  this 
assembly. 


THE    TABORITES  51 

A  new  municipal  aristocracy,  however,  soon  came  into 
existence.  Like  the  nobility,  this  powerful  town  naturally 
profited  by  the  opportunity  to  seize  the  property  of  the 
Church.  Men  of  a  speculative  turn  of  mind  found  a  good 
instrument  for  raising  themselves  above  the  masses,  in  such 
of  the  confiscated  property  as  was  sold,  divided,  or  squan- 
dered, and  in  the  spoils  of  churches  and  monasteries.  After 
the  capture  of  Kuttenberg,  the  profits  of  its  mines  fell  to  the 
lot  of  the  Praguers,  and  formed  a  considerable  part  of  their 
incomes,  a  circumstance  which  must  also  have  been  favour- 
able to  cunning  speculators.  Thus  a  new  urban  aristocracy 
was  formed  composed  of  Czechs,  which  soon  sympathised 
with  the  nobility,  and  most  unwillingly  submitted  to  the 
domination  of  the  "great  assembly"  of  the  town. 

There  was  still  another  reason  for  the  growth  of  aristo- 
cratic sympathies  among  craftsmen  and  even  among  the 
very  lowest  classes  in  Prague.  Their  industries  and  trade 
flourished,  so  long  as  the  Court  and  the  upper  nobility 
dissipated  what  they  squeezed  out  of  the  whole  country. 
The  Praguers  consequently  began  to  look  upon  a  monarchy 
stnTspoiiatirig  Tirobiiitytes-the' rtio^^ 

'^^ciety^^ThirlJemocratie -ekmeiltfsTnlHe'c^ommurii^^^^  con- 
ng\i(gg,,jtp  lose^tren^m^  'whne  the  aristocratic  sentiment,  as 
continually,  gained  in  power.  Revolts,  intrigues,  and  foreign 
iriterventlon~sl:re1ngEIiened  first  one  and  then  the  other  of 
these  elements  ;  but  Prague  as  a  friend  to  the  democrats 
was  always  untrustworthy,  while  as  their  enemy  it  was  most 
determined.  In  the  second  half  of  the  Hussite  wars  it  was 
unceasingly  opposed  to  them. 

The  Praguers  and  nobility  (especially  the  upper  ranks) 
united  in  forming  the  "  moderate  party,"  apparently  so 
called  because  their  confiscation  of  Church  property  was 
most  immoderate.  This  party  went  under  the  name  of  the 
Calixtines  or  Utraquists.^  

Opposed  to  these  was  another  movement,  which  in  its 
composition  and  general  tendencies  may  well  be  designated 
as  democratic. 

'  "  Calixtines,"  from  Calix — the  Chalice ;  "  Utraquists,"  because  they 
received  the  Holy  Communion  in  both  kinds — sub  utraque  specie. 


52  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

It  found  its  most  numerous  adherents  among  the  peasantry 
m  Bohemia,  and  formed  by  far  the  largest  class  of  the  popu- 
lation. 

The  Hussite  revolution  caused  a  violent  outburst  of 
antagonism  between  the  peasantry  and  the  lords  of  the  soil. 
The  confiscated  lands  of  the  Church  were  useless  to  the 
nobility  without  the  peopk  of  the  Church,  who  supplied 
rent  and  forced  labour.  These  toilers,  however,  had  not 
risen  against  the  Church,  merely  to  exchange  one  master 
for  another  still  harsher.  They  wished  to  become  free 
peasants  and  owners  of  property;  and  the  same  desire  for 
freedom  prevailed  among  other  classes.  The  revolution  from 
above  necessarily  called  for  a  revolution  from  below.  All 
barriers  were  swept  away  which  had  hitherto  in  a  measure 
prevented  the  violent  collision  between  the  opposing  elements. 
Custom,  which  had  subjected  employer  and  employed  to  rigid 
rules,  was  cast  to  the  winds,  and  the  throne  set  aside,  which 
had  to  some  extent  controlled  the  barons  and  peasants.  The 
latter  felt  that  if  they  did  not  succeed  in  making  govern- 
ment by  the  nobility  impossible,  and  in  wholly  destroying  its 
power,  they  would  be  crushed  by  its  unlimited  mastery. 
They  now  had  to  choose  between  complete  freedom  and 
abject  servitude. 

A  part  of  the  petty  citizens  and  proletarians  of  Prague 
sided  with  the  peasants  ;  but  the  number  of  their  partisans 
was  greater  in  the  small  towns,  in  which  those  classes  had 
succeeded  in  getting  rid  of  the  German  "  honourables,"  who 
formed  the  higher  ranks  of  citizens.  All  these  towns  were 
far  behind  Prague  in  power.  They  were  not,  like  the  capital, 
in  a  position  to  resist  the  superior  power  of  the  greedy 
barons  single-handed.  Like  the  towns  of  Germany,  whom 
the  weakness  of  the  throne  had  at  an  earlier  date  forced  to 
unite  in  leagues  in  order  to  resist  the  robber  knights,  the 
towns  of  Bohemia  now  combined  against  their  enemies,  with 
the  exception  of  the  few  still  remaining  Catholic. 

-m^?„]9.VY.?r.-.llQbility  at  that  time  occupied  an  economic 
position  between  the  peasantry  and...the^^higher  nobility, 
similar  to  that  now  held  by  'the  small  tradesmen,  who  stand 
between  the  capitalist  class  and  the  proletariat.     They  were 


THE   TA  BO  RITES  53 

quite  as  vacillating  and  untrustworthy  as  their  representa- 
tives of  the  present  day.  The  lower  nobles,  who  were  hardly 
more  than  large  free  farmers,  had  something  to  lose  and 
something  to  gain  on  both  sides.  TKe  liberation  of  the 
peasartt^'  threatened  thern  with  a  further  diminution  of  their 
income  from  rent  and  forced  labour ;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  overthrow  of  the  upper  nobility  would  rid  them  of 
dangerous  competitdrs  arid' oppohehts,  who  were  continually 
pressing  tHerii  Turther^doWrlt'TTenc^^^  spoliation  of  the 

higher  nobility  must  have  been  quite  as  much  desired  by 
the  knights  as  by  the  peasants.  Some  of  the  inferior 
nobility  made  common  cause  with  the  aristocratic  party, 
some  with  the  democratic  ;  while  the  larger  part  oscillated 
hither  and  thither,  inclining  in  the  direction  whence  at  the 
moment  victory  and  booty  appeared  most  certain. 

Among  the  knights  who  remained  inviolably  true  to  the 
democratic  party,  the  most  prominent  was  Ziska  von 
Trocnow,  who  had  fought  as  a  mercenary  against  the  Poles 
and  Turks,  and  in  the  service  of  the  English  against  the 
French.  He  placed  his  military  experience  at  the  disposal 
of  the  democrats,  and  became  their  most  dreaded  and  noted 
leader.  But  however  firmly  he  may  have  held  to  them,  he 
was  their  partisan  only  iji,.,thLe.„capacity  of  soldier  and  not  of 
'folitician.  As  a  soldier,  he  was  the  organiser  and  leader""6T 
an  army  without  its  equal.  As  a  politician,  he  stood  niid- 
Wa^^etween  the  democrats  and  Calixtines,  Ifke  many  other 
knights  and  a  large  part  of  the  humbler  citizens  of  Prague. 

After  Ziska's  death  his  special  adherents  separated  them- 
selves from  the  democrats,  and  formed  a  distinct  middle 
party,  calling  itself  "The  Orphans,"  because  its  members 
had  lost  their  father,  Ziska. 

The  democrats,  on  the  contrary,  were  named  Taborites, 
after  their  political  and  military  centre,  the  communist  town 
of  Tabor.  These  communists  were  the  vanguard  of  the 
democratic  movement. 


V.   The  Communists  in  Tabor. 
In  Bohemia,  as  elsewhere,  the  development  of  industry  and 


54  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

trade  necessarily  produced  a  growth  of  communistic  ideas. 
The  inception  and  dissemination  of  these  ideas  must  have 
been  specially  encouraged  by  the  extension  in  the  fourteenth 
century  of  woollen  manufacture,  which  in  Bohemia  began 
in  the  towns  of  Prague,  Iglau,  and  Pilsen.i 
j\  The  close  connection  of  the  woollen  trade  with  com- 
Imunistic  ideas  is  a  remarkable  fact  which  can  be  traced 
i  through  the  course  of  the  Middle  Ages.  The  woollen  craft 
in  the  towns  of  that  time  was  the  one  in  which  the  features 
of  capitalism  were  first  and  most  sharply  developed,  while  in 
many  places  in  Italy,  the  Netherlands,  France,  and  Germany 
it  expanded  into  an  export  industry.  Capital  was  needed  to 
carry  it  on,  and  hence  the  woollen  worker  became  either  a 
sweated  workman,  receiving  the  raw  material  from  the  dealer 
and  delivering  to  him  the  manufactured  article,  or  a  cloth 
producer  turned  capitalist  himself,  and  employing  a  large 
number  of  journeymen. 

It  is  a  remarkable  coincidence  that  the  same  industry 
became  the  very  hearthstone  of  the  social  revolutionary 
struggle  of  the  Reformation  period  ;  that  in  every  conflict 
with  the  then  existing  municipal  and  State  powers  the 
weavers  fought  in  the  front  ranks,  and  that  they  were 
inclined  to  welcome  any  new  departure  which  proclaimed 
war  against  the  whole  reigning  order  of  society.  "  Not 
without  good  reason,"  says  Schmoller,  "has  language, 
identifying  the  weaver  and  conspirator,  drawn  from  the 
warp  of  a  loom  (Zettel)  the  idea  of  the  way  in  which 
disturbances  are  plotted  or  warped  {angezettelt)."  ^ 

"  In  the  eyes  of  many  contemporaries,"  says  Professor 
Hildebrand,  "  the  guild  of  clothmakers  occupied  a  position 

^  As  early  as  1337  we  find  workmen  in   cloths  who  manufactured    1 
them  entirely   unaided.     There   must    therefore    have   existed   larger    ■ 
manufacturers  employing  journeymen  as  houseworkers.     (Hildebrand, 
Zur  geschichte  der  deiUschcn  Wollenindustrie.     Hildebrand's  Jahrbiichcr, 
vii.  p.  104.) 

^  Schmoller,  Die  Strassburger  Tuclicr-  und  Webcrzun.  Strassburg,  1879, 
p.  460.  The  word  "  warp  "  had  the  same  meaning  in  Old  Enghsh  as  in 
German.  Thomas  Sternhold  (died  1549)  wrote  in  his  Psalmes,  7,  "While 
he  doth  mischief  warp."     Psa.  52,  "Such  wicked  wiles  to  warp." 


THE  TABORITES  55 

similar  to  that  which  some  parties  in  1848  sought  to  confer 

on  the  privileged  (!)  class  of  working  men."  ^  j 

The  oldest  heretical  sect  (^^^  brought  into       | 

unison  with  communistic  tendencies  was,  as  has  already  been  \ 
liaid,  that  of  the  Waldenses.  About  the  year  12^0  one  of  \ 
their  enemies,  "  pseudo  Reiner,"  a  Roman  Inquisitor,  gave  1 
a  description  of  the  Waldenses  in  the  book,  De  Catharis  et  \ 
Leonistis.  To  make  them  appear  contemptible,  he  emphasises  | 
the  fact  that  their  leaders  were  workmen  in  crafts,  such  as  \ 
shoemakers  and  weavers.  Weavers  were  also  frequently 
mentioned  elsewhere  as  members  of  the  sect.^ 

In  Northern  France  the  Apostolicans  (a  sect  allied  to  the 
Waldenses)  also  had  communistic  tendencies,  or  at  least 
primitive  Christian  principles,  which  among  proletarians 
amounted  to  the  same  thing.  Their  aim  was  to  re- 
establish the  apostolic  manner  of  life.  "  They  were  already 
well  known  in  the  twelfth  century,  in  the  time  of  St. 
Bernard,  who  sharply  refuted  them  in  two  of  his  discourses 
on  the  Song  of  Solo7non.  .  .  .  They  worked  hard  and  gained 
their  bread  by  the  labour  of  their  hands.  They  were  craft- 
workers,  chiefly  weavers,  as  can  be  seen  from  St.  Bernard."  3 

In  the  Netherlands  and  in  Germany,  communistic  ideas 
were  developed  among  the  Beghards.  Their  association  was 
composed  chiefly  of  weavers,  and  acquired  such  importance 
in  some  towns  that  the  master-weavers  waged  war  against 
the  "  weaver-brothers."  Mosheim  ^  informs  us  that  in  conse- 
quence of  the  pressure  brought  to  bear  upon  them  by  the 
guilds  of  weavers,  the  authorities  at  Ghent  and  other  towns 
were  often  forced  to  "  check  the  industry  of  the  Beghards." 

In  England,  mediaeval,  sectarian  communism  found  its 
representatives  among  the  Lollards.  It  has  already  occurred 
to  Thorold  Rogers  that  Norfolk,  the  centre  of  the  woollen 
industry,  was  also  the  centre  of  Lollardism.  Weavers  were 
the  protectors  and  the  trustiest  adherents  of  the  poor  priests. 

•  Op.cit.,p.  115. 

-  Compare  L.  Keller,  Die  Reformation  tmd  die  lilteren  Refoitnparteien, 
Leipzig,  1885,  pp.  18,  33,  120. 
3  Mosheim,  Ketzergeschichte,  p.  380. 

*  De  Beghardis  et  Beguinabus  Commentarius,  Leipzig,  1790,  p.  182. 


56  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

We  think  it,  therefore,  no  mere  accident  that  weavers 
were  also  found  in  the  front  rank  of  the  communistic 
movement  in  Bohemia. 

In  addition  to  the  economic  condition  of  Bohemia  itself, 
there  were  external  influences  that  helped  the  spread  of 
communistic  ideas.  Beghards  made  their  appearance  in  the 
land,  where  they  were  called  Picards.  The  immigration  of 
German  craftsman,  so  much  encouraged  by  the  kings  of 
Bohemia,  was  also  not  without  its  effect  on  the  penetration 
of  Beghardism  to  that  country. 

Waldenses  are  said  to  haye  fled  frpm  Southern  France  to 
Bohemia  at  the  time  of  the  first  persecution,  and  to  have 
found"  an"  asyruft;  keepi  themselves  hidden  and  propa- 
gating their  doctrines  secretly.  ^ 

While  the  antagbnism  between  the  Bohemians  and  the 
Church  was  gaining  strength,  and  the  opponents  of  the 
latter  were  not  only  tolerated,  but  received  encouragement, 
the  communistic  heresy  naturally  reared  its  head,  and  pro- 
scribed communists  from  adjacent  countries  sought  safety  in 
Bohemia.  Communism  could  be  the  more  easily  developed, 
as,  in  its  arguments,  and  even  in  many  of  its  claims,  it  was 
in  sympathy  with  the  other  heretical  movements.  They  were 
unanimous  in  wishing  for  a  return  to  primitive  Christianity, 
and  the  restoration  of  pure  Christian  doctrine.  Disagree- 
ments regarding  the  manner  in  which  this  was  to  be 
consummated  did  not  begin  until  later. 

The  declaration  of  war  by  the  Church  and  the  German 
Empire  against  Bohemia,  brought  about  by  the  burning  of 
Johannes  Huss,  led  to  the  overthrow  of  the  traditional 
rules  regulating  property  and  society,  by  the  confiscation 
and  robbery  of  the  Church's  possessions.  This  was  the 
golden  moment  for  the  communistic  sects,  who  now  openly 
declared  themselves.  Hitherto  they  had  dragged  on  their 
existence  in  secrecy  and  without  recognition,  and  only  now 
and  then  had  the  world  heard  of  them  through  the  treachery 
of  some  member,2  but  the  relatively  wide  extension  they  had 

'  F.  Bender,  Geschichte  der  Waldenser,  Ulm,  1850,  p.  46,  sqq. 
"  At  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century  two  preachers  came  to  visit 
the  Waldenses  of  Bohemia  from  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  where  that 


THE   TABORITES  57 

acquired  became  evident  as  soon  as  they  were  able  openly  to 
avow  themselves. 

The  communists^,^iQ..,JP.r^^  were  too  weak,  or  their 
opponents  were  too  strong,  to  allow  of  their  free  develop- 
ment, whereas  in  smaller  towns  they  had  more  scope. 

CommumsT~pf'eafchers"ri^^^ 
had  come.  Prague  was  to  be  consumed  by  fire  from  heaven, 
but  the  elect  would  find  protection  and  safety  in  other  towns. 
Christ  would  descend  in  power,  and  establish  a  kingdom  in 
which  there  should  be  no  masters  or  servants,  no  sin  or  J 
penury,  nor  any  other  law  than  that  given  by  the  free 
Spirit.  The  survivors  of  that  time,  translated  to  a  condition 
of  Paradisaical  innocence,  should  know  no  more  bodily 
suffering  and  want,  and  no  longer  need  the  sacraments  of 
the  Church  for  their  salvation.^ 

Matters  progressed  so  far  that  communistic  associations 
were  organised  which,  in  the  absence  of  evidence  to  the 
contrary,  were  presumably  limited  to  the  towns,  the  most 
important  of  these  being  Pisek,  Wodrian,  and  Tabor  ;  in 
the  last  of  which  the  communists  succeeded  in  obtaining 
complete  mastery. 

Tabor  was  founded  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  small  town 
of  Austi,  on  the  Luznic  River,  famous  for  its  gold  washings. 
The  abundance  of  gold  may  well  have  exercised  an  important 
influence  on  the  development  of  trade  and  industry,  as  well 
as  on  the  antagonisms  connected  with  these.  It  is  certain 
that  from  the  year  141 5  communist  agitators  found  protection 

and  shelter  J;i,ji|sr^l;inpi^ 

tHe  agency  of  Pytel,  a  rich  cloth  manufacturer  and  merchant, 

and  the^employejr^^  of  journeymen  weavers. 

sect  still  maintained  itself.  In  his  History  of  the  Waldenses,  from  which 
we  derive  this  information,  Bender  gives  no  definite  date ;  but  it  was 
certainly  during  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  of  Bohemia.  The  two  Italians 
proved  traitors,  for  they  disclosed  to  the  Catholic  clergy  the  spot  where 
the  Waldenses  used  to  assemble,  and  thereby  caused  a  rigorous 
persecution  of  their  fellow-associates. 

'  Compare  Palacky,  op.  cit.,  iii.  2,  p.  81.  The  chief  source  from  which 
Palacky  draws  his  information  concerning  the  communism  of  the 
Taborites  is  J.  Pribram's  Proti  knezin  Taborskyn,  a  disputation  against 
the  Taborite  priests,  unfortunately  existing  only  in  manuscript. 


58  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

According  to  a  letter  of  JEneas  Sylvius,  the  later  inhabitants 
of  the  town  were  for  the  greater  part  weavers.  During  the 
few  reactionary  attempts  made  by  Wenzel  in  141 9,  these 
communist  agitators  were  driven  out  of  Austi,  where  there 
was  a  strong  Catholic  party.  They  established  themselves 
in  the  neighbourhood,  on  a  broad  hill  overlooking  the 
Luznic  River  and  forming  a  peninsula  with  steep  declivities, 
which  was  connected  with  the  bank  by  a  very  narrow  neck  of 
land.  Here  they  made  their  stronghold,  and  named  it  Tabor, 
in  the  style  of  the  Old  Testament,  for  which,  like  the  later 
Anabaptists  and  Puritans,  they  showed  a  great  predilection. 

Communists  streamed  there  from  all  sides  in  order  to  hold 
their  meetings  undisturbed.  On  July  22,  141 9,  no  less  than 
42,000  persons  from  Bohemia  and  Moravia  took  part  in  one 
of  these  assemblages.  This  indicated  a  remarkable  dissemi- 
nation of  communistic  ideas. 

"The  whole  incident  was  depicted  even  by  their  opponents 
as  a  great  popular  festival  of  a  religio-idyllic  character, 
elevating  both  to  the  soul  and  heart.  Perfect  quiet  and 
order  reigned  throughout.  The  throngs  of  pilgrims  marching 
thitherwards  in  procession  with  banners  flying,  and  preceded 
by  the  Holy  Sacrament,  were  quite  as  festally  welcomed  by 
those  living  on  the  spot,  who  received  them  with  jubilations, 
and  directed  them  to  their  proper  places  on  the  hill.  Every 
one  who  came  was  '  brother '  or '  sister,'  as  all  social  distinctions 
were  unrecognised.  The  priests  shared  the  work  among 
themselves  ;  some  preaching  in  designated  places  (men  and 
women  being  kept  apart),  others  hearing  confessions,  while  a 
third  part  communicated  in  both  kinds.  Thus  it  went  on  till 
noon.  Then  came  the  consumption  in  common  of  the  food 
brought  by  the  guests,  which  was  divided  among  them,  the 
want  of  one  being  made  good  by  the  superabundance  of 
another ;  for  the  brothers  and  sisters  of  Mount  Tabor  knew 
no  difference  between  mine  and  tkzne.  As  the  emotions  of 
the  entire  assembly  were  of  a  religious  character,  there  was 
no  violation  of  the  strictest  modesty  and  propriety ;  all  music, 
dancing,  and  play  being  unthought  of."  ^ 

Eight  days  after  this  gathering,  the  riot  broke  out  in  Prague 
'  Palacky,  op.  cit.,  iii.  1,  p.  417,  sqq. 


THE   TA  BO  RITES  59 

which  put  an  end  to  the  Catholic  reaction,  caused  Wenzel's 
death,  and  led  to  the  Hussite  War.  It  was  no  longer  a 
question  of  mere  demonstrations  and  communist  picnics. 

The  fundamental  principles  of  the  Taborites  are  compre- 
hensively set  forth  in  a  document  drawn  up  by  the  Prague 
University.  After  the  fashion  of  the  day,  a  disputation 
was  held  December  10,  1420,  when  it  was  hoped  that  the 
antagonism  between  the  Praguers  and  that  sect  would  be 
smoothed  away.  To  this  end  the  professors  had  made  a 
schedule  of  not  less  than  seventy-six  points,  in  which, 
according  to  their  opinions,  Taborite  doctrines  were  either 
heretical  or,  at  least,  erroneous.  In  conformity  with  the 
tastes  of  the  professors  and  the  tone  of  thought  of  the  age, 
the  majority  of  these  points  were  of  a  theological  nature ; 
but  two  of  them  contained  the  germs  of  republicanism  and 
communism.     The  Taborites  taught —  — —-. 

"  In  these  days  there  shall  be  no  king,  ruler,  or  subject  on  \ 
the  earth,  and  all  imposts  and  taxes  shall  cease ;  no  one  shall  * 
force  another  to  do  anything,  for  all  shall  be  equal  brothers 
and  sisters. 

"  As  in  the  town  of  Tabor  there  is  no  mine  or  thine,  but  all     \ 
is  held  in  common,  so  shall  everything  be  common  to  all,  and      \ 
no  one  own  anything  for  himself  alone.     Whoever  does  so 
commits  a  deadly  sin."  .. * 

As  a  consequence  of  these  propositions,  the  Taborites 
concluded  that  it  was  no  longer  seemly  to  have  a  king, 
but  that  _God  Himself  should"  Be  king  over  mankind,  and 
"^he  government  be  put  into  the  hands  of  the  people.  All 
princes,  nobles,  and  knights  were  to  be  uprooted  as  weeds  ., 
and  utterly  exterminated.  Imposts,  taxes,  and  payments  ^-^^ 
were  to  cease,  and  all  laws  of  princes,  nations,  towns,  and 
peasants   be   abrogated   as   iriveritioris   of  men   and   not  of 

God.:  ■^-^-..-^- 

The  purely  ecclesiastical  points  relate,  among  other  things, 
to  a  summons  to  the  razing  of  alT  the  cHurcKes7fR"e'^rohrbition 
of  Divine.  \Korship  in  a  church,  and  making  or  reverencing 
sacred  pictures,  &c.  The  Taborites  also  inveighed  against 
erudition  (or  perhaps  science).  "  Nothing  shall  be  believed  \ 
or  held  concerning  Christ  but  that  which  is  expressly  said 


6o  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

I  or  written  in  the  Bible  ;  and  besides  the  Bible  no  writings 
iof  doctors   of  divinity,  professors,  or   learned    men    of  any 
jkind  shall  ever  be  read,  taught,  or  propagated.     Whosoever, 
(therefore,  shall   devote   himself  to   the   study  of  the   seven 
(sciences,  or  accept,  or  cause   himself  to  be  appointed   to  a 
1  professorship  in  them,  resembles  the  heathen  ;  he  is  a  vain- 
glorious person,  and  commits  a  deadly  sin."     This  doctrine 
must   have  been  especially  obnoxious  to  the  professors  of 
Prague.      The  opposition   among  Christian   communities  to 
science  has  been  treated  of  in  a  former  chapter  (p.  19,  sqq). 
It  was  natural  that  in  its  realisation    communism  should 
assume  the  forms  handed  down  by  tradition  from  primitive 
Christianity,  and   that   it   should    accord   with   the   existing 
conditions  of  production. 

Each  community  had  a  common  box  called  "coop,"  to 
which  every  one  brought  what  he  called  his  own.  There 
were  three  such  boxes,  one  in  each  of  the  towns  of  Pisek, 
Tabor,  and  Wonian.  The  brothers  and  sisters  sold  all  their 
possessions  and  laid  them  at  the  feet  of  the  comptrollers 
of  these  coops. 

Pibram  writes  in  his  work  against  the  sect  (1429):  "The 
Taborites  contrived  another  monstrous  trick,  in  that  they 
enjoined  and  commanded  all  the  people  of  Pisek,  who  had 
betaken  themselves  to  the  hill,  to  bring  each  one  all  that  he 
possessed,  and  thus  almost  completely  filled  one  or  two  coops 
which  they  had  set  up.  The  comptroller  of  these  coops  was 
the  dishonest  Mathias  Lauda  of  Pisek,  and  he,  with  the  other 
managers  as  well  as  the  priests,  suffered  no  loss  from  this 
arrangement.  This  dastardly  proceeding  shows  how  dis- 
gracefully the  people  were  robbed  of  their  possessions  and 
earnings,  and  how  the  managers  enriched  and  fattened 
themselves."  ^ 

Palacky  was  himself  forced  to  admit  that  this  was  a 
despicable  calumniation. 

Meanwhile,  however  honest  and  unselfish  the  comptrollers 

of  the  coops  might  be,  this  kind  of  communism  could  not 

be  carried  on  for  any  considerable  length  of  time.     Labour 

would  become  impossible  if  every  one  were  to  sell  his  means 

'  Quoted  by  Palacky,  op.  ciL,  iii.  2,  p.  297. 


THE   TABORITES  6i 

of  production  and  carry  the  proceeds  to  the  common  coop, 
in  order  that  articles  of  consumption  might  be  bought  with 
money  from  the  common  treasury.  We  do  not  believe  that 
this  procedure  was  at  any  time  universal  among  the  Taborite 
communists.  It  is  certain,  at  all  events^  that  it  was  soon 
abandoxi&d.--  Prac1;icaily,  communism  fashioned  itself  as'^ 
iollows — Each  family  worked  for  itself  in  its  own  private 
house  and  private  field,  with  its  own  means  of  production,! 
and  kept  for  itself  all  that  was  necessary  for  its  own  wantsl 
The  superfluity  alone  belonged  to  the  community.  ] 

This  change  was  not  brought  about  without  earnest  pro- 
test from  the  more  zealous  and  pronounced  faction.  Under 
existing  circumstances  corrirhuriiSm  merely  in  articles  of  con- 
sumption was  realisable  only  in  the  form  just  mentioned. 
For  this  reason  the  extremists  demanded  the  introduction 
of  pure  communism  and' the  abolition  of  the  farnfly^^^ 
Ts  possible  in  tvyo  ways  :  through  celibacy,  or  through  the 
'  siispension  of  strict  monogamy,  i.e.,  by  the  so-called  community 
iff ' wtves.  Ultra-communists  arfidhg  the  Taborites  chose  the 
tatterTofm'j'bHng  mHuceci  to  do  so  partly  by  their  determined 
opposition  to  the  Catholic  Church  and  monasticism,  which  led 
toTa  condemnation  of  priests'  celibacy. 

The  efforts  of  the  stricter  party  found  their  clearest  and 
most  decided  expression  in  the  sect  of  the  brothers  and  sisters 
of  the  Free-Spirit.  They  had  found  entrance  into  Bohemia, 
and  when  in  that  country  Picards  (Beghards)  were  spoken  of, 
it  was  always  understood  that  reference  was  made  to  this 
community.  The  Hussitic  variety  of  the  brothers  and  sisters 
of  the  _Xrfte-$pirit  we  also  called  Nicolaitans,  after  the 
peasant  Nicholas,  who  was  the  chief  expounder  of  their 
doctrines ;  But  they  were  best  known  under  the  name  of 
Adamites,  because  they  regarded  the  Adamitic  state  (the 
"^tate  of  nature  as  it  was  called  in  the  eighteenth  century), 
as  the  only  one  of  sinless  innocence.  In  their  places  of 
assembly,  which  they  named  Paradises,  they  are  said  to 
have  gone  about  naked,  but  we  are  unable  to  determine 
whether  this  statement  is  based  on  rumour  only,  or  on 
malevolent  calumny. 

.^neas  Sylvius  tells  us  that  the  Adamites  lived  on  an  island 


62  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

in  the  River  Luznic,  and  went  about  in  a  state  of  nudity. 
"  They  held  their  wives  in  common  {connubia  eis  promiscua 
fuere) ;  but  no  one  could  have  a  wife  without  the  consent  of 
their  chief  elder,  Adam.  When,  seized  with  ardent  desire,  a 
brother  burned  for  a  sister,  he  took  her  by  the  hand  and  went 
with  her  to  the  chief  elder,  to  whom  he  said  :  *  My  soul  is 

I  aflame  with  love  for  her.'  Thereupon  the  elder  answered 
\  him :  '  Go,  be  fruitful  and  multiply  and  replenish  the 
/     earth.' "  ^ 

n        This  kind  of  avoidance  of  marriage  was  too  much  opposed 
to   the   moral  views  of  a   period  when  monogamy  and  the 
separate  family  life  (institutions  handed  down  from  antiquity, 
and  deeply  rooted  in  the  popular  feeling)  were  most  impera- 
tively demanded  both   by  the  needs  of  society  and  of  the 
\  existing  methods  of  production.     The  abolition  of  marriage 
\  \  was,  it  is  true,  a  logical  consequence  of  the  communism  of  the 
;  j  time,  but  this  very  fact  shows  that  this  cornrnunism  was  not 
I  in  accordance  with  the  wants  of  a  society  in  which  monogamy 
r was  a  necessity,  and  itself  proves  that  the  communism  of  the 

I I  tJay"  was"  condemned  to  be  confined  to  small  associations  and 
' !  communities.      The  bulk  of  the   Taborites   offered  a  most 

determined  resistance  to  the  efforts  of  the  extreme  party. 
In  the  spring  of  142 1  an  open  conflict  broke  out  between 
y        the  two  factions.     Priest  Martinck  Hauska,  one  of  the  head 
'  elders  of  the  more   advanced   enthusiasts,  had  been   taken 

prisoner  by  a  knight,  but  at  the  intercession  of  many  friends 
he  was  released.  He  afterwards  preached  his  doctrines  with 
all  the  more  zeal,  and  his  partisans  became  so  threatening 
that  the  Taborite  bishop,  Nicholas,  appealed  for  help  to 
Prague,  where  communistic  heresy  had  gained  a  foothold. 
The  Town  Council  immediately  recommended  severe  mea- 
sures and,  in  accordance  with  the  pleasant  custom  of  that 
period,  two  burgesses  were  condemned  to  death  and  burnt. 
Simultaneously,  an  open  rupture  took  place  between  the  two 
parties  at  Tabor ;  the  ultra-communists  were  driven  out,  and, 
to  the  number  of  three  hundred,  sought  safety  in  the  woods 
bordering  on  the  Luznic  (March,  1421). 

Priest  Martinck  soon  broke  loose  from  them  and  renounced 
'  ^neas  Sylvius,  Dc  oriu  et  historia  Bohemorum.   Opera  omnia,  p.  109. 


THE   TABORITES  63 

his  "  heresies  "  ;  but  his  associates  remained  firm.  Ziska,  who 
was  at  heart  inclined  towards  the  Praguers,  and  to  whom  the 
'*  Picard  heresy "  must  have  been  an  abomination,  marched 
out  against  the  refugees,  surprised  them  in  the  forest,  and 
took  a  number  of  prisoners,  of  whom  fifty  were  burnt  at 
the  stake  by  his  orders  as  they  absolutely  refused  to 
recant.  '""  """^" 

^o  longer  feeling  at  ease  among  the  Taborites,  Martinck 
resolved  to  betake  himself  to  Moravia.  On  his  way  thither  he 
was  taken  prisoner  at  Chrudim,  together  with  his  companion, 
Prolop  the  one-eyed,  and  handed  over  to  Archbishop  Conrad 
in  Raudnitz.  Ziska  demanded  of  the  Praguers  that  they 
should  have  these  dangerous  persons  brought  to  Prague, 
and  there  burnt  alive  as  an  example  ;  but  the  Town  Council 
feared  the  lower  classes,  among  whom  Martinck's  views  were 
strurigly^'sTdTvocated,  and  accordingly  sent  an  executioner  to 
Kaudnitz^"Hy  whom  tlie  prisoners  were  so  long  tortured  that 
they^  betrayed  the  names  of  some  of  their  associates  in 
Prague.  Thereupon  they  were  placed  in  barrels  and  burnt 
(August  21,  1 421). 

But  the  Picard  heresy  was  not  yet  wholly  suppressed.  A 
band  of  Adamites  had  established  themselves  on  an  island 
in  the  River„.Hezarka,  an  affluent  of  the  Luznia,  against 
'whom  Ziska  sent  four  hundred  armed  men,  with  orders  for 
their  complete  extermination.  Although  talcen  by  surprise, 
tlie  heretics  defended  themselves  with  desperation,  and  slew 
a  large  number  of  their  enemies,  but  finally  had  to  yield  to 
superior  force.  Those  whom  the  sword  had  spared,  the  fire 
consumed  (October  21,  142 1). 

The  more  advanced  faction  of  communism  was  now  com- 
pletely crushed,  and  the  small  fighting  power  necessary  to 
subdue  it  shows  that  its  tenets  had  not  been  widely  adopted. 
In  fact,  only  a  few  particularly  bold,  or  particularly  one-sided 
men,  prejudiced  in  favour  of  communism,  dared  at  that  time 
to  so  far  overstep  the  limitations  of  their  age.  They  are  in- 
teresting to  the  history  of  communistic  thought,  but  acquired 
no  importance  to  general  history. 

The  Adamites  were  crushed  and  rendered  powerless,  but 
Ziska,  who  persecuted  them  with  singular  animosity,  did  not 


,1 


64  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

succeed  in  wholly  destroying  them,  as  remnants  of  the  sect 
continued  to  drag  on  an  existence  among  the  Taborites.  In 
the  last  decade  of  the  fifteenth  century  they  reappeared,  and 
'endeavoured  to  amalgamate  with  the  Bohemian  Brethren,  of 
wiiom  we  shall  treat  further  on. 
..-After  the  overthrow  of  the  Adamites,  there  was  no  other 
noteworthy  effort  to  establish  the  more  radical  form  of 
communism  ;  but  the  milder  kind  (communistic  more  in 
t  intention  than  in  reality)  maintained  itself  in  Tabor  for 
{    nearly  a  generation. 

[',., What  use,  it  may  be  asked,  was  made  of  the  revenues  of 

the  common  coops  (or  rather  storehouses,  since  the  contribu- 
tions were  chiefly  in  kind)  ? 

In  the  early  Christian  community,  the  superfluity  of  one 
I  served  to  lessen  the  deficiencies  of  another.  There  was  no 
occasion  for  this  in  Tabor,  where  a  nearly  complete  equality 
in  the  conditions  of  life  existed  among  all  members  of  the 
community.  This  equality  was  easily  brought  about  by  spoils 
from  the  Church  and  from  the  properties  of  opposing  nobles 
and  towns,  which  proved  sufficient  to  enable  each  person  to 
establish  himself  comfortably. 

The  Taborites  did  not  need  to  expend  anything  for  the 

care  of  the  poor  ;   but  the  wants  of  the  clergy  had  to  be 

supplied,  as  they  had  no  priestly  aristocracy  with  its    own 

possessions.      Any   layman    might   become   a   priest.      The 

members  of  that  order  were  chosen  frorh  the  community, 

and  they  in  turn  elected  the  bishops;  but  they  were  financially 

1     dependent  on  the  community.     Their  functions,  like  those  of 

/   "the  mediaeval  priesthood  in  general,  were  in  the  main  similar 

/      to  those  of  the  present  state    and  municipal   officials    and 

teachers  in  Germany.      Their  duties  were  to  organise  and 

manage  the    various   institutions  of  the    Brotherhood,   and 

^;^^  regulate  the  connection  between  the  several  communities,  as 

-;       well  as  the  relations  of  these  with  the  outer  world.     One  of 

their  chief  vocations  was  the  instruction  of  children.      The 

Taborites  set    great  store  by  a   general  and  good  popular 

education.   This  was  one  of  their  most  striking  characteristics, 

"and  was  to  be    found  nowhere  else   at   that  time.     In  this 

respect  they  resembled  the  Brdthers-of-the-Life-in-Common 


THE    TABORITES  65 

more  than  any  other  sect ;  but  the  monastic  and  Catholic 
tendencies  of  the  latter  fraternity  gave  quite  a  different 
charactef  to  their  activity.  Education  among  the  Taborites 
must,  of  course,  be  measured  by  the  standard  prevailing  at 
the  time,  and  was  chiefly  theological  in  tone. 

yEneas  Sylvius  says  in  one  place  :  "  The  Italian  priests  may 
well  be  ashamed  of  themselves,  for  it  is  certain  that  not  one 
among  them  has  even  once  read  the  New  Testament,  Among 
the  Taborites,  on  the  contrary,  you  will  find  hardly  one  young 
woman  who  is  not  versed  in  both  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ment." He  remarks  elsewhere :  "  That  malignant  race  has 
only  one  good  trait,  viz.,  their  love  of  education  "  {literas). 

This  solicitude  with  regard  to  popular  education  was  in 
apparent,  though  only  apparent,  contradiction  to  the  re- 
pugnance of  the  Taborites  to  erudition,  which  they  evidenced 
not  only"  By  the  previously  mentioned  injunction,  but  by 
forcing  all  learned  men  who  joined  them  to  take  up  some? 
handicraft.  The  learning  which  they  opposed  was  that  from 
which  the  lower  population  was  cut  off,  and  which  was 
inimical  to  their  community;  i.e.,  the  culture  which  had  become 
a  privilege  of  the  upper  classes,  but  which,  from  the  existing 
standpoint  of  production,  was  incompatible  with  universal  equa- 
lity. The  methods  of  production  among  the  handicrafts  and  | 
small  farmers  laid  too  great  demands  on  the  strength  and  time    \ 


of  their  workmen  to  allow  these  to  acquire  a  higher  education  \ 
without  stepping  out  of  their  class.  On  the  other  hand, 
however,  the  tenet  of  equality  imposed  the  obligation  of 
making  every  authorised  means  of  self-culture  ^  available  to  all. 
Their  war  system  was,  however,  of  far  more  importance 
to  them  than  their  educational  arrangements.  This  tiny 
community,  which  declared  war  so  boldly  against  the  whole 

'  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  Waldenses  were  also  famed  for 
their  zeal  in  the  cause  of  popular  education.  The  Roman  Inquisitor 
known  under  the  name  of  Reiner,  says  of  them  :  "All  this  people,  without 
exception,  men  as  well  as  women,  are  unceasingly  engaged  in  teaching 
and  learning.  The  labourer  who  works  by  day  learns  and  teaches  by 
night  ;  and  as  they  study  much,  they  pray  but  little.  They  teach  with- 
out books.  ...  He  who  has  been  learning  for  seven  days  looks  out  for 
a  pupil  whom  he  in  turn  may  teach."  The  last  statement  indicates  that 
they  had  invented  a  peculiar  method  of  instruction, 

6 


66  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

existing  order  of  society,  could  maintain  its  existence  only 

so  long   as   it   remained    unconquered  in  the  field  ;  and   it 

enjoyed  no  peace  nor  even  a  single  truce,  for  it  was  in  direct 

antagonism  to  the  interests  of  the  ruling  powers.     On  the 

other  hand,  the  community  was  never  able  to  gain  a  single 

I  decisive  victory.     It  could  defeat  its  enemies  but  not  over- 

I  throw  them  ;    for  the  opinions   of  these   enemies   were   in 

I  jharmony  with  the  existing  conditions  of  production,  while 

i  ithe  communism  of  the  Taborites .. was ..sa^artjficial  growth 

grafted   on  those^ conditions,  .an.d.could  never  become    the 

universal  form  of  society  of  the  age. 

rt»  But  if  the  perpetual   war,  in  which   the   Taborites  were 

engaged,  redounded  to  their  glory,  it  also  led  to  their  doom. 

Their  entire  organisation  was  modelled  for  the  purposes 

of  war.     They  divided  themselves  into  two  groups,  of  which 

one   remained   at  home  and  laboured  for  the  other   whose 

i  functions  were  exclusively  military,  and    who  were  always 

under  arms.     With  wife  and  child  they  marched  out  against 

the  foe,  like  the  ancient  Germans  ;  whom  they  also  emulated 

in   savage    fierceness    and   impetuosity.      The    two   groups 

apparently  alternated  in  their  duties,  the  returning  warriors 

taking  up  the  handicrafts,  while  those  who  had  been  engaged 

i  in  the  latter  went  forth  to  fight.      This  is  only  conjectural, 

I  for  on  this,  as  on  other  points  relating  to  the  Taborites,  we 

are  unfortunately  reduced  to  surmise,  and  however  copious 

the  information  concerning  their  deeds  of  war,  but  little  can 

;'   \  /   be  ascertained  about  their  internal  affairs. 

From  a  military  point  of  view  the  organisation  of  this 
war-community  is  of  great  historical  moment.  It  is  cus- 
tomary to  trace  the  origin  of  standing  armies  in  the 
declining  years  of  the  Middle  Ages  to  Charles  VII.  of 
France,  who,  in  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  kept 
up  a  permanent  military  force  of  fifteen  companies  of  mer- 
cenaries. As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  first  standing  army  was 
formed  by  the  Taborites,  who,  moreover,  had  an  advantage 
over  the  French  in  that  they  relied  on  a  universal  liability 
to  war  service,  and  not  on  paid  levies.  It  was  to  this 
organisation  that  they  owed  their  great  military  superiority 
over  their  enemies. 


THE   TABORITES  67 

Discipline  and  skill  in  manoeuvres  were  wholly  wanting 
in  the  armies  of  that  period  ;  for  whence  were  these  qualities 
to  come  in  those  disorderly  crowds  of  vassals  and  mercenaries 
who  to-day  were  summoned  together  and  to-morrow  were 
again  dispersed  if  the  war  chest  was  empty,  or  anything  else 
aroused  their  displeasure  ? 

The  Tjiborite,,.armY.  y.^sthe„,iirs,t  since  the  downfall  of 
ancient  Rome,  which  was  regularly  organised^  and  did  not 
consist  of  a  mere  mass  of  untrained  warriors.  It  was 
dfvlded  into  differently' afrhecl  Bodies,  wliicti  were  well  drilled 
in  scientific  manoeuvres,  all  systematically  controlled  from  a 
centre  and  harmonising  with  each  other.  The  Taborites 
were  also  the  first  to  employ  artillery  to  good  purpose  in 
the  field,  and,  finally,  to  perfect  the  science  of  marching, 
their  forced  marches  alone  gaining  them  many  a  victory  over 
the  unwieldy  armies  of  their  opponents. 

In  all  these  points  they  show  themselves  to  have  been  the 
creators  of  a  more  modern  army  system  so  far  as  the  Middle 
Ages  were  concerned. 

It  may  perhaps  be  with  truth  asserted  that  in  the  military, 
as  in  other  spheres,  all  great  advances  have  been  brought 
about  by  social  revolutions,  and  that  the  most  successful 
military  leaders  of  the  last  five  centuries  have  been  those 
who  best  knew  how  to  recognise  these  advances  and  use 
them  for  their  own  advantage,  e.£^.,  Ziska,  Cromwell,  and 
l^apoleon. 

The  military  strength  of  the  Taborites  was  enhanced  by 
their  enthusiasm  and  sooffi * oF  3eatft!  ^For^Jhgjj),-..ttifi:f|£  was 
flO' tbrimromTse'-^ltlD^^iia^  once  taken;  they 
had  only  one  choice — ^victory  or  death.  Thus  they  became 
the  most  dreaded  warriors  of  Europe,  and  through  their 
fflitttary  terrorism  saved  the^Hussite  revolution  ;  as,  in  1793, 
^~Xii{e  'sans-cu/oUes,  by  their  terrorism,  saved  tfie"  "bourgeois 
-revottttiOTf-'of '17851:'"'  '^^  ...,;.;,>  o.,.:,. 

VI.  Tke  Downfall  of  Tabor. 

After  the  death  of  Wenzel,  the  Calixtines,  «>.,  the  nobility 
and    Praguers,   entered   into   negotiations   with   Sigismund. 


68  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

They  were  not  altogether  pleased  by  the  thought  that  they 
were  about  to  take  up  the  cudgels  against  Emperor  and 
Pope,  and,  in  fact,  against  all  Europe  ;  hence  the  dangerous 
strength  already  acquired  by  the  Taborites  urged  them  to 
a  compromise.  Had  it  only  been  a  question  of  the  lay 
chalice,  this  compromise  might  easily  have  been  effected, 
but  it  was  more  ;  it  was  a  question  of  the  lands  and  money 

(of" the  Church,  and  upon  that  point  no  agreement  could  be 
reached.  The  Church,  however,  and  her  servant  Sigismund, 
showed  themselves  quite  as  implacable  as  the  Taborites,  and 
the  rupture  resulted  in  a  fight  to  the  deatliVm  which  the 
Calixtines,  the  robbers  of  the  Church,  driven  by  necessity, 
fought  on  the  side  of  the  Taborites,  but  only  half-heartedly. 

This  is  not  the  place  for  a  history  of  the  Hussite  wars. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  after  Pope  Martin  V.,  in  his  Bull 
^'^  Omnium  plasmatoris  Domini^'  of  March  i,  1420,  had 
summoned  united  Christendom  against  the  Hussites,  one 
plunder-loving  army  of  the  Cross  after  another  was  formed 
to  stamp  out  the  heresy ;  that  in  every  one  of  the  five 
Crusades,  between  1420  and  143 1,  the  army  of  the  Crusaders 
was  wofully  defeated  ;  that  the  fame  of  the  invincibility  of 
the  Taborite  hosts  continued  to  increase,  until  finally  (as  in 
the  fourth  Crusade  at  Mies,  1427,  and  in  the  fifth  at  Tauss, 
143 1 )  large  armies  scattered  merely  at  the  news  of  the 
approach  of  the  Hussites,  flying  in  a  panic  without  even 
having  seen  the  enemy.  Neither  can  we  follow  the  internal 
conflicts  between  Calixtines  and  Taborites,  which  were 
fought  out  in  the  intervals  between  the  wars  against  the 
crusading  armies. 

After  the  great  day  at  Tauss,  there  no  longer  seemed  to 
be  an  enemy  capable  of  resisting  the  Taborites.  No  foreign 
army  dared  again  attack  them,  while  at  home  the  power  of 
their  opponents  (the  nobility  and  a  few  towns)  was  vanishing 
faster  and  faster,  and  was  threatened  with  complete  destruc- 
tion by  the  continuance  of  the  Taborite  reign  of  terror. 

It  now  became  evident,  however,  how  little  military 
victories  avail,  if  the  aims  of  the  conquerors  are  in  con- 
I  tradiction  to  those  of  economic  development. 

A  complete   military  overthrow  of  the  Taborites   would 


THE   TABORITES  69 

naturally  have  been  followed  by  their  extinction.  But  even 
their  victories  gave  rise  to  elements  which  led  to  their  ruin. 
Their  greatest  triumph  was  immediately  followed  by  their 

tair        -- — ' -~~-^-..^..- ■  ■  ■■ ■•  -  • 

THe  greater  the  success  of  the  Taborites,  the  more  intoler- 
able became  the  position  of  their  foes  in  Bohemia  (the 
Calixtines),  to  say  nothing  of  the  Catholics.  The  nobility 
were  reduced  to  a  condition  of  absolute  insignificance,  and 
would  long  before  have  willingly  made  peace  with  the 
Church,  if  they,  the  robbers  of  the  Church,  had  not  feared 
its  greed  and  thirst  for  revenge.  After  the  victory  at  Tauss, 
they  showed  themselves  to  be  more  amenable  than  ever. 

Meanwhile  t&e  Pope  and '  Eniperbr,  together  "with  their 
adherents  among  the  spiritual  and  secular  princes,  had  been 
made  more  pliant  by  the  Hussite  victories.  Their  intrigues 
and  conspiracies  with  the  Calixtines  had  never  totally  ceased, 
and  after  the  triumph  at  Tauss  were  carried  on  more  ener- 
getically than  ever.  An  agreement  was  finally  arrived  at,  by 
which  the  Papal  Church,  in  the  persons  of  delegates  from  the 
Council  of  Bale,  even  consented  to  wink  at  the  possession 
of  Church  property,  and,  instead  of  taking  anything  from 
the  Bohemians,  actually  gave  them  something.  It  sent 
agents  to  Bohemia  well  supplied  with  money  to  enable  its 
new  allies,  the  Calixtines,  to  regain  their  power  of  with- 
standing the  Taborites,  When  the  nobility,  who  "  had  for 
many  years  disappeared  from  the  scene "  (Palacky),  felt 
themselves  backed  up  by  the  Emperor,  and  especially  by  the 
wealth  and  power  of  the  Church,  they  began  to  pluck  up 
heart  for  a  war,  for  convening  assemblies  and  organising 
themselves,  in  order  to  recover  their  lost  power  with  the 
secular  aid  of  the  Praguers  and  the  ecclesiastical,  but 
exceedingly  worldly,  methods  of  Catholicism. 

The  situation  is  well  described  by  ^neas  Sylvius  in 
his  History  of  Bohemia;  but  it  must  be  remarked  that 
the  role  ascribed  by  him  to  Prokop  (the  most  important 
of  the  Taborite  leaders  after  Ziska's  death)  is  entirely 
unsubstantiated  by  facts,  for  Prokop  never  possessed  the 
unlimited  power  assigned  to  him  by  Sylvius.  Wherever, 
in    what  follows,  Prokop's    reign  of  terror  is  spoken  of,  it 


70  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

would  be  more  correct  to  substitute  the  Taborite  reign  of 
terror.  yEneas  tells  us  that :  "  The  Bohemian  barons  often 
met  together  and  admitted  the  error  they  had  committed  and 
the  danger  they  had  incurred  in  casting  off  the  dominion  of 
their  king,  only  to  wear  the  heavy  yoke  of  Prokop.  They 
pondered  facts  ;  and  these  told  them  that  Prokop  alone  was 
master  ;  that  he  ruled  and  governed  the  land  as  best  pleased 
him,  levying  tolls,  imposing  taxes  and  contributions,  dragging 
the  people  to  war,  leading  the  troops  whithersoever  he  liked, 
robbing  and  murdering,  tolerating  no  opposition  to  his  com- 
mands, and  treating  the  highest  as  well  as  the  lowest  like 
slaves  and  servants.  They  saw  that  the  Bohemians  were  the 
most  unhappy  people  under  heaven  ;  that  they  were  always 
in  the  field,  living  summer  and  winter  in  tents,  lying  on 
the  hard  ground,  and  forced  to  constant  military  service. 
The  people  were  worn  out  with  home  and  foreign  wars, 
which  kept  them  for  ever  either  fighting  or  anxiously 
awaiting  a  fight.  The  barons  at  length  realised  that  it  was 
time  to  shake  off  the  cruel  tyrant's  yoke  under  which,  after 
overcoming  other  nations,  they  now  groaned.  They  re- 
solved to  summon  all  barons,  knights,  and  towns  to  a 
general  Landtag,  which  should  take  into  its  consideration 
a  suitable  organisation  of  the  whole  kingdom.  When  this 
Landtag  had  assembled,  Herr  Meinhard  drew  a  picture  of 
the  happiness  of  that  kingdom  which  was  neither  addicted  to 
sloth  nor  worn  out  by  war.  He  set  forth  that  Bohemia,  on 
the  contrary,  had  hitherto  enjoyed  no  rest,  and  that  their 
country,  if  not  cared  for  in  time,  must,  wasted  by  unceasing 
war,  soon  crumble  into  dust ;  that  the  untilled  fields  were 
lying  fallow,  while  men  and  beasts  were  in  some  places  dying 
from  starvation,"  &c.,  &c.  ;  all  of  which  evils  could,  of  course, 
be  brought  to  an  end  only  by  a  re-instatement  of  the  nobility 
in  their  ancient  power. 

While  the  different  opponents  of  the  Taborites  were  thus 
ignoring  their  individual  interests  in  presence  of  the  common 
antagonism  to  Taboritism,  and  uniting  in  a  coalition  against 
it,  changes  were  in  progress  among  the  Taborites  themselves 
which  were  much  more  threatening  than  the  intrigues  and 
conspiracies  of  their  enemies! —--.'. 


THE    TABORITES  71 

The  communists  of  Tabor  had  always  formed  only  a 
fraction  of  the  d^elS'ocfatrc  'party  Hearing  the  name  of 
Taborites,  altfiougli  tHey' constituted  the  most  energetic, 
Trfiplacable,  and  in' every  way  most  advaiiced  portion,  and 
vV^e'by  jrar_^ffi  in  military  affairs.     The  bulk 

of  the  adherents  of  that  party  were  petty  citizens  of  towns 
and  peasants  to  whom  the  communistic  programme  was 
rather  a 'matter-  of  rridlHerence,  but  wHose  sufferings  were 
being  conidnujJlymci'ea^^  prolongation  of  the  war. 

Although  victorious,  the  Bohemians  were  for  a  long  time 
too  weak  to  keep  the  enemy  far  from  their  lands.  At  the 
outset,  they  confined  themselves  to  the  defensive,  and  it  was 
only  at  a  comparatively  late  date  (1427)  that  they  were  able 
to  devastate  foreign  countries  in  the  manner  prescribed  by 
the  mode  of  war  at  that  time,  its  essential  features  being 
plunder  and  destruction — approximately  the  same  as  attend 
the  spread  of  European  civilisation  in  Africa  to-day.  But 
war  on  the  offensive  in  no  way  secured  Bohemia  from  being 
ravaged  by  neighbouring  foreign  enemies.  Meanwhile  the 
civil  war  continued,  and  the  country  became  yearly  more 
exhausted  ;  commerce,  as  well  as  agriculture  and  the  handi- 
crafts, suffered,  and  the  nobility  and  wealthy  Praguers, 
together  with  the  humbler  citizens  and  peasants  from  all 
parts,  were  sinking  into  ruin.  All  classes  of  society  ex- 
perienced a  profound  weariness  of  war  and  a  yearning  for 
peace;  and  in  proportion  as  the  implacable  Taborites  figured 
as  the  sole  obstacle  to  peace,  the  number  of  their  adherents 
dwindled  away,  and  the  voice  of  the  people  cried  out  against 
them.  In  order  to  maintain  its  power  in  the  land  the  little 
band  of  Taborites  was  driven,  therefore,  to  measures  _gfl.. 
increased  severity.  The  antagonism  between  them  and  the 
masses  of  the  people  grew  more  and  more  bitter,  until  at 
length  the  nobility  were  usually  supported  by  the  populace 
in  their  rising  against  the  sect. 

Moreover,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  the  Taborites 
were  rio^  ■longer  the  Taborites  of  old. 

The  fate  of  Tabor  is  of  the  greatest  interest ;  for  it  shows 
what  would  have  been  the  outcome  of  the  Mlinzer  move- 
ment in  Muhlhausen,  and    of  the  Anabaptist  movement  in 


^ 


72  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

Munster,  if  they  had  remained  unconquered  by  military 
force. 
j  Taborite  communism  was  based  upon  the  needs  of  the 
poor,  and  not  on  those  of  production.  The  social  democracy 
of  to-day  relies  for  its  hope  of  success  on  the  fact  that  the 
requirements  of  production  and  those  of  the  proletariat  He 
in  the  same  direction.  It  was  otherwise  in  the  fifteenth 
century.     While    the    needs    of    the    poor   engendered   the 

(struggle  for  communism,  those  of  production  demanded  the 
existence  of  private  proprietorship.  Hence  communism  could 
never  become  the  universal  form  of  society  in  those  days,  as 
the  necessity  for  it  among  the  poor  must  have  ceased  the 
moment  they  had  established  it,  zV^.,  as  "soon"  as  they  ceased 
to  be  poor,  especially  if  the  only  means  by  which  its  long 
continuance  could  be  ensured  were  abandoned — at  any  rate 
for  small  communitiies— ^namely,  the  abolition  of  the  separate 
family  and  of  separate  marriage.  As  we  have  seen,  the 
Taborites  did'  relinquish  this.  They  practically  extermi- 
nated the  Adamites,  and  in  so  doing  again  opened  the  path 
for  the  re-establishment  of  ^rivate_proprietorship  in  the  com- 

fmunity.  The  rapid  growth  of  competence  and  even  wealth 
in  their  midst,  due  to  the  spoils  they  acquired,  soon  caused 
greed  and  envy  to  supplant  the  modes  of  thought  essential 
to  communism  and  brotherhood.  Equality,  in  the^conditions 
of  existence  b^an  to,ceasg^  there  began  to  be  richer  and 
"poorer  brothers  in  Taborj  andJhefOTmjrjbe^ame  cons^^ 
less  willing  to  relinquish  their  overplus  for  the  benefit  of  the 

Tattef:  ■ " " ' """ 

The  downfall  of  the  Taborites  was  also  hastened  by  the 
,  incursion  of  foreign  elements.     The  man  who  has  so  wholly 
given  himself  up   to  an  idea  that   he  is  willing  to  risk  his 
life  in  its  defence  will  not  readily  prove  untrue  to  it,  even 
if  he  comes  under  conditions  which  tend  to  weaken  its  power 
over  him.     The  original  Taborities  would  have  held  fast  to 
the  faith  for  whose  cause  they  had  endured  so  many  per- 
secutions and  dangers. 
f      But   the   many  years    of   war   of  which   the   burden    lay 
1  especially   heavy   on    this   community,  must   have   fearfully 
1  thinned   their  ranks.     From   a   military  point   of  view,  this 


THE  TABORITES  73 

was   not   noticeable,  for   the   loss   was   quickly   made   good 
from  among  the  communist  enthusiasts  from  far  and  wide 
to   whom    Tabor    had    become    a    Mecca.     Even   the   most 
distant  nations,  e.g:,  England,  were  represented  in  the  town. 
No  great  difficulty  seems  to  have  been  made  about  admis- 
sion to  the  brotherhood,     .^neas    Sylvius,  who  visited  the 
place,  was  surprised  at  the  number  of  different  sects  living 
Together  in  peace..     ^' THey  are  not  all  of  one  faithj]' he  tells, 
us,  "fqr_eyery  one   in   Tabor   may  believe  as  best  pleases 
"Rim^  Nicolaitans,  Arians,    Manicheists,  Arminians,  Nestor-  ( 
ians,  Berengarians,  and  "Poor  of  Lyons  are  all  to  be  found  1 
among  .^ them.     The_m,ost  highly  esteemed,  however,  are  the  ' 
Waldenses,  those  arch-enemies  of  tlie  Jtoman  See." 

Another  increase  which  Tabor  received  was  much  more 
doubtful  in  its  influence.  The  success  of  its  armies  had 
attracted  thither  a  large  number  of  adventure-loving  folk, 
to  whom  the  Taborite  ideal  was  a  matter  of  indifference,  but 
who  longed  for  fame  and  still  more  for  booty. 

The  armies  of  the  Taborites  would  not  at  first  have 
materially  suffered  in  a  military  sense  from  this  cause, 
though  the  elements  of  enthusiasm,  devotion,  and  voluntary 
discipline  must  necessarily  have  gradually  disai:5peared. 
They  must,  however,  have  largely  lost  in  trustworthiness. 
The  bankrupt  nobility  had  placed  themselves  in  the  service . 
of  this  community  for  the  same  reason  as  the  mercenaries, 
for  the  landlords  had  been  able,  in  a  measure,  to  maintain 
themselves  only  by  becoming  to  a  certain  extent  the  vassals 
of  the  Taborites,  to  whom  they  paid  imposts,  and  by  whose 
side  they  were  compelled  to  fight.  (Compare  on  this  point 
the  complaint  of  the  Bohemian  barons  concerning  Prokop's 
tyranny,  recounted  by  ^neas  Sylvius.) 

As  soon  as  the  nobility  rose  against  the  sect  and  began 
to  enlist  mercenaries,  to  whom  (thanks  to  the  wealth  of  the 
Catholic  Church)  it  was  able  to  offer  momentarily  better 
conditions,  treachery  became  rife  in  all  nooks  and  corners  of 
the  Taborite  armies. 

Hence  it  is  comprehensible  that  when  civil  war  once  more 
broke  out,  and  Calixtines  and  Taborites  measured  their 
strength   in  desperate   conflict,  the   latter,  deserted  by  pea- 


74  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

sants  and  townsmen,  and  betrayed  by  a  part  of  their  own 
troop,  should  succumb  to  their  enemies,  who,  setting  aside 
their  own  internal  animosities,  had  formed  an  overpowering 
alliance  against  the  remnant  of  the  democratic  party  still 
true  to  the  one  remaining  communistic  brotherhood,  more 
in  obedience  to  necessity  than  to  their  own  impulses. 

On  May  30,  1434,  a  decisive  battle  was  fought  at  the 
village  of  Lipau,  near  Brod,  in  Bohemia.  The  forces  of  the 
nobility  outnumbered  those  of  the  Taborites,  the  former 
having  25,000  men,  while  the  latter  had  about  18,000.  For 
a  long  time  the  fight  wavered  doubtfully  hither  and  thither, 
but  at  last  victory  inclined  to  the  side  of  the  nobility.  This 
was  much  less  due  to  their  skill  and  bravery  than  to  the 
treachery  of  the  Taborite  general,  Johann  Capek,  command- 
ing the  cavalry,  who,  in  the  midst  of  the  battle,  instead  of 
cutting  his  way  into  the  ranks  of  the  enemy,  took  to  flight. 
A  frightful  slaughter  ensued,  no  quarter  being  given.  Out  of 
1 8,000  Taborite  soldiers,  1 3,000  were  cut  down  and  killed ! 
This  fearful  defeat  broke  for  ever  the  strength  of  the  Taborites. 

Tabor  ceased  to  rule  Bohemia.  Democracy  was  over- 
thrown, and  the  nobility,  in  union  with  the  upper  classes 
of  trade,  thereupon  set  about  re-arranging  for  the  exploita- 
tion of  the  country.  After  endless  negotiations  between  the 
king  and  his  "  true  subjects,"  among  whom  each  faction 
feared  (and  rightly)  that  the  other  was  only  thinking  out  a 
way  of  betraying  it,  Sigismund  was  at  last  acknowledged 
"^  king  in  1536.  He  had  previously  consented  to  a  universal 
amnesty  ;  and  as  regards  the  property  of  the  Church  which 
had  been  stolen,  had  conceded  to  all  nobles  and  com- 
munes the  right  to  dispose  of  it  as  they  might  think  best. 

The  power  of  the  Taborites,  however,  was  not  completely 
annihilated  at  the  battle  of  Lipau.  They  continued  the 
struggle  a  short  time  longer,  but  ever  more  feebly  and 
ineffectually,  until,  in  1436,  they  were  glad  to  obtain  an 
agreement  from  Sigismund  assuring  them  at  least  of  the 
independence  of  their  town. 

Tabor  remained  in  this  condition  until  after  the  beginning 
of  the  fifth  decade  of  the  fifteenth  century.  At  that  time 
iEneas  Sylvius  visited  the  place  and  reported  on  it  in  a  letter 


THE  TABORITES  75 

to  Cardinal  Carvajal.  This  is  one  of  the  few  extant  com- 
munications from  an  eye-witness  concerning  the  internal 
affairs  of  the  sect.  A  few  significant  passages  may  be  re- 
produced, as  they  give  a  very  good  characterisation  of  life  in 
a  Taborite  community.  According  to  ^neas,  the  houses  in 
Tabor  were  built  of  wood  or  clay,  and  were  placed  without 
any  regard  to  order.  "  This  people  possess  abundant  "and  | 
costly  household  effects  and  extraordinary  wealth,  as  they  j 
have  gathered  into  one  place  the  spoils  from  many  nations. 
They  wished  at  one  time  to  live  in  all  things  in  conformity 
with  the  primitive  Church,  and  held  all  their  possessions  in 
common  ;  each  called  the  other  brother,  and  what  one  lacked 
he  received  from  the  others.  Now,  however,  each  lives  for 
himself  alone,  and  some  hunger  while  others  revel  [alius 
quidem,  esurit,  alius  autem  ebrius  est\.  Shortlived  was  the 
fire  of  neighbourly  love,  short  the  imitation  [of  the  Apostolic 
community].  .  .  .  The  Taborites  robbed  strangers  of  their 
possessions,  and  what  they  had  acquired  by  violence  became 
common  property  \JtcBc  tantuin  in  commune  dederunt\.  But 
they  could  not  maintain  this  state  of  things.  Nature  gained 
the  upper  hand  ;  already  they  are  all  given  over  to  greed  ; 
and,  as  they  can  no  longer  rob  as  of  yore,  being  enervated 
and  in  fear  of  their  neighbours,  they  snatch  what  they  can 
from  the  profits  of  trade  \lucris  inhiant  m,ercaturce\  and  give 
themselves  up  to  the  lowest  pursuits.  There  are  4,ocx)  men 
in  the  town  capable  of  bearing  arms,  but  they  have  become! 
craftsmen,  and  for  the  most  part  gain  their  living  by  the  ( 
weaving  of  wool  \lana  ac  tela  ex  magna  parte  victum  quce- 
rentes],  so  that  they  are  valueless  in  war."  ^ 

It  is  worthy  of  remark    that  the   majority  of  Taborites 
were  wool-weavers. 

^neas  Sylvius  visited  Tabor  in   145 1.     According  to  his 
description,  the  mjlitarj^  strength  of  th£^to\jm  ha^^ 
vaHisHeH^  a^  well  asjts^^^^^^^  But  even  the  ruins  of 

tfs' revolutionary  past  appeared  to  the  rulers  of  Bohemia  to 
be  still  dangerous.  One  year  after  the  above-mentioned  visit, 
Georg  von  Podiebrad,  then  administrator  of  Bohemia,  appeared 

'  ^neas  Sylvius  Piccolomini,  opera  omnia,  p.  662. 


76  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

before  the  place,  and  demanded  the  surrender  of  the  whole 
body  of  Taborite  priests.  After  a  delay  of  only  three  days 
the  town  yielded,  and  gave  them  up,  those  not  "  converted  " 
being  thrown  in  prison  till  their  death.  Thus  the  peculiar 
position  of  republican  Tabor  and  every  form  of  its  inde- 
pendence came  to  an  end. 

This  pitiful  termination  of  a  once  haughty  communistic 
commonwealth,  before  which  half  Europe  had  trembled, 
makes  it  hardly  possible  to  suppress  the  wish  that,  like 
Miinster,  Tabor  had  fallen  in  the  brilliancy  of  its  com- 
munistic youth,  and  had  not  languished  in  the  wretchedness 
of  bourgeois  senility. 

With  the  overthrow  of  Tabor  the  last  asylum  of  democracy 
in  Bohemia  was  destroyed. 

"^The  fate-of-i^  Taboritesy-extiibiting  as  it  does  many 
analogies  with  that  of  the  Jacobins,  resembles  the  latter  also 
m  the  circumstance  that  it  was  they  who  by  their  reckless 
heroism  saved  the  revolution — not  for  themselves,  but  for 
the  exploiters  of  that  revolution.  In  France,  these  were  the 
great  capitalists  and  knights  of  industry  ;  in  Bohemia  they 
were  the  upper  nobility,  who  acquired  an  almost  unlimited 
mastery  both  in  State  and  society.  The  petty  nobility 
gained  nothing  by  the  Hussite  wars,  whichi"accelerated  rather 
than  checked  their  downfall,  as  the  upper'  nobles,  to  whom 
thre'lfon's  share  of  the  Churclv*s  possessions  fell,  enriched 
themselves  also  at  the  cost  of  the  lower  ranks  of  their  class 
by  buying  up  their  properties. 

The  pea,sants  and  petty  townsmen  were,  however,  the  chief 
sufferers  by  the;  wars.  The  exhaustion  of  the  country  and  the 
diminution  of  the  population,  reducing  as  they  did  the  power 
of  resistance  among  the  peasants  and  small  townsmen  to  the 
lowest  point,  became  inducements  to  the  lords  of  the  soil  to 
increase  very  largely  their  demands  on  the  petty  rent-paying 
citizens,  and  also  the  burdens  imposed  on  the  peasants. 
These  burdens  became  heavier  and  heavier.  The  feeble 
attempts  at  resistance  and  revolt,  here  and  there  ventured  on 
by  the  ill-used  peasantry,  were  easily  overcome.  Where, 
however,  in  spite  of  the  increase  of  forced  labour,  the  supply 
of  labour  was  insufficient,  the  landlord  recouped  himself  by 


THE    TABORITES  77 

substituting  for  agriculture  a  branch  of  business  requiring 
only  a  small  number  of  labourers.  In  some  instances  the 
extension  of  this  new  industry  not  only  counterbalanced  the 
want  of  peasants,  but  even  drove  peasants  away  from  their 
situations.  In  England,  the  want  of  labour  (originating,  it  is 
true,  from  causes  different  from  those  active  in  Bohemia) 
gave  an  important  impetus  to  the  development  of  sheep- 
raising.  This  pursuit  was  finally  so  general  in  that  country, 
that  it  became  the  chief  means  of  expropriating  the  peasantry 
and  creating  a  proletariat.  A  similar,  though  less  influential 
part  was  played  in  many  districts  of  Bohemia  by  the  jfisk- 
ponds  constructed  by  the  landlords.  If,  as  Thomas  More 
said,  the  sheep  ate  up  the  peasants  of  England,  those  of 
Bohemia  were  equally  devoured  by  carp. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  serfdom  had 
almost  completely  disappeared  in  Bohemia.  At  the  close  of 
that  century  it  was  already  again  the  universal  condition  of 
the  peasantry.. 

It  is  absurd  to  hold  the  Hussite  Wars  responsible  for  this. 
Whether  social  development  be  brought  about  by  peaceful 
means  or  by  violent  struggles,  is  immaterial  to  the  direction 
it  takes,  that  being  necessarily  determined  by  the  progress 
and  needs  of  production.  When  the  results  of  violent  revolu- 
tionary conflicts  are  not  in  accordance  with  the  intentions  of 
the  revolutionists,  it  is  a  proof  that  these  intentions  are  in 
contradiction  to  the  requirements  of  production.  Violent 
revolutions  can  never  give  direction  to  social  development  ; 
they  can,  under  definite  conditions,  only  hasten  it,  at  the 
same  time,  however,  intensifying  the  evil  for  the  defeated. 
This  was  one  of  the  results  of  the  Hussite  Wars.  From  the 
fifteenth  century  onwards  a  deterioration  in  the  condition  of 
the  peasantry  set  in  throughout  Europe,  though  later  in  some 
countries  than  in  others.  That  Bohemia,  notwithstanding  its 
backward  economic  position,  was  one  of  the  first. lands  in 
which  this  deterioration  appeared,  and  that  it  there  made  the 
most  rapid  progress,  were  consequences  of  the  Hussite  Wars. 
But  for  these  the  decisive  change  might  not  perhaps  have 
occurred  until  a  century  later,  after  the  German  Peasant 
Wars. 


CHAPTER   III 

THE   BOHEMIAN    BRETHREN 

TABOR  had  fallen,  but  it  did  not  disappear  without 
leaving  a  trace  of  its  existence.  This  communistic 
military  town  had  been  so  brilliant  in  its  achievements,  and 
its  operations  had  been  so  intimately  connected  with  the 
wants  of  some  classes  of  the  lower  population,  that  the 
principles  on  which  it  was  based  necessarily  survived,  though 
under  changed  conditions  and  in  more  suitable  forms. 

The  successors  of  the  Taborites  were  the  Bohemian  Brethren. 

We  have  already  remarked  that  the  communists  of  the 
Middle  Ages  loved  peace  and  abhorred  violence  ;  sentiments 
which  were  quite  as  much  in  harmony  with  the  helplessness 
of  the  poor  in  that  age  as  with  the  traditions  of  primitive 
Christianity.  At  the  beginning  of  the  Hussite  revolution, 
when  the  time-honoured  authorities  were  overthrown  and 
the  lower  classes  arose  in  victorious  insurrection,  the  mass  of 
communists  were  hurled  along  with  it  ;  and  once  it  had 
gained  momentum,  the  logic  of  facts  necessarily  forced  to  the 
summit  of  power  those  who  were  its  most  advanced  and  war- 
like partisans. 

But  the  peace-loving  fraction  of  communists,  who  con- 
demned all  war,  violence,  and  force,  did,  not  wholly  cease  to 
exist  even  during  the  brilliant  triumpli.Qf  the  Taborite  power. 
Their  foremost  representative  was  Peter  of  Chelcic — Peter 
Chelcicky.  Born  about  the  year  1390,  and,  as  it  would 
appear,  an  impoverished  knight,  he  lived  in  quiet  retirement 
in  the  village  of  Chelcic,  near  Wodnian,  one  of  the  Taborite 
towns,  and  there  produced  a  series  of  writings  which  aroused 
universal  attention.      As  early  as  1420  he  had  maintained 

78 


THE  BOHEMIAN  BRETHREN  79 

jthat  jio  violence  should  be  emplo}/ed  in  religious  jc^ia^tters ; 
and  this  conviction  was  strengthened  during  the  wars  of  the 
revolution.  He  branded  war  as  the  most  horrible  of  all  evil, 
while  in  his  opinion  soldiers  were  not  a  hair  better  than 
mtifdefers.  ■"•"'■■"' '••••'•"i"::.,:^....,-..,.^.-.-."^*"'^"--''"''  ^ 

"'  Chelcicky  was  a  communist  in  the  primitive  Christian 
sense.  But  not  through  war  and  ^nptjby  State  compulsion 
"should  equality'  Be Ibfced  upon  society  ;  it  should  be  realised 
as  it  were  behind  the' bacTcoT'Sfafe  arid  society.  The  true 
betieveir  inust  have  no  .part  in  the  State,  for  this  is  sinful 
and  heathenish.  Social  inequalities  such  as  wealth,  standing, 
and  rank  were  created  by  the  State,  and  can  only  disappear 
with  it.  The  sole  Christian  method  of  destroying  the  State, 
however,  is  to  ignore  it ;  hence  the  true  believer  is  forbidden 
rfSt  only  to  accept  a  government  office,  but  also  to  invoke  the 
power  of  the  State.  For  him  police  and  judges  are  non- 
existent. The  Christian  strives  after  goodness  of  his  own  free 
will,  and  must  not  force  others  to  be  good,  for  God  demands 
that  goodness  should  be  voluntary,  and  all  compulsion  is  an 

outcome  of  evil.,  

■""For  the  true  Christian  there  is  no  place  in  the  State  and  in 
society  outside  of  the  lowest  social  strata,  who  are  allowed  to 
obey  and  serve,  but  not  to  command  and  rule.  As  the 
Christian  must  not  rule,  so  also  he  is  forbidden  to  accumulate 
•wealth,  and  for  this  reason  is  prohilaited  from  engaging  in 
trade,  since  this  is  allied  with  fraiid.  Towns,  the  seats  of 
trade/ are  a  product  of  evil  devised  by  Cain.  He  it  was  who 
transformed  the  primitive  simplicity  of  life  into  deceit,  by 
devising  measures  and  weights,  people  having  previously 
bartered  without  measuring  or  weighing.  Chelcicky's  greatest 
rage,  however,  was  directed  against  the  nobility. ^ 

This  anarchis^tc' though  peaceable  communism  gained  in 
adherents  in  proportion  to  the  increase  of  the  general  weari- 
ness with  war,  and  the  defection  of  the  lower  classes  from  the 
Taborite  regime. 

After  the  fall  of  Tabor  the  Chelcicky  Brethren  became  the 

'  Compare  on  this  point  Jaroslab  Goll,  Otiellen  unci  Untersuchungcn  ztir 
Geschichte  der  Bohmischen  Briider,  II.  Peter  Chelcicky  und  seiner  Lehrc. 
Prague,  1882. 


8o  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

most  important  of  all  the  sects  existing  in  Bohemia,  which 
were  in  part  composed  of  the  scattered  Taboristic  elements. 

Among  the  partisans  of  Peter  Chelcicky  the  most  promi- 
nent was  Brother  Qjegory,  who,  although  a  nobleman,  was  so 
impoverished   that   he   was  forced  to  support  himself  as  a 
journeyman  tailor.     When  some  of  the  old  Taborites  estab- 
/lished  a  colony  in  the  village  of  Kunwald,  near  Seftenberg  (a 
/    district  in  which  Taboristic  views  had  maintained  themselves), 
I      they  elected  Gregory  as  their  head  and  organiser  (1457),  to 
t      whom  it  was  due  that  the  colonists  adopted  Chelcicky's  prin- 
1      ciples,  and  lived  up  to  them  in  all  respects, 
t"-'"  The   nature   of    the   first   organisation   of  the    Bohemian 
Brethren    is   not   at   all    clear,   as   the    later   Brothers   were 
ashamed  of  their  communistic   origin,   and   endeavoured  to 
conceal  it  in  every  possible  way.     If,  however,  we  examine 
the  organisation  of  the  later  Brotherhood  (made  clearer  by 
that  of  the   well-known   Herrnhuters,  which   is   of  cognate 
character),  and   if  we  take   into   consideration   the   internal 
conflicts   from   which   that   organisation    resulted,   we    shall 
obtain  the  following  facts.^  ^ 

Every  member  of  the  ^^otherhood  was,  of  course,  most 
strictly  forbidden  to  participate  in  the  State  Government 
through  the  acceptance  of  any  post  either  in  the  general  or 
communal  departments,  or  in  military  service,  as  well  as  by 
any  appeal  or  complaint  to  the  Government. 

Complete  equality  was  to  prevail  in  the  community  ;  there 
'^  were  to  be  no  poor  and  no  rich.  Before  being  admitted 
to  the  community  every  wealthy  person,  or  member  of 
a  privileged  class,  must  relinquish  his  property  and  his 
privileges.  No  "  Brother "  was  to  engage  in  trade,  lend 
money  on  interest,  or  keep  an  inn.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
rules  of  the  fraternity  made  it  obligatory  on  each  member  to 
assist  any  Brother  who  might  be  in  want. 

'  A  good  insight  into  the  later  organisation  of  the  Bohemian  Brethren 
can  be  obtained  from  the  work  by  J.  U.  Comenius  on  the  Church 
history  of  the  Brotherhood,  from  their  Church  ordinance  of  1609,  and 
from  the  confession  of  faith  which  they  presented  to  King  Ferdinand 
^^  1535-  These  are  all  contained  in  the  German  edition  of  Kurzgcfassien 
Kirch cn-Historie  der  Bohmischen  Bnidcr.    Comenius,  Schwabach,  1739. 


THE  BOHEMIAN  BRETHREN  8i 

Private  ^oprietorsh|g  and  the  separate  family  were  not 
prohibited.  As  regards  family  life,  communism  displayed 
itself  chiefly  in  the  accentuation  of  brotherly  feeling,  the 
"j?5y"6us' participation  in  alt  things  by  the  members,  and  in 
efforts  to  maintain  equality  so  that  no  one  should  rise  above, 
or  sink  below  the  others.  If  the  right  to  private  property 
were  to  be  preserved,  this  state  of  things  would  be  possible 
only  in  conjunction  with  the  prevalence  of  the  strictest  dis- 
cipline, permeating  the  whole  life  of  the  community.  Hence, 
even  the  most  intimate  circumstances  of  family  life  were  not 
exempt  from  this  discipline. 

In  marked  contrast  to  the  anarchistic  theories  of  Peter 
Chelcicky  which  repudiated  every  act  of  compulsion  as  un- 
christian and  heathenTsh7  ffieT  priests  and  elders  exercised 
a  disciplimjty  powej  jjvhich'll^^  would  seem  in- 

tolerable, and  the  more  so  as  among  the  Bohemian  Brethren 
there  was  a  particularly  prominent  exhibition  of  that  gloomy 
and  sullen  frame  of  mind,  already  pointed  out  by  us  as  a 
universal  peculiarity  of  mediaeval  communism.  This  feature 
was  a  natural  consequence  of  the  unspeakable  misery  and 
wretchedness  resulting  from  the  Hussite  Wars. 

Every  kind  of  amusement  and  dance  was  forbidden  as  a 
snare  laid  for  believers  by  the  devil.  To  live,  work,  and 
suffer  in  silence  were  the  sole  duties  imposed  upon  the  pious 
Christian.  In  its  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  the  community 
was  strictly  puritanical. 

Although  private  proprietorship  and  the  separate  family 
were  not  prohibited,  celibacy  was  regarded  as  a  higher  and 
holier  state  than  that  of  marriage,  while  poverty  and  celibacy 
were.  rcqtStred '51^ the  clergy.  The  unmarried  members  lived 
in  brother-houses  and  sister-houses  (the  sexes  being  kept 
apart),  where  they  worked  and  lived  in  common.  We  may 
assume  that  these  establishments  were  organised  similarly  to 
the  Beghard  houses. 

Like  the  Taborites,  the  Bohemian  Brethren  wp,u.ld  not 
tolerate  erudition,  and  regarded  learned  men  as  a  ^jrivileged 
classr"  XJp  to  the  time  of  his  death  in  1473,  Brother  Gregory 
cautioned  the  community  against  men  of  learning.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Brethren,  like  the  Taborites,  laid  great  stress 

7 


82  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

on  a  solid  popular  education,  and,  moreover  devoted  them- 
"seTves  enthusiastically  to  the  democratic  art  of  printing  from 
"its  inception.     "  Very  rarely,"  says  Gindely  (op.  cit,  i.  p.  39), 
"  has  a  Christian  sect  sent  into  the  world  so  many  writings  in 
its  defence."     The  number  of  their  works,  from  their  founda- 
tion to  their  almost  complete  extinction,  after  the  death  of 
Comenius  in  1670,  is  much  larger  than  that  of  all  other  con- 
temporary literature  combined.      They  boast  of  being  thie 
I  first  to  have  the  Bible  printed  in   the   mother   tongue   (in 
Venice),  so  that  in  this  respect  the  Bohemians   took   pre- 
cedence  of  all   other  nations. ^      At   the   beginning   of  the 
sixteenth  century  there  were  five  printing  establishments  in 
Bohemia — one  Catholic  in  Pilsen,  one  Utraquist  in  Prague, 
and   three   belonging   to   the   Bohemian  Brethren   in  Jung- 
bunzlau,  Leitomischl,  and  Weisswasser  respectively.     Even 
these  three  could  not  always  meet  the  demands  made  on 
them,  and  occasionally  had  their  books  printed  in  Nurenberg. 
Peculiar,  but  strictly  in  accord  with  their  severe  discipline, 
was  the  regulation  that  no  m^^  should  write  and  publish 

"a  book  .witho.ut  the, .consent  of  Xhe. CO  one 

'^with  us,"  says  their  Church  ordinance,  "has  permission  to 
publish  books  unless  they  are  previously  examined  by  the 
other  members  of  the  community,  and  authorised  by  their 
unanimous  approval."  2 

Johannes  Lasitzki,  a  Pole,  who  visited  the  Brotherhood  in 
1 571,  writes  as  follows  in  his  work,  De  origine  et  rebus  jestis 
fratrum  Bohemorum  :  "  No  book  appears  without  a  previous 
examination  by  several  elders  and  Church  officials,  chosen 
and  appointed  for  the  purpose.  .  .  .  It  is  also  the  custom  not 
to  allow  any  work  to  be  published  in  one  member's  name 
only  (except  under  special  conditions),  but  in  the  name  of  the 
whole  Brotherhood.  Thus  each  member  of  the  spiritual  "B5dy 
'  gets  quite  as  much  honour  from  the  work  as  any  other,  and 
every  opportunity  is  removed  for  the  indulgence  of  the  vain 
thirst  for  fame  which  as  a  rule  titilates  the  minds  of  authors, 
while  the  writings  theiiiserves' acquire 'so' m^  the  greater 
weight  and  esteem."  3 

'  Comenius,  op.  cit,  p.  57.  '  Comenius,  op.  cit,  p.  296. 

3  Cited  by  Comenius,  op.  cit.,  p.  328. 


THE  BOHEMIAN  BRETHREN  83 

In  spite  of  these  regi^^tions.  what^  a  £roductivity 

they  exhibi 5^4 ! 

TtTs  not  surprising  that  the  new  community,  which  included 
so  many  former  Taboristic  elements,  should,  in  spite  of  its 
peaceable  and  submissive  character,  seem  highly  suspicious 
and  dangerous  to  the  reigning  powers.  As  early  as  146 1  a 
violent  persecution  broke  out  against  them  under  Georg  von 
Podiebrad,  already  known  to  us  as  the  destroyer  of  the 
independence  of  Tabor.  Still  administrator  of  the  country 
in  1452,  he  was  elected  King  of  Bohemia  in  1458,  after  the 
death  of  King  Ladislaus.  One  of  the  first  acts  of  his  reign 
was  the  persecution  of  the  Bohemian  Brethren,  which  began 
with  the  imprisonment  of  Brother  Gregory  and  other  members 
of  the  sect.  The  community  in  Kunwald  was  afterwards 
broken  up,  and  its  members  driven  out,  all  assemblages  being 
at  the  same  time  prohibited. 

Comenius  tells  us  that,  "  through  this  rigorous  inquisition, 
which  was  everywhere  directed  against  the  Brethren,  it  came 
about  that  most  of  them,  and  especially  the  leaders,  were 
scattered  through  the  woods  and  mountains,  where  they  were 
forced  to  live  in  caves,  which,  however,  by  no  means  secured 
them  from  danger.  From  this  living  in  caves  they  were 
called  by  their  enemies  Jamnici^  or  cave-dwellers."  ^ 

It  is  possible  that  the  appellation  of  Jainnici  may  have 
originated  previous  to  this  persecution.  As  early  as  the 
fourteenth  century  the  Beghard  sectaries  of  Western  Germany 
bore  the  nickname  of  "  Nookers  "  (  Winkler\  on  account  of 
the  secrecy  of  their  meetings  ;  while  in  East  Germany  they 
were  called  "  Hole-dwellers "  {Gruhenhehner).  The  word 
Jainnici  (from  the  Bohemian  Jama,  a  hole  or  cave)  is  a 
translation  of  the  German  Grubenheimer,  and  perhaps  indi- 
cates that  the  Beghard  tradition  was  active  among  the 
Bohemian  Brethren.  Common  people  called  them  Picards 
as  well  as  Jainnici. 

With  the  death  of  Podiebrad  the  first  persecution  came  to 
an  end. 

The  Brethren    underwent   occasional  subsequent  persecu- 
tions, from  which,  however,  they  did  not  on  the  whole  suffer 
'  Comenius,  o/>.  cii.,  pp.  45,  46. 


84  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

much.  The  power  of  the  government  was  still  weak  in 
Bohemia,  and  the  Brethren  found  influential  protectors  in 
individual  nobles  in  towns  ;  for  persons  of  intelligence  soon 
perceived  that  there  was  no  harm  in  the  enmity  to  govern- 
ment advocated  by  this  sect,  and  in  their  efforts  in  the 
direction  of  equality,  but  at  the  same  time  they  recognised 
how  easy  it  would  be  to  exploit  a  people  who  preached  the 
obligation  of  industry,  renunciation,  and  toleration. 

It  was  in  no  small  measure  due  to  this  protection  that  the 
community  rapidly  inctieased  in  numbers  even  during  the  first 
severe  persecution.  Their  proselytism  was  also  favoured  by 
the  circumstance  that,  like  the  Taborites,  they  proclaimed  the 
greatest  tolerance,  .in  .ina,tters  of  belief^  impossible  in  other 
Church  organisations  which  had  been  instituted  for  the  pur- 
T5(3se  of  dominating  the  people.'  At  the  very  first  congress  of 
the  Brethren,  held  among  the  hills  of  Reichenau,  in  1464,  to 
which  delegates  were  sent  not  only  from  Bohemia,  but  even 
from  Moravia,  it  was  decreed  that  the  question^^  social 
organisation  should  take  precedence^  o^^  and  that 

matters  of  belief  should  occupy  a  secondary  position. 

Thanks  to  this  tolerance,  they  succeeded  in  attracting 
many  kindred  communities.  It  made  them,  however,  all  the 
more  rigid  where  differences  of  a  practical  nature  existed. 
At  the  second  congress,  in  Lhota,  1467,  which  gave  the 
community  a  definite  organisation,  just  as  that  at  Reichenau 
had  (to  use  a  modern  expression)  given  it  a  programme, 
certain  delegates  from  the  remnants  of  the  Adamites  pre- 
sented themselves  with  proposals  for  a  union  with  the  Brother- 
hood. These  proposals  were  rejected.  The  communism  of 
the  Adamites  was  too  far-reaching  ;  hence  only  a  few  members 
of  that  sect  were  admitted,  after  having  abjured  their  "  errors." 

The  negotiations  for  a  union  with  the  Waldenses  were  also 
broken  off,  that  community  having  become  too  opportunist 
and  bourgeois  in  character.  In  his  tract  upon  the  attitude 
which  should  be  maintained  towards  the  Romish  Church, 
Brother  Gregory  writes  as  follows  : — "  Certain  Waldenses 
admitted  that  they  had  strayed  from  the  paths  of  their  pre- 
decessors, and  that  there  existed  among  them  the  iniquity  of 
taking  money  away  from  the  people,  amassing  wealth,  and 


THE  BOHEMIAN   BRETHREN  85 

neglecting  the  poor ;  whereas  it  is  certainly  opposed  to 
Christian  belief  that  a  priest  should  heap  up  treasure,  since 
he  should  employ  his  own  worldly  possessions,  and  even  those 
inherited  from  his  parents,  in  the  giving  of  alms,  and  not  leave 
the  poor  in  their  necessity,"  &c.  ^ 

But  the  Bohemian  Brethren  were  destined  soon  to_meet 
the  saiBg  f3..te..as  tKe  W 

The  puritanism,  by  means  of  which  the  fraternity  pro- 
tested against  existing  society,  and  which  was  the  cause  of 
its  separation  from  that  society,  was,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  an 
excellent  aid  to  social  advancement.  We  have  already 
pointed  out  (p.  22)  how,  in  spite  of  many  external  resem- 
blances, this  Puritanism  differed  from  the  asceticism  of 
primitive  Christiamty."~'ATtTT6ugn  both  proclaimed  the  vanity, 
nay,  the  wickedness  of  life's  pleasures  of  every  kind,  yet 
primitive  Christian  asceticism  was  allied  with  stupid  indo- 
lence, whileTon  the  contrary,  the  puritanism  of  the  Refor- 
mafion"was""JLinrted^lir"Tts"*'p^^  with  indefatigable  and 

cautro'us" industry.  At  that  time,  when  capitalised  industry 
on  a  large  scale  was^Horyet  developecl,  and  capitalism  was 
only  budding,  this  industrious  puritanismjkvas  an  exceedingly 
effectrvelTieans~of  tuTnlng  small  traders  into  capitalists.  This 
"means~Became  rnore"~effective  The  more  the  masses  of  the 
people  yielded  to  the  instinct  of  a  native  joy  in  life  connected 
with  the  primitive  modes  of  production,  which  had  for  their 
object  not  sale,  but  personal  consumption  ;  not  accumulation, 
but  enjoyment.  In  addition  to  the  aid  derived  from  their 
puritanism,  the  Brethren  must  have  been  much  favoured  from 
a  business  point  of  view  by  their  good  popular  education, 
and  especially  by  the  firm  cohesion — the  solidarity — resulting 
from  their  communistic  tendencies.  This  solidarity  must 
have  been  as  great  a  help  to  them  in  business  as  it  has 
sometimes  been  to  the  Jews. 

If  among  the  Taborites  the  spoils  of  war  had  produced  a 
condition  of  opulence  (which  their  communism  put  an  end 

'  An  extract  from  the  Czech  original,  with  German  translation,  is  to 
be  found  in  GoH's  Quellcn  niui  untersucliungeii  zur  Geschichte  dcr 
Bohmischen  Btiider,  Ch.  I.  Der  Verkehr  der  Briider  init  den  Waldensern, 
Prague,  1878,  p.  98. 


86  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

to),  wealth  also  soon  became  common  among  the  Bohemian 
Brethren,  as  a  consequence  of  their  industry,  frugality,  and 
thrift,  together  with  their  intelligence  and  the  assistance  they 
rendered  each  other.  Actuated  by  very  worldly  motives  and 
attracted  by  their  wealth,  large  numbers  from  all  classes  now 
joined  their  ranks. 

With  the  increase  of  opulence,  however,  many  of  the  older 
members  began  to  feel  fettered  by  the  severe  discipline  which 
was  enforced.  In  the  interests  of  equality  this  discipline 
allowed  no  member  to  be  richer  than  the  others,  and  also 
forbade  the  investment  of  accumulated  money  in  any  trade 
or  at  interest.  Moreover,  with  the  increase  of  wealth,  conflicts 
sometimes  arose  regarding  property  ;  lawsuits  became  neces- 
sary, and  the  power  of  State  was  needed  for  the  protection  of 
the  surplus  belonging  to  individual  members. 

Thus  a  more  moderate  party  was  gradually  formed  among 
the  Brethren,  which  dared  not  disavow  the  original  precepts 
of  the  fraternity,  but  strove  to  have  those  precepts  interpreted 
as  merely  embodying  the  ideal  of  a  higher  and  altogether 
exceptional  sanctity,  and  not  as  universally  binding  prin- 
ciples. 

The  split  between  the  two  parties  first  showed  itself  at  the 
end  of  the  seventh  decade  of  the  fifteenth  century,  when  two 
barons  and   several   knights   applied   for   admission   to   the 
''Brofherhoocl.     The  stricter  party  consented  to  receive  them 
only  on  the  cGhdrtibn  of  tTieTr'rennqiH^ 
'afid^rafi'Rj' wKile  .tJhe .moderate  seHion'*M§fte9"fo 'drspehse  with 
'this  renunciation.     The  jeji;tJ^ixiists"[^amed*  "the'-'vic^^ 
Ifhose  alone  of  the" candidates  were,  admitted  who  acquiesced 
iri^all  the  dernands  of  the  GomoHimty. 

Evidence  of  the  influence  of  the  moderate  party  was  fur- 
nished in  1480,  when  admission  was  granted  to  a  savant 
named  Lukas,  to  be  followed  by  others.  If  the  acceptance 
of  these  members  was  a  success  to  the  moderates,,  the  erudite 
element  in  return  contnbuted  J:o^  the  strength  of  that  party. 
In  vain  did  the  strict  faction,  with  the  weaver  Gregory  of 
Wotic  at  their  head,  combat  the  lukewarmness  which  was 
gaining  the  upper  hand.  In  the  synod  which  was  held  at 
Brandeis,  on  the  Adler,  in   1491,  the  moderates  gained  the 


THE  BOHEMIAN  BRETHREN  87 

day  ;  for  it  was  resolved  that,  in  future,  persons  of  wealth 
and  high  standing  might  be  admitted  without  giving  up  their 
riches  and  rank.  They  were  only  to  be  reminded  how  easily, 
without  this  renunciation,  they  might  forfeit  the  salvation  of 
their  souls.  Thus  the  demand  for  equality,  if  not  quite  cast 
aside,  was  now  confined  merely  to  holy  aspirations. 

The  pious  Brethren  also  discovered  the  way  to  a  partici- 
pation m™State  government  the  same  congress  it  was 
agreed : — "  If  through  worldly  power  it  should  fall  to  the  lot  of 
any  Brother  to  be  a  judge,  juryman,  or  guildmaster,  or  to  go 
to  the  wars  ;  or  if  he,  in  combination  with  others,  should  have 
to  give  his  consent  to  the  torture  or  execution  of  a  criminal, 
we  now  declare  that  these  be  things  to  which  a  repentant 
person  should  not  hasten  of  his  own  good  free-will,  but  rather 
flee  from  and  avoid,     l^ut  if  he  cannot  evade  them,  either  by 
persistent  entreaty  or  by  any  other  means,  then  shall  he  yield 
to  the  powers  that  be."     The  Brethren,  moreover,  were  not    j 
only  allowed'  to  take  part  in   criminal  prosecutions  by  the    | 
Government,  to  accept  office  or  fight  in  the  wars  if  compelled    I 
to  do  so,  but  they  might  in  future  even  appeal  to  the  com-    ;, 
pulsory  powers  of  the  State  or  to  the  judges  ;  nay,  it  was    | 
permissible  to  carry  on  any  profitable  business,  such  as  inn- 
keeping  or  any  trade — of  course,  onfy  in  case  of  necessity. 

The  stricter  party  were  infuriated  by  this  decree,  which  ' 
cast  to  the  winds  the  equality,  freedom,  and  brotherhood 
hitherto  existing  in  the  community.  They  raised  an  ener- 
getic counter-agitation,  and  succeeded  in  winning  over  their 
Bishop  Mathias,  of  Kunwald,  and  in  intimidating  the  waverers 
or  urging  them  onwards.  On  their  compulsion,  Mathias  soon 
convened  another  synod,  which  annulled  the  Brandeis  decrees 
and  pronounced  for  an  unconditional  return  to  old  and  funda- 
mental principles. 

But  the  delight  of  victory  was  of  short  duration.  The 
extremists  had  won  the  day,  not  by  internal  strength,  but 
by  a  surprise.  At  the  synod  of  Reichenau,  in  1494,  they 
were  again  in  the  minority,  and  finally  recognised  that  they 
had  lost  all  prospect  of  vindicating  their  views  in  the  com- 
munity. A  division  in  the  Brotherhood  was  the  natural 
consequence,  and  the  attempt  at  re-union,  in  1496,  only  led 


88  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

to   reciprocal  reproaches   and   to   the   intensification  of  the 
antagonism. 

The  rigorous  section  was  called  the  "  Smaller  Party."  It 
was  inferior  in  numbers  and  composed  of  uneducated 
peasants  and  handicraftsmen,  and  being  in  antagonism  with 
the  needs  of  social  development,  languished  away.  After 
several  of  its  members  had  been  burnt  at  the  stake  in  Prague 
(1527),  it  vanished  from  public  ken. 

The  moderate  section,  on  the  contrary,  strengthened  by 
rich  and  powerful  adherents,  with  liberty  to  take  part  in  the 
State  government  and  utilise  it  for  their  own  purposes, 
having,  moreover,  an  organisation  in  harmony  with  the 
requirements  of  social  progress,  advanced  rapidly  in  pros- 
perity. In  1500,  they  already  possessed  twf)  >>yr)(;\f^H^ 
churches,  and,  during  the  sixteenth  century  they  became  an 
^Important  factor  in  politics  and  economics.  How  largely  the 
nobility  was  represented  among  them,  may  be  gathered  from 
a  petition,  presented  in  1 575  to  the  Emperor  by  the  nobles  of 
the  Brotherhood,  and  signed  by  seventeen  barons  and  one 
hundred  and  forty-one  knights. 

Every  trace  of  a  communistic  origin  disappeared,  and,  as 
has  a,lready  been  remarked,  all  communistic  traditions ~were 
carefully  expunged  from  their  literature.  Moreover,  although 
^  they  had  admitted  persons  of  wealth  into  their  ranks,  they 
now  on  the  other  hand  went  so  far  as  to  tolerate  mendicity. 
"As  far  as  possible''  says  their  Church  ordinance  of  1609,  "we 
secure  our  people  against  beggary  ",;^  hence  there  was  no 
longer  an  unconditional  obHgajtion  aniong  the  Brethren  to 
help  each  other. 

Gindely  says  {pp.  cit,  ii.  p.  312): — "The  Bohemian  Puri- 
tans, nay,  even  the  fanatics  who  adhered  to  Peter  Chelcicky 
more  than  to  Huss,  and  in  conformity  with  Pauline  doctrines 
favoured  celibacy,  accepted  no  office,  allowed  themselves  no 
luxury,  tolerated  no  wealth,  put  no  money  out  at  interest,  and 
abhorred  war — these  men  produced  very  wealthy  capitalists, 
very  honourable  husbands,  very  decorous  burgomasters  and 
jurymen,  as  well  as  very  skilful  generals  and  statesmen." 

Success  attended  the  Brotherhood  until  the  Thirty  Years' 
War,  and   the   Battle   of  White    Mountain   in    163 1.     This 


THE  BOHEMIAN  BRETHREN  89 

battle,  which  decided  the  long  struggle  between  the  intract- 
able Bohemian  nobility  and  Hapsburg  absolutism,  and  led  to 
the  extinction  of  the  former,  the  confiscation  of  their  proper- 
ties and  the  distribution  of  these  among  the  Jesuits  and 
sycophants  of  the  Court,  also  brought  about  the  downfall  of 
the  Bohemian  Brethren.  The  scanty  remnant  dragged  on  a 
painful  existence,  until  they  finally  founded  an  asylum  on  the 
Saxon  estates  of  the  pietist.  Count  Zinzendorf  (1722). 

But  neither  the  communistic  enthusiasm  of  the  extremists, 
nor  the  worldly  wisdom  of  the  moderates  long  survived 
among  the  Herrnhuters.  Poor,  miserable  peasants  and  handi- 
craftsmen, who  had  escaped  the  persecution  only  by  living  in 
the  most  isolated  and  uncivilised  corners  of  the  land,  they  had 
lost  all  traces  of  an  identity  with  the  original  Brotherhood. 

In  the3xiteeatL£mto^..j;laa J^  to 

pfajTa  part  in  the  history  of  socialism.  In  the  seventeenth 
cerrttfiy,  tliey  also  lost  their  importance  to  general  history. 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE   GERMAN   REFORMATION   AND   THOMAS   MUNZER 
I.  The  Gej'vian  Reformation 

AENEAS  SYLVIUS  PICCOLOMINI  (so  often  quoted 
by  us),  formerly  an  enthusiast  in  the  cause  of  Church 
reform,  had  made  peace  with  the  Roman  Pope,  and,  as  a 
reward,  had  been  given  the  Cardinal's  hat,  1456.^  A  letter 
was  addressed  to  the  newly-created  Cardinal  by  Martin 
Mayer  (a  native  of  Heidelberg  and  Chancellor  to  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Mayence,  Ditrich  von  Erbach),  in  which,  among 
other  things,  he  says  : — "  There  are  thousands  of  ways  in 
which  the  Roman  See  robs  us  of  our  gold  as  if  we  were  a 
nation  of  barbarians.  From  this  it  has  come  about  that  our 
country,  once  so  famed,  which  by  its  courage  and  blood 
founded  the  Roman  kingdom  and  was  the  king  and  queen  of 
the  world,  is  now  sunk  in  poverty,  a  servile  and  tribute-paying 
land,  and,  grovelling  in  the  dust,  has  for  long  years  been 
bewailing  its  misery  and  indigence.  Our  rulers,  however,  have 
at  length  awakened  from  their  sleep,  and  have  begun  to 
ponder  how  they  can  oppose  this  evil ;  aye,  they  have  resolved 
to  shake  off  the  yoke  and  regain  their  old  freedom,  and  the 
Roman  Curia  will  suffer  not  a  little  if  its  princes  carry  out 
what  they  have  in  their  minds."  ^ 

In  refutation  of  Martin's  charges  ^neas  Sylvius  deemed  it 
necessary  to  write  a  book  on  the  condition  of  Germany,  which 

'  Two  years  later  he  was  made  Pope,  Pius  II.,  and  in  that  capacity 
saw  fit  to  condemn  his  earlier  writings  as  heretical. 
"  UUman,  Rcfoiinatoren,  &c.,  p.  214. 

90 


THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND   THOMAS  MUNZER    91 

appeared  in  1458,  shortly  before  his  election  to  the  Papal 
throne.^  "  He  were  indeed  wanting  in  mental  gifts,"  he  sets 
forth,  "who  should  assert  that  Germany  is  poor."  He  en- 
deavours to  prove  this  by  a  reference  to  the  commerce  and 
mining  industry  which  at  that  time  flourished  in  Germany  and 
brought  in  great  wealth.  "  If  it  be  true,"  he  exclaims,  "  that 
where  there  are  merchants  there  is  always  great  wealth,  then 
must  it  be  conceded  that  the  Germans  are  a  very  rich  people, 
since  the  greater  part  of  them  thirst  after  profits  in  trade  and 
roam  through  the  most  distant  lands.  .  .  .  And  then  consider 
the  veins  of  silver  that  have  been  discovered  among  you. 
Kuttenberg  in  Bohemia,  Rankberg  in  Saxony,  and  Freiberg 
in  Meissen  possess  inexhaustible  silver  mines  on  their  dizzy 
heights."  He  then  points  to  the  gold  and  silver  mines  in  the 
valleys  of  the  Inn,  and  Enns ;  to  the  gold  washings  on  the 
Rhine  and  in  Bohemia  ;  and  finally  asks  : — "  Where  in  your 
land  is  there  an  inn  {diversorimn)  which  has  not  its  drinking 
cups  of  silver  ?  What  woman,  not  only  among  the  nobility 
but  among  the  plebeians,  does  not  glitter  with  gold  ?  Shall  I 
make  mention  of  the  neck-chains  of  the  knights  and  bridles 
of  the  horses,  embossed  with  purest  gold  ;  of  the  spurs  and 
scabbards  garnished  with  precious  stones  ;  of  the  finger-rings 
and  shoulder-belts,  the  armour  and  helmets,  sparkling  with 
gold  ?  And  how  beautiful  are  the  utensils  of  the  churches  ? 
What  number  of  reliquaries  do  we  find  encrusted  with  pearls 
and  gold  ?  how  rich  the  vesture  of  the  altars  and  priests  ! " 

Hence  Germany  was  well  able  to  contribute  to  the  support 
of  the  Roman  See.  But  what  would  happen  to  the  Pontifi- 
cate if  Germany  should  cease  to  fulfil  her  mission  ?  It  would 
become  poor  and  wretched  and  incapable  of  performing  its 
high  duties,  since  the  small  and  uncertain  revenues  of  the 
Papal  States  were  insufiicient  for  its  needs.  Without  wealth 
it  were  impossible  to  be  intelligent  and  highly  esteemed. 
Moreover  the  laws  of  all  societies  {in  omni  lege)  recognised 
the  necessity  of  a  wealthy  priesthood. 

There  could  be  no  greater  contradiction  between  two 
statements   than    is  here  exhibited.     It  might  be  said  that 

'  We  avail  ourselves  of  the  Leipzig  edition  of  1496  : — Enec  Sylvii.  de 
Rilii.  Situ.  Moribiis  ac  Conditione  alemanie.    Lyptzick. 


92  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

only  one  could  be  true,  the  other  must  be  false ;  and  yet 
both  are  true.  Each  by  itself  gives  an  incomplete  picture 
of  Germany's  condition  in  the  second  half  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  They  are  both  true  precisely  because  they  are 
jin  irreconcilable  contradiction  ;  the  great  antagonism  of 
the  time  is,  indeed,  accurately  reflected  by  the  discrepancy 
between  these  statements.  It  was  precisely  because  this 
antagonism  was  irreconcilable,  that  it  could  be  terminated 
only  by  the  conflict  of  the  two  opposing  elements,  and  the 
triumph  of  one. 

Mayer's  letter  and  the  reply  by  yEneas  Sylvius  show  us  in 
the  clearest  light  the  pivot  on  which  the  Reformation  turned, 
freed  from  the  confused  heap  of  theological  wranglings  con- 
cerning predestination,  the  Holy  Communion,  &c,,  with  which 
it  was  afterwards  overlaid  by  the  Church  reformers  of  various 
parties. 

iEneas  Sylvius  was  right ;  Germany  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury was  flourishing  through  its  mining  and  trade.  He  was 
also  right  in  affirming  that  the  Papal  See  was  chiefly  depen- 
dent on  the  revenues  it  obtained  from  Germany  ;  for  the 
other  great  civilised  nations  of  Europe  had  already  to  a  great 
extent  freed  themselves  from  Papal  spoliation. 

For  this  reason  the  Vatican  was  obliged  to  exercise  all  its 
powers  of  extortion  upon  the  German  nation,  and  obstinately 
refuse  even  the  smallest  concession.  No  relief,  therefore,  from 
the  Papal  exactions  could  be  expected.  Germany  must 
either  suffer  submissively,  or  throw  off  the  Roman  yoke 
completely. 

This  conviction  continued  to  acquire  strength,  for  Martin 
Mayer's  statement  was  also  correct.  Although  the  wealth  of 
Germany  was  undoubtedly  increasing,  the  Papal  claims  were 
nevertheless  most  oppressively  burdensome  and  very  obstruc- 
tive to  economic  development. 

It  was  a  sufficient  injury  that  she  had  to  bear  a  burden 
from  which  the  rest  of  the  civilised  nations  were  free.  It  is 
true  that  in  France,  England,  and  Spain  the  population  was 
taxed  for  the  Church,  but  the  most  substantial  part  of  the 
Revenues  derived  from  such  taxation  remained  in  those 
countries  and  benefited  the  ruling  classes.    These  seized  upon 


THE   GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND    THOMAS  MUNZER    93 

all   the  lucrative  benefices   for  the   members   of  their   own 
order,  or  for  creatures  and  parasites  from  other  classes.     In 
Germany,  on  the  contrary,  many  benefices  fell  to  the  share  ofi 
foreigners — tools,  not  of  the  German  princes,  but  of  the  Pope.j 
All    the   lucrative   clerical    appointments   in    Germany  were 
moreover  articles  of  commerce,  which  the  Pope  sold  to  the 
highest  bidder,^     Enormous  sums  flowed  into  Rome  year  in 
year  out,  and  were  lost  to  the  great  extortioners  in  Germany 
— its  princes  and  merchants.     Moreover,  great  as  the  profits 
from  trading  and  mining  might  be,  and  rapid  as  was  the  I 
increase  of  wealth  in  Germany,  the  necessity  for  money  and  } 
the  greed  for  gold  among  the  ruling  classes  augmented  in  like  1 
proportion. 

In  the  fifteenth  century  the  production  of  commodities  for  \ 
the  market  had  already  attained  remarkable  dimensions,  while  1 
that  for  home  consumption   as  the  exclusive  form  of  pro- 
duction was,  even  in  country  places,  in  the  course  of  rapid 
decline.     Money  began  to  play  a  great  part  in  economic  life. 
The  necessity  for  it  was  ever  greater  on  all  sides,  but  chiefly 
among  the  upper  classes,  not  only  because  their  mode  of  life 
had  reached  a  most  extravagant  degree  of  luxury,  but  also 
because  money  alone  could  satisfy  the  constantly  increasing 
demands  upon  them.     Money  was  also  required  to  pay  the  1 
mercenaries  and  officials  who  supported  the  absolute  mon-  \ 
archy,  at  that  time  developing  itself ;  funds  were  needed  to 
attract  the  independent  nobles  to  its  Court  and  induce  them 
to  serve  its  purposes  ;  and  lastly  means  were  necessary  to 
bribe  the  tools  of  its  adversaries.      All  this  implied  imposts, 
raking   and   scraping   townsmen   and    peasants  in  order   to 
extract  from  them  all  that  they  could   yield,  the   ordinary 
revenue  rarely  proving   sufficient ;    and    it  meant  moreover 
incurring  debts — debts  the  interest  of  which  enforced  fresh 

'  "  It  is  not  easy  to  get  a  lucrative  benefice  here,"  said  Hutten  once, 
"  unless  one  has  been  of  service  to  the  Holy  See,  or  has  sent  large  sums 
of  money  to  Rome  for  bribery,  or  bought  the  living  through  the  direct 
mediation  of  the  Fugger  family."  {Die  romische  Dreifaltigkeit. 
Speeches  by  Ulrich  v.  Hutten,  translated  and  edited  by  David  F,  R- 
Strauss,  Leipzig,  p.  106.)  The  Fuggers  were  indeed  zealous  Catholics, 
and  did  not  spare  money  in  the  conflict  with  Luther. 


94  ■  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

expenditure.  In  spite  of  all  exactions  and  all  loans,  only  a 
few  princes  were  in  a  satisfactory  financial  condition,  and 
hence  they  felt,  as  did  their  subjects,  upon  whom  these  and 
other  burdens  rested,  that  they  were  becoming  impoverished 
in  spite  of  Germany's  increasing  wealth,  and  that  it  was  un- 
bearable to  look  on  quietly  while  the  Pope,  for  no  reason 
whatever,  carried  off  the  cream  of  the  profits  and  left  them 
the  skimmed  milk.  It  was  nevertheless  by  no  means  a  very 
simple  matter  to  rid  themselves  of  papistical  demands. 

Undoubtedly  the  mass  of  the  people  suffered  like  the 
brinces,  and  indeed  even  more  than  they ;  the  lower  classes, 
(the  peasants,  the  town  proletarians  and  the  class  immediately 
above  them,  together  with  the  burgesses  and  the  lower 
'nobility,  groaned  under  the  dominion  of  Rome.  Even  before 
the  days  of  Wycliffe  and  Huss  they  had  shown  themselves 
disposed,  under  Louis  the  Bavarian,  to  enter  upon  a  struggle 
against  the  Papal  Church,  though  they  had,  perhaps,  to 
endure  quite  as  much  under  the  increasing  demands  of  the 
higher  nobility,  the  great  merchants  and  princes  ;  and  with 
this  state  of  feeling  among  them,  Bohemia  was  to  learn,  as 
England  had  done,  how  dangerous  it  was  for  the  princes  to 
undermine  one  of  the  great  powers  in  the  community. 

The  Revolution  of  1789  in  France  brought  about  a  period 
of  reaction  in  Europe,  and  cooled  the  desire  of  the  bour- 
geoisie for  a  revolutionary  struggle,  which  could  only  be 
carried  on  with  the  assistance  of  small  traders  and  the 
proletariat,  against  princely  autocracy  and  the  aristocratic 
landed  proprietors.  In  the  same  way  the  Hussite  war  pro- 
duced a  period  of  reaction  not  only  in  Bohemia  but  in 
Germany  also,  and  it  required  a  long  time  for  the  idea  of 
casting  off  the  yoke  of  Rome  to  gain  any  influence  among 
the  upper  classes  of  the  Empire. 

)  Then  again  there  was  the  alliance  between  the  Emperor 
land  the  Pope.  The  Imperial  authority  was  declining  very 
f  fast  in  Germany,  and  the  Emperors  were  afraid  that  it  would 
diminish  still  more  rapidly  if  the  other  traditional  authority 
of  the  Empire — the  Papal — were  shaken  or  destroyed.  More- 
over there  was  the  danger  from  Turkey,  which  directly 
threatened   the    Imperial  (i.e.  the  Hapsburg)  possessions,  a 


THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND  THOMAS  MUNZER     95 

danger  which  could  apparently  be  averted  only  by  one  of  the 
Pope's  organised  Crusades. 

If  one  adds  to  all  this  the  fatal  disruption  of  Germany, 
which  certainly  reduced  the  power  of  the  Emperor  to  a 
minimum,  but  at  the  same  time  made  concerted  action  among 
the  opponents  of  the  Pope  and  Emperor  very  difficult,  it  is 
comprehensible  that  the  Reformation  movement  in  Germany 
only  became  strongly  pronounced  in  the  century  after  the 
Hussite  War. 

Meantime  development  was  spreading  far  and  wide  in  all 
spheres.  The  means  for  a  religious  and  military  conflict  had 
greatly  improved.  The  art  of  printing  had  been  invented 
and  artillery  had  been  made  more  perfect,  while  the  facilities 
for  commerce,  and  especially  for  maritime  intercommuni- 
cation, had  considerably  increased.  Shortly  before  the 
Reformation,  bold  navigators  had  sailed  directly  across  the 
Atlantic  Ocean,  for  the  first  time  in  the  world's  history. 

The  advance  of  the  Turks  and  nations  of  Central  Asia  was 
the  incentive  to  these  voyages,  for  these  nations  barred  the 
old  paths  of  commerce  to  the  East.  Thanks  to  the  greater 
perfection  attained  by  European  navigation,  this  did  not  lead 
to  any  interruption  in  the  trade  between  Western  Asia  and 
Europe,  but  rather  to  the  search  for  new  ways  to  India — 
along  the  coast  of  Africa  on  one  side,  and  across  the  ocean  on 
the  other.  The  age  of  discovery  had  begun  ;  modern  colonial 
policy  took  its  rise. 

By  these  means  not  only  was  the  horizon  of  mankind 
vastly  widened,  and  a  complete  revolution  of  human  know- 
ledge initiated,  but  an  economic  change  was  also  inaugurated. 
The  commercial  centre  of  Europe  was  transferred  from  the 
basin  of  the  Mediterranean  to  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic. 
The  economic  development  of  Italy  was  bound  down  and 
hemmed  in,  while  on  the  contrary  that  of  Western  Europe 
was  suddenly  accelerated  by  a  powerful  impetus.  Existing 
antagonisms,  as  much  between  classes  as  between  nations, 
were  brought  to  a  climax,  and  fresh  antagonisms  were  engen- 
dered, till  the  passions  peculiar  to  the  new  capitalistic  form  of 
exaction  were  unfettered  and  exhibited  with  all  the  strength 
and  recklessness  of  the  Middle  Ages,  out  of  the  barbarism  of 


96  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

which  society  had  just  stepped.  All  traditional,  social,  and 
political  relations  were  overthrown  ;  all  prevailing  codes  of 
morality  proved  unstable.  For  a  whole  century  a  series  of 
terrible  wars  raged  throughout  Europe  in  which  the  thirst  for 
gold,  the  lust  of  murder,  and  the  madness  of  despair  were 
rampant.  Who  has  not  heard  of  the  Eve  of  St.  Bartholo- 
mew ?  Who  does  not  know  the  deeds  of  the  heroes  of  the 
Thirty  Years'  War  in  Germany,  of  Alva  in  the  Netherlands, 
and  of  Cromwell  in  Ireland  ?  There  is  no  need  to  mention 
the  abominations  of  contemporary  colonial  policy. 

This  mighty  revolution,  the  greatest  which  Europe  had 
seen  since  the  migration  of  nations,  found  its  termination  in 
some  measure  (except  in  the  case  of  England)  in  the  Peace 
of  Westphalia,  in  1648.  It  arose  from  the  German  Reforma- 
tion, which  agitated  the  whole  of  Europe  and  supplied  the 
catch-words  and  arguments  for  the  combatants  till  the  middle 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  so  that  to  the  superficial  observer 
it  might  seem  that  in  all  these  struggles  religion  was  the  only 
object  in  question  :  indeed,  they  are  called  the  Religious 
Wars. 

Taking  all  this  into  consideration,  it  is  not  surprising  that 
the  German  Reformation  movement  was  vastly  more  important 
in  historic  significance  than  the  earlier  agitations  of  this  kind ; 
that  it  has  come  to  be  known  in  general  as  tke  Reformation 
and  that  the  Germans,  though  they  halted  so  long  after  the 
other  civilised  nations  of  Europe  in  the  revolt  against  Rome, 
were  regarded  as  the  chosen  people  of  religious  freedom, 
destined  to  carry  it  to  other  countries. 

II.   The  Rich  Product  of  the  Saxon  Mines. 

The  land  from  which  the  spark  was  to  fly  forth  that  should 
kindle  the  whole  world  into  flame  was  Saxony.  We  have 
seen  how  important  the  silver  mines  were  for  Bohemia  in 
the  fourteenth  century;  how  they  had  intensified  social 
antagonisms  and  increased  the  power  of  the  country  and 
its  rulers.  In  the  fifteenth  century  the  produce  of  the 
Bohemian  mines  diminished,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  those 
of  Saxony — namely,  in  Meissen  and   Thuringia — reached  a 


THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND   THOMAS  MUNZER     97 

dizzy  height  of  prosperity.  The  silver  wealth  of  Freiberg 
had  been  well  known  in  1 171,  its  mining  laws  becoming  the 
foundation  of  mining  legislation  throughout  the  whole  of 
Germany.  At  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  however, 
it  was  outdone  by  Schneeberg,  where,  in  1471,  fresh  veins 
of  ore  were  discovered,  which  for  some  time  were  the  most 
productive  of  all  German  silver  mines.  In  1492  mining  was 
started  at  Schreckenstein,  and  in  1496  the  foundation-stone 
was  laid  of  the  mining  town  of  Annaberg.  In  15 16  the 
mines  of  Joachimsthal  came  into  prominence  (they  were 
partly  Bohemian  and  partly  Saxon);  in  15 19  those  of 
Marienberg. 

In  Thuringia  the  most  important  mine  was  at  Mansfeld. 
It  had  been  worked  since  the  twelfth  century,  and  yielded 
copper  as  well  as  silver  and  gold,  the  bituminous  marl-slate 
being  conveyed  to  Venice,  where  the  process  of  separation 
was  better  understood  than  in  Germany. 

The  rapidly  increasing  wealth  in  the  precious  metals 
promoted  production  and  trade  in  Saxon  cities.  Erfurt 
became  rich  and  powerful  as  the  Saxon  emporium  for  trade 
to  the  south  (Venice),  while  Halle  and,  later,  Leipzig  were 
the  chief  marts  for  the  north.  North  and  south,  commerce 
developed  most  actively  in  the  direction  both  of  production 
and  trade.  The  line  commercial  intercourse  took  from 
Saxony  to  Italy  passed  through  Nurenberg  and  Augsburg, 
and  contributed  much  to  the  powerful  position  taken  by 
these  towns  from  the  fourteenth  to  the  sixteenth  centuries. 

With  commerce,  production  also  developed,  while  art  and 
local  trade  flourished  in  the  above-mentioned  towns. 

But  it  was  not  only  town  life  that  was  influenced  by  the 
rich  mines  of  Saxony ;  their  effect  in  the  country  was 
perhaps  even  greater. 

The  demand  for  wood  at  the  mines  was  an  important 
item  ;  it  was  required  partly  as  timber  in  the  construction 
of  the  shafts,  for  the  laying  of  tracks  (with  wooden  rails,  as 
we  see  them  represented  in  Agricola's  book  On  Mines),  &c., 
and  partly  and  especially  for  fuel  in  smelting  the  ore.  A 
regular  traffic  in  wood  became  quite  necessary,  and  we 
find    that   it   was    already  the   object  of   many   commercial 

8 


98  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

treaties   in  Saxony  even  in  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century. 

Other  natural  products  were  required  in  the  mining  dis- 
tricts, which  lay,  as  a  rule,  in  unproductive  mountainous 
regions  at  a  high  altitude,  where  but  little  corn  grew — much 
too  little  to  support  the  crowd  of  people  who  gathered  about 
a  large  mine.  The  mountain  peasants  being  unable  to  cul- 
tivate the  corn  for  themselves,  were  forced  to  buy  it.  The 
development  of  the  mines,  therefore,  greatly  promoted  the 
commerce  in  wheat  as  well  as  in  wood.  It  formed,  for 
example,  the  chief  revenues  of  Zwickau,  which  lay  on  the 
road  from  the  Saxon  "  Lowlands  "  to  the  "  Highlands." 

Hence  at  a  very  early  date  the  peasants  and  lords  of  the 
soil   in    Saxony  became   producers  of  commodities  for   the 
market ;  and,  having  once  found  a  market  for  their  produce, 
it  was  a  matter  of  indifference  to  them  what  they  cultivated, 
provided  their  productions  were  saleable.     It  was  not  even 
necessary  that  it  should  be  wheat,  the  market  for  which  was 
circumscribed,  while  that  for  plants  used  in  manufacture  was 
much  more  extensive,  e.g.,  woad,  which  was  used  for  blue  dyes. 
Nowhere  in  Germany  was  this  cultivation  so  widely  developed 
as   in    Saxony,  especially  in   Thuringia,  the   centre   of  the 
industry  being  Erfurt.     Even  at  the  beginning  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  woad  is  said  to  have  been  cultivated  in  three 
hundred  villages  of  Thuringia,  though  the  competition  from 
indigo  was  already  very  strong.     The  antagonism    between 
the  territorial  lords  and  the  peasants  which  was  engendered 
by   this   development   must,   consequently,   have   reached  a 
great  height  at  the  beginning  of  the  Reformation  in  Saxony. 
The  value  of  land  was  very  great,  and  so  was  the  greed  of  the 
nobles  for  it.     The  system  of  money  duties  and  the  avarice 
shown  by  the   princes   and  nobility  were  most  remarkable, 
as  was  also  the  great  dependence  of  the  peasantry  on  the 
merchants  and  cultivators.     Capitalists,  princes,  and   nobles 
seized  upon  the  whole  profits  arising  from  this  commercial 
prosperity.     Thanks  to  the  rapid   increase  of  the   precious 
metals,  and  the  decrease  in  the  cost  of  production,  the  price 
of  agricultural  produce  arose  enormously.     In  Saxony,  the 
centre  of  the  mining  wealth,  the  rise  in  prices  must   have 


THE   GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND    THOMAS  MUNZER    99 

been  particularly  mischievous,  for  it  did  not  in  the  least 
benefit  the  peasantry,  while  in  the  cities  it  was  the  cause 
of  serious  strikes. 

For  this  reason,  we  find  that  class  antagonism  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Reformation  was  peculiarly  bitter  in 
Saxony,  exactly  as  it  had  been  a  hundred  years  before  in 
the  neighbouring  country  of  Bohemia.  But  in  the  latter 
country  the  mining  population  had  represented  a  conserva- 
tive power.  Their  proletarianism  was  only  in  its  infancy; 
the  miners  were  counted  among  the  privileged  classes,  and, 
being  Germans,  were  necessarily  regarded  as  partisans  of  the 
traditional  order  of  things,  i.e.,  of  the  sovereign  and  the  Pope. 

Since  that  time  the  proletariat  element  among  miners,  and 
the  working  of  mines  by  capitalists,  had  made  enormous 
strides  ;  but  in  Saxony  the  miners  were  not  strangers  to  the 
country ;  they  possessed  no  privileges  which  the  overthrow 
of  the  existing  order  of  things  could  affect,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, came  more  and  more  into  conflict  with  the  ruling 
powers  during  the  last  decade  before  the  Reformation.  Far 
from  opposing  any  revolutionary  movement,  they  were  quite 
ready  to  join  any  such  that  broke  out,  and  their  numbers, 
their  aptitude  for  arms,  and  the  economic  importance  of  their 
profession,  gave  them  a  power  with  which  statesmen  had  to 
reckon. 

The  class,  however,  which  derived  the  greatest  increase  of 
strength  from  the  wealth  of  the  mines  was  the  absolute 
monarchy,  a  class  which,  besides  being  the  most  revolu- 
tionary of  any,  was  most  favoured  by  all  the  tendencies  of 
the  age. 

Although  the  eager  rush  for  gold  and  silver  was  increasing, 
most  of  the  princes  found  difficulty  in  satisfying  their  need 
for  money  by  means  of  taxes  and  imposts.  It  was  different, 
however,  with  the  princes  within  whose  territories  lay  the 
rich  silver  and  gold  mines.  Of  these  the  best-filled  coffers 
were  possessed  by  the  sovereigns  of  Saxony.  The  inheri- 
tance of  the  two  brothers,  Ernest  and  Albrecht  (1485),  had 
been  divided  into  two  parts,  Ernest  receiving  the  chief 
portion,  Thuringia;  Albrecht  the  lesser,  Meissen.  But  the 
silver  mines  in  the  mountains  had  not  been  divided  ;  they 


lOo  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

remained  the  common  property  of  both  houses,  the  revenues 
being  simply  shared.  Thanks  to  these  revenues,  the  Saxon 
princes  of  the  sixteenth  century  played  a  prominent  part  in 
Germany,  taking  precedence  after  the  Emperor  of  Germany. 

Paradoxical  as  it  may  appear,  the  residue  of  the  Imperial 
power  at  that  time  rested  to  a  great  extent  only  upon  the 
impecuniosity  and  avarice  of  the  German  princes,  especially 
of  the  Prince-Electors.  The  latter  had,  in  reality,  become 
independent  sovereigns.  If  they  tolerated  the  Imperial 
dignity,  it  was  chiefly  in  order  to  find  a  purchaser  to  whom 
they  could  sell  a  part,  and  in  truth  a  very  trifling  part,  of 
their  sovereign  rights.  The  same  rS/e  which  was  played  at 
the  close  of  the  old  Roman  Republic,  first  by  the  rabble  of 
the  capital,  and  subsequently  by  the  Pretorian  mob,  was 
enacted  by  the  Prince-Electors  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth 
centuries.  Every  Imperial  election  was  to  them  a  most 
profitable  business,  the  noble  lords  taking  money  in  bribes 
from  all  the  candidates,  and  finally  giving  their  votes  to  the 
highest  bidder. 

Perhaps  the  most  disgraceful  episode  in  this  traffic  of 
elections  occurred  when  the  nomination  of  a  successor  to 
Maximilian  I.  was  in  view,  an  episode  which  began  during 
this  Emperor's  lifetime  and  lasted  from  1516  to  15 19.  The 
two  dynasties  which  had  been  contending  for  predominance 
in  Europe,  and  had  alternately  made  a  tool  of  the  pontifical 
power,  now  sued  also  for  the  Imperial  crown — the  French 
dynasty  of  Valois,  and  the  House  of  Hapsburg,  the  centre 
of  whose  dominion  had  slipped  away  from  Germany  to 
Spain. 

Nearly  all  the  Electors  accepted  money  from  both  Francis  I. 
of  France  and  Charles  V.  of  Spain. 

The  only  prince  who  took  no  money  was  the  Elector 
Frederick  of  Saxony  (of  the  Ernestinian  line,  to  whom 
Thuringia  had  fallen).  The  other  Electors,  hankering  after 
the  treasures  of  the  joint  possessors  of  the  silver  mines  in 
Meissen,  offered  the  Imperial  crown  to  him — of  course  for 
corresponding  fees.  But  Frederick  rejected  the  offer,  well 
knowing  it  was  not  worth  the  price,  and  turned  the  choice 
upon  the   House  of  Hapsburg.     Notwithstanding  the  Tyro- 


THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND   THOMAS  MUNZER    lor 

lean  mines  and  the  flourishing  commerce  of  the  Hapsburg 
Netherlands,  in  spite  also  of  the  might  of  Spain  at  their 
back,  the  Hapsburgs  appeared  to  threaten  the  independence 
of  the  German  princes  less  than  did  Francis  I.,  who  already 
possessed  a  well-organised  and  compact  France. 

We  will  not  enter  upon  the  other  considerations  which 
demanded  the  election  of  Charles,  such  as  the  danger  from 
Turkey,  &c. 

The  Elector  of  Saxony  not  only  became  the  emperor- 
maker  by  virtue  of  his  riches  and  power,  but  he  was  also  the 
centre  of  the  opposition  made  by  the  German  princes  against 
the  Emperor  and  Pope  in  their  struggle  for  independence. 

The  University  of  Wittenberg,  founded  by  Frederick  in 
1502,  undertook  the  intellectual  guidance  of  the  movement, 
which  was  at  once  inimical  to  the  Pope  and  friendly  to  the 
princes.  Luther,  who  had  been  a  professor  in  this  school 
since  1 508,  and  had  fallen  under  its  influence,  finally  became 
its  spokesman  and  the  confidential  friend  and  protege  of  the 
Prince-Elector.  These  events  are  too  well  known  to  require 
being  dealt  with  in  detail.  Every  one  knows  how,  in  1 5 1 7i 
Tetzel  came  to  Saxony  to  extort  money  from  the  people 
for  Pope  Leo  X.  by  the  sale  of  indulgences  ;  how  Luther 
attacked  him,  quarrelled  with  him,  and  was  carried  further 
than  he  at  first  intended  by  the  intervention  of  the  Vatican  ; 
how  out  of  the  "  monk's  quarrel  "  arose  the  rebellion  of  the 
whole  nation  against  the  Pope,  and  how  the  latter  tried  to 
intimidate  the  former  by  his  anathemas  (1520).  But  Luther, 
feeling  sure  of  his  prince's  aid,  defied  the  Pope  and  burnt  his 
Bull ;  he  dared  even  to  defy  the  newly-elected  Emperor, 
Charles  V.,  who  summoned  him  before  the  Imperial  Diet 
at  Worms  (1521).  Charles,  however,  could  not  deal  with 
him  as  Sigismund  had  dealt  with  Huss,  for  he  knew  that 
the  monk  was  supported  by  the  greater  part  of  the  German 
nation,  and  particularly  by  the  powerful  Frederick  of  Saxony. 
Hence  the  monarch  upon  whose  dominion  the  sun  never 
set  did  not  dare  to  interfere  openly  with  Frederick  and 
Luther. 

Thus  Saxony  became  the  intellectual  centre  both  of  the 
aristocratic  opposition  to  Rome,  which  proved  victorious,  and 


102  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

of  the  democratic,  which  was  crushed.  In  Thuringia  a  num- 
ber of  small  towns,  such  as  Miihlhausen  and  Nordhausen, 
succeeded  in  maintaining  their  freedom  from  princely  rule. 
Erfurt  also  could  count  itself  a  free  town.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  Reformation  it  was  the  chief  commercial  city  of 
Central  Germany,  though  it  was  soon  to  yield  its  place  to 
aspiring  Leipzig,  which  had  already  surpassed  the  old  trading 
town  of  Halle.  The  Erfurt  University  was  considered  the 
most  eminent  in  Germany.  It  became  the  seat  of  the  new 
German  Humanism,  which  united  itself  to  the  kindred  move- 
ments in  Italy  and  France,  and  sought  to  emulate  them  in 
spirited  contempt  for  traditional  beliefs. 

It  was,  however,  not  only  the  learned  and  civic,  but  also 
the  communistic,  opposition,  that  found  its  greatest  support 
in  Saxon  towns. 


III.   The  Enthusiasts  of  Zwickau. 

The  Hussite  War  was  not  without  its  influence  upon  the 
obscure  and  feeble  beginning  of  the  communistic  movement 
of  Germany  which  was  comprised  under  the  name  of  the 
"  Beghard  doctrine."  The  ruling  classes  were  stimulated  by 
this  war  to  a  greater  mistrust  of,  and  severity  towards,  all 
the  suspicious  agitations  among  the  lower  orders,  while,  on 
the  other  hand,  Bohemia  became  an  asylum  from  which  the 
German  emigrants  could  exert  their  influence  on  their  own 
country.  Czech  Taborites  zealously  supported  the  propa- 
ganda in  foreign  lands,  and  to  them  also  the  Hussite 
propaganda  in  Germany  can  almost  always  be  traced  back. 
The  Hussite  spirit  in  the  armies  of  the  "  Brethren  "  grew 
so  strong  that  they  desired  to  spread  its  doctrine  over  the 
whole  world  ;  and  the  bold  thought  was  more  than  once 
expressed  that  all  Christendom  should,  either  by  force  of 
arms  or  by  the  path  of  peaceful  teaching,  be  brought  to 
accept  the  Truth.  The  so-called  letters  of  heretics,  those 
popular  manifestoes  of  the  Taborites,  wherein  they  sum- 
moned all  Christians,  without  distinction  of  nation  or  rank, 
to  free  themselves  from  priestly  domination  and  to  confiscate 
Church  property,  were  carried  to  England  and  Spain,  while 


THE   GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND    THOMAS  MUNZER    103 

in  Dauphin6  the  people  sent  contributions  in  money  to 
Bohemia,  and  began  in  good  Taborite  fashion  to  murder 
their  lords.  In  the  south  of  Germany  we  find  the  Taborite 
emissaries  more  active  than  any  others.  Two  facts  in  par- 
ticular did  great  service  to  the  propaganda — the  existence 
of  the  numerous  Waldenses  congregations,  and  the  strong 
socialistic  tendency  which  made  itself  noticeable,  especially 
among  the  lower  strata  of  the  town  folk,  and  threatened  the 
rich  hierarchy  quite  as  much  as  it  did  the  Jews.^ 

Of  course  the  communistic  sects  could  only  exist  in  the 
form  of  secret  societies.  The  Brethren,  therefore,  usually 
resided  in  out-of-the-way  mills,  hamlets,  and  farms,  and 
assembled  in  small  numbers  when  they  held  their  services, 
thus  avoiding  every  sort  of  notice. 

After  the  futile  attempt  of  the  ^Pope,  and  the  Emperor 
to  crush  Luther,  after  the  burning  of  the  Papal  Bull  by 
the  latter,  and  still  more  after  the  Imperial  Diet  at  Worms, 
the  cave-dwellers,  like  other  rebellious  spirits,  plucked  up 
courage  to  make  an  advance. 

When  social  and  political  powers  have  lost  their  material 
foundation,  their  best  support  is  their  traditional  credit  and 
prestige.  By  means  of  these  they  can,  under  certain 
circumstances,  maintain  themselves  for  a  long  time  against 
superior  opponents.  But  the  longer  they  do  so  the  more 
terrible  is  the  downfall  when,  in  a  trial  of  strength,  this 
prestige  proves  to  be  merely  a  hollow  show. 

The  Emperor  and  Pope  experienced  the  truth  of  this 
during  the  years  1520  and  1521.  Hitherto  no  one  had 
ever  defied  them  both  at  the  same  time  with  impunity. 
The  less  the  lower  strata  of  the  people  recognised  that  the 
princes  and  knights  were  in  reality  supporting  Luther,  the 
more  isolated  he  appeared  to  be  ;  consequently  the  result  of 
the  Diet  must  have  influenced  the  great  masses  most  power- 
fully. If  the  truth  were  so  strong  that  a  single  monk  could 
defend  it,  undismayed  and  unpunished,  before  the  greatest 
rulers  of  Christendom,  then  all  who  had  a  good  cause  to 
defend   might  unhesitatingly  venture  to  step  forward. 

'  Fr.  b.  Bezold,  Gesdiichie  der  deiitschen  Reformation,  pp.  127,  128. 


I04  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

Saxony  was  the  first  to  move.  A  few  weeks  after  the 
declaration  of  the  Diet  against  Luther  and  his  friends  (June, 
1 521)  the  people  of  Erfurt  rose  in  a  series  of  insurrections 
and  put  an  end  to  the  Catholic  Church  government.  In 
Wittenberg  also  there  were  disturbances  ;  but  the  agitations 
in  Zwickau,  which  began  in  the  year  1520,  are  of  the  most 
importance  to  us.  From  very  ancient  times  and  until  the 
Thirty  Years'  War,  cloth  weaving  was  the  chief  trade.  As 
early  as  1348,  when  statutes  were  enacted  respecting  this 
industry,  the  clothmakers  formed  a  guild,  which  was  the 
most  important,  and  apparently  the  oldest  in  the  place  ; 
and  in  the  second  half  of  the  fifteenth  century  Zwickau,  next 
to  Oschatz,  supplied  the  largest  amount  and  the  best  quality 
of  cloth  in  Meissen,  although  it  did  not  always  come  up 
to  the  standard  of  the  much  admired  material  from  London 
and  the  Netherlands.  In  1540,  two  hundred  and  thirty 
clothmakers  might  be  counted  among  the  householders ; 
but  an  old  and  not  unfounded  tradition  tells  us  that  at  that 
flourishing  period  their  numbers  amounted  to  six  hundred.^ 

It  is  with  this  "  flourishing  period "  that  we  are  now 
dealing.  During  the  ten  years  of  the  Peasant  War,  from 
15,000  to  20,000  stone  of  wool  were  used  in  manufacture, 
and  from  10,000  to  20,000  pieces  of  cloth  were  produced 
annually. 

The  clothmakers  had  something  more  than  an  economic 
importance.  From  their  numbers  they  formed  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  population  of  the  town,  which  at 
that  time  contained  nearly  1,000  houses ;  so  that  in  the 
"flourishing  period"  from  one-quarter  to  one-half  of  the 
houses  belonged  to  the  clothmaker  masters  ;  in  any  case 
they  possessed  more  than  230,  and  probably  nearer  600. 

The  manufacture  of  cloth  had  become  an  important 
industry,  and  the  trade  was  in  the  hands  of  great  merchants. 
This  was  nothing  unusual ;  but  the  proximity  of  the  Zwickau 
weavers  to  the  workers  in  the  Saxon  mines  was  a  unique 
circumstance,  and  the  rebellious,  defiant  spirit  of  the  latter 
must  have  given  courage  to  the  journeymen  clothmakers, 
while  the  communistic  enthusiasm  of  the  latter  must  in  its 
'  E.  Herzog,  Chronik  cier  Krcisstadt  Zwickau,  vol.  i.  p.  234. 


THE   GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND   THOMAS    MUNZER    105 

turn  have  infected  the  miners.  We  cannot  wonder  there- 
fore that  the  communists  in  and  about  Zwickau  were 
the  first  during  the  Reformation  in  Germany  to  dare  to 
assert  themselves  openly.  As  early  as  1520  we  find  an 
organised  community  there  with  chiefs,  called  "  Apostles,"  as 
among  the  Waldenses.  The  long  yearning  for  the  millen- 
nium now  appeared  to  them  to  be  on  the  eve  of  gratification, 
through  the  medium  of  a  frightful  visitation  from  God — 
a  violent  revolution.  Though  their  principal  adherents  were 
the  clothmakers  of  the  town,  they  gained  followers  from 
among  the  miners,  and  many  persons  of  education  also 
joined  them,  of  whom  we  may  mention  Max  Stiibner,  who 
had  studied  at  Wittenberg  with  one  of  the  "  Apostles." 
Their  leader  was  the  weaver  Nicholas  Storch. 

They  also  acquired  some  influence  beyond  Zwickau,  and 
even  in  Wittenberg  itself,  where,  besides  the  lower  classes, 
some  idealists  joined  the  agitation.  At  that  time  class 
antagonism  in  the  Reformation  had  not  shown  themselves; 
it  still  bore  the  aspect,  on  the  one  hand,  of  a  national  move- 
ment without  distinction  of  class,  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  appeared  as  a  purely  religious  struggle  for  the  purification 
of  the  Church  and  the  re-establishment  of  evangelical  Chris- 
tianity, 

We  have  pointed  out  how  easy  it  was  for  the  idealists 
(who  were  not  directly  interested  in  exploiting  the  lower 
classes)  to  show  their  sympathy  with  the  communistic  move- 
ment at  this  stage,  supported  as  it  was  by  early  Christian 
tradition. 

The  enthusiasts  of  Zwickau  made  a  deep  impression  even 
upon  Melancthon,  Luther's  friend  and  fellow-worker.  *'  One 
sees  by  many  signs,"  said  he,  "  that  firm  spirits  dwell  in 
them."  He  wrote  to  the  Elector  Frederick  about  Nicholas 
Storch : — "  I  have  observed  about  him  thus  much,  that  he 
has  the  true  conception  of  the  Scriptures,  with  the  noblest 
and  highest  articles  of  the  faith  ;  he  has  also  a  great  gift  of 
speaking."  Frederick  himself,  in  consequence  of  the  demean- 
our of  the  theologians,  did  not  know  rightly  what  to  think  of 
the  enthusiasts.  Melancthon  was  clever  enough  not  to  com- 
promise himself,  but  to  leave  to  Luther  the  decision  upon 


io6  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

the  true  character  of  these  enthusiastic  spirits.  But  he  felt 
himself  so  drawn  towards  them  that  he  took  one  of  the 
"Apostles"  (the  Stubner  mentioned  above)  into  his  house. 
Luther  could  not  tell  him  much  about  the  Zwickau  sect  at 
first ;  he  lived  on  the  Wartburg,  where  he  was  awaiting  the 
results  of  the  ban  of  the  Empire  which  had  been  promulgated 
against  him.  What  the  Brethren  were  driving  at  however 
was  made  clear  to  him  soon  enough,  and  he  came  forward 
energetically  against  them. 

Luther's  friend  and  colleague,  Karlstadt,  favoured  these 
enthusiasts  far  more  decidedly  than  did  Melancthon.  The 
Lutheran  movement  advanced  much  too  slowly  for  Karl- 
stadt's  revolutionary  vehemence.  He  took  up  the  contest 
against  the  celibacy  of  the  priests  and  the  Latin  Mass  much 
earlier  than  Luther,  who  only  followed  his  lead  with  hesita- 
tion. He  went  further  than  merely  denouncing  sacred 
pictures  and  the  keeping  of  Lent.  Quite  in  the  Beghard  and 
Taborite  manner,  the  learned  Professor  condemned  every 
form  of  scholarship,  declaring  that  it  was  not  the  learned, 
but  the  working  classes,  who  should  preach  the  gospel  ;  the 
former  should  learn  from  the  latter,  and  the  high-schools 
ought  to  be  shut. 

By  far  the  most  prominent  among  the  adherents  of  the 
Apostle  of  Zwickau,  however,  was  Thomas  Miinzer.  From 
the  year  1521  to  1525  he  was  the  centre  of  the  whole  com- 
munistic movement  in  Germany.  His  figure  rises  so  con- 
spicuously in  all  its  concerns,  its  history  is  so  closely  connected 
with  him,  and  all  contemporary  evidence  about  it  refers  so 
exclusively  to  him,  that  we  will  follow  the  usual  method  and 
relate  Miinzer's  history,  as  the  history  of  the  communistic 
movement  in  the  first  years  of  the  Reformation. 

IV.  Mtlnser's  Biographers. 

Our  information  about  Miinzer  is  very  scanty,  as  is  the 
case  with  so  many  unsuccessful  revolutionists  both  before  and 
after  him.  Notices  of  him  are  not  lacking,  but  they  come 
chiefly  from  his  enemies,  and  are  consequently  malicious  and 
untrustworthy.     The  best-known    sources   of  enlightenment 


THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND   THOMAS  MUNZER     107 

are  the  passages  in  Melancthon's  Historie  Thome  Muntzers, 
des  anfengers  der  Doringischen  vffrur,  sehr  niitzlich  zu  lesen, 
&c.,  which  seems  to  have  been  published  in  the  same  year 
(1525)  in  which  the  insurrection  was  suppressed.  This 
account  is  given  in  nearly  all  the  editions  containing  a  full 
collection  of  Luther's  works.  We  all  know  how  a  time- 
serving dependent  of  a  prince  of  that  epoch  would  be  likely 
to  write  about  the  prince's  most  dangerous  enemy.  Melanc- 
thon  had  special  cause  for  animosity,  since  he  had  long 
coquetted  with  the  associates  of  Miinzer  as  we  have  already 
seen ;  he  had  even  received  and  answered  letters  from 
Miinzer  himself,  and  was  obliged  to  expiate  his  offence  by 
redoubled  indignation. 

Accuracy  was  not  the  chief  object  of  the  "  gentle  Melanc- 
thon,"  his  only  desire  being  to  abuse  Miinzer.  Even  on 
matters  of  indifferent  interest,  his  statements  are  wholly 
untrustworthy! 

Sleidan  and  Gnodalius  have  simply  copied  these  state- 
ments, and  from  them  they  have  been  repeated  in  the  later 
histories  of  that  period.  Miinzer  was  only  seen  in  a  true 
light  after  the  French  Revolution,  which  roused  the  Pastor 
G.  Th.  Strobel,  of  Wohrdt  (Bavaria)  to  a  study  of  the 
Peasant  War,  and  particularly  of  the  Miinzer  sedition. 
This  led  to  the  discovery  of  the  omissions  and  contradictions 
in  Melancthon's  statements,  which  Strobel  sought  as  much  as 
possible  to  rectify  in  his  own  writings  {Leben,  Schriften^  und 
Lehren  Thomae  Milntzers,  des  Urhebers  des  Bauernaufstandes 
in  Thuringen.  Nurenberg  and  Altorf,  1795).  This  work  is 
the  first  scientific  monograph  on  Miinzer,  and  that  written  by 
Pastor  Seidemann  (who  published  a  memoir  in  1842)  can 
alone  be  compared  with  it.  (  Tho7nas  Miinzer,  cine  Biographie^ 
nach  den  im  koniglich  sdchsischen  Hauptstaatsarchiv  zu 
Dresden  vorhandenen  Quellen  bearbeitet.  Dresden  and  Leipzic.) 
Seidemann  has  brought  forward  a  number  of  new  arguments; 
but  in  the  title  of  his  work  he  promises  more  than  he 
performs,  for  in  most  of  the  particulars  he  relies  upon  Strobel, 
from  whom  he  frequently  takes  excerpts  without  mentioning 
their  author. 

The  most  recent  work  on  Miinzer  is  by  O.  Merx  {Thomas 


io8  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

Miinzer  und  Heinrich  Pfeifer,  1 5  2 3- 1 5  2  5 .  Gottingen,  1 889), 
a  doctor's  dissertation,  the  author  of  which  misses  no  oppor- 
tunity of  bringing  his  loyal  opinions  to  light.  This  brief 
memoir  gives  a  few  details  and  some  chronologically  accurate 
statements,  which  till  then  had  been  buried  in  contemporary 
writings  or  in  collections  of  scattered  materials.  But  it  deals 
wholly  with  the  mere  surface  of  events,  and  displays  no  com- 
prehension whatever  of  Munzer's  purpose  or  achievements. 

All  the  other  monographs  on  Miinzer  which  we  have  come 
across  are  scientifically  worthless  ;  but  the  most  pitiable  of 
all  is  a  discourse  by  Professor  Leo,  Thomas  Miinzer,  given  by 
order  of  the  Evangelical  Society  in  Berlin,  1856.  He  has 
merely  copied  Seidemann,  but  has  interlarded  his  statements 
with  servile  malevolence.  The  spirit  of  Melancthon's  writings 
appears  throughout  his  discourse,  as  it  does  in  most  of  the 
records  of  that  period  down  to  Janssen  and  Lamprecht. 

We  have  met  with  but  one  among  the  independent 
accounts  of  Miinzer,  which  has  correctly  estimated  the 
historical  importance  of  the  man  and  his  personality.  It  is 
that  which  Zimmermann  gives  us  in  his  Geschichte  des  Grossen 
Bauef'nkrieges,  a  work  never  yet  equalled,  much  less  sur- 
passed, in  spite  of  the  fact  that  more  than  half  a  century  has 
elapsed  since  its  publication,  and  although  a  few  of  its  details 
were  already  well  known. 

Friedrich  Engels  has  given  an  account  of  the  Peasant  War 
based  upon  Zimmermann's  work,  and  with  it  also  a  narrative 
of  Thomas  Munzer's  deeds,  in  a  publication  which  first 
appeared  in  the  sixth  number  of  the  review.  Die  Neue 
Rheinische  Zeitung,  Hamburg,  1880,  and  which  since  then 
has  repeatedly  appeared  in  pamphlet  form  under  the  title  of 
Der  Deutsche  Bauernkrieg.  Although  (as  he  admits  in  his 
preface)  Engels  gathered  his  data  from  Zimmermann,  he 
elaborated  them  independently  on  the  basis  of  the  material- 
istic conception  of  history,  and  with  the  recent  experience 
furnished  him  by  the  revolution  of  1 848,  by  which  means  he 
acquired  a  great  many  new  and  important  glimpses  into  the 
causes  of  the  Peasant  War,  which  we  have  found  of  the 
utmost  importance  in  the  following  account. 

On   one  point — and  that  certainly  an   essential  one — we 


\ 


THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND  THOMAS  MUNZER     109 

cannot  agree  with  Zimmermann.  He  holds  that  Mtinzer  was 
ahead  of  his  age  and  superior  to  it.  "  Mtinzer  was  three 
centuries  in  advance  of  his  time,  not  only  in  his  political  but 
also  in  his  religious  views."  ^ 

Zimmermann  came  to  this  conviction  after  comparing 
Miinzer's  opinions  with  those  of  more  modern  thinkers,  such 
as  Penn,  Zinzendorf,  Rousseau,  &c.  Had  he  compared  them 
with  the  earlier  communistic  sects,  he  would  have  found  that 
Miinzer  moved  entirely  within  their  sphere  of  thought; 
indeed  we  have  not  succeeded  in  discovering  a  single  new 
idea  in  him. 

In  our  judgment  also  the  importance  of  the  man  as  an 
organiser  and  propagandist  has  been  much  overrated.  The 
persecution  of  the  Beghards  and  Waldenses,  which  had  not 
ceased,  indicates  that  not  only  the  opinions,  but  also  the 
organisations  of  the  communistic  sects,  had  been  preserved 
up  to  the  time  of  the  Reformation.  We  may  assume  that, 
contemporaneously  with  Mtinzer,  perhaps  indeed  before  him, 
as  was  notorious  in  Zwickau,  countless  agitators  and  organi- 
sers were  active  in  promulgating  the  same  opinions,  and  that 
in  many  places  secret  associations  were  already  in  existence, 
upon  whom  they  could  rely  for  support. 

Mtinzer  surpassed  his  communistic  confederates  not  only 
in  philosophic  conceptions  and  in  the  talent  for  organising, 
but  in  his  revolutionary  energy,  and  especially  in  his  states- 
manlike discernment.  The  communists  in  the  Middle  Ages 
were  universally  inclined  to  peace.  In  revolutionary  times  it 
is  true  they  were  easily  carried  away  by  the  fever  of  sedition. 
When  the  Reformation  set  the  whole  of  Germany  in  a  mighty 
blaze  the  communists  did  not  remain  unaffected  by  it,  but 
many  of  them  appeared  to  doubt  the  efficacy  of  violent 
measures — the  South  Germans  in  particular,  as  they  were 
influenced  by  the  Swiss  Anabaptists,  who  were  decidedly 
opposed  to  Mtinzer's  opinion  that  force  alone  could  procure 
the  spread  of  the  gospel.  They  wanted  to  fight  with  spiritual 
weapons  only — to  "  conquer  the  world  with  the  Word  of 
God,"  as  they  expressed  it  at  the  time.  We  shall  revert  to 
this  in  the  chapter  which  deals  with  the  Anabaptists. 
'  Op.  cit.  2nd  ed.,  vol.  i.  p.  162. 


no  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL   EUROPE 

■  Munzer  was  very  far  from  displaying  this  peaceful  dis- 
position. His  vehemence  and  energy  could  not  be  surpassed, 
though  at  the  same  time  he  was  anything  but  a  simpleton  or 
narrow-minded  sectarian.  He  had  a  very  good  knowledge  of 
the  existing  situation,  and  amidst  all  his  mystical  enthusiasm 
did  not  fail  to  reckon  with  facts.  Moreover,  very  far  from 
limiting  his  operations  to  a  small  community  of  true  believers, 
he  appealed  to  all  the  revolutionary  elements  of  his  time,  and 
sought  to  make  them  serve  his  purpose. 

He  failed  in  his  purpose  it  is  true,  but  his  failure  was  due 
to  circumstances  beyond  his  control.  He  did  what  he  could 
with  the  means  at  his  command,  and  that  an  insurrection  of 
unarmed  peasants  in  Thuringia,  in  1525,  could  for  a  time 
threaten  the  very  foundations  of  existing  society  was  owing, 
in  no  small  degree,  to  Thomas  Mlinzer — to  his  extravagant 
communistic  enthusiasm,  combined  with  an  iron  determi- 
nation, passionate  impetuosity,  and  statesmanlike  sagacity. 

V.  Manser's  Early   Years. 

Munzer  was  born  at  Stolberg,  at  the  foot  of  the  Hartz 
Mountains,  in  1490  or  1493.^  All  information  as  to  his 
youth  and  early  studies  is  lacking.  It  is  certain  that  he 
pursued  a  literary  course  with  success,  as  he  obtained  a 
Doctor's  degree.  He  became  a  priest,  but  his  rebellious 
nature  soon  declared  itself ;  for  in  Halle,  where  he  worked  as 
a  teacher,  he  instituted  a  league  against  Ernest  H.,  Arch- 
bishop of  Magdeburg  and  Primate  of  Germany  ;  and  when 
this  high  functionary  died,  in  15 13,  Munzer  could  not  have 
been  more  than  twenty-three  years  old.  In  1515  we  find  him 
Provost  in  Frohsa,  near  Aschensleben,  apparently  in  a 
nunnery,  where,  however,  he  did  not  remain  long.  After 
numerous  journeyings  in  all  directions,  he  finally  arrived  at  a 
convent  in  Beutitz,  near  Weissenfels,  to  which  he  had  been 
appointed  confessor.  Even  there  he  seems  to  have  soon  lost 
patience  and  to  have  left  the  place  ;  for  in  1520  he  became 
a  preacher  in  Zwickau,  with  the  consent  of  Luther,  whose 

'  Seidemann  says  it  was  in  1490,  but  Zimmermann  has  found  it  also 
stated  as  occurring  in  1493. 


THE   GERMAN  REFORMATION    AND  THOMAS  MUNZER    iii 

struggle  against  Rome  was  taken  up  passionately  by  the 
young  enthusiast  and  reformer.  This  residence  in  Zwickau 
decided  his  future  career. 

At  first  he  was  a  preacher  at  the  Church  of  St.  Mary,  and 
subsequently  at  St.  Catherine's,  in  which,  as  Seidemann  says, 
"  he  was  an  interloper."  This  fact  has  seemed  very  unimpor- 
tant hitherto,  but  it  does  not  appear  so  to  us,  for  the  Church 
of  St.  Catherine  was,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  centre  of  the 
journeymen  clothmakers'  quarter.  They  had  set  up  their 
own  altar  there  in  1475,  and  the  guild  had  endowed  the 
benefice  with  a  dwelling-house  and  a  yearly  stipend  of  thirty- 
five  florins  for  the  priest.  The  weavers  held  their  assemblies 
in  the  churchyard.  The  Church  of  St.  Mary,  on  the  other 
hand,  appears  to  have  been  the  place  of  worship  for  the 
moneyed  classes. 

Whether  a  leaning  towards  the  journeymen  clothmakers 
prompted  Miinzer  to  solicit  the  post  of  preacher  in  their 
church,  or  whether  his  opinions  were  the  consequence  of  that 
step,  cannot  now  be  decided.  It  is  certain  that,  as  their 
preacher,  he  came  into  the  closest  intercourse  with  them, 
learned  their  views,  and  was  immediately  influenced  in  the 
highest  degree  by  them.  A  report  ^  of  his  dealings  with  the 
journeymen  clothmakers  was  published  in  1523,  in  which  we 
are  told  that  "  the  journeymen  cling  to  him,  and  he  has  held 
more  meetings  with  them  than  with  the  esteemed  priest- 
hood. Thus  it  appears  that  Master  Thomas  has  shown 
preference  for  the  journeymen,  chiefly  for  one  named  Nicholas 
Storch,  whom  he  praised  highly  from  the  pulpit,  and  has 
depicted  in  glowing  colours,  exalting  him  above  the  priests 
as  if  he  was  the  only  one  who  had  a  knowledge  of  the  Bible 
and  was  deeply  imbued  with  its  spirit.  Master  Thomas  at 
the  same  time  extolled  himself,  declaring  that  he  was  eager 
for  the  truth  and  possessed  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  in  con- 
sequence of  this  unseemly  conduct  that  Storch  as  well  as 
Thomas  has  dared  to  establish  conventicles  after  the  manner 
of  the  Beghards,  who  set  up  a  cobbler  or  a  tailor  to  preach. 
Hence  the  choice  of  Nicholas  Storch  arose  through  the  in- 

'  To  be  found  in  the  Appendix  of  Seidemann's  work,  Miinzer, 
p.  109,  sqq. 


112  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

fluence  of  Master  Thomas,  who  declared  his  approval  of  the 
doctrine  that  the  laity  ought  to  become  our  prelates  and 
pastors,  and  be  responsible  for  the  faith.  Such  was  the 
origin  of  the  Storchists,  a  sect  which  increased  so  much 
among  the  laity  that  it  was  openly  said  they  had  formed  an 
association  of  twelve  apostles  and  seventy-two  disciples." 

This  was  a  bold  step  of  the  communists,  and  necessarily 
led  to  a  conflict.  So  long  as  Miinzer  had  thundered  against 
the  rich  priests  he  had  won  the  applause  of  the  municipal 
council  and  the  citizens,  but  now  things  were  to  be  changed. 

The  contest  shortly  assumed  the  aspect  of  a  religious 
war  between  the  two  churches — the  weavers'  church,  St. 
Catherine,  and  that  of  the  moneyed  class,  St.  Mary  ;  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  it  was  a  conflict  between  their  respective 
preachers,  Miinzer  and  Johann  Wildenau  von  Eger  (Egranus). 
A  dispute  between  the  two  began  in  the  year  1520.  Either 
Wildenau  was  really  the  debauched  person  described  by  his 
adversary,  or  else  he  did  not  find  sufficient  support  among 
the  citizens  ;  in  any  case,  he  gave  way  to  Miinzer  in  the 
spring  of  1521. 

This  success  made  the  journeymen  clothmakers  bolder, 
but  it  must  also  have  made  the  municipal  council  and  the 
burgesses  more  uneasy,  and  in  consequence  more  inclined  to 
use  forcible  measures.  An  opportunity  for  these  was  soon 
found  in  a  weavers'  riot,  in  which,  however,  Miinzer  was  not 
in  the  least  interested,  if  we  are  to  credit  his  letter  to  Luther 
of  July  9,  1523.  Fifty-five  journeymen  clothmakers  were 
put  in  prison,  while  those  who  were  most  implicated  fled,  and 
Miinzer  was  banished.  Nicholas  Storch  and  others  left 
Zwickau  also,  either  at  the  same  time  or  soon  after,  as  the 
place  had  become  too  hot  for  them.  Going  to  Wittenberg, 
where  they  arrived  in  December,  1521,  they  entered  into 
correspondence  with  Melancthon  and  Karlstadt,  as  we  have 
seen.  Miinzer,  on  the  contrary,  turned  towards  Prague, 
where  he  hoped  to  find  associates  in  the  land  of  the  Tabo- 
rites  and  a  fruitful  soil  for  his  ministry. 

But  Bohemia  had  become  a  worse  soil  for  Taborite  teach- 
ings than  even  Saxony.  The  valiant  democracy  had  long 
since  been  crushed  in  decisive  battles  with  the  great  aristoc- 


THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND   THOMAS  MUNZER     113 

racy,  and  the  last  remnant  of  the  democratic  communism 
which  had  influenced  the  Bohemian  Brethren  had  been  dis- 
torted beyond  recognition,  the  middle-class  interest  having 
overpowered  the  proletariat. 

Prague  was  the  last  place  in  the  world  for  a  man  like 
Miinzer.  Even  at  the  time  when  the  power  of  the  Taborites 
was  at  its  highest  point,  the  town  proved  at  best  but  a  luke- 
warm friend,  while,  as  a  rule,  it  was  a  decided  enemy  to 
Taboritism.  Now  it  had  become  a  strong  pillar  of  the  ruling 
classes. 

Miinzer  reached  Prague  in  the  autumn,  and  after  having 
posted  up  an  appeal  to  the  Bohemians,  began  preaching  with 
the  help  of  an  interpreter.  Scarcely  had  he  become  the 
object  of  attention,  however,  when  his  freedom  as  a  preacher 
came  to  an  abrupt  end.  He  was  placed  under  police  super- 
vision (being  accompanied  by  four  guards  at  a  time),  and 
was  soon  afterwards  banished  from  the  town,  which  he  quitted 
January  25,  1522. 

VI.  Miinzer  in  Allstdtt. 

From  Bohemia  Miinzer  returned  to  Saxony,  staying  a  short 
time  in  Nordhausen,  and  finally  going  to  Allstatt  Like 
Zwickau,  this  place  was  situated  close  to  a  great  mining 
district — the  copper,  silver,  and  gold  mines  of  Mansfeld. 
We  may  assume  that  the  miners,  bold  and  trained  to  the  use 
of  arms,  supported  the  proletarian  tendencies  of  Allstatt,  and 
that  Munzer's  agitation  was  favoured  by  their  proximity. 
Hunted  as  he  was  from  place  to  place,  Miinzer  certainly 
found  Allstatt  a  spot  where  he  could  work  under  en- 
couraging conditions.  He  soon  gained  a  firm  footing  as  a 
preacher,  and  we  may  consider  it  as  a  sign  of  his  confidence 
in  the  future  that  he  married  one  of  the  nuns,  named  Otilie 
von  Gersen,  who  had  quitted  the  cloister  (Easter,  1523). 

In  the  midst  of  these  personal  matters,  however,  Miinzer 
did  not  forget  the  object  to  which  he  had  devoted  himself. 
He  arranged  an  order  of  Divine  Service  entirely  in  German, 
being  the  first  among  the  German  reformers  who  did  so,  and 
permitted  all  the  books  of  the  Bible  to  be  read  aloud  and 
taken  as  subjects  for  sermons,  and  not  the  New  Testament 

9 


114  COMMUNISM  IN   CENTRAL  EUROPE 

only.  The  Old  Testament,  republican  as  it  is  in  many  of  its 
parts,  suited  the  democratic  sects  better  than  the  New  Testa- 
ment, which  is  the  product  of  a  Roman  imperial  association  ; 
and  this  predilection  for  the  Old  Testament  can  be  traced 
from  the  Taborites  down  to  the  Puritans. 

The  "  hypocritical  papistic  confessional  "  was  abolished,  and 
the  Holy  Communion  administered  in  both  kinds. 

The  whole  of  the  congregation  were  to  assist  in  Divine 
Service,  the  privileged  position  of  the  priest  being  done  away 
with.  "  Our  adversaries  say  that  we  teach  the  plough-boys 
from  the  field  to  celebrate  Mass,"  says  Miinzer  himself 

We  find  this  remark  in  the  first  extant  pamphlet  of  his 
which  treats  of  the  new  order  of  Divine  Service  just 
mentioned  :  Ordnung  und  Berechnung  des  teutschen  ainpts  zu 
Alstddt  durch  Toman  Miinzer,  Slc.     Alstedt,  1524. 

Two  other  publications  deal  with  the  same  subject,  the 
Deutsch  Evangelische  Messe  and  Deutzsch  Kirchenanipt,  &c. 
Alstedt,  probably  1 524.  In  addition  to  these,  Munzer  published 
in  Allstatt  two  propagandist  pamphlets,  the  Protestation  and 
Erdichteten  Glauben. 

There  are  also  two  letters  of  that  time  worthy  of  mention. 
One  (which  was  to  be  circulated),  dated  the  i8th  of  July, 
1523  :  "an  earnest  epistle  to  his  dear  brother  at  Stolberg  to 
avoid  unbecoming  tumult,"  and  exhorting  the  Fraternity  to  be 
patient,  as  they  had  not  yet  attained  to  a  right  frame  of  mind. 
"  It  is  an  exceeding  folly  that  so  many  of  the  chosen  friends 
of  God  should  suppose  that  He  would  haste  to  do  good  to 
Christendom  and  come  instantly  to  its  help,  when  no  one 
longs  for  it,  or  is  really  striving  to  become  poor  in  spirit 
through  suffering  and  steadfastness."  The  people  were  still 
too  well  off.  It  must  be  worse  with  them  before  it  could  be 
better,  for  "  God  ordains  that  tyrants  should  rage  in  order 
that  the  elect  may  be  filled  with  a  fervent  desire  to  seek  Him. 
The  man  who  has  not  believed  against  belief,  hoped  against 
hope,  hated  contrary  to  the  love  of  God,  knows  not  that  God 
Himself  will  show  mankind  what  is  necessary  for  them."  In 
conclusion,  he  blames  the  brothers  for  their  luxury  and  want 
of  firmness.  "  I  understand  that  you  are  vainglorious,  idle  in 
study,  and  are  shirking  your  duties.     When  you  drink,  you 


THE   GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND    THOMAS  MUNZER     115 

chatter  about  our  cause,  but  when  you  are  sober  you  are  as 
frightened  as  cowards.  Mend  your  lives,  dearest  brothers,  in 
these  things.  Shun  riotous  living ;  flee  the  flesh  with  all  its 
desires  ;  be  bolder  than  you  have  been,  and  write  to  me  how 
you  have  traded  with  your  pound." 

The  other  letter,  an  exposition  of  the  19th  Psalm,  he 
wrote  in  May,  1524;  and  it  was  published  in  1525  by 
Johannes  Agricola  of  Eisleben,  in  order  to  prejudice  the 
people  against  Mtinzer  and  prove  to  them  "  that  all  the  world 
may  perceive  how  the  devil  intends  to  make  himself  equal 
with  God."  ^  It  does  not  contain  any  remarkable  ideas  which 
had  not  been  expressed  under  different  forms  in  Munzer's 
writings  at  that  time. 

The  exposition  of  the  second  chapter  of  Daniel,  which  also 
appeared  at  Allstatt,  will  be  noticed  in  due  course. 

The  first  of  these  publications  (the  Ordnung  des  deutschen 
Amis)  contains  all  the  essential  characteristics  of  the  Mtinzer 
philosophy  ;  his  mysticism,  disdain  of  the  Bible,  contempt  of 
learned  men,  and  finally  his  pantheism  and  religious  tolerance. 
But  he  disdained  the  Bible  only  in  so  far  as  it  is  not  supported 
by  the  voice  of  interior  revelation,  which  could  only  be  won 
through  suffering — through  asceticism. 

We  have  already  given  examples  of  his  mysticism. 

The  following  passage  shows  his  pantheism  clearly  enough  : 
"  He  "  (man)  "  must  and  ought  to  know  that  God  is  in  him  ; 
he  is  not  to  imagine  Him  to  be  a  thousand  miles  away,  but 
that  heaven  and  earth  are  full,  full  of  God ;  that  the  Father 
unceasingly  forms  the  Son  in  us ;  and  the  Holy  Spirit, 
through  heart-felt  sorrow,  interprets  in  us  none  other  than 
the  Crucified." 

MUnzer's  religious  tolerance  is  evident  from  the  following 
injunction  :  "  No  one  ought  to  be  surprised  that  we  celebrate 
the  Mass  in  German  at  Allstatt.  We  are  not  the  only  ones 
who  make  use  of  a  ritual  differing  from  the  Roman  ;  at 
Mediolan  [Milan]  in  Lombardy,  many  have  a  mode  of  cele- 
brating Mass  different  from  that  in  use  at  Rome.  The  Croats, 
Bohemians,    Armenians,   &c.,   celebrate    Mass    in   their   own 

'  Aiisslegung  dcs  XIX.  Psalms  Coeli  enarrant  diirch  Thomas  Miintzcr  an 
syner  crsten  ■Jungcr  aincn,     Wittenberg,  1525. 


ii6  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

tongue  ;  the  Russians  have  quite  other  genuflexions,  and  yet 
they  are  not  devils  on  that  account.  Ah !  what  blind, 
ignorant  beings  we  are,  that  we  should  dare  to  be  Christians 
in  external  pomp  only,  and  quarrel  with  one  another  over 
it,  like  mad,  brute  creatures."  Even  the  heathen  and  Turk 
are  not  worse  than  Christians.  God  will  "not  despise  our 
retrograde,  dull  Roman  brothers." 

These  are  assuredly  great  and  deep  thoughts  for  that  era  ; 
but  they  are  not  peculiar  to  Munzer.  We  find  pantheistic 
mysticism  in  earlier  times  among  the  brothers  and  sisters  of 
the  Free-Spirit. 

Even  Munzer's  religious  tolerance  had  its  forerunners,  for 
we  know  that  it  had  astonished  ^neas  Sylvius  among  the 
Taborites,  and  was  also  advocated  by  the  Bohemian  Fraternity. 
This  religious  tolerance  was,  nevertheless,  interpreted  in  a 
very  limited  sense.  It  was  impossible  that  it  could  extend 
to  every  religious  question,  at  an  epoch  when  all  the  great 
causes  of  contentions  in  the  State  and  in  society  appeared 
under  the  garb  of  religion.  Munzer  hated  all  hypocritical 
tolerance  behind  which  timidity  and  lack  of  character  con- 
cealed themselves.  "  There  is  nothing  upon  earth,"  he  ex- 
claims, "  that  has  a  better  shape  and  mask  than  imaginary 
goodness,  and  this  is  the  reason  why  all  corners  of  the  earth 
are  full  of  hypocrites,  amongst  whom  none  are  bold  enough 
to  venture  to  speak  the  truth.  T/ze  godless  have  no  right  to 
live^  except  in  so  far  as  they  are  permitted  to  do  so  by  the  elect!'  ^ 
This  passage  seems  a  contradiction  to  the  other  which  shows 
Munzer's  toleration,  but  the  contradiction  vanishes  when  one 
considers  to  what  this  toleration  is  applied.  It  applies  simply 
to  international  relations  ;  it  is  the  result  of  his  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  sovereignty  of  the  people.  Every  nation,  he 
declares,  may  organise  its  religion  as  it  thinks  proper  ;  it  is  a 
matter  of  indifference  to  us.  What  concern  is  it  of  ours  if  the 
Turks  and  heathen  believe  what  they  please,  or  if  the  "  retro- 
grade Roman  brothers  "  celebrate  the  Mass  in  their  own  way. 
We  wish  for  nothing  except  that  we  should  be  allowed  to 
regulate  our   own  affairs  according  to  our  necessities.     No 

'  Exposition  of  the  second  mystery  of  Daniel  (.4  usmegung  des  andern 
Unterschiedes  Daniels). 


THE   GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND    THOMAS  MUNZER     117 

animosity  therefore  ought  to  exist  against  foreign  nations. 
Munzer's  proclamation  of  relentless  class-war  in  their  own 
country  is  not  by  any  means  in  contradiction  to  this  opinion. 

But  this  statement  is  taken  from  one  of  his  later  writings  ; 
those  hitherto  given  are  of  a  peaceful  character — as  peaceful 
as  is  possible  to  a  fiery  soul.  They  are  propagandist  writings, 
dealing  principally  with  questions  of  religion  and  church 
organisation,  and  containing  no  revolutionary  threats  or 
appeals.  Mtinzer  was  not  yet  a  rebel,  nor  even  in  open 
opposition  to  authority.  He  had,  however,  quarrelled  with 
Luther,  personal  rivalry  being  apparently  the  cause. 

Perhaps  no  period  proved  so  distinctly  how  little  Luther's 
personal  initiative  gave  rise  to  the  Reformation  as  the  years 
1522  and  1523.^ 

He  not  only  allowed  himself  to  be  driven  by  circumstances 
without  recognising  their  inner  connection,  but  he  was  even 
outstripped  in  the  career  on  which  he  had  entered  by  others. 
While  he  remained  in  quiet  contemplation  on  the  Wartburg 
and  translated  the  Bible,  the  energetic  elements  of  Witten- 
berg, led  by  Karlstadt,  and  influenced  by  the  Zwickau 
enthusiasts  who  happened  to  be  in  that  town,  forestalled  the 
practical  results  of  a  conflict  with  Rome  by  abolishing 
celibacy,  monastic  vows,  fasting,  the  adoration  of  pictures, 
private  Masses,  &c.,  so  that  later  on  Luther  had  nothing  to 
do  but  to  accept  and  sanction  these  reforms  ;  that  is  in  so  far 
as  he  did  not  abrogate  them. 

One  year  after  these  occurrences  at  Wittenberg,  the  man 
who  already  considered  himself  to  be  the  leader  in  the 
struggle  for  "  Gospel  truth,"  allowed  himself  to  be  surpassed 
by  Miinzer  in  one  matter — the  order  of  Divine  Service  in 
German  ;  for  the  latter  introduced  it  into  Allstatt  and  with 
such  success  that  there  was  nothing  for  Luther  to  do  but  to 
copy  it.  He  did  not  wish,  however,  to  appear  before  the 
world  as  an  imitator ;  Munzer's  innovation  must  be  kept 
out  of  sight  till  his  own  copy  of  it  was  established.  There 
was  a  simple  way  of  securing  this  end,  of  which  Miinzer 
himself  speaks  in  his  apology  iSchutzrede)  wherein  he 
accuses  Luther  of  having,  through  jealousy,  "  induced  his 
Prince  not  to  permit  my  Service  to  be  printed." 


ii8  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

This  accusation  Luther  never  answered. 

The  rivalry  of  the  two  reformers  did  not  tend  to  make  their 
intercourse  more  friendly.  But  the  true  ground  of  their 
differences  lay  deeper. 

Luther  had  not  yet  taken  any  decided  action  with  regard 
to  the  democracy,  not  being  certain  of  the  side  to  which  the 
reins  of  power  would  fall.  But  his  civic  instinct  was  too 
much  developed  for  him  not  to  see  ^/zai  communistic  sectarians 
should  in  no  case  be  permitted  to  thrive. 

He  had  recognised  this  as  early  as  1522,  when  the  Zwickau 
enthusiasts  had  begun  to  gain  influence  in  Wittenberg  ;  but 
as  neither  Melancthon  nor  the  Prince  Elector  had  taken 
any  decided  stand,  it  became  impossible  for  him  to  remain 
any  longer  on  the  Wartburg.  Hastening,  therefore,  to  Wit- 
tenberg early  in  1522,  he  dispersed  these  dangerous  people, 
Storch  going  to  South  Germany,  where  he  disappeared. 
Luther  sought  to  silence  Karlstadt  in  the  same  way  as  he 
had  silenced  Miinzer,  and  caused  his  writings  to  be  confiscated 
by  the  authorities.  In  consequence  of  this,  Karlstadt  betook 
himself  first  to  the  country  near  Wittenberg,  where  he  bought 
a  property  and  wished  to  live  as  a  peasant  among  peasants, 
desiring  them  no  longer  to  call  him  doctor,  but  neighbour 
Andreas.  We  soon  find  him  again,  however,  actively 
agitating  and  organising  with  great  success  in  Orlamiinda, 
where  he  regulated  the  Church  community  on  wholly 
democratic  principles,  and  made  a  clean  sweep  of  all 
Catholic    ceremonies. 

When  Miinzer  appeared  again  in  Allstatt,  Luther,  who 
knew  of  his  connection  with  the  people  of  Zwickau,  could 
not  but  look  upon  him  with  distrust,  which  increased  in 
proportion  to  Miinzer's  importance.  Moreover,  the  stings 
of  jealousy  contributed  greatly  to  render  Luther  extremely 
indignant.  But  the  man  was  difficult  to  get  at.  In  vain 
Luther  summoned  him  to  Wittenberg  for  the  purpose  of 
examining  him  ;  Miinzer  declared  that  he  would  only  appear 
among  a  community  in  which  he  was  in  no  danger. 

Since  Miinzer  would  not  go  to  Wittenberg,  the  Saxon 
Princes  (Frederick,  with  his  brother  and  co-regent,  the  Duke 
John)  came  to  Allstatt,  induced  to  do  so  by  the  disturbances 


THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND    THOMAS  MUNZER     119 

which  had  taken  place  in  the  neighbourhood  of  that  town. 
They  not  only  attempted  nothing  against  Miinzer,  however, 
but  even  permitted  him  to  deliver  an  oration  before  them, 
which  was  bolder  than  had  ever  been  made  before  reigning 
princes.  This  speech  alone  suffices  to  contradict  the  gossip 
about  Miinzer's  cowardice,  which  is  traceable  through  all  the 
anti-democratic  statements  concerning  his  movements. 

Far  from  disavowing  his  revolutionary  views,  Miinzer  in  his 
oration  declared  revolution  necessary,  adding  that  it  was  best 
for  the  Princes  to  place  themselves  at  its  head,  otherwise  the 
rebellious  people  would  stride  over  them.  This  discourse 
displayed  no  very  great  confidence  that  the  reigning  Princes 
would  act  upon  the  appeal,  but  it  nevertheless  proves  that 
Miinzer  did  not  consider  it  as  wholly  impossible  to  gain  at 
least  the  Prince  Elector  to  his  side.^ 

The  Prince  Elector  indeed  showed  great  indulgence 
towards  these  popular  movements,  as  we  have  seen  in  the 
case  of  the  Zwickau  enthusiasts.  To  this  circumstance  it 
is  possibly  due  that  Miinzer  was  dismissed  unhurt  by  the 
Regents,  though  perhaps  this  may  have  been  also  owing  to 
the  consideration  which  Miinzer  enjoyed  in  Allstatt.  Duke 
John  possessed  far  more  class-feeling  than  his  brother 
Frederick,  and  when  Miinzer  published  his  discourse  2  fell 
into  such  a  rage  that  he  exiled  Nicholas  Widemar  of  Eilen- 
burg,  the  printer  of  Miinzer's  pamphlets,  from  Saxon  terri- 
tories. In  vain  Miinzer  protested  against  this  in  a  letter 
dated  July  13th.  Widemar  was  prohibited  from  printing 
anything  whatsoever  without  the  sanction  of  the  authorities 
at  Weimar. 

'  "  If  you  would  be  a  true  regent,  you  must  begin  your  government 
at  the  roots,"  The  roots  of  idolatry  must  be  destroyed.  The  sword  is 
the  means  of  exterminating  the  godless.  "  In  order  that  this  should  be 
done  honestly  and  in  accordance  with  the  law,  it  must  be  done  by  our 
dear  fathers,  the  Princes  who  profess  Christ  with  us.  If,  however,  they 
do  not  do  it,  the  sword  will  be  taken  from  them- (Daniel  vii.),  for  they 
profess  Him  with  their  lips  and  deny  Him  by  their  deeds."  After  this 
he  spoke  against  hypocritical  tolerance,  concluding  with  the  appeal : 
"  Only  be  bold  !  He  Himself  will  rule  to  whom  all  power  is  given  in 
heaven  and  in  earth,  as  St.  Matthew  says  in  his  last  chapter.  May  He 
keep  and  guard  you  to  all  eternity.    Amen." 

^  Ausslegung  des  andern  untcrsyds  Danidis  des  propheten. 


I20  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

The  only  effect  on  Miinzer's  resolute  nature  was  that  he 
had  a  new  propagandist  pamphlet  printed  in  the  neighbour- 
ing town  of  Mlihlhausen,  where  a  popular  movement  had  just 
been  victorious  ;  it  was  entitled,  "  An  unveiling  of  the  False 
Beliefs  of  the  Faithless  World.''^ 

On  the  title-page  he  calls  himself  "  Miinzer  with  the 
Hammer,"  in  allusion  to  a  passage  in  Jeremiah  xxiii.  29,  in 
which  the  Lord  says,  "Is  not  My  word  .  .  .  like  a  hammer 
that  breaketh  the  rock  in  pieces  ?"  "  Dear  brethren,"  he 
continues,  further  on  in  the  title-page,  "  let  us  also  make  the 
hole  wider,  to  the  end  that  all  the  world  may  see  and 
understand  who  are  those  great  ones  of  the  earth  who  talk 
so  blasphemously  of  God,  and  have  made  Him  like  to  a 
painted  dummy." 

This  shows  the  whole  character  of  the  pamphlet.  It  begins 
with  a  polemic  against  the  clergy,  who  deceive  the  poor  ; 
and  advises  the  latter  to  emancipate  themselves  from 
priestly  rule.  "  Ye  cannot  serve  God  and  Mammon. 
Whoever  taketh  honours  and  goods  into  possession  will 
be  eternally  lost  to  God  at  the  last,  as  God  declares  in  the 
5th  Psalm,  that  their  heart  *  is  very  wickedness,'  For  this 
shall  the  violent  and  sullen  men  be  thrust  from  their  seats. 
The  government  and  authority  of  godless,  foolish  men  storm 
and  rage  against  God  and  His  Anointed,"  yea,  some  few  are 
now  beginning  to  "  put  their  people  into  the  stocks,  into  the 
pillory,  and  to  scourge  and  flog  them,  and,  worse  than  all,  to 
threaten  all  Christians,  and  to  torture  and  ignominiously  put 
to  death  their  own  people  as  well  as  strangers,  so  that,  after 
all  the  troubles  of  the  elect,  God  will  neither  be  able  nor 
willing  to  behold  such  misery  any  longer."  God  puts  more 
on  His  own  people  than  they  are  able  to  bear,  and  it  must 
and  will  end  very  soon. 

The  Princes  are  the  scourges  with  which  God  punishes  the 
world  in  His  wrath.  "  Therefore  they  are  nothing  else  than 
executioners  and  warders.     That  is  their  whole  office." 

It  is  not  they  who  are  to  be  feared,  but  God.  But  no 
one  need  despair  of  God.     With  Him  nothing  is  impossible, 

'  Aussgetruckte  emplossung  des  falschen  Glatibcns  dcr  vngetrewen  Welt. 
Thomas  Miinzer  mit  Hammer.     Miihlhausen,  1524. 


THE   GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND    THOMAS  MUNZER     121 

not  even  the  triumph  of  communistic  revolution.  "  Many 
people  may  fancy  it  to  be  a  very  wild  delusion.  It  seems 
to  them  impossible  that  such  an  undertaking  should  be  set  on 
foot  and  accomplished  as  the  putting  down  the  godless 
from  the  seat  of  judgment,  and  exalting  them  of  low  degree. 
Indeed  it  is  a  grand  belief  notwithstanding,  and  will  yet 
do  a  great  deal  of  good."  The  impossible  will  become 
possible,  "and  it  may  establish  a  refined  society  such  as 
was  contemplated  by  Plato  the  Philosopher  {De  Republica), 
and  Apuleius  of  the  Golden  Ass." 

The  remainder  of  the  pamphlet  is  only  repetition.  If  we 
compare  it  with  Miinzer's  earlier  publications  in  Allstatt,  a 
marked  difference  is  observable.  The  Exposition  of  the 
second  chapter  of  Daniel  forms  a  transition  stage  between 
the  latter  and  the  former.  The  question  now  for  Miinzer 
was  rather  how  to  urge  on  and  incite  his  associates,  than 
to  convince  and  persuade  those  who  did  not  share  his  views. 
And  it  is  no  longer  ecclesiastical,  but  political  and  social 
revolution  to  which  he  attaches  the  greater  importance. 
The  Exposition  was  an  attempt  to  enlist  the  Princes  in  favour 
of  the  subject  of  revolution  ;  but  now  the  Princes  are  the 
chief  enemy  and  not  the  Pope,  and  the  question  was  no 
longer  of  vague  conceptions  of  the  "  Gospel,"  but  of  pure 
communism  "  such  as  was  contemplated  by  Plato  the 
Philosopher,"  whose  work  on  the  State,  Miinzer  must  there- 
fore have  known. 

This  change  of  purport  and  tone  in  Miinzer's  agitation  had 
certainly  been  brought  about  in  part  through  his  conflict  with 
the  Princes,  which  plainly  showed  him  that  he  could  accom- 
plish his  designs  only  by  resisting  his  rulers.  But  perhaps  in 
a  considerably  greater  degree  the  cause  for  this  change 
probably  lies  deeper  still,  being  based  upon  the  general 
change  of  conditions  ;  for  just  at  that  time  the  first  feeble 
flicker  of  the  Peasant  War  was  showing  itself  It  was  now 
becoming  a  question  of  acting,  not  merely  of  preaching. 

VII.   The  Origin  of  the  Great  Peasant  War. 

We  have  already  had  occasion  to  speak  of  the  antagonisms 
which  led  to  the  peasant  wars,  but  it  now  becomes  necessary 


122  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL   EUROPE 

to  point  out  how  the  position  of  the  German  peasantry  at  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  differed  from  that  of  their 
predecessors. 

The  period  of  the  Hussite  Wars  may  be  fairly  considered 
as  approximately  the  line  of  demarcation  at  which  the  decline 
of  the  peasantry  began,  not  only  at  different  periods  and 
in  isolated  localities,  but  universally. 

We  see  the  principal  cause  of  this  in  the  growth  of  capital, 
and  in  the  autocratic  power  of  princes  with  which  it  was 
allied. 

The  inevitable  consequence  of  the  development  of  pro- 
duction and  trade  in  commodities  was  the  increase  of  capital. 
Capital,  and  above  all  commercial  capital,  requires  a  strong 
government  to  ensure  the  home  market  and  to  make  com- 
petition in  the  world's  emporiums  possible.  Hence  the 
capitalists  supported  the  development  of  autocratic  princely 
power,  with  its  two  great  tools,  bureaucracy  and  mercenary 
troops.  They  assisted  the  princes  in  their  conflicts  with 
the  undisciplined  masses  not  with  their  persons,  but  rather 
with  their  purses,  while  the  latter  on  their  part  sought 
to  maintain  their  hard-won  freedom  and  rights ;  the  nobles 
and  the  Church  being  ranged  on  one  side  and  the  peasants 
and  petty  townsmen  on  the  other.  In  this  struggle 
it  was  very  much  to  the  advantage  of  the  princes  and 
capitalists  that  •  the  antagonistic  classes  themselves  thus 
stood  in  sharp  opposition  to  each  other,  and  were  in  a 
state  of  embittered  conflict. 

Capitalists  and  princes  managed  to  make  all  these  classes 
more  and  more  dependent  on  them.  Every  one  sought  to 
throw  off  his  own  burden,  which  thus  fell  finally  with  re- 
doubled weight  on  the  lowest  ranks  of  the  people ;  ie.,  the 
city  proletarians  and  the  peasants,  these  forming  the  great 
mass  of  the  population.  The  revolution  in  prices  increased 
the  effect  of  these  burdens. 

But  while  the  pressure  on  the  lower  classes  was  augmented, 
their  power  of  resistance  was  at  the  same  time  diminished. 
If  the  position  of  the  peasants  themselves  was  improved 
in  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  they  did  not 
owe  it  to  the  flourishing  condition  of  the  towns,  particularly 


V 


THE   GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND    THOMAS  MUNZER     123 

the  numerous  small  country  towns,  in  which  they  found  a 
support  against  the  common  enemy.  During  the  fifteenth 
century,  in  Germany,  the  towns  fell  more  and  more  into 
dependence  on  the  princes,  their  independence  being  finally 
lost  by  the  end  of  the  century.  The  comparatively  small 
number  which  had  managed  to  guard  their  freedom  were 
mostly  large  cities,  the  ruling  classes  of  which  had  them- 
selves taken  the  most  active  interest  in  the  peasant 
exploitation.  These  republican  cities  (and  among  them 
Nurenberg  was  by  far  the  most  important)  were  as  much 
in  favour  of  the  princes  as  Prague  had  been  during  the 
Hussite  Wars ;  but  the  small  town-bourgeois  had  been  the 
backbone  of  democracy,  and  in  proportion  as  these  lost 
their  independence  the  democratic  parties  lost  their  strength 
also. 

But  the  modification  of  town  life  made  the  position  of 
the  peasants  worse  in  yet  another  way  during  the  fifteenth 
century.  Till  the  fourteenth  century,  the  towns  had  been 
the  places  of  refuge  which  stood  open  to  the  peasantry. 
This  compelled  the  landowners,  if  they  did  not  wish  to 
lose  their  labourers,  to  attach  the  peasants  to  themselves ; 
when  possible  by  force,  but  where  force  would  have  failed 
by  kind  treatment. 

All  this  was  now  changed.  In  the  fifteenth  century  the 
closing  of  the  guilds  against  the  far  too  great  influx  of 
labourers  became  more  general.  This  led  to  the  oppression 
not  only  of  the  unorganised  town  proletariat,  but  of  the 
peasantry  likewise.  The  path  to  prosperity  in  the  towns 
being  thus  closed  to  them,  it  is  not  surprising  that  antagonisms 
should  spring  up  between  the  petty  citizens  and  the  towns 
and  the  peasantry,  sometimes  indeed  bridged  over  by 
alliances  against  their  common  enemies — the  Church,  the 
nobles,  princes,  capitalists — alliances  which,  however,  made 
their  friendship  even  then  a  very  cool  one. 

The  more  the  towns  ceased  to  be  places  of  refuge  for 
the  peasantry,  the  less  necessity  there  was  for  the  land- 
owners to  be  careful  of  them,  for  they  felt  they  had  a  hold 
on  them,  since  they  had  nothing  to  gain  in  the  towns  and 
were  not  completely  destitute  in  the  country.     The  towns 


124  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL   EUROPE 

were  becoming  more  and  more  closed  even  to  the  proletarians. 
A  country  proletariat  now  came  into  existence,  which  was 
increased  by  the  diminution  and  dispersion  of  the  feudal 
retainers,  a  natural  consequence  of  the  advance  into  the 
country  of  the  production  of  commodities,  and  the  thirst 
for  gold  connected  with  it.  The  reigning  princes  promoted 
this  advance  wherever  they  could  do  so,  in  order  to  lessen 
the  independence  of  the  nobles,  which  was  a  danger  to  them. 

But  the  development  of  production  in  commodities  gave 
also  a  greater  value  to  the  land  ;  on  the  one  side  prompting 
the  country  communes  to  be  exclusive,  and  on  the  other 
side  causing  the  landowners  to  lay  claim  to  and  appropriate 
the  common  property  of  the  commune  as  their  own  private 
possession. 

Let  us  now  consider  what  all  this  means.  The  places  of 
refuge  for  landless  people  became  closed  ;  at  the  same  time 
the  number  of  landless  people  was  increased  by  the  natural 
growth  of  the  population,  by  the  dispersion  of  the  retainers 
of  the  nobility,  and  by  the  ever-growing  burden  on  the 
peasantry  through  State  taxation,  demands  of  landlords 
and  the  interest  of  usurers.  Hence  we  cannot  wonder  that 
the  country  proletariat  rapidly  augmented. 

Moreover,  it  was  chiefly  the  ragged  proletariat  from  which 
sprang  beggars  and  swindlers,  as  well  as  robbers  and 
soldiers. 

In  the  fourteenth  century  the  mercenaries  had  still  been  to 
a  large  extent  the  younger  sons  of  peasants,  seeking  for 
adventure  and  booty,  who  returned  to  their  peasant  condition 
after  a  few  years  of  military  service  ;  they  shared  the  class- 
interests  of  their  kin,  and  were  therefore  not  available  for 
military  service  against  the  peasantry — at  least  in  their  own 
country.  After  their  return  from  war,  they  augmented  the 
number  of  peasants  capable  of  bearing  arms.  In  the  fif- 
teenth century  the  ragged  proletariat  became  more  and  more 
prominent  among  the  soldiery ;  the  unclassed,  so  to  speak, 
who  no  longer  recognised  any  class-interests,  but  went 
through  thick  and  thin  for  their  masters,  and  were  everything 
to  every  one — so  long  as  they  were  paid. 

The   military   capacity   for   resistance  on  the  part  of  the 


THE  GERMAN   REFORMATION  AND    THOMAS  MUNZER     125 

peasants  must  have  been  diminished  by  this  mercenary  spirit 
and  lack  of  class-feeHng,  and  even  to  a  greater  degree  by  the 
development  which  had  taken  place  in  the  art  of  war.  We 
have  already  seen  how  the  Taborites  revolutionised  this  art, 
and  it  developed  still  further  in  the  line  adopted  by  them,  for 
it  became  increasingly  important  to  exercise  the  population 
in  the  use  of  weapons,  and  to  train  bodies  of  men  in  skilful 
evolutions,  in  discipline,  and  in  concerted  and  prompt 
simultaneous  operations  of  the  separate  divisions  of  the 
army.  These  new  tactics  had  made  democracy  invincible  in 
the  hands  of  the  Taborites,  and  now  determined  the  military 
superiority  of  the  opponents  of  democracy.  The  regular 
soldier  was  alone  in  a  position  to  practise  these  tactics,  for  the 
peasants  and  petty  townsmen  had  no  time  at  their  disposal 
during  the  insurrections  occurring  in  the  second  half  of  the 
fifteenth  and  in  the  sixteenth  centuries,  in  which  to  train  a 
standing  army  in  their  midst,  at  all  comparable  with  that 
of  the  Taborites.  That  side  therefore  which  could  pay  the 
regular  soldier  secured  the  victory. 

The  application  of  gunpowder  to  military  purposes,  which 
had  made  rapid  strides  since  the  Hussite  Wars,  operated 
in  a  similar  way.  Gunpowder  has  been  called  a  democratic 
invention,  because  it  put  an  end  to  knighthood  ;  but  we  can- 
not discover  anything  "  democratic  "  in  the  use  made  of  this 
invention.  The  influence  of  gunpowder  in  breaking  the 
power  of  the  lower  nobility  is  often  very  much  over-estimated, 
for  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  it  helped  quite  as  much  to 
break  up  the  resistance  of  the  peasant  troops  as  that  of  the 
knightly  armies.  The  economic  and  military  bankruptcy  of 
the  lower  nobility  was  determined  before  the  use  of  fire-arms 
had  begun  to  be  of  essential  importance  in  the  art  of  war. 
The  development  of  fire-arms  is  the  last  link  in  that  chain, 
which  was  forged  in  the  sixteenth  century  ;  after  that  period 
the  one  thing  most  necessary  for  carrying  on  war  was  money, 
money — and  once  again,  money !  To  purchase  fire-arms  for 
the  exigencies  of  war  and  to  employ  them  for  that  purpose 
was  the  privilege  of  the  wealthy  possessors  of  power — i.e.,  the 
great  towns  and  the  princes.  They  helped  to  cast  down 
knighthood,  not  in  order  to  favour  the  peasants  and  petty 


126  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

townsmen,   but   to   afford    advantages   to  capitalists  and  to 
uphold  princely  dominance. 

The  cost  of  the  military  overthrow  of  the  nobles  fell  upon 
the  peasantry.  In  the  fourteenth  century  the  noble  had  been 
hard  pressed  from  above  and  from  below  at  the  same  time ; 
from  above  by  the  princes  (in  alliance  with  the  middle 
class) ;  from  below  by  the  peasants.  Long  did  he  seek  to 
defend  himself  from  both  ;  but  finally  he  submitted  to  the 
princes,  who  henceforth  undertook  the  task  of  keeping  his 
peasants  down.  He  sold  his  independence  in  order  to 
establish  his  power  over  his  people  more  firmly  for  the 
future. 

This  change  in  affairs  was  not  carried  out  everywhere  in  the 
same  way  or  at  the  same  time.  In  North  Germany,  and 
particularly  in  the  eastern  portion  of  it,  it  was  brought  about 
much  later  ;  but  in  South  and  Central  Germany  the  peasant 
felt  its  oppressive  effects  as  early  as  the  fifteenth  century,  and, 
certainly,  the  nearer  we  approach  to  the  sixteenth  century  the 
more  down-trodden  he  became.  At  the  beginning  of  that 
era  his  position  had  become  unbearable,  according  to  the 
apprehension  of  those  times,  though  it  differed  in  many 
respects  advantageously  from  that  of  the  working  classes  of 
town  and  country  in  the  present  day. 

The  increase  of  rents  payable  in  labour,  kind,  or  money, 
the  greater  dependence  on  the  lords  of  the  soil,  the  confisca- 
tion of  peasant  commune  property  in  field  and  wood  in 
favour  of  the  landlords  (the  confiscation  of  the  peasant's 
private  property  took  place  a  little  later)  could  not  of  course 
be  carried  out  without  violent  opposition  from  the  despoiled 
people.  During  the  fifteenth  century  one  popular  insurrec- 
tion followed  another,  and  they  became  more  frequent  and 
more  embittered  the  further  the  century  advanced. 

Then  came  the  Reformation  movement,  which  convulsed 
the  whole  nation,  and  united,  at  least  temporarily,  all  the 
local  antagonisms  into  one  national  class-opposition  which 
extended  over  almost  the  whole  kingdom.  Now  also  the 
various  peasant  agitations  joined  in  one  single  great  move- 
ment to  throw  off  the  yoke  which  was  crushing  them  to  the 
ground — the  last  and  most  powerful  of  the  great  strainings 


THE   GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND  THOMAS  MUNZER     127 

of  every  nerve  among  the  lower  classes  on  the  European 
continent  which  had  taken  place  for  centuries. 

Putting  England  out  of  the  question,  we  do  not  find  a 
similarly  grand  movement  till  1789  in  France,  where  it  took 
place  under  totally  different  and  more  favourable  condi- 
tions. Irresistible  as  was  the  latter  revolution,  that  of  1525 
carried  the  germs  of  death  deep  within  it  from  the  very 
first. 

With  the  peasantry  other  classes  rose  in  arms.  Society  is 
much  too  complicated  to  make  it  possible  for  one  class  alone 
to  create  a  great  revolutionary  disturbance.  Nevertheless 
it  is  always  one  class  to  whose  share  the  vanguard  falls  ;  in 
the  present  day  it  is  the  proletariat ;  in  1789  it  was  the  petty 
citizens  ;  in  1525  the  peasantry. 

The  allies  of  the  latter  we  know  already;  in  1525  the 
same  classes  fought  together  which  had  assembled  under  the 
banner  of  the  Taborites.  Now,  as  then,  a  portion  of  the 
bankrupt  lower  nobility  took  their  places  by  the  side  of  the 
rebels,  chiefly  in  prominent  positions  as  leaders  ;  in  which 
position  some  became  heroes  through  their  loyal  adherence  to 
their  convictions  (such  as  Florian  Geyer),  while  others  proved 
traitors  (like  Gotz  von  Berlichingen).  A  large  portion  also  of 
the  town  population  joined  the  peasantry,  especially  in  the 
small  towns,  the  proletariat  always  being  in  the  front  rank. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  condition 
of  German  towns  differed  from  that  of  the  Bohemian  in 
the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth.  The  cities  were  far  more 
intellectually  advanced,  but  politically  they  had  lost  much  of 
their  independence,  and  the  proletariat  was  still  the  only 
trusty  ally  of  the  peasants.  The  trade-masters  and  even  the 
trade-journeymen  had  been  estranged  from  them.  In  1525, 
therefore,  the  brunt  of  the  struggle  lay  more  on  the  peasantry 
than  was  the  case  in  the  Hussite  Wars.  The  towns  interfered 
but  coldly,  and  the  movement  found  no  such  support  as  was 
offered  by  Tabor  a  hundred  years  before  in  Bohemia.  The 
cities  actively  expressed  their  sympathy  for  the  peasantry,  not 
in  military  but  in  intellectual  relations  by  influencing  their 
programme. 

On   the   other   hand,  the  insurgents  of  1525   found  allies 


128  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

which  the  Taborites  did  -not  have — namely,  the  miners.  These 
men  lived  and  worked  together  in  great  numbers,  possessed 
arms  and  knew  how  to  make  use  of  them.  They  were 
trained  in  warlike  evolutions,  and  accustomed  to  be  kept 
under  discipline.  From  a  military  point  of  view  they  stood 
at  a  far  higher  level  than  all  the  other  ranks  of  the  neighbour- 
ing classes  of  their  day,  and  wherever  they  entered  into  any 
conflict  with  energy  the  insurrection  remained,  in  a  military 
sense,  invincible. 

During  the  course  of  the  year  1524  every  one  who  was  in 
close  touch  with  the  peasants  saw  clearly  that  matters  must 
come  to  a  violent  crisis,  and  to  a  man  like  Miinzer  this  could 
not  remain  a  secret.  Every  peasant  had  had  the  same 
experience  as  he  ;  with  shouts  of  joy  they  had  hailed  Luther, 
who  had  allowed  himself  to  be  borne  along  on  the  tide  of 
popularity,  stirring  up  the  expectation  of  all  classes.  But 
when  the  common  enemy  appeared  to  be  vanquished  ;  when 
the  Pope  and  his  protector,  the  Emperor,  had  shown  their 
own  impotence  in  Worms,  1521  ;  when  the  old  authority  was 
overturned,  and  the  question  was  how  to  bring  about  the 
new  order  of  things  ;  when  class-antagonisms  showed  them- 
selves more  strongly ;  when  it  became  necessary  to  decide 
the  question  who  should  appropriate  the  fruits  of  Church 
reform,  the  lower  or  the  higher  classes — then  Luther  could 
come  to  no  decision  so  long  as  he  was  not  compelled  to  do  so. 
From  the  very  first  the  only  determined  stand  he  took  was 
against  the  communistic  enthusiasts  ;  but  he  resisted  every 
attempt  of  the  lower  classes  to  derive  material  benefit  from 
the  Reformation,  by  favouring  each  step  taken  by  the  Princes 
in  this  direction.  They  were  to  become  the  owners  of  the 
Church  property,  not  the  peasants.  "  It  is  not  our  business  to 
attack  the  monasteries,"  he  writes,  "  but  to  draw  hearts  away 
from  them.  When,  then,  churches  and  monasteries  are 
lying  deserted,  let  the  reigning  princes  do  with  them  what 
they  please."  ^ 

In  1524  it  became  more  and  more  evident  that  the  lower 
classes  had  nothing  to  expect  from   Luther's   Reformation. 

'  Luther's  complete  works.     Leipzig,  1729.     Vol.  xix.  p.  240.     The 
above  was  probably  written  towards  the  end  of  July,  1524. 


THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND  THOMAS  MUNZER     129 

Only  through  their  own  power  and  an  armed  force  would 
they  be  able  to  free  themselves  from  the  yoke  which  was 
weighing  so  heavily  on  their  shoulders. 


VIII.  Miinzet^s  Preparations  for  the  Insurrection. 

As  soon  as  it  became  clear  that  nothing  remained  to  the 
lower  classes  but  a  resort  to  arms  against  all  exploiters, 
revolutionary  as  well  as  reactionary,  no  one  was  more  zealous 
in  preparing  for  the  revolt  than  Miinzer,  whose  circumspection, 
energy,  and  intrepidity,  made  him  the  central  figure  in  the 
revolutionary  movement  of  the  exploited  classes  in  Thuringia, 
and  gave  him  an  extensive  influence  far  beyond  the  borders 
of  that  province. 

The  activity  of  the  man  can  be  measured  by  the  accusations 
against  him  which  poured  into  the  ears  of  the  reigning 
Princes  of  Saxony.  For  example,  a  certain  Friedrich  Witz- 
leben  complained  that  his  dependents  in  Wendelstein,  Woll- 
merstadt,  and  Rosleben  had  sent  delegates  to  Miinzer,  asking 
his  permission  for  the  formation  of  a  league  against  their 
master,  on  the  ground  that  he  had  prevented  their  attending 
the  Miinzer  form  of  Divine  worship.  Miinzer  gave  his 
consent,  and  very  probably  showed  them  how  to  organise 
themselves.  He  managed  the  organisation  of  the  numerous 
and  warlike  Mansfeld  miners,  and  sent  a  letter  to  the  subjects 
of  Duke  George  of  Saxony  at  Sangershausen,  in  which  he 
urged  them  to  stand  fast  to  the  Gospel  {i.e.,  by  the  democratic 
cause),  and  to  resist  its  enemies. 

Miinzer  also  addressed  himself  to  the  Orlamiinders,  with  a 
view  to  forming  an  alliance  with  Karlstadt,  who  occupied  a 
position  similar  to  his  own  at  Allstatt.  But  Karlstadt  and  his 
followers  belonged  to  a  party  who  deprecated  all  violent 
measures.  In  a  reply,  written  by  the  people  of  Orlamiinda 
"  to  those  at  Allstatt,"  stating  how  "  Christians  should  fight  " 
(printed  at  Wittenberg,  1524),  Karlstadt  says:  "We  will  not 
have  recourse  to  swords  and  spears ;  rather  should  we  be 
armed  against  the  enemy  with  the  armour  of  faith.  You 
write  that  we  should  join  you,  and  make  an  alliance  with  you. 
Were  we  to  do  so,  we  should  no  longer  be  free  Christians,  but 

10 


I30  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

dependent  on  men.  Such  an  act  would  raise  a  cry  of 
'  Death  to  the  Gospel ! '  and  the  tyrants  would  exult  and  say, 
*  These  fellows  boast  of  being  God's  elect,  yet  form  leagues 
among  themselves,  as  if  God  were  not  strong  enough  to 
defend  them!'" 

While  this  letter  was  of  no  avail  to  Karlstadt,  it  really 
amounted  to  a  denunciation  of  Miinzer,  whom  Luther  put  in 
the  same  category  as  the  Orlamlind  agitator. 

The  most  serious  incident,  however,  was  the  betrayal  to  the 
Princes  by  Nicol  Rugkert  of  a  secret  league  in  Allstatt, 
instituted  by  the  agitator.  Melancthon  informs  us  that 
"  Miinzer  kept  a  register  of  all  who  had  bound  themselves  to 
him,  and  had  sworn  to  punish  unchristian  Princes  and  to 
establish  a  Christian  government."  The  league  had  adherents 
outside  of  Allstatt ;  for  example,  in  the  Mansfeld  valley, 
Sangerhausen,  and  even  in  Zwickau.  In  his  Confession, 
Miinzer  sets  forth  the  aim  of  the  organisation  to  be  :  "  An 
alliance  against  those  who  persecute  the  Gospel."  In  regard 
to  what  was  to  be  understood  by  "  the  Gospel,"  he  asserts : 
"  It  is  an  article  of  our  creed,  and  one  which  we  wish  to 
realise,  that  all  things  are  in  common  [omnia  sunt  coinmunid], 
and  should  be  distributed  as  occasion  requires,  according  to 
the  several  necessities  of  all.  Any  prince,  count,  or  baron 
who,  after  being  earnestly  reminded  of  this  truth,  shall  be 
unwilling  to  accept  it,  is  to  be  beheaded  or  hanged." 

We  do  not  know  to  what  extent  the  Saxon  Princes  were 
acquainted  with  the  aims  of  the  league  at  that  time  ;  but 
what  they  did  learn  was  enough,  in  conjunction  with  other 
indictments,  to  make  them  summon  the  dangerous  instigator 
to  Weimar ;  a  step  to  which  Luther's  animosity  to  Miinzer 
was  an  additional  incentive. 

Miinzer  was  fearless  enough  to  obey  the  summons,  and  go 
to  Weimar  on  the  ist  of  August.  Duke  John  submitted  him 
to  an  examination,  from  which,  however,  he  was  dismissed 
unharmed,  to  await  the  Duke's  final  decision. 

But  Miinzer  did  not  remain  for  this,  as  his  position  in 
Allstatt  had  already  become  untenable.  The  Princes  were 
threatening  the  little  town  with  chastisement,  and  now  the 
Council  declared  against  the  agitator,  who  fled  in  the  night  of 


THE   GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND    THOMAS  MUNZER    131 

the  7th-8th  of  August.  He  tells  us  in  his  Apology  that :  "When 
I  returned  home  from  the  interrogation  in  Weimar,  I  intended 
to  preach  the  earnest  Word  of  God  ;  but  the  Councilmen 
wanted  to  deliver  me  over  to  the  arch-enemy  of  the  gospel.; 
upon  perceiving  which  my  longer  stay  became  impossible. 
I  shook  the  dust  from  off  my  feet,  for  I  saw  with  my  own 
eyes  that  they  esteemed  their  oath  and  allegiance  far  more 
highly  than  they  did  God's  Word." 

The  weak  renegade  Melancthon  endeavours  here  as  else- 
where, to  cast  the  odium  of  cowardice  on  Munzer.  "Thomas' 
high  spirit,"  he  says,  "  forsook  him  at  that  time  ;  he  ran  away 
and  hid  himself  for  six  months." 

How  small  a  part  cowardice  had  in  Miinzer's  flight  from 
Allstatt,  and  how  little  disposed  he  was  to  hide  himself,  are 
shown  by  the  fact  that  he  went  from  Allstatt  direct  to  a  new 
theatre  of  war,  Muhlhausen,  where  we  find  him  as  early  as  the 
1 5th  of  August.  Moreover  Melancthon's  statement  cannot  have 
been  merely  an  error ;  for  in  1525  he  must  have  had  a  lively 
remembrance  of  the  fright  which  seized  Luther  and  his 
friends  in  1524,  when  they  learned  that  Munzer  had  gone  to 
Muhlhausen. 

Luther  at  once  wrote  to  his  confreres  in  that  town,  urging 
Miinzer's  banishment,  and  asking  the  Council  to  summon  the 
impostor  and  force  him  to  declare  who  had  authorised  him  to 
preach.  "  If  he  says  that  God  and  His  Spirit  have  sent  him, 
like  the  Apostles,  then  make  him  prove  it  with  signs  and 
wonders ;  but  forbid  his  preaching,  for  when  God  would 
change  the  natural  order  of  things,  He  signifies  it  by  all 
manner  of  miracles."  ^ 

Luther  had  good  grounds  for  energetically  combatir^g  the 
communistic  agitator.  Not  only  were  the  signs  of  the 
impending  insurrection  beginning  to  multiply,  but  Miinzer 
was  more  dangerous  in  Muhlhausen  than  in  Allstatt,  as  it  was 
a  larger  town,  containing  about  6000  inhabitants  and  con- 
trolling a  district  of  nearly  220  square  kilometres.^  Handi- 
crafts and  trade  were  in  a  very  flourishing  condition  ;  wool- 
weaving  and  cloth  manufacture  being  in  an  advanced  stage  of 
development.  "  A  very  large  quantity  of  cloth  was  woven  in 
'  Luther's  Complete  Works,  xix.  p.  236.  »  Merx,  p.  48. 


132  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

Muhlhausen,  a  profitable  trade  being  carried  on  with  it  in 
Russia,  and  in  other  countries  in  that  part  of  the  world " 
(Galletti,  Geschichte  Thuringens,  p.  491).  The  town  was  not 
only  rich  and  powerful,  but  also  independent  of  the  Saxon 
Princes,  as  it  was  one  of  the  few  free  cities  still  remaining  in 
Thuringia ;  and  if  it  were  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
communist  enthusiasts,  they  would  have  a  point  dappui  which 
would  make  them  rather  dangerous. 

Internal  affairs  were  not  unfavourable  to  a  popular  insur- 
rection in  the  town,  where  the  great  extension  of  woollen 
manufacture  for  export  must  have  produced  a  fertile  soil  for 
rebellious  and  communistic  ideas.  In  addition  to  this,  Miihl- 
hausen  was  controlled  by  "  an  oppressive,  aristocratic  govern- 
ment. This  free  imperial  city  did  not  contain  more  than 
ninety-six  really  free  burgesses,  who  formed  the  Council, 
and  these  filled  its  vacancies  exclusively  from  the  patrician 
class."  ^ 

Rebellious  sentiments  in  Muhlhausen  were  not  limited  to 
the  urban  proletarians,  the  suburban  population  and  the 
peasants  of  the  surrounding  districts  dependent  on  the  town : 
the  guild  craftsmen  were  also  similarly  disposed,  although 
elsewhere  they  belonged  to  the  privileged  classes.  It  is  not 
surprising,  therefore,  that  the  Reformation  movement  led  to 
a  series  of  violent  uprisings  among  the  citizens  against  the 
patrician  government,  in  which  the  populace  was  led  by 
Heinrich  Pfeiffer,  a  monk  who,  like  so  many  others  of  that 
period,  had  renounced  his  vows.  Pfeiffer  was/<a:r  excellence  the 
leader  of  the  opposition  faction  among  the  well-to-do  citizens,, 
such  as  the  guild-craftsmen  and  merchants,  so  far  as  the 
latter  did  not  belong  to  the  patricians  ;  the  latter,  however,, 
were  too  strong  to  allow  Pfeiffer  to  ignore  the  peasants  and 
proletarians.  He  therefore  addressed  himself  to  these  classes,, 
and  urged  them  to  unite  in  a  struggle  against  the  town 
aristocracy. 

Moreover  Pfeiffer  had  another  ally  in  the  Saxon  Princes,, 
who  had  long  craved  the  possession  of  the  powerful  imperial 

'  Zimmermann,  Bauernkneg,  i.  p.  191.  Zimmermann  availed  himself 
of  important  researches  among  the  State  Archives  at  Muhlhausen. 


THE   GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND   THOMAS  MUNZER     133 

city,  and  whose  purpose  seemed  to  be  served  by  its  internal 
commotion.^ 

The  rebellion  was  encouraged  at  its  outset  by  Duke  John 
of  Saxony,  although  he  afterwards  had  Pfeiffer  executed  as  a 
rebel  when  he  became  inconvenient. 

In  spite  of  all  these  opponents,  the  Council  must  have 
had  a  strong  following  in  the  town,  for  the  democrats  did  not 
achieve  a  lasting  success.  Pfeiffer  and  his  partisans  won  their 
first  victory  in  1523,  of  which  the  spoils  fell  to  the  well-to-do 
citizens,  who  alone  received  a  share  in  the  municipal  govern- 
ment, while  the  proletarians  and  petty  craftsmen  in  the 
suburbs,  and  especially  the  peasants,  came  off  empty-handed. 

We  are  now  led  to  inquire  if  this  unequal  distribution  of 
the  fruits  of  victory  gave  rise  to  a  change  in  the  disposition 
of  the  lower  classes.  One  thing  is  certain  ;  the  Town  Council 
soon  succeeded  in  banishing  Pfeiffer,  and  Duke  John  in  vain 
interceded  for  his  return.  Nevertheless  before  long  we  find  him 
back  in  Muhlhausen  in  hot  conflict  with  the  Council,  fortune 
smiling  first  on  the  one  side,  then  on  the  other.  In  the  midst 
of  this  struggle  Miinzer  arrived  in  Muhlhausen.  The  Council 
was  at  that  time  too  feeble  to  comply  with  Luther's  demands 
for  a  citation  of  the  agitator,  however  willing  it  might  have 
been  to  do  so.  "  The  honourable  Council  were  as  little  pleased 
with  Miinzer  as  with  Pfeiffer,  but  the  populace  retained  him 
by  force  ;  for  he  and  his  confederate  Pfeiffer  had  just  incited 
and  led  a  rebellion  against  the  others."  ^ 

Just  at  this  time  we  find  Pfeiffer's  party  executing  a  change 
of  front  to  the  left.  They  raised  claims  for  the  peasants  and 
suburban  population  as  well,  and  carried  the  day  August  27, 
1524.  It  is  impossible  to  determine  how  far,  if  at  all, 
Miinzer  influenced  this  change. 

Another  rupture  like  that  of  the  year  1523,  now  began  to 
make  its  appearance  among  the  victors.  In  1523  it  was  the 
peasants  and  suburban  population  who  were  discontented  ; 
now  the  burgesses,  craftsmen,  and  tradesmen  became  alarmed 
at  the  peasants  and  proletarians,  who,  since  Miinzer's  arrival, 

'  Johann  Becherer,  Newe   Thuringische  Chronica,  Miihlhausen,  1601^ 

P-  473- 
'  Compare  Zimmermann,  op.  cii.  i.  p.  194, 


134  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

had  certainly  lost  none  of  their  confidence.  The  burgesses 
sided  with  the  Council,  and  as  early  as  September  25th 
Pfeiffer  and  Miinzer  suffered  defeat,  Mlinzer  being  banished, 
and  soon  after,  Pfeiffer  also. 

Miinzer  betook  himself  to  South  Germany,  like  so  many 
others  of  political  prominence  in  Saxony,  e.^:,  Karlstadt,  whom 
Luther  had  prevailed  upon  his  sovereign  to  banish,  because  he 
had  been  very  badly  received  by  the  Orlamiinders  in  a  tour 
of  agitation  against  that  reformer.  Miinzer's  retreat,  how- 
ever, did  not  imply  even  a  temporary  halt  in  the  movement, 
but  merely  the  search  for  a  new  field  of  activity.  He  must 
have  been  well  informed  of  the  events  preparing  in  South 
Germany  ;  for  Germany  (at  least  South  and  Central  Ger- 
many) was  at  that  time  covered  with  a  network  of  secret 
revolutionary  societies,  which  were  in  constant  intercommu- 
nication. The  communistic  sects  in  particular  supplied  a 
large  number  of  itinerant  agitators  who  kept  the  different 
leagues  in  touch  with  each  other.  From  the  very  first 
establishment  of  Waldenses,  the  confidential  agents  of  the 
communists  ("  Apostles,"  "  poor  priests,"  or  whatever  name 
they  might  have  borne)  were  as  a  rule,  and  with  only  short 
interruptions,  continually  wandering  hither  and  thither.  The 
development  of  migratory  habits  among  the  craftsmen  was 
an  additional  instrument  in  bringing  about  a  closer  union 
between  these  classes  of  society,  as  it  was  for  every  other 
class.  "  All  migrating  craftsmen  belonging  to  the  association, 
masters  as  well  as  journeymen,  became  '  apostles.' "  ' 

Hence,  when  Miinzer  repaired  to  South  Germany,  he  must 
have  been  well  informed  of  the  condition  of  things,  and  have 
seen  that  an  insurrection  was  everywhere  imminent.  At  all 
events,  he  knew  that  at  the  end  of  August  the  peasants  in 
Stiihlingen  had  actually  revolted,  and  that  the  insurrection 
had  rapidly  spread  to  the  Swiss  frontier.  This  was  sufficient 
to  induce  him  to  go  thither  as  soon  as  all  scope  for  his 
activity  in  Saxony  had  ceased,  beyond  all  hope  of  recovery 
so  long  as  the  existing  conditions  of  government  continued 
in  that  country, 

'  C.  A.  Cornelius,  Geschichfe  des  Miinsterschen  Aufruhres.  Leipzig, 
i860,  p.  41. 


THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND  THOMAS  MUNZER     135 

He  remained  but  a  short  time  in  Nurenberg,  not  (as  many 
believe)  to  kindle  a  revolt  (and  he  would  have  found  partisans 
enough  in  that  ancient  centre  of  Beghardism),  but  only  to  have 
a  tract  secretly  printed.  Affairs  in  that  town  did  not  seem 
ripe  for  an  insurrection. 

His  stay  in  Nurenberg  is  best  explained  by  Miinzer  himself 
in  a  letter  to  Christoph  N.,  in  Eisleben.'  The  following  pas- 
sage shows  the  sad  state  of  his  circumstances  at  that  time  : 
"  If  you  can,"  he  says,  "  help  me  towards  my  living  expenses. 
But  if  this  angers  you,  I  will  not  have  a  farthing."  It  is 
evident,  therefore,  that  Miinzer  had  not  grown  rich  in  AUstatt 
and  Miihlhausen. 

The  result  of  his  sojourn  in  Nurenberg  is  briefly  given  by 
an  ancient  chronicler  named  Johann  Miillner :  "  A  book- 
printer  of  Nurenberg  made  bold  to  print  a  tract  by  Thomas 
Miinzer ;  but  the  Council  seized  all  the  copies,  and  im- 
prisoned the  journeyman,  who  had  acted  without  the  know- 
ledge of  his  master." 

The  most  high  and  wise  Council,  however,  by  no  means 
succeeded  in  getting  possession  of  all  the  copies.  Not  only 
was  the  work  circulated  before  the  peasant  rebellion,  but,  in 
spite  of  the  war  to  the  knife  carried  on  against  all  insurrec- 
tionary writings  after  that  rebellion,  copies  of  this  work  have 
been  preserved  to  this  day.  It  is  the  most  vehement  and 
revolutionary  of  all  Miinzer's  writings,  and  is  entitled  :  Hock 
verursachte  Schutzrede,  or  "  Apology."  2  With  his  usual  scorn 
for  the  prevalent  servility  of  the  theologians,  he  dedicates  it 
to  "  The  Most  High  First  Born  Prince  and  Almighty  Lord, 
Jesus  Christ,  the  gracious  King  of  all  kings,  the  brave  Leader 
of  all  believers,  my  most  merciful  Sovereign  and  faithful 
Protector ;  and  to  his  afflicted  Bride,  Suffering  Christendom." 

After  a  series  of  attacks  on  Luther  {Dr.  Ludibrii\  he  goes 
on  to  say  that  he  has  summoned  the  Princes  of  Christendom 

'  Transcribed  in  Luther's  Complete  Works  among  his  writings  against 
Miinzer  and  the  rebelHous  peasants  (xix.  p.  245). 

*  Hoch  verursachte  Schutzrede  unci  antwort  wider  des  Gaistlose  Sanfft 
lebende  Fleyscli  zu  Wittenberg,  welches  mit  verklarter  weysse  durch  den 
Diepstal  der  heiligen  Schrift  die  erbermdliche  Christeiiheit  also  guntz 
jammerlich  besudelt  hat.     Thomas  Miintzer.     Alstedter. 


136  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

to  seize  the  sword  in  defence  of  the  Gospel ;  appealing  at  the 
same  time  to  the  Bible  in  justification  of  his  summons. 
"  Nevertheless  there  comes  an  eavesdropping  gossip — ah  !  the 
sly  fellow ! — and  says  that  I  wished  to  raise  a  rebellion,  as  he 
had  discovered  from  my  missive  to  the  miners.  He  accuses 
me  of  this,  but  conceals  another  most  discreet  matter ;  to  wit 
that  I  proved  to  the  ruling  powers  that  a  whole  province  had 
the  sword  within  their  grasp,  as  well  as  the  key  for  the 
unlocking,  and  showed  from  Daniel  vii..  Rev.  vi,,  and  Rom. 
xiii.  1-8,  that  the  rulers  are  not  masters,  but  servants  of  the 
sword.  They  should  not  act  as  pleaseth  them  (Deut.  xvii.), 
but  do  righteously.  It  is  the  greatest  abomination  on  earth 
that  no  one  will  relieve  the  necessities  of  the  poor.  .  .  .  Look 
ye !  Our  sovereign  and  rulers  are  at  the  bottom  of  all  usury, 
thievery,  and  robbery ;  they  take  all  created  things  into  pos- 
session. The  fish  in  the  water,  birds  in  the  air,  the  products 
of  the  soil — all  must  be  theirs  (Isaiah  v.).  Moreover,  they 
proclaim  God's  command  among  the  poor,  and  say  :  God 
hath  ordained  thou  shalt  not  steal ;  but  themselves  do  not 
follow  it.  Wherefore  they  oppress  the  poor  husbandmen  and 
craftsmen,  and  fleece  and  flay  all  who  are  in  like  condition 
(Micah  iii.).  If  one  of  these  poor  fellows  breaks  the  least  jot 
or  tittle  of  the  law,  he  must  hang  for  it.  To  all  this  Dr. 
Liar  (Luther)  says :  *  Amen.'  The  rulers  themselves  make 
the  poor  man  their  enemy  by  their  deeds.  If  they  will  not 
abolish  the  cause  of  tumult,  how  can  things  be  well  for  any 
length  of  time  ?  Because  I  say  this,  it  follows  that  I  must  be 
rebellious.  Verily  ! "  The  remainder  of  the  work  consists  of 
an  exceedingly  bitter  polemic  against  Luther. 

After  Miinzer  had  delivered  this  Parthian  shot  at  his 
opponent,  he  left  Nurenberg,  and  went  to  the  Swiss  frontier, 
where  he  passed  the  winter.  The  exact  place  of  his  sojourn 
is  unknown.  According  to  Cochlaus,  he  extended  his 
journeyings  at  that  time  as  far  as  Halle  in  Tyrol,  a  mining 
district  which  subsequently  became  the  centre  of  Anabaptism. 
Many  ascribe  to  his  authorship  the  celebrated  Twelve 
Articles,  in  which  the  rebel  peasants  formulated  their 
demands  ;  while  others  even  assert  that  he  was  the  cause 
of  the  South  German  insurrection.     The  last  two  statements 


THE   GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND    THOMAS  MUNZER   137 

are  certainly  without  foundation,  and    that  of   Cochlaus  is 
probably  equally  so. 

The  reference  in  Munzer's  Confession  to  his  stay  on  the 
Swiss  frontier  is  limited  to  the  following  passage,  which 
probably  contains  all  the  essential  particulars  of  his  activity 
during  that  period  of  his  career  :  "  At  Klettgau  and  Hegau  I 
proposed  certain  Articles  on  the  proper  form  of  government ; 
others  presented  a  modified  form  of  these.  They  would 
willingly  have  received  me  as  one  of  themselves,  but,  though 
grateful  to  them,  I  declined.  I  did  not  incite  the  revolt  in 
those  places,  for  it  was  already  in  progress.  Oekolampadius 
and  Hugowaldus  requested  me  to  preach  to  the  people  there, 
and  I  finally  complied." 

Miinzer,  therefore,  was  not  the  author  of  the  Twelve 
Articles,  though  he  had  an  influence  in  their  production.  He 
looked  upon  his  stay  as  only  temporary ;  yet  he  did  not 
remain  inactive  but  continued  to  agitate  ; — "  preached  to  the 
people,"  as  he  says,  or,  as  Bullinger  expresses  it :  "  Sowed  his 
poisonous  seed  of  the  peasant  insurrection." 

While  on  the  Swiss  frontier,  he  had  an  opportunity  of 
meeting  with  the  leaders  of  the  Swiss  Anabaptists ;  but 
though  his  relations  with  these  men  are  important  to  that 
sect,  they  afford  but  little  insight  into  the  character  of  the 
Thuringian  communist  and  his  work.  An  account  of  these 
relations  would  demand  an  inquiry  into  the  beginnings  of 
the  Anabaptist  order.  In  order,  therefore,  to  avoid  undue 
interruption  in  the  course  of  this  description,  we  will  not 
pursue  this  point  further  at  present,  but  will  return  to  it 
in  the  next  chapter. 

IX.   The  Peasant   War. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1525,  perhaps  as  early  as 
January,  Miinzer  left  Swabia  to  return  to  Thuringia.  He 
had  a  motive  for  doing  so,  for  he  knew  that  the  outbreak  of 
the  movement  was  imminent. 

Like  the  uprising  of  the  peasants  in  England  in  1381, 
which  broke  out  simultaneously  at  all  points,  the  insurrection 
in  Germany  was  arranged  to  take  place  in  all  parts  on  the 


138  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

same  day,  the  2nd  of  April ;  but  it  occurred  at  an  earlier  date 
in  some  localities,  owing  either  to  the  impatience  of  the  par- 
ticipants, or  to  force  of  circumstances.  Hence  we  cannot 
doubt  that  the  revolt  was  organised  and  directed  by  a  widely 
ramified  conspiracy. 

The  age  in  which  guild  secrets  could  be  kept  for  centuries 
was  also  peculiarly  favourable  to  hidden  leagues.  Not  only 
were  sectarian  doctrines  propagated  by  means  of  secret 
associations,  but  political  deeds  were  often  effected  in  like 
manner  both  in  town  and  country.  Many  of  these  associa- 
tions acquired  great  importance,  such  as  the  Bundschuh 
(peasants  of  the  shoe)  and  the  A  rme  Konrad  (poor  comrade), 
which  were  the  inaugurators  of  the  Peasant  War. 

Hence  in  spite  of  portents  in  various  places  as  early  as  the 
autumn  of  1524,  and  the  zealous  preparations  for  an  insur- 
rection during  the  winter,  the  ruling  classes  were  taken  by 
surprise ;  so  that  at  the  outset  the  insurgents  almost  every- 
where gained  the  advantage. 

On  his  way  from  Swabia,  Miinzer  fell  in  with  bodies  of 
rebels,  and  on  one  occasion  was  within  a  hair's-breadth  of 
coming  utterly  to  grief,  being  taken  prisoner  in  the  Fulda 
district  with  a  mob  of  malcontents.  On  the  22nd  of  February 
the  receiver  of  taxes  in  Allstatt,  Hans  Jeyss,  who  was  always 
well  informed  of  Miinzer's  movements,  wrote  to  Spalatin  : 
"  I  add  for  your  information  that  Thomas  Miinzer  has  been 
at  Fulda,  where  he  was  thrown  into  prison.  The  Abbot  said 
to  the  innkeeper  at  Schwartzburg,  that  had  he  known  it  was 
Thomas  Miinzer,  he  would  not  have  let  him  go  free." 

Shortly  after  this  (March  12th)  we  again  find  Miinzer  in 
Miihlhausen,  where  Pfeiffer  had  previously  made  his  appear- 
ance (December).  On  March  17th,  a  successful  revolt  made 
them  masters  of  the  town  ;  being  nearly  the  same  day  and 
month  in  which,  more  than  three  hundred  years  afterwards, 
the  populace  in  1848  seized  Berlin,  and  the  proletariat  gained 
possession  of  Paris.  Hans  Jeyss  wrote  about  the  affair  to 
Spalatin,  giving  remarkable  prominence  to  the  part  played 
by  Pfeiffer,  and  ignoring  Miinzer,  but  showing  an  accurate 
appreciation   of  the   elements  by  which  the  fight  was  won. 

I    must   tell  you,"  he  says,  "  of  the  dreadful    discord   and 


THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND    THOMAS  MUNZER     139 

tumult  caused  for  a  whole  day  in  Miihlhausen  by  a  preacher 
named  Pfeififer.  To  sum  up,  Lord  Omnes"  (the  populace) 
"  wrested  the  government  from  the  Council,  which  can  neither 
rule,  punish,  write,  nor  act  in  any  way  against  the  popular 
will. 

"  After  Pfeiffer  and  Miinzer  had  been  banished,  and  the 
latter  had  visited  and  left  Nurenberg,  Pfeiffer  returned  to 
Miihlhausen,  where  he  busied  himself  in  the  neighbouring 
villages  by  propagating  his  views.  He  complained  to  the 
peasants  that  he  had  been  driven  from  the  town  only  because 
he  had  preached  the  truth  and  had  wished  to  deliver  the 
people  from  the  yoke  of  the  Council  and  ruling  authorities, 
and  from  all  oppression.  At  his  behest  the  peasants  of  these 
villages  armed  themselves  and  advanced  in  a  body  to  the 
suburb  of  the  town,  where  he  delivered  a  revolutionary 
address.  As  soon  as  it  came  to  the  ears  of  the  Council  that 
Pfeiffer  was  trying  to  force  his  way  into  Miihlhausen,  they 
made  ready  for  resistance,  called  their  forces  together,  and 
marched  out  against  him.  Just  as  the  fight  was  about  to 
begin,  the  burgesses,  who  should  have  remained  true  to  the 
Council,  turned  against  it,  and  played  a  villainously  treach- 
erous part.  Seeing  that  the  populace  had  fallen  away  from 
the  Council,  the  leader  of  the  municipal  forces  endeavoured 
to  put  a  stop  to  the  uproar,  and,  after  great  labour  and 
trouble,  succeeded  in  doing  so ;  not,  however,  until  the 
Council  had  been  forced  to  allow  Pfeiffer  and  Miinzer  to 
continue  their  preaching,  and  a  promise  had  been  exacted 
that  nothing  should  be  done  without  the  consent  and  know- 
ledge of  the  commune.  Thus  all  power  was  taken  from  the 
Council,  and  very  strange  things  went  on  in  Miihlhausen." 

Very  strange  things  in  truth  :  A  communistic  community 
was  established  in  the  town. 

"  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  new  Christian  government," 
writes  Melancthon.  "  They  afterwards  drove  out  the  monks, 
and  appropriated  all  the  property  of  the  Church.  The 
Knights  of  St.  John  possessed  a  manor  at  that  place,  with  a 
large  rental ;  Thomas  seized  this  manor  .  .  .  He  taught  that 
all  things  should  be  in  common,  as  is  written  in  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles,  and  by  this  means  made  the  people  so  wanton 


I40  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

that  they  would  no  longer  work.  When  one  of  them  wanted 
corn  or  cloth,  he  went  to  some  rich  man  (to  whomsoever  it 
pleased  him)  and  demanded  it  as  a  Christian  right,  on  the 
ground  that  Christ  had  proclaimed  that  all  things  should 
be  shared  with  the  needy.  If  any  wealthy  person  proved 
unwilling  to  give  what  was  demanded  of  him,  it  was  taken 
by  force  ;  and  this  happened  in  many  cases.  Moreover,  those 
who  lived  with  Thomas  in  the  manor  house  of  the  Hospital- 
lers acted  in  like  manner." 

Becherer  tells  us  that :  "  In  the  government  Munzer  was 
dictator,  and  managed  everything  as  it  pleased  him.  ...  In 
particular,  he  made  the  community  of  goods  compulsory ; 
from  which  it  resulted  that  people  left  their  craft-work  and 
daily  labour,  believing  that  before  they  had  consumed  the 
possessions  of  the  princes  and  barons,  the  churches  and 
monasteries,  God  would  further  provide.  This  mode  of  life 
was  carried  on  by  Mtinzer  for  some  months."  ^ 

We  need  not  inquire  into  the  bad  effects  said  to  have  been 
produced  by  the  communistic  regimen  on  trade  and  pro- 
duction, as  they  have  no  basis  in  fact.  This  indeed  is  shown 
by  the  circumstance  that  the  government  of  the  revolutionary 
commune  at  Muhlhausen  did  not  last  more  than  two  months; 
almost  exactly  the  duration  of  the  Paris  Commune  of  1871, 
which  began  March  i8th  and  ended  May  28th,  while  that 
of  Muhlhausen  continued  from  March  17th  to  May  25th. 
Indeed  Munzer  left  Muhlhausen  before  May  12th.  And  in 
these  few  weeks  communism  is  supposed  to  have  exercised  a 
sensible  influence  on  production,  in  the  midst  of  the  most 
dreadful  exigencies  of  a  war  which  enlisted  the  services  of 
every  labourer  capable  of  bearing  arms  ! 

Melancthon,  it  is  true,  tells  us  that  communism  lasted  a 
year  in  Muhlhausen  !  Let  it  be  imagined  that  in  the  autumn 
of  1 87 1,  a  modern  author  should  have  written  a  history  of 
the  Paris  Commune,  in  which  he  stated  that  it  lasted  a  year ! 
It  is  difficult  to  say  which  is  the  more  surprising,  the  cool 
audacity  of  the  "  mild  and  timid  "  Melancthon,  or  the  cre- 
dulity of  his  public. 

And  it  is  from  such  "  contemporaneous  sources  "  that  most 
'  Becherer,  op.  cii.,  p.  479. 


THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND   THOMAS  MUNZER     141 

of  the  histories  of  communistic  movements  have  been  com- 
piled ! 

Meanwhile  the  falsifications  can  easily  be  discovered  with 
the  exercise  of  a  little  caution.  Much  more  confusion,  how- 
ever, has  been  created  by  the  completely  inaccurate  accounts 
of  the  part  played  by  Miinzer  in  Muhlhausen.  Becherer 
and  Melancthon  represent  him  as  a  dictator  whose  will  was 
law,  and  Luther  occasionally  expresses  himself  in  a  similar 
way.  The  latter  writes  in  one  of  his  letters  :  "Miintzer  Mulhusi 
Rex  et  Iniperator  est." 

As  a  matter  of  fact  Miinzer's  position  was  an  extremely 
disagreeable  one.  He  had  conquered  not  by  the  strength  of 
his  adherents,  but  by  a  compromise  with  Pfeiffer's  party,  who 
were  not  communistic,  but  outspokenly  bourgeois  in  feeling. 
Moreover,  he  did  not  mount  to  the  head  of  the  government, 
but  remained  simply  a  preacher,  and  even  as  such  acquired 
no  decisive  influence.  The  policy  of  the  town  was  entirely 
out  of  harmony  with  his  own,  and  in  all  important  matters  he 
met  with  opposition  from  Pfeiffer,  who  was  backed  up  by  the 
majority. 

Muhlhausen  was  no  Tabor ;  the  latter  may  be  designated 
as  a  communistic  colony  and  a  new  institution,  to  which  com- 
munists flocked  for  the  purpose  of  building  up  an  "  exclusive 
people."  Circumstances  were  quite  different  in  the  ancient 
imperial  town  of  Muhlhausen,  where  the  communists  found 
their  chief  supporters  in  the  proletariat,  together  with  some 
circles  of  the  petty,  independent,  suburban  craftsmen  and  the 
peasants  of  the  neighbourhood.  These  strata  of  the  popula- 
tion were  at  that  time  far  too  weak  to  force  their  will  upon 
the  middle  class.  Through  a  fortuitous  combination  of 
favourable  circumstances,  and  a  clever  and  energetic  use  of 
them  for  their  own  ends,  the  communists  succeeded  in  playing 
a  decisive  part  between  the  two  contending  parties,  much 
resembling  that  of  the  needle  on  the  balance  ;  but  toleration 
was  all  that  they  were  able  to  obtain  from  those  who,  by 
their  help,  had  been  placed  in  power.  We  must  not  imagine 
that  the  whole  town  of  Muhlhausen  was  organised  on  the 
communistic  basis.  At  all  events,  the  only  gain  to  the 
Brethren  was  the  permission  to  transform  their  secret  organi- 


142  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

sation  into  an  open  one,  and  to  establish  a  "commune" 
within  the  town's  domain,  of  which  the  seat  was  probably  the 
manor  of  the  Hospitallers. 

We  may  judge  of  the  small  number  of  Miinzer's  adherents 
in  Muhlhausen  from  the  fact  that  when  he  marched  away  to 
help  the  peasants,  he  was  accompanied  by  only  three  hundred 
men. 

It  is  easy  to  believe  Melancthon's  statement  that  the 
Miinzer  commune,  "occupying  the  manor  of  the  Hospital- 
lers," derived  its  revenues  during  the  few  weeks  of  its 
existence,  not  merely  from  the  labour  of  its  members,  but 
also,  and  chiefly,  from  the  spoils  obtained  from  churches, 
monasteries,  and  castles  ;  for  we  know  that  the  Taborites 
maintained  themselves  in  a  similar  way.  In  those  days  the 
goods  of  the  Church  were  res  nullius — no  one's  property — 
which  he  might  seize  "who  had  the  power,"  chief  among 
such  being  the  princes,  while  here  and  there,  perhaps,  a  few 
poor  devils  might  share  in  the  plunder. 

We  have  already  pointed  out  that  Miinzer  and  Pfeiffer 
were  opposed  on  fundamental  principles.  But  from  this 
antagonism  others  arose  which  were  of  a  tactical  nature. 

As  a  petty  townsman  of  pre-capitalistic  times,  Pfeiffer 
considered  himself  the  representative  of  local  interests  only ; 
Miinzer,  like  the  communists  of  his  time  in  general,  was,  on 
the  contrary,  cosmopolitan  in  feeling.  Pfeiffer  looked  upon 
the  insurrection  in  Muhlhausen  as  a  purely  local  event,  while 
for  Miinzer  it  was  a  link  in  the  great  chain  of  revolutionary 
uprisings,  which,  by  co-operating,  were  to  give  the  finishing 
stroke  to  tyranny  and  spoliation.  That  which  Tabor  had 
previously  been  for  Bohemia,  the  fortified  town  of  Miihlhausen 
was  now  to  become  for  Thuringia,  namely,  the  point  d'appui  of 
the  whole  rebellion,  and  in  closest  touch  with  the  revolts  in 
Franconia  and  Swabia. 

Pfeiffer  (and  when  we  speak  of  Pfeiffer  and  Miinzer  we  do 
not  refer  to  the  two  individuals  alone,  but  to  the  parties  as 
well,  of  which  they  were  the  most  prominent  representatives) 
was,  it  is  true,  present  in  a  few  predatory  expeditions  into  the 
neighbouring  purely  Catholic  districts,  but  he  did  not  con- 
template anything  beyond  a  petty  town  quarrel.     Miinzer,  on 


THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND    THOMAS  MUNZER     143 

the  other  hand,  was  well  aware  that  victory  in  Muhlhausen 
did  not  signify  the  close  of  the  revolutionary  struggle,  but 
was  only  a  preliminary  to  the  decisive  battle.  It  behoved 
him,  therefore,  to  prepare  and  organise  the  masses,  train  them 
in  the  use  of  arms,  and  combine  the  revolts  in  different 
districts  into  a  common  movement. 

Perhaps  nowhere  in  Germany  were  the  peasants  so  unused 
to  arms,  so  lacking  in  military  capacity,  and  so  wholly  unpre- 
pared for  war  as  in  Thuringia.  Time  therefore  was  needed 
to  supply  them  with  weapons  and  to  train  them  in  their  use. 

MUnzer  did  all  he  could.  He  was  specially  solicitous  with 
regard  to  heavy  artillery,  and  had  cannon  cast  in  the  monas- 
tery of  the  Barefooted  Friars.  The  value  he  placed  upon 
these  guns — perhaps  more  as  instruments  of  moral  suasion 
than  as  weapons  of  war — is  seen  from  the  fact  that  he  sent 
information  concerning  them  as  far  as  Swabia  ;  and  this  fact 
alone  shows  how  eager  he  was  for  an  alliance  with  the  South 
German  insurgents. 

He  devoted  himself  with  still  greater  energy  to  stirring  up 
and  combining  the  revolutionists  in  Thuringia  ;  displaying  a 
feverish  anxiety  in  speech  and  writing,  and  sending  letters  of 
exhortation  and  encouragement  in  all  directions. 

The  mine-labourers  seemed  of  more  importance  to  him 
than  the  untrustworthy  Muhlhauseners  and  badly  armed 
peasants.  These  miners  formed  the  most  warlike  and  defiant 
part  of  Saxony's  population,  and  in  consequence  Miinzer 
directed  his  attention  to  them.  He  formed  an  alliance  with 
those  of  the  Erzgebirge  Mountains,  after  striving  first  of  all 
to  rouse  an  insurrection  among  his  nearest  mining  neighbours, 
the  Mansfelders  ;  his  friendliness  with  them  ever  since  his 
Allstatt  days  giving  him  good  cause  to  hope  for  their  aid. 

A  letter  written  by  him  at  that  time  to  his  confederates  in 
Mansfeld,  Balthasar,  Barthel,  &c.,  for  the  purpose  of  starting 
the  agitation  among  the  miners,  is  reproduced  in  Luther's 
works  as  one  of  "  three  abominable,  revolutionary  writings  by 
Thomas  Miinzer  "  (xix.  p.  289  sgg'.).  It  reads  :  "  Before  all 
things,  the  pure  fear  of  God.  Dear  brethren,  how  long  will 
you  sleep  ?  How  long  will  it  be  ere  you  confess  why  God  of 
His  good  will  has  to  all  appearance  abandoned  you  ?     It  is 


144  COMMUNISM  IN   CENTRAL   EUROPE 

high  time.  Hold  back  your  brethren  from  mocking  at  godly- 
testimony,  else  must  you  all  perish.  Germany,  France,  Italy, 
are  all  aroused.  Our  masters  wish  to  make  a  game  of  it ; 
but  the  villains  cannot  escape  their  fate.  During  Easter 
week  three  churches  were  destroyed  in  Fulda.  In  Kletgau, 
Hegau,  and  Schwatzwald  the  peasants  are  up,  three  thousand 
strong,  and  their  numbers  are  growing  daily.  I  am  anxious 
lest  the  foolish  fellows  should  agree  to  a  treacherous  compact, 
for  they  do  not  yet  perceive  the  mischief  Where  there  are 
only  two  of  you  who  trust  in  God  and  seek  His  name  and 
honour,  they  shall  not  be  afraid  of  a  hundred  thousand.  But 
forward,  forward,  forward  !  It  is  high  time.  Let  this  letter 
be  given  to  the  mine-associates.  My  printer  will  come  in  a 
few  days.  I  have  received  the  missive,  but  cannot  do  more 
at  present.  I  had  wished  to  instruct  the  brothers  myself, 
that  their  hearts  might  grow  much  larger  than  the  castles 
and  armour  of  all  the  godless  rascals  on  earth.  Forward, 
forward,  forward  while  the  fire  is  hot !  Let  your  swords  be 
ever  warm  with  blood  ;  forge  the  hammer  on  the  anvil  of 
Nimrod  ;  raze  his  tower  to  the  ground ! " 

Miinzer's  letter  was  well  received ;  a  large  number  of 
miners  assembled  in  the  Mansfeld  district,  disturbances 
began  to  arise,  and  the  impetus  given  to  the  Mansfelders 
extended  to  the  mining  population  near  Meissen.  "  Even 
before  the  foolish  rioters  rushed  on  to  the  bloody  day  at 
Frankenhausen,"  says  Hering,  "  many  miners  from  the 
revolutionary  domain  of  Count  Mansfeld  had  taken  flight 
to  our  mountains,  either  because  they  saw  no  promise  of 
good  in  remaining  at  home,  or  because  they  hoped,  by  the 
aid  of  the  '  new  wisdom,'  to  play  an  important  part  in 
other  places."  ^ 

The  rioters  succeeded  in  gaining  influence,  and  in  assisting 
an  attempt  at  revolution  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Zwickau, 
where  the  enthusiasts,  under  Storch  and  Munzer,  had 
previously  acquired  power  and  paved  the  way  for  an  up- 
rising. 

In  April  there  was,  in  fact,  a  revolt  among  the  peasants 
and  miners  in  the  Erzgebirge  Mountains,  which,  like  similar 

'  Gcschichte  des  siichsischen  Hochlandes,  p.  203. 


THE   GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND   THOMAS  MUNZER     145 

movements  elsewhere  in  Germany,  was  not  wholly  sup- 
pressed till  after  the  fight  at  Frankenhausen. 

Miinzer  was,  as  a  rule,  unsuccessful  in  his  efforts  to  bring 
about  a  co-operation  of  the  revolutionary  movements  in  the 
various  districts  of  Saxony. 

He  found  the  separatism  of  the  petty  townsmen  and 
peasants  too  powerful  for  him.  The  equality  of  economic 
pressure  in  all  places,  the  stirring  up  of  the  whole  nation 
by  the  Reformation  movement,  and,  last  but  not  least,  the 
indefatigable  interlocal  activity  of  the  communistic  "apostles" 
had  been  just  sufficient  at  its  commencement  to  make  the 
insurrection  of  the  peasants  and  their  allies  an  affair  which 
embraced  the  largest  part  of  the  nation  ;  so  that  the  revolt 
broke  out  almost  simultaneously  in  all  parts.  In  its  progress, 
however,  and  when  it  became  a  question  of  securing  the 
fruits  of  the  early  victories  and  taking  advantage  of  them, 
the  local  separatism  became  more  conspicuous  than  ever ;  for 
it  was  too  deeply  rooted  in  circumstances  to  be  suppressed  for 
more  than  a  veryshort  time,and  then  only  to  a  very  smallextent. 

With  this  separatism  there  was  associated  the  fatal 
childishness  of  the  peasants.  That  inexperienced  folk 
believed  that  the  word  of  a  prince  was,  if  not  better,  at 
least  not  worse  than  that  of  any  other  honourable  man. 
They  had  no  inkling  of  the  new  State  craft,  which  promoted 
dishonesty  and  mendacity  to  the  rank  of  highly  estimable 
princely  virtues. 

Instead  of  co-operating,  each  district  and  each  town  which 

had  made  cause  with  the  insurgents  depended  on  its  own 

strong  arm  ;  and  a  few  empty  promises  on  the  part  of  their 

rulers  (in  which  they  held  up  the  prospect  of  granting  the 

demands   of   the   insurgents)    were   sufficient   as   a   rule   to 

scatter  the  rebels,  and  induce  them  to  lay  down  their  arms. 

In  this  way  the  princes  found  time  to  collect  troops,  combine, 

and  easily  overcome  one  after  another  of  the  isolated  peasant 

masses  which,  if  united,   could    have   made   a   good   stand. 

Moreover,  while   on  the   side  of  the   peasants    the  absence 

of  any  definite  plans  became  more  and  more  conspicuous, 

the  growing  danger  increased  the  cohesion  and  systematic 

co-operation  of  the  princes. 

II 


146  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL   EUROPE 

The  rulers  rose  everywhere  in  their  might  to  stifle  the 
insurrection  in  the  blood  of  the  rebels.  In  the  last  week 
of  April,  Truchsess  von  Waldburg,  then  leader  of  the 
Swabian  league's  army,  had  almost  suppressed  the  revolt 
in  Swabia,  Landgrave  Philip  having  done  the  same  in  Hesse, 
while  large  bodies  of  veteran  troops  had  been  despatched 
against  the  insurgents  of  Franconia  and  Thuringia. 

In  the  beginning  of  May  the  good  "  evangelical "  Land- 
grave Philip  of  Hesse  united  his  forces  with  those  of  the 
arch  Catholic  George  of  Saxony  and  a  few  petty  princes,  who 
were  afterwards  joined  by  the  new  Elector  of  Saxony,  John,^ 
for  the  purpose  of  putting  an  end  to  the  Thuringian  revolt. 
The  headquarters  of  the  rebellion  were  at  the  town  of 
Frankenhausen,  a  few  miles  distant  from  the  Mansfeld 
mines,  and  celebrated  for  its  salt  deposits,  which  employed 
a  large  number  of  workmen.^  Most  of  the  military  forces 
of  the  rebels  had  been  concentrated  at  this  place  and  not, 
as  would  have  been  more  natural,  at  Miihlhausen,  a  well- 
fortified  town  provided  with  artillery,  or  at  a  more  southern 
point,  e.^-.,  Erfurt  or  Eisenach,  both  of  which  were  in  the 
hands  of  the  insurrectionists,  and  from  which  it  would  have 
been  easier  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  revolt  in  Franconia. 

The  encampment  before  Frankenhausen  seemed  of  the 
greatest  importance  both  to  the  princes  and  rebels,  and,  to 
reach  it,  Philip  of  Hesse  executed  a  very  singular  movement. 
He  pushed  on  past  Eisenach  and  Langensalza,  leaving 
Miihlhausen  on  his  right  and  Erfurt  on  his  left,  and  marched 
straight  to  Frankenhausen.  While  this  evidences  the  impor- 
tance of  that  town,  the  fact  that  Philip  could  perform  this 
movement,  without  being  in  the  least  threatened  or  even 
molested  by  the  Miihlhauseners  or  Erfurters,  proves  the  total 
lack  of  cohesion,  co-operation,  and  plan  among  the  insur- 
gents. 

The  importance  of  Frankenhausen  can  be  explained  by  its 
proximity  to  the  Mansfeld  mines,  with  their  numerous  war- 

'  John's  brother,  the  peace-loving  Frederick,  had  died  on  the  5th 
May. 

"  G.  Sartorius,  Versuch  einer  Geschichte  des  deutschen  Bauernkriegs. 
BerUn,  1795,  p.  319. 


THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND    THOMAS  MUNZER      147 

like  workmen  ;  for  if  the  insurrection  had  spread  thither  the 
princes  would  have  had  a  severe  task  before  them. 

Miinzer  too  was  fully  alive  to  the  value  of  Frankenhausen, 
and  did  his  utmost  to  direct  all  his  available  forces  to  that 
place.  He  also  wrote  to  the  Erfurters,  but  they  did  not 
move.  Nor  could  he  induce  even  the  Miihlhauseners  to  go  to 
the  help  of  the  men  before  Frankenhausen.  How  did  the  affairs 
of  the  peasants  of  that  place  concern  the  petty  townsmen 
of  the  imperial  city?  Even  the  usually  energetic  Pfeiffer 
remained  inactive,  thus  obliging  Miinzer  to  march  out  in 
sole  command  of  his  three  hundred  men  after  the  Miihlhau- 
seners had  grudgingly  lent  him  eight  mounted  cannon. 

Miinzer  fared  no  better  with  the  Mansfeld  miners.  There 
is,  unfortunately,  a  total  lack  of  minute  information  con- 
cerning his  negotiations  with  these  people.  In  Spangenberg's 
Mansfeldischer  Chronik  (chapter  362)  we  find  only  the 
following  notice,  still  more  briefly  reproduced  by  Bieringen 
in  his  Beschreibung  des  Mansfeldischen  Bergwerks :  "  The 
peasants  of  Mansfeld  were  also  in  revolt.  Count  Albrecht 
exerted  himself  most  diligently,  and  promised  the  miners 
all  manner  of  things,  in  order  to  keep  them  at  home  and 
prevent   their  joining  the   rebellious  peasants  in  the  field." 

Albrecht  seems  to  have  succeeded.  Miinzer  had  good 
grounds  for  the  fear  expressed  in  the  above-quoted  letter 
to  the  miners  that  "the  foolish  fellows  would  agree  to  a 
treacherous  compact ; "  for  as  soon  as  their  demands  had 
been  granted  most  of  them  quieted  down  and  troubled 
themselves  no  further  about  the  rebellious  peasants.  They 
sent  out  a  few  reinforcing  parties,  only  to  be  surprised, 
however,  by  Count  Albrecht's  cavalry,  which  held  all  the 
roads. 

One  possibility  still  remained,  namely,  to  carry  the  in- 
surrection into  Mansfeld  itself,  and  in  that  way  involve 
the  miners  in  the  struggle.  But  this  chance  also  was  not 
taken  advantage  of  The  peasants  before  Frankenhausen 
were  foolish  enough  to  engage  in  negotiations  with  Albrecht, 
which  he  carefully  managed  to  prolong  from  day  to  day  until 
the  armies  of  the  princes  arrived. 

The  Count  had  agreed  with  the  peasants  for  a  conference 


148  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

on  the  1 2th  of  May;  but  he  did  not  make  his  appearance, 
pleading  important  affairs  as  an  excuse,  and,  instead, 
summoned  the  peasants  to  a  meeting  on  the  next  Sunday, 
May  14th.  "  In  the  meantime,"  Luther  tells  us,  "  God  so 
ordered  that  Thomas  Miinzer  came  from  Mlihlhausen  to 
Frankenhausen."  ^ 

Miinzer,  who  detected  the  Count's  artifice,  caused  the 
immediate  breaking  off  of  these  negotiations,  and  made 
every  effort  to  provoke  a  battle  between  Albrecht  and  the 
peasants  before  the  arrival  of  the  princes.  The  outrageously 
rude  letters  written  by  Miinzer  to  Mansfeld  at  that  time  are 
incomprehensible  except  as  deliberate  provocations  to  that 
end.  Zimmermann  looks  upon  them  as  evidences  of  a  state 
of  self  deception  on  the  part  of  Miinzer,  arising  from  his 
frenzy  and  despair ;  but  his  arrangement  of  affairs  indicates 
the  possession  of  a  clear  intellect. 

Meanwhile  the  Mansfelders  did  not  grant  Miinzer  the  boon 
of  allowing  themselves  to  be  provoked  ;  and  either  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  weakness  of  his  forces,  or  perhaps  their 
unwillingness,  prevented  him  from  making  the  attack. 

It  was  soon  too  late.  Miinzer  had  reached  Frankenhausen 
May  1 2th  ;  on  the  14th  Landgrave  Philip  of  Hesse  and  Duke 
George  Henry  of  Brunswick  arrived,  to  be  followed  on  the 
1 5th  by  Duke  George  of  Saxony  with  his  army. 

The  fate  of  the  men  before  Frankenhausen  was  now 
sealed,  and  with  it  that  of  the  Thuringian  insurrection. 
On  one  side  stood  8,000  badly  armed,  undisciplined  peasants, 
almost  without  artillery ;  on  the  other,  about  the  same 
number  of  well-equipped,  veteran  soldiers  with  numerous 
cannon. 

Descriptions  of  the  fight  at  Frankenhausen  have  generally 
been  based  on  Melancthon's  account.  According  to  this, 
Miinzer  first  of  all  delivered  an  eloquent  speech  to  the 
peasants,  which  was  followed  by  a  still  more  eloquent  one 
by  Landgrave  Philip  to  his  troops ;  whereupon  the  latter 
advanced  to  the  attack.  "The  poor  folk,  however,  stood 
still   and  sang  ' JVun   bitten  wir  den  heiligen   Geist'  ('Now 

'  Erschreckliche  Geschichte  und  Gerichte  Gotts  tiber   Thomas  Miinzer. 
Luther's  Works,  xix.  p.  288. 


THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND   THOMAS  MUNZER     149 

pray  we  to  the  Holy  Ghost')  as  if  they  were  demented. 
They  neither  defended  themselves  nor  fled,  many  of  them 
trusting  to  the  great  promise  made  by  Thomas,  that  God 
would  show  help  from  heaven  ;  for  Thomas  had  said  that 
he  would  hold  all  the  balls  in  his  sleeves."  As  the  miracle 
did  not  take  place,  and  as  the  soldiers  continued  cutting  their 
way  into  the  ranks  of  the  peasants,  these  creatures  at  last 
took  to  flight  and  were  butchered  in  heaps.  A  strange 
fight  indeed  ! 

iS  it  possible  that  Miinzer  and  the  peasants  could  have 
been  such  utter  fools  as  they  are  here  depicted  ? 

Let  us  first  of  all  consider  the  speeches.  That  of  Miinzer 
is  in  a  style  altogether  different  from  his  own,  and  has  an 
empty  bathos  about  it  in  no  way  characteristic  of  him.  But 
on  closer  inspection  the  speech  of  the  Landgrave  seems  a 
still  stranger  production.  It  is  a  categorical  answer  to 
MUnzer's — as  if  Philip  of  Hesse  had  stood  by  and  refuted 
the  former's  complaint  point  by  point !  Let  us,  for  example, 
compare  the  following  passages  : — 

MiJNZER  :  Landgrave  : 

"  But    what     are     our     princes  "  Whereas  it   is    invented    and 

doing  ?     They  take  no  interest  in  fabricated  that  we  do  not  care  for 

the  government,  turn  a  deaf   ear  the  general  peace  of  the  land,  and 

to    the   poor   people,   do   not   ad-  that  we  do  not  execute  judgment 

minister  justice,  nor  combat  mur-  nor  combat  murder  and  robbery  : 

der    and    robbery,    and  visit    no  we  now  declare  ourselves  to  be, 

criminal  nor  wanton  with  punish-  with   all    our   abilities,    assiduous 

ment."  in  the  maintenance  of  a  peaceable 

government." 

And  more  to  the  same  effect.  The  more  closely  these  two 
speeches  are  exarr^ined,  the  clearer  it  becomes  that  they  were 
not  actually  delivered,  but  were  devised  by  the  learned  school- 
master on  the  pattern  of  the  speeches  of  statesmen  and  army 
leaders  handed  down  to  us  by  Thucydides  and  Livy.  They 
are  rhetorical  exercises,  written  for  definite  purposes,  The 
dissolute  mercenaries,  gathered  from  all  countries,  could  not 
have  been  impressed  in  the  smallest  degree  by  the  prelection 
of  the  Landgrave  on  morals  and  justice,  and  the  necessity 
and  utility  of  imposts,  and  so  forth,  with  the  affecting  pero- 


I50  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

ration  that  it  was  a  question  of  fighting  for  the  safety  of  wife 
and  child.  This  hypothetical  speech,  however,  must  have 
raised  the  Landgrave  in  the  estimation  of  the  educated 
Philistines  for  whom  Melancthon  wrote.  It  was  to  these 
that  the  speech  was  delivered,  and  not  to  the  soldiers. 

On  the  other  hand,  Miinzer's  speech  is  composed  with  the 
sole  purpose  of  making  him  ridiculous.  Melancthon  makes 
him  say  at  the  close  of  his  address  :  "  Let  not  the  weak  flesh 
terrify  you,  but  go  boldly  to  the  attack  of  the  enemy.  You 
need  not  fear  the  shot,  for  you  shall  see  that  I  will  hold  in 
my  sleeves  all  the  cannon  balls  fired  at  you,"  &c. 

Nowhere  in  Miinzer's  writings  has  he  expressed  himself  so 
absurdly  about  practical  things,  his  mysticism  consisting 
solely  in  believing  that  God  held  direct  intercourse  with  him 
and  that  his  doctrines  proceeded  from  the  Holy  Spirit.  He 
never  asserted  that  he  could  perform  miracles.  Hence  we  have 
no  hesitation  in  pronouncing  this  speech  an  impudent  invention. 

It  is,  moreover,  a  clumsy  invention  ;  so  clumsy,  indeed, 
that  a  hundred  years  ago  Strobel  became  convinced  that 
not  Munzer  but  "  Melancthon  was  certainly  the  author  "  of 
the  speech  (p.  112).  In  spite  of  this,  however,  it  is  still  used 
by  writers  in  forming  their  judgment  of  Munzer,  e.g.,  by 
Janssen. 

There  was  little  time  for  speech-making,  if  the  battle  is 
correctly  described  in  the  pamphlet  entitled.  Am  niitzlicher 
Dialogus  odder  gesprechbuchlein  zwischen  eineni  Muntzerischen- 
schwermer  zu  Frankenhausen  geschlagen  belangende.  Wit- 
tenberg, 1525."  The  enthusiast  says:  "How  now!  Is  it 
honourable  for  princes  and  barons  to  give  us  three  hours 
for  deliberation  and  yet  not  keep  faith  a  quarter  of  an  hour, 
but,  as  soon  as  they  have  won  over  Count  von  Stolberg  with 
some  of  the  nobility  from  our  side,  to  begin  firing  at  us  with 
cannon  and  then  immediately  attack  us  ?  " 

All  of  which  means  that  the  princes  parleyed  with  the 
peasants,  demanding  their  surrender,  and  gave  them  three 
hours'  grace.  In  the  meantime  they  induced  the  nobles  on 
the  side  of  the  populace  to  come  over  to  them,  and,  long  before 
the  truce  had  expired,  threw  themselves  upon  the  unsuspicious 
peasants  and  butchered  them. 


THE   GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND   THOMAS  MUNZER     151 

This  certainly  was  not  very  honourable,  and  we  can  well 
understand  Melancthon's  pains  to  devise  another  account  of 
the  affair.  While,  however,  his  version  is  wholly  nonsensical, 
the  description  given  in  the  Dialogus  is  in  exact  accordance 
with  the  mode  of  procedure  universally  adopted  by  the 
princes  at  that  time  in  their  dealing  with  the  peasantry.  In 
spite  of  their  superior  strength,  they  resorted  to  treachery 
and  breach  of  faith  to  gain  the  mastery  over  their  opponents. 
By  this  means,  and  not  by  any  imbecile  expectation  among 
Miinzer's  followers,  that  he  would  actually  catch  the  cannon- 
balls  in  his  coat-sleeves,  by  far  the  greater  number  of  the 
insurgents  were  slaughtered — from  5,000  to  6,000  out  of 
8,000  ! — while  the  princely  forces  suffered  hardly  any  loss 
worth  mentioning. 

After  the  victory  was  won  the  troops  pushed  on  into 
Frankenhausen,  and,  as  Landgrave  Philip  himself  wrote  on 
the  following  day,  "  All  males  found  there  were  slain  and  the 
town  given  over  to  pillage." 

Miinzer,  with  a  part  of  the  vanquished  forces,  fled  into  the 
town,  and  as  the  enemy's  cavalry  was  at  his  heels,  rushed 
headlong  into  one  of  the  first  houses  near  the  gate,  disguised 
himself  by  wrapping  up  his  head,  threw  himself  on  a  bed, 
and  feigned  illness.  But  his  artifice  failed.  A  soldier  who 
entered  the  room  recognised  him  by  the  contents  of  his 
satchel.  He  was  immediately  seized,  and  brought  before  the 
Landgrave  of  Hesse  and  Duke  George.  "  When  he  came 
before  the  princes  they  asked  him  why  he  had  thus  led  the 
poor  folk  astray.  He  answered  defiantly  that  he  had  acted 
rightly  and  had  purposed  punishing  the  princes  " — a  truly 
bold  reply !  Melancthon,  who  tells  us  this,  momentarily 
forgets  that  he  always  represents  Miinzer  as  being  exception- 
ally pusillanimous. 

The  princes  at  once  had  him  put  to  the  rack  and  feasted 
on  his  agonies,  after  which  he  was  sent  as  a  "  booty-farthing  " 
to  Count  Ernest  von  Mansfeld.  "  If  he  had  before  '  been 
cruelly  tortured,'  he  was  now,  after  a  few  days,  '  barbarously 
dealt  with '  in  the  tower  of  Heldrungen  "  (Zimmermann). 

It  was  here  that  he  was  tortured  into  making  the  confession, 
from  the  protocol  of  which  we  have  so  repeatedly  quoted. 


152  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

He  revoked  nothing,  and,  concerning  his  secret  league,  re- 
vealed only  such  things  as  could  not  injure  anybody.  Not 
one  of  the  confederates  named  by  him  is  mentioned  among 
those  who  were  executed  ;  hence  he  probably  inculpated  only 
such  as  had  already  perished.  As  the  fight  of  Frankenhausen 
had  broken  the  force  of  the  movement  in  Thuringia,  nothing 
further  remained  to  the  princes  but  to  take  bloody  revenge 
— a  task  which  they  carefully  accomplished. 

It  being  a  sufficient  cause  of  congratulation  that  the 
Mansfeld  miners  remained  peaceable,  they  were  left  for  a 
time  unmolested.  Spangenberg  tells  us  that  it  was  not  until 
the  next  year  that  "  the  miners  began  to  be  somewhat  harshly 
dealt  with,  by  the  imposition  of  additional  labour,  from  which, 
in  spite  of  energetic  remonstrances,  they  could  obtain  no  re- 
lief" On  the  contrary,  troops  were  sent  to  "  quiet "  them,  and 
they  were  deprived  of  all  freedom  of  speech  and  of  meeting. 

Worse  still  was  Muhlhausen's  expiation  for  its  desertion  of 
the  insurgents'  cause  at  the  critical  moment.  From  Franken- 
hausen the  allied  princes  at  once  pushed  on  to  the  imperial 
city.  In  vain  did  the  town  appeal  for  assistance  to  the  Fran- 
conian  insurrectionists.  These  now  treated  the  Miihlhauseners 
as  they  themselves  had  treated  the  defenders  of  Frankenhausen, 
As  soon  as  the  siege  began  (May  19th)  despondency  spread 
rapidly  among  the  rebellious  citizens.  Seeing  that  all  was  lost, 
Pfeiffer  escaped  on  the  24th,  with  four  hundred  men,  to  gain 
the  uplands  of  Franconia  ;  but  the  cavalry  of  the  princes  over- 
took him,  and  made  him  prisoner,  together  with  ninety-two 
of  his  men. 

On  a  written  promise  of  mercy  from  the  princes,  Miihl- 
hausen  capitulated  May  25th.  In  practice  this  mercy  consisted 
in  the  execution  of  several  citizens  and  the  pillage  of  the  town. 
The  city,  moreover,  lost  its  independence,  and  fell  into  the 
power  of  the  Saxon  princes,  who  thus  gained  what  they  had 
hoped  for  from  the  insurrection  ;  while  the  rebels,  who  had 
helped  them  to  gain  their  ends,  were  executed,  including 
Pfeiffer  and  Miinzer,  who  had  been  brought  to  Miihlhausen. 

Pfeiffer  died  defiant  and  unrepentant.  With  regard  to 
Miinzer,  Melancthon  naturally  asserts  that  he  was  "very 
faint-hearted  in  the  last  extremity."     As  evidence  of  this  he 


THE  GERMAN  REFORMATION  AND  THOMAS  MUNZER     153 

relates,  that,  from  downright  terror,  Miinzer  was  unable  to 
utter  a  single  word,  and  consequently  could  not  repeat  the 
Creed.  Duke  Henry  of  Brunswick  had  therefore  to  recite  it 
for  him.  Immediately  afterwards,  however,  our  authority 
makes  the  man  who  was  speechless  from  terror  deliver  one 
of  those  eloquent  addresses  so  much  beloved  by  the  classical 
and  rhetorically-educated  schoolmaster. 

The  other  chroniclers  of  the  time  make  no  mention  of 
Miinzer's  "  faint-heartedness "  (compare  Zimmermann,  ii. 
p.  444).  In  addition  to  the  utterly  worthless  testimony  of 
Melancthon,  there  is  only  one  piece  of  evidence  from  which 
it  is  possible  to  draw  conclusions  as  to  the  agitator's  despair 
in  his  last  days,  viz.,  his  letter  to  the  Council  and  com- 
mune of  Muhlhausen,  written  in  his  prison  at  Heldrungen, 
and  dated  May  17th.  In  this  he  exhorts  his  friends  not  to 
exasperate  the  higher  authorities,  as  his  death  was  deserved, 
and  was  well  calculated  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  "foolish." 
He  implores  them  to  look  after  his  poor  wife.  Once  more  he 
beseeches  them  not  to  provoke  the  authorities  for  purposes  of 
self-interest,  as  they  had  already  done,  but  to  abandon  the 
rebellion  and  beg  the  pardon  of  the  princes. 

Without  doubt  this  letter  betrays  faint-heartedness.  We 
cannot  agree  with  Zimmermann,  who  puts  a  more  favourable 
construction  upon  it. 

But  is  the  letter  genuine  ?  It  did  not  proceed  from  Miinzer's 
own  hand.  He  himself  says  that  he  dictated  it  to  a  certain 
Christoph  Lau.  Why  did  he  dictate  it?  Why  did  he  not 
write  it  himself?  For  whose  interest  was  it  that  such  a  letter 
from  Miinzer  should  come  to  Muhlhausen  ?  We  answer,  for 
the  interest  of  the  princes  alone.  It  was  composed  on 
May  17th,  and  on  May  19th  the  siege  began.  It  was  calcu- 
lated to  make  this  siege  easier,  and  to  produce  despondency 
among  the  besieged.  Is  not  the  assumption  probable  that 
Miinzer's  name  was  made  use  of  by  the  princes  for  carrying 
out  one  of  those  tricks  of  war  so  common  at  the  period  ? 

The  least  that  can  be  said,  is  that  the  document  is  highly 
suspicious  and  is  not  sufficient  to  corroborate  Melancthon's 
statement. 

Hence  we   can   truly  say  that   nothing   certain  is  known 


154  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

regarding  Munzer's  last  moments,  and  that  the  accusations 
of  pusillanimity  on  his  part  are  unsubstantiated. 

It  does  not  in  the  least  affect  our  judgment  of  the  man 
whether  his  nerves  were  or  were  not  completely  under  his 
control  to  the  very  last.  We  have  dealt  with  this  question 
only  because  the  great  stress  laid  on  Munzer's  alleged  cowar- 
dice, without  any  tangible  basis,  is  of  significance,  not  for  him, 
but  for  his  opponents. 

But  the  furious  attacks  on  Miinzer  made  by  the  advocates 
of  reaction  have  themselves  proved  the  most  powerful  means 
of  keeping  his  memory  green  among  the  populace  of  Ger- 
many, and  of  preserving  their  undiminished  sympathy  for 
him. 

In  the  eyes  of  the  German  working-classes  Miinzer  was 
and  is  the  most  brilliant  embodiment  of  heretical  communism. 


CHAPTER    V 

THE    ANABAPTISTS 
I.   The  Anabaptists  before  the  Peasant  War. 

AT  the  period  of  the  German  Reformation  one  centre  of 
the  communist  movement  lay  in  Saxony,  Another 
existed  in  Switzerland — that  peculiar  conglomeration  of 
peasant  and  urban  republics,  which  had  concentrated  them- 
selves round  the  central  mass  of  the  Alps  for  united  defence 
against  their  common  enemies. 

They  had  completely  freed  themselves  from  the  German 
Empire,  and  had  succeeded  in  setting  limits  to  Papal 
spoliation. 

This  new  and  independent  commonwealth,  however,  had 
not  at  that  time  become  a  unified  state.  Almost  the  only 
bond  of  union  between  its  constituent  parts  was  the  know- 
ledge that  each,  by  itself,  was  powerless  against  its  princely 
neighbours.  But  with  this  common  interest,  there  existed 
others  of  an  antagonistic  nature  between  the  rustic,  primi- 
tive cantons,  where  economics  were  behind  the  age,  and  the 
rich  cities  which  were  far  advanced  in  that  respect. 

This  antagonism  was  manifested  clearly  during  the  Refor- 
mation, in  which  movement  the  primitive  cantons  had  no 
interest.  Papal  exploitation,  already  materially  diminished 
in  the  confederation,  pressed  lightly,  as  a  rule,  on  these  poor 
districts.  On  the  other  hand,  they  had  every  reason  for 
remaining  on  a  good  footing  with  the  Catholic  Powers 
(France,  Milan,  Venice,  the  Pope,  and  the  Hapsburgs),  as 
these  were  the  chief  consumers  of  the  only  valuable  com- 

155 


156  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL   EUROPE 

modity  which  the  peasants  and  petty  nobility  of  Switzerland 
could  at  that  time  bring  into  the  market,  namely,  their  warlike 
sons.  Reislaufen,  or  mercenary  service,  was  the  chief  source 
of  revenue  for  the  country  folk,  especially  in  the  mountain 
cantons.  A  union  with  the  Reformation  movement  boded  a 
breach  with  the  Catholic  Powers,  and  threatened  this  source 
of  wealth  with  exhaustion.  Hence  the  honest  country  folk 
had  held  fast  to  the  faith  of  their  fathers. 

The  towns  were  differently  situated.  Their  middle-class 
citizens  had  no  interest  in  mercenary  war  service  ;  on  the  con- 
trary, they  disliked  it,  as  it  strengthened  the  power  of  their 
enemies,  the  nobility,  and  increased  the  warlike  capacities  of 
the  lower  classes  from  whom  they  derived  their  wealth.  For 
the  Swiss  mercenaries  were  not  homeless  tatterdemalians,  but 
sons  of  peasants,  who,  after  the  completion  of  their  war  service, 
returned  to  their  native  land. 

The  towns,  indeed,  had  every  reason  for  animosity  against 
the  Catholic  Powers.  Moreover,  though  Papal  exploitation  was 
more  restricted  in  Switzerland  than  in  Germany,  that  covetous 
Power  held  more  tenaciously  to  its  rights  in  the  towns  than 
in  the  poor  mountain  districts.  The  antagonism  to  the 
Catholic  princes  (par  excellence,  the  Hapsburgs)  was  every 
whit  as  great  as  the  enmity  to  the  Papacy.  The  German 
Reformation  was  a  revolt,  not  only  against  the  Pope,  but  in 
like  manner  against  the  Emperor,  i.e.,  the  House  of  Hapsburg, 
and  it  was  so  regarded  in  Switzerland  also. 

The  House  of  Hapsburg  had  long  ceased  to  be  the 
"  hereditary  enemy "  of  the  primitive  Swiss  cantons,  which 
were  already  too  firmly  established  to  be  threatened  by  that 
dynasty  ;  and  while  having  nothing  to  gain  by  opposition  to 
it,  they  had  nothing  to  lose  in  the  way  of  war-pay  and  bribe- 
money.  Quite  otherwise  was  it  with  the  cities  of  North 
Switzerland  bordering  on  the  territories  of  the  Hapsburgs, 
which,  menaced  and  coveted  by  that  House,  were  in  constant 
enmity  to  it.  Zurich,  in  particular,  had  the  liveliest  interest  in 
the  struggle  with  that  line  of  monarchs,  and  was  the  pioneer 
of  the  Reformation  in  Switzerland ;  while  the  primitive  cantons 
made  cause  with  Catholicism,  the  successors  of  Tell  allying 
themselves  with  the  Hapsburg  Ferdinand. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  157 

In  Switzerland,  as  in  Germany,  the  Reformation  brought 
a  communistic  movement  to  the  surface ;  but  as  the  circum- 
stances of  the  confederation  were  quite  different  from  those 
of  Saxony,  the  character  of  the  communism  in  the  two 
countries  also  differed  greatly. 

While  in  Saxony  the  movement  was  materially  influenced 
by  Taborite  tradition,  in  Switzerland  these  exercised  hardly 
appreciable  power.  The  movement,  however,  had  for  a  long 
time  been  considerably  exposed  to  the  influences  of  the 
Waldenses  and  Beghards  ;  the  former  coming  from  Southern 
France  and  Northern  Italy,  and  the  latter  from  the  Nether- 
lands along  the  Rhine  valley,  finally  reaching  Bale  by  way  of 
Cologne  and  Strassburg. 

In  contrast  to  the  Taborites,  who  favoured  violent  measures, 
the  Waldenses  were  peacefully  inclined.  This  contrast  alone 
must  have  resulted  in  producing  other  sentiments  among  the 
communists  of  Switzerland  than  those  prevalent  in  Saxony, 
as  well  as  different  ideas  and  actions.  But  the  character  of 
a  social  movement  in  any  country  is  determined  much  less  by 
imported  doctrines,  than  by  its  peculiar  social  and  political 
circumstances.  Saxony  was  distinguished  by  its  mining 
industry,  especially  by  its  silver  mines.  While  this  industry 
was  favourable  to  the  growth  of  the  power  of  its  princes,  it 
also  created  a  strong  and  defiant  proletariat  among  the 
miners,  living  together,  as  they  did,  in  large  masses.  It 
encouraged  production  for  the  markets  in  the  agricultural 
districts,  but,  at  the  same  time,  engendered  a  thirst  for  land 
among  the  landlords,  and  intensified  to  the  highest  degree 
all   the  social  antagonisms  of  that  epoch. 

It  was  quite  otherwise  with  Switzerland,  where  there  was 
no  mining  industry  and  hence  no  warlike  proletariat.  Agri- 
culture to  a  large  extent  was  still  at  a  very  primitive  stage. 
Land  communism  was  very  strong,  and  there  was  not  the 
least  vestige  of  absolute  princely  power.  We  find  rather  a 
collection  of  peasant  and  town  republics,  with  a  peasant  and 
urban  democracy,  which,  so  long  as  it  felt  itself  weak  and 
menaced,  was  in  sympathy  with  communism,  whose  nearest 
enemy  was  its  enemy  also. 

All    this  must   have  tended  to  strengthen   the   peaceable 


158  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

tendencies  of  the  Waldenses  and  Beghards  in  Switzerland 
and  to  make  class  antagonisms  less  acute  than  in  Saxony, 
where  the  movement  acquired  more  of  a  proletarian  character. 
In  Munzer's  time  there  were  very  few  communists  in  Saxony 
belonging  to  the  upper  classes.  This  is  one  of  the  reasons 
why  Miinzer  towered  to  such  a  height  above  the  name- 
less masses  who  supported  him  and  made  him  feared,  but 
among  whom  there  were  no  prominent  combatants  able,  by 
their  writings,  to  hand  down  their  memory  and  personality  to 
posterity. 

It  was  quite  otherwise  with  the  Swiss  communists  and 
those  influenced  by  them,  who  counted  numerous  men  of 
social  prominence  and  culture  in  their  ranks.  It  is  impossible 
to  keep  our  glance  long  fixed  on  any  individual,  for  we  are 
confused  by  the  brilliant  constellation  of  their  interesting  and 
characteristic  men  of  talent.  Though  the  Swiss  movement 
is  feebler  than  the  Saxon,  and  from  an  historical  point  of  view 
less  important,  it  is  more  valuable  to  literature,  and  stands  on 
a  higher  intellectual  plane. 

We  have  perhaps  said  enough  as  to  the  generic  character 
of  the  movement. 

Numerous  traces  of  the  Waldenses  and  Beghards  are  to  be 
found  in  Switzerland  during  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
centuries  ;  but  they  are  only  blood  traces  ;  in  other  words, 
executions.  The  sects  were  chiefly  composed  of  people  from 
the  lower  classes,  such  as  craftsmen,  proletarians,  and  peasants, 
who  preached  communism  secretly  in  hidden  confederacies. 
Together  with  this  proletarian  movement  however,  a  sort  of 
salon-covamumsni  seems  to  have  been  instituted  at  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

While  Zurich  was  the  Wittenberg  of  the  confederation. 
Bale  played  the  same  role  in  Switzerland  that  Erfurt  did  in 
Saxony,  as  it  was  the  headquarters  of  Swiss  Humanism.  A 
circle  of  free-thinking  savants  and  artists  was  formed  in  the 
town,  of  which  the  central  figure,  after  1513,  was  Erasmus, 
the  bosom  friend  of  Thomas  More.  All  sorts  of  novel  ideas 
were  discussed  in  this  coterie,  including  probably  many 
peculiar  to  the  later  order  of  Anabaptists  ;  for  among  the 
"  erudite  men  "  gathered  at  that  time  in  Bale,  we  find  several 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  159 

who  subsequently  became  leaders  of  that  sect.  Conrad 
Grebel,  the  son  of  a  Zurich  patrician,  and  already  "  a  dis- 
tinguished defender  of  the  Gospel,"  was  there  in  1521  and 
1522  ;  Dr.  Balthasar  Hubneir,  from  Waldshut,  was  in  frequent 
communication  with  the  circle  ;  and  among  its  members  were 
the  Swabian  Wilhelm  Reublin,  pastor  of  St.  Albans,  Bale, 
and  Ulrich  Hugwald,  a  B^le  professor,  who,  as  we  have  seen, 
had  joined  Oekolampadius  in  requesting  Miinzer  to  agitate. 
We  also  find  Ludwig  Hatzer,  the  bookbinder  Andreas  auf  der 
Stiilzen,  Simon  Stumpf,  and  others,  all  of  whom  were  subse- 
quently zealous  agitators  among  the  Anabaptists. 

We  may  also  mention  the  significant  fact  that  Thomas 
More's  Utopia  had  at  that  time  aroused  marked  attention  in 
Bale. 

The  first  edition  of  this  work  (which  was  written  in  Latin) 
appeared  in  Louvain,  in  the  year  15 16,  under  the  supervision 
of  More's  friend  Erasmus,  who  was  then  staying  in  that 
town.  In  1 5 18  it  became  necessary  to  issue  a  new  edition, 
which  came  out  in  Bale  and  was  produced  by  the  celebrated 
printer,  Froben.  We  can  see  from  a  letter  written  by  Beatus 
Rhenanus  to  Pirkheimer  ^  how  eagerly  Utopia  was  discussed 
in  Bale. 

In  1524,  the  German  translation  by  Claudius  Canticula  was 
also  published  in  Bale  :  this  was  the  first  translation  of  the 
book  into  any  language. 

Nothing  positive,  however,  is  known  about  the  communistic 
movement  in  Bale  ;  and  it  has  hitherto  been  impossible  to 
remove  the  veil  of  obscurity  covering  the  infancy  of  the  Ana- 
baptist order,  or  rather  its  connection  with  the  earlier  com- 
munistic movements.  The  first  clear  indication  of  the  new 
sect  appeared  in  Zurich  at  the  time  of  Zwingli's  Reformation. 

The  Lutheran  Reformation  began  with  the  resistance  to 
one  of  the  most  active  means  of  taking  money  from  Germany 
to  Italy — the  sale  of  indulgences.  Zwingli's  activity  in  the 
direction  of  reform  (first  as  pastor  in  Glarus  from  1 506  to 
1 5 16,  then  as  parish-priest  in  Einsiedlen  from  15 16  to  15 19, 
and  lastly  as  pastor  in  Zurich)  began  with  a  struggle  against 
the  means  by  which  the  money  of  the  Papacy  was  brought 
'  Given  in  my  Thomas  More  und  seine  Utopie. 


i6o  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

into  Switzerland,  viz.,  mercenary  war  service.  Luther  began 
as  a  theologian,  Zwingli  as  a  politician,  his  first  attacks  being 
directed,  not  against  Catholic  dogmas,  but  against  the  neigh- 
bouring Valois  and  Hapsburg  dynasties.  In  15 19,  he  was 
still  so  high  in  favour  with  the  Vatican,  that  when  he  fell  ill 
with  the  plague,  the  Papal  legate  hastened  to  send  him  his 
body-physician.  Not  until  the  waves  of  the  German  Refor- 
mation reached  Switzerland,  did  the  conflict  in  that  country 
with  the  temporal  power  of  the  Pope  become  one  against 
Catholicism  (1522).  As  soon,  however,  as  the  Zurichers  had 
entered  this  path,  they  went  rapidly  forward  without  en- 
countering any  serious  obstacles. 

Though  Zwingli  surpassed  Luther  in  perspicuity  and  con- 
sistency, the  Zwinglian  Reformation  movement  none  the  less 
followed,  in  one  respect,  the  same  direction  as  the  Lutheran. 
Like  the  latter,  it  exerted  itself  at  the^  beginning  to  bring 
about  the  co-operation  of  all  the  classes  who  were  dissatisfied 
with  existing  ecclesiastical  conditions.  In  Zwingli's  case, 
however,  as  in  Luther's,  the  united  struggle  was  followed  by  a 
rupture.  Each  of  the  allied  parties  and  classes  sought  to 
profit  by  the  victory  in  the  furtherance  of  its  own  interests, 
and  in  accordance  with  its  own  views.  The  leader  of  the 
movement,  the  reformer,  who  had  hitherto  been  supported  by 
all  classes,  was  now  forced  to  decide  in  favour  of  one  of 
these  in  opposition  to  the  others,  and  thus  to  turn  against  a 
part  of  his  former  co-workers.  This  is  a  peculiarity  of  all 
revolutionary  movements  which  are  accomplished  by  the 
co-operation  of  different  classes  having  opposing  interests. 
When  the  conflict  with  the  ruling  Church  began  in  Zurich, 
the  communistic  sectarians  of  that  place  no  longer  deemed  it 
necessary  to  maintain  strict  secrecy.  As  early  as  the  spring 
of  1522,  it  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  authorities  that  an 
"  heretical  school "  existed  in  the  town  ;  an  association  in 
which  the  bookseller,  Andreas  auf  der  Stlilzen  (who  had 
belonged  to  the  B&le  circle)  acted  as  teacher.  This  association 
had  not  yet  been  proscribed  ;  on  the  contrary,  we  find  its 
members  in  friendly  intercourse  with  Zwingli. 

Late  in  the  autumn  of  1522,  Conrad  Grebel  returned  from 
BAle    to    Zurich,   and    immediately    joined   the   '^  heretical 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  i6i 

school."  Independent  and  wealthy  from  his  earliest  years, 
he  had  studied  in  Vienna  and  Paris,  acquiring  some  fame 
as  a  savant,  but  also  seriously  impairing  his  health  by  the 
excesses  of  his  student  life. 

On  his.  return  to  his  home  in  Zurich,  he  devoted  himself 
with  enthusiasm  to  the  cause  of  the  Church  movement,  and 
became  one  of  the  "  Brethren,"  though  continuing  to  be  on 
the  best  of  terms  with  Zwingli. 

He  was  followed  by  many  of  his  associates  in  the  B^le 
circle,  to  whom  Zurich  seemed  a  freer  field  for  their  activity. 
Wilhelm  Reublin  left  his  living  in  B^le  and  received  one  in 
Wietikon  ;  Simon  Stumpf  became  pastor  in  Hongg,  near 
Zurich  ;  and  Ludwig  Hatzer,  an  erudite  young  priest  from 
Thurgau,  who  had  also  been  in  Bale,  was  to  be  found  in 
Zurich  in  1523. 

The  associates  who  thus  flocked  in  from  abroad  were  joined 
by  numerous  proselytes  from  the  town  itself  Among  these 
the  most  prominent  was  Felix  Manz,  a  philologian,  who  with 
Grebel  was  soon  in  the  front  rank  of  the  "  Spirituals,"  as  the 
Zurich  Brethren  were  first  called. 

The  community  continued  to  grow,  and  at  length  began  to 
feel  its  strength.  Zwingli  cast  loving  glances  at  it.  The  chief 
concern  of  the  association  was  now  to  urge  him  onward  along 
the  path  of  social  reform  ;  the  effort,  however,  resulting  in  a 
quarrel,  which  became  more  and  more  bitter. 

The  Brethren  demanded  the  abolition  of  Church  imposts — 
tributes  and  tithes  ;  a  step  which  Zwingli  himself  had  openly 
advocated.  But  he  now  grew  apprehensive  of  the  league. 
On  the  22nd  of  June,  1523,  the  Great  Council  of  the  town 
pronounced  emphatically  against  the  idea  of  attacking  the 
Church  tithes ;  a  hint  which  was  apparently  not  lost  on 
Zwingli,  for  three  days  latter  he  delivered  a  sermon  in  the 
cathedral,  in  which  he  sided  with  the  Council.  This 
showed  that  he  intended  to  sever  his  connection  with  the 
Brethren. 

Meanwhile  this  did  not  make  the  Brethren  yield.  They 
invited  Zwingli  to  organise  the  Church  in  such  a  way  as  to 
make  it  independent  of  the  State.  The  answer  was  the 
introduction  of  the   State  Church  in  the  autumn,  and   the 

12 


162  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

decision  that  all  Church  affairs  should  in  future  be  referred  to 
the  Great  Council,  z.e.,  to  the  governing  classes. 

This  arrangement  was  a  great  blow  to  the  "  Spirituals," 
who  had  not  begun  the  struggle  with  the  Papal  Church 
merely  to  place  a  compliant  instrument  of  power  in  the 
hands  of  the  wealthy.  The  conflict  between  them  and 
Zwingli  now  became  a  bitter  one  ;  but  while  the  "  Spirituals  " 
fought  with  words  only,  Zwingli  had  the  whole  power  of 
the  State  at  his  disposal,  and  made  abundant  use  of  it.  As 
early  as  the  end  of  1523,  the  Brethren  began  to  be  arrested 
and  banished,  Simon  Stumpf  being  among  the  first  victims, 
in  December. 

The  persecution,  however,  did  not  overawe  the  Brethren  ; 
it  rather  increased  their  zeal,  and  bound  them  more  closely 
together.  The  sect  grew  rapidly  both  in  the  town  and 
country,  as  the  exiles  carried  their  doctrines  into  the  neigh- 
bouring cantons,  where  they  soon  gained  a  following.  At 
the  same  time  the  Brethren  began  to  dissociate  themselves 
more  and  more  from  the  mass  of  the  population,  and  the 
condemnation  of  infant  baptism  gradually  came  to  the  fore, 
as  their  distinguishing  tenet. 

Such  was  the  state  of  affairs  in  the  beginning  of  the  year 
1525. 

II.  TAe  Doctrines  of  the   Anabaptists. 

Up  to  the  year  1525  the  theorists  of  the  Anabaptists  had 
not  spoken,  their  deductions  dealing  chiefly  with  the  theolo- 
gical confirmation  and  amplification  of  their  doctrines.  The 
fundamental  features  of  these  doctrines  were  sufficiently 
evident  at  the  beginning  of  the  Peasant  War.  This  seems 
the  fittest  place  for  explaining  them,  before  proceeding  with 
the  account  of  the  external  affairs  of  the  sect. 

That  which  most  strikes  the  observer  concerning  tjie 
Anabaptists  is  the  great  diversity  of  opinion  prevailing 
among  them.  In  his  Chronica,  which  appeared  in  1531, 
Franck  (who  knew  and  understood  them  thoroughly  and 
sympathised  with  them  on  many  points,  although  scepti- 
cally and  timorously)  says  in  regard  to  them  :    "  Although 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  163 

dissensions  exist  in  all  sects,  yet  are  the  Baptists  peculiarly- 
disunited  and  split  up  ;  in  so  much  that  I  know  not  what 
certainly  and  finally  to  write  about  them."  ^ 

Bullinger  writes  in  the  same  strain  in  his  work  against  the 
Anabaptists.  "  Many  hold,"  he  says,  "  that  it  is  impossible 
to  give  an  accurate  account  of  all  the  distinctions  and  an- 
tagonistic opinions,  and  pernicious,  horrible  sects  or  factions 
existing  among  the  Anabaptists,  In  truth,  few  communities 
will  be  found  which  are  unanimous  in  their  views,  and  have 
not  each  its  own  mystery,  z>.,  its  own  fantasy."  For  that 
reason  he  refrains  from  attempting  to  describe  all  the  sects, 
and  limits  himself  to  a  recapitulation  of  their  most  important 
tendencies.2 

Dissensions  and  divergences  of  views  were  not  peculiar 
to  the  Anabaptists,  They  are  in  part  due  to  the  same 
tolerance  in  matters  of  faith  which  had  enabled  the  most 
diverse  sects  to  dwell  together  peaceably  in  Tabor,  and  in 
part  to  the  circumstance  that  the  various  sects  only  rarely 
acquired  a  stable,  recognised  organisation.  Hence  the 
conception  of  what  an  Anabaptist  really  was  remained, 
perhaps,  quite  as  uncertain  as  that  of  a  "  Nihilist  "  of  to- 
day in  Russia.  Contemporary  historians  include  among 
them  partisans  of  the  most  varied  modes  of  thought.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  natural  that  every  revolutionary — and  hence 
critical — movement  should  maintain  a  critical  attitude,  not 
only  towards  its  opponents,  but  also  towards  its  adherents. 
This  makes  it  liable  to  disruption  in  its  very  infancy,  and  so 
long  as  it  is  feeling  its  way  without  firm  foothold.  The 
Anabaptists  (at  least  in  Germany)  never  passed  beyond  this 
stage. 

Bullinger  is  more  minute  than  Franck  in  his  account  of  the 
different  factions  among  the  Anabaptists,  but  also  more 
bitter.  We  shall  confine  ourselves  to  Franck's  narrative,  and 
give  a  few  of  its  details. 

Many  of  the  distinctions  given  by  this  author  are   of  a 

'  Chronica,  Zeytbti-ch  und  bibel  von  anbegyn  biss  inn  diss  gegenwartig, 
MDCXXXI.jar.     Strassburg,  1531.     Fol.  445. 

^  Der  Widertiiuffer  nursfrung,  furgang,  Secten,  wasen  fromemen  und 
gemeine  vier  leer  Aiiickcl.  etc.    Zurich,  1531,  p,  17. 


1 64  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

subordinate  character,  and  relate  to  differences  of  natural 
temperament  or  idiosyncrasy  ;  in  which  category  we  may 
place  the  various  views  held  in  regard  to  revelations  and 
dreams.  Other  points  deal  with  certain  tactical  matters  of 
little  import. 

But  even  on  weighty  questions  and  first  principles  there 
was  no  perfect  unanimity  among  the  Anabaptists. 

Foremost  of  all  stood  the  fundamental  question  of  private 
proprietorship. 

"  Some,"  says  Franck,  "  regard  themselves  alone  as  holy 
and  pure.  Holding  themselves  aloof  from  others,  they  have 
all  things  in  common  ;  no  one  calls  anything  his  own,  and 
the  possession  of  any  property  is  a  sin. 

"  Others  have  all  things  so  far  in  common  that  they  allow 
no  one  among  them  to  suffer  want.  Not  that  one  can  seize 
another's  goods,  but  that  in  case  of  necessity  the  goods  of 
each  belong  in  common  to  the  sufferer ;  and  no  one  is 
allowed  to  hide  anything  from  another,  but  must  keep 
open  house.  While,  however,  the  giver  should  be  ready 
and  willing,  the  receiver  should  be  unwilling,  and,  as  far  as 
possible,  spare  his  brother,  and  avoid  being  a  burden  to  him. 
But  herein  there  is  much  hypocrisy,  deceit,  and  lying,  as 
they  themselves  well  know. 

"In  some  places,  e.^.,  at  Austerlitz  in  Moravia,  they  have 
OeconomoSy  or  stewards,  and  a  common  kitchen-sack,  from 
which  each  one  is  given  what  he  is  in  want  of ;  but  whether 
this  is  really  so,  and  the  distribution  just,  I  do  not  inquire. 
These  anathematise  other  Brethren  who  do  not  walk  in 
what  they  consider  the  right  way  ;  and  this  often  happens, 
since  each  community  puts  a  ban  upon  other  brotherhoods 
who  do  not  subscribe  in  all  things  to  its  tenets.  ,  .  . 

"  Other  Baptists  lay  no  stress  on  the  brotherly  feeling  and 
community  of  goods  just  mentioned,  and  esteem  it  un- 
necessary and  arrogant  on  the  part  of  the  Fraternities 
which  call  themselves  perfect  Christians  and  despise  all  else. 
In  this  sect  each  works  for  himself,  and  the  members  help, 
question  each  other,  and  shake  hands  in  a  way  quite 
hypocritical  (to  my  thinking),  although  I  lay  no  blame  on 
those  who  do  these  things  in  sincerity." 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  165 

Hence  among  the  Anabaptists,  as  among  the  Taborites 
and  Bohemian  Brethren,  we  find  two  parties  :  one  strict, 
taking  communism  seriously,  abolishing  all  private  rights  in 
property,  and  supporting  the  Brethren  from  the  common 
"  kitchen-sack "  ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  more  moderate 
faction  which  recognised  private  proprietorship,  and  only 
demanded  that  each  should  so  possess  "  as  if  he  possessed 
nothing."  The  appearance  of  these  two  parties  nearly  simul- 
taneously is  not  an  accidental,  but  a  typical  phenomenon, 
consequent,  by  the  very  nature  of  things,  on  the  communistic 
movement,  so  long  as  it  adhered  to  the  basis  of  communism 
in  the  means  of  consumption. 

The  question  of  marriage  is  intimately  connected  with  that 
of  private  proprietorship. 

According  to  Franck,  some  taught  that  no  one  should 
live  in  family  life  with  those  of  another  faith  ;  and  many 
wedlocks  were  broken  up  in  this  way.  Others  held  opposite 
views. 

Some  thought  it  a  duty  to  forsake  house  and  family  after 
the  example  of  the  apostles  (St.  Luke  xviii.  28-30),  while 
many  preached  the  contrary. 

"  There  was  also  a  sect  among  them  the  members  of 
which  wished,  together  with  all  things  else,  to  have  their 
wives  in  common  ;  but  they  were  soon  suppressed  by  the 
other  Brethren  of  the  community,  and  driven  out.  Many 
inculpated  Hut  and  Hatzer  as  leaders  of  this  sect.  If  this 
be  true,  these  men  at  all  events  atoned  for  their  sin." 

Ludwig  Hatzer  of  Thurgau  is  already  known  to  us.  Not 
only  was  he  opposed  to  the  bolder  thinkers  of  his  party  on 
questions  of  marriage,  but  he  was  one  of  those  Baptists 
who  denied  the  divinity  of  Christ,  and  maintained  that  He 
was  only  a  teacher  and  example,  not  an  "  idol."  We  do  not 
know  how  far  his  views  were  shared  by  others.  In  1529  he 
was  put  to  death  at  Constance,  for  adultery. 

Hans  Hut,  of  Franconia,  was  a  bookbinder,  and  a  zealous 
partisan  of  Munzer  (who  was  himself  far  from  advocating 
the  community  of  wives).  After  the  suppression  of  the 
Peasant  Insurrection  in  Thuringia,  he  joined  the  South 
Grerman  Anabaptists. 


i66  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

The  tendencies  for  which  he  and  Hatzer  were  condemned 
call  to  mind  those  of  the  Adamites  in  Bohemia  and  the 
Brothers  and  Sisters  of  the  Free-Spirit ;  and  it  is  noteworthy 
that  BulHnger  speaks  of  a  sect  of  "  Free-Brothers "  among 
the  Baptists,  who  not  only  in  name  but  in  their  opinions 
showed  a  close  kinship  with  the  Brothers  of  the  Free-Spirit. 
We  cannot  decisively  say  whether  this  similarity  rests  upon 
tradition,  or  whether  under  the  same  conditions,  but  without 
any  connection  with  their  forerunners,  like  events  led  to  like 
consequences. 

"  The  Free  Brethren,"  says  Bullinger  "  (whom  nearly  all 
other  Baptists  call  the  rude,  wild  Brothers,  and  curse  and 
scorn)  make  the  eighth  sect  of  this  people.  From  the  very 
origin  of  the  order  they  were  rather  numerous  in  various 
localities,  especially  in  the  Zurich  highlands.  The  Baptists 
interpreted  Christian  freedom  in  a  fleshly  sense,  wishing  to 
be  above  all  laws,  because  Christ  had  made  them  free.  They 
also  imagined  themselves  exempt  from  the  payment  of  rents 
and  tithes,  and  furthermore  from  the  duties  of  labour.  Some 
of  the  more  discreet,  however,  teach  that  although  these 
things  are  not  incumbent  as  between  the  Brethren,  yet  should 
the  heathen  be  paid,  that  they  may  have  no  cause  for  com- 
plaint, and  may  not  revile  the  doctrines.  Nevertheless  serf- 
dom should  cease  among  Christians.  Some  of  these  Free 
Brothers  (abandoned,  dissolute  knaves)  convinced  wanton 
women  that  unless  these  hazarded  their  honour,  it  would  be 
impossible  for  them  to  be  saved.  To  this  end  they  blas- 
phemously abused  the  Word  of  God,  which  says  that  he 
cannot  be  saved  who  is  not  willing  to  forfeit  and  lose  all  that 
he  holds  dear.  In  like  manner  all  ignominy  and  disgrace 
must  be  suffered  for  Christ's  sake.  Because  Christ  said  that 
publicans  and  harlots  should  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
before  the  righteous,  therefore  women  are  to  turn  harlots, 
yielding  up  their  honour,  and  thus  be  greater  in  heaven  than 
virtuous  wives.  Others  are  more  subtle  ;  for  they  teach  that 
as  all  things  are  held  in  common,  so  should  the  wives  be  also. 
Some  affirm  that  after  they  have  been  rebaptized  they  are  born 
again,  and  cannot  sin  ;  the  flesh  alone  can  and  may  sin.  In 
this  way  great  scandal  and  wantonness  were  caused  by  many 


THE   ANABAPTISTS  167 

false  pretences  and  lies,  since  they  dared  to  say  concerning 
all  these  things,  that  they  were  in  accordance  with  God's 
will.  Certain  wanton  knaves  among  them  instituted  what 
they  called  spiritual  marriage ;  wives  were  told  that  they 
committed  heinous  sin  with  their  husbands  if  these  had  not 
been  rebaptized,  since  in  that  case  they  were  no  better  than 
heathens  ;  but  that  with  Baptists  they  did  not  sin,  there 
being  a  spiritual  marriage  between  them."  ^ 

We  have,  unfortunately,  been  unable  to  discover  any  further 
contemporaneous  information  concerning  the  Free  Brethren. 
Bullinger's  polemical  treatise  is  by  no  means  an  unprejudiced 
source ;  but  in  all  essential  points  we  may  rely  upon  the 
accuracy  of  its  representations  of  the  sect,  particularly  on 
points  in  which  their  doctrines  touch  upon  those  of  the 
Brothers  and  Sisters  of  the  Free-Spirit ;  namely,  their  "  free- 
love,"  "  communistic  anarchism,"  and  their  sinlessness  based 
on  the  assumption  that  what  they  did  was  God's  will. 

Though  the  Anabaptists  were  no  more  unanimous  in 
their  opinions  about  government  or  public  authority  than 
in  those  concerning  private  property  and  marriage,  they  all 
agreed  that  they  would  have  as  little  as  possible  to  do  with 
the  Government.  They  wished  to  know  nothing  of  it ;  at  the 
same  time  they  deprecated  violent  resistance,  and  preached 
the  duty  of  suffering  obedience. 

Franck  informs  us  that  they  taught  the  duty  of  unresisting 
submission  to  violence.  A  Christian  should  fill  no  office ; 
"  he  may  not  have  any  kind  of  servant ;  neither  may  he  go  to 
war,  or  clench  his  fist."     Let  vengeance  be  of  God. 

Some  among  them  proclaimed  that  no  one  should  take  an 
oath.  "  Furthermore  no  Christian  may  take  an  official  position 
in  which  his  duty  would  oblige  him  to  sit  in  a  criminal  court 
and  judge  matters  of  life  and  death,  or  concern  himself  with 
war."  Others  at  least  tolerated  necessary  self-defence.  "  Never- 
theless they  all  with  one  voice  teach  obedience  to  the  authorities 
in  things  that  be  not  contrary  to  God's  will  ;  and  the  giving 
not  only  of  rent  and  taxes,  but  of  the  cloak  with  the  coat,  and 
all  that  is  not  absolutely  needful.  They  also  say  that  they 
are  ready  to  suffer  violence,  and  even  to  obey  tyrants.  .  .  . 
'  Wicdeiidufcr,  fol.  32. 


i68  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

So  far  as  I  have  discoursed  with  the  latter,  they  have  replied 
to  me  that  they  are  here  to  suffer  with  patience  for  Christ's 
sake,  not  to  fight  with  impatience  ;  because  the  precepts  and 
demands  of  the  gospel  were  defended  and  established  by 
suffering  and  martyrdom,  not  by  violence;  as  the  peasants 
had  it  in  mind  to  do." 

Much  as  they  agreed  with  the  Zurich  Brethren  in  other 
matters,  their  views  on  the  subject  of  violence  were  the  main 
cause  of  their  separation  from  Miinzer  and  the  majority  of 
German  communists  before  the  Peasant  War. 

A  letter  is  still  extant  which  was  addressed  to  Miinzer  on 
the  Sth  of  September,  1524,  by  Grebel,  Manz  Andreas  von 
der  Stiilzen,  Hans  Okenfuss,  Heinrich  Aberli,  and  others. 
They  affirm  that  they  are  at  one  with  him  in  many  things, 
and  that  "  you  and  Karlstadt  are  esteemed  among  us  as  the 
purest  proclaimers  and  preachers  of  the  purest  Word  of  God." 
They  rejoice  that  "  we  have  found  one  who  is  of  the  same 
Christian  understanding  as  ourselves.  We  who  are  poor  in 
spirit  have  been  taught  and  strengthened  beyond  measure  by 
your  tracts."  But  he  is  not  radical  enough  in  his  doctrines, 
and  they  exhort  him  "  seriously  to  bestir  himself,  and  preach 
without  fear  godly  words  only  ;  to  set  up  godly  usages  .  .  . 
and  to  reject,  hate,  and  curse  all  human  designs,  words,  usages, 
and  opinions,  and  even  your  own."  They  attack  his  German 
Mass,  which  they  consider  too  far  removed  from  apostolic 
simplicity,  and  also  inveigh  against  his  advocacy  of  violence. 
Whosoever  will  not  believe,  and  struggles  against  God's  Word 
"  should  not  be  put  to  death,  but  be  esteemed  a  heathen  and 
a  publican.  The  gospel  and  its  believers  are  not  to  be  pro- 
tected with  the  sword,  nor  should  the  latter  so  protect  them- 
selves ;  yet  this,  from  what  we  have  gathered  from  our  Brethren, 
is  your  opinion.  True,  believing  Christians  are  sheep  among 
wolves,  sheep  for  the  slaughter  ;  they  must  be  baptized  in 
anguish  and  want,  in  tribulation  and  persecution,  in  suffering 
and  death  ;  by  these  must  they  be  proved,  and  obtain  the 
home  of  everlasting  rest,  not  by  physical,  but  by  spiritual 
strangling.  Moreover,  they  must  not  make  use  of  the  sword 
of  the  world,  nor  of  war,  as  killing  is  an  entirely  bygone  thing 
with  them." 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  169 

We  do  not  know  whether  Munzer  received  this  letter,  nor 
what  reply  he  gave  to  it  ;  but  soon  after  its  composition  we 
find  him  on  the  Swiss  frontier  in  communication  with  the  Swiss 
Anabaptists.  We  are  limited  to  conjecture  respecting  the 
nature  of  this  intercourse,  though  the  events  which  transpired 
after  Miinzer's  return  to  Thuringia,  lead  us  to  infer  that  no 
agreement  was  arrived  at  concerning  the  employment  of 
violent  measures. 

The  question  of  such  measures  was  a  crucial  one  with  the 
Anabaptists,  as  it  had  previously  been  with  the  Bohemian 
Brethren.  This  is  seen  from  the  fact  that  in  spite  of  their 
tolerance  in  other  matters,  and  the  existence  among  them  of 
the  most  diverse  tendencies,  they  always  protested  against 
Miinzer's  being  considered  one  of  them.  Moreover,  that 
reformer's  partisans  held  aloof  from  the  Baptists.  Franck 
tells  us:  "It  is  said  that  Miinzer  still  has  (1531)  a  large 
number  of  secret  followers  in  Thuringia,  who  are  not  Baptists. 
Furthermore,  as  far  as  I  have  been  informed  on  trustworthy 
authority,  he  has  not  even  rebaptized." 

This  last  circumstance  is  not  in  itself  any  proof  that  Miinzer 
did  not  belong  to  the  Baptists.  Like  these,  Miinzer  publicly 
declared  against  infant  baptism.  In  his  Protestation  he  writes : 
"  In  the  days  of  the  apostles  care  was  taken  that  the  adver- 
sary should  not  mix  the  tares  with  the  wheat.  For  that 
reason  adults  only  were  admitted  as  members  of  the  Church, 
after  long  instruction.  .  .  .  Ah !  What  shall  I  say  ?  In  all 
the  books  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Church  from  the  earliest 
extant,  there  is  not  one  single  word  which  discloses  or 
indicates  the  true  mode  of  baptism.  I  ask  all  who  are  learned 
in  letters  to  point  out  to  me  the  place  in  Holy  Writ  in  which 
it  is  asserted  that  a  single  child  under  age  was  baptized  by 
Christ  and  His  messengers,  or  which  may  be  adduced  in 
support  of  infant  baptism." 

At  the  end  of  January,  or  beginning  of  February,  1525, 
the  Zurich  Brethren  had  begun  to  introduce  the  practice  of 
rebaptism  ;  at  a  time  when  Miinzer  had  probably  left  to  take 
part  in  the  great  revolutionary  war,  and  when  that  sort  of 
sectarian  controversy  must  have  seemed  to  him  trivial  and  of 
absolutely  no  importance. 


170  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL   EUROPE 

The  idea  of  rebaptism  (or  rather  late  baptism)  was  not  new. 
It  sprang  up  at  a  very  early  date  among  the  Waldenses,  and 
was  afterwards  especially  prominent  in  the  early  days  of  the 
Bohemian  Brethren.  Peter  Chelcicky  was  of  the  opinion  that 
"  it  were  better  to  baptize  adults  only,  after  the  manner  of  the 
ancient  Church,  z>.,  those  who  could  confirm  their  faith  by 
their  works."  While  not  wholly  repudiating  infant  baptism, 
he  preferred  that  the  rite  should  be  limited  to  adults  only. 
When  the  community  of  Bohemian  Brethren  was  formed  at 
Lhota  in  1407,  their  first  act  was  rebaptism,  which  was  per- 
formed on  all  who  were  present ;  and  late  baptism  maintained 
itself  among  the  fraternity  until  the  rise  of  the  Anabaptists. 
At  that  time  the  Bohemian  Brethren  had  acquired  the 
character  of  middle-class  people,  and  did  not  wish  to  be 
confounded  with  the  Anabaptists,  who  bore  the  same  features 
as  the  original  followers  of  Chelcicky.  Adult  baptism  now 
became  a  dangerous  symbol,  and  for  that  reason  the  dislike 
to  it  in  the  Bohemian  sects  continued  to  increase  until  a 
synod  held  at  Jungbunzlau  in  1534  (the  year  of  the  Munster 
uprising)  put  a  final  end  to  the  practice. ^  Hence  it  was  no 
new  principle,  the  acceptance  of  which  gave  the  Zurich 
Brethren  their  name.  In  fact  the  opposition  to  infant 
baptism  was  a  logical  consequence  of  the  opposition  to  the 
State  Church. 

So  long  as  the  Catholic  Church  in  Occidental  Christendom 
was  truly  Catholic,  baptism  implied  the  reception  into  general 
society.  At  that  time  there  was  nothing  contrary  to  common 
sense  in  infant  baptism.  It  was  quite  otherwise  after  the 
formation  of  opposing  heretical  parties,  who  contested  the 
claim  of  the  Catholic  Church,  that  it  comprised  the  whole  of 
society.  When  other  ecclesiastical  organisations  had  been 
instituted,  the  demand  was  naturally  advanced  that  each 
individual  should  not  be  involuntarily  apportioned  to  a 
designated  Church  through  the  accident  of  birth,  but  remain 
free  to  decide  until  he  was  able  to  think  for  himself 

This  conclusion,  however,  was  not  arrived  at  by  all  the 
Protestant  sects.  The  Protestantism  of  the  ruling  classes 
consisted  merely  in  the  effort  to  get  possession  of  the  Church 
'  Gindely,  Geschichte  der  Bohmischcn  Briulcr,  i.  pp.  36  and  224. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  171 

as  a  means  of  government,  and  to  incorporate  it  in  the  State. 
The  Church  became  a  part  of  the  State — the  State  Church  ; 
and  the  Government  in  those  countries  to  which  the  Reforma- 
tion spread  determined  to  what  Church — to  what  "  faith  " — 
the  citizens  of  the  State  should  belong.  This  was  afterwards 
displayed  in  the  most  marked  manner  in  monarchical  Germany, 
where  the  principle  was  formulated  :  cujus  regio,  ejus  religio  ; 
and  where  the  subjects  of  a  prince  were  obliged  forthwith  and 
uncomplainingly  to  change  their  faith,  if  their  sovereign  for 
any  reason  changed  his,  or  bequeathed,  gave,  sold,  or  ceded 
them  to  another  monarch  of  a  different  belief 

In  democratic  Protestant  commonwealths  the  power  of  the 
State  Church  did  not  lead  to  such  absurd  consequences  as  in 
monarchies  ;  but  the  consequences  became  apparent  sooner, 
and  first  of  all,  in  Zurich,  where,  as  we  have  seen,  Zwingli  had 
introduced  the  State  Church  in  1523.  The  baptism  of  adults 
was  incompatible,  however,  with  the  inauguration  of  a  National 
Church.  As  every  individual  belonged  by  birth  to  a  par- 
ticular country,  so  in  those  countries  having  a  State  Church, 
he  belonged  by  birth  to  a  particular  confession.  Adult 
baptism  implied  a  denial  of  State  authority ;  the  denial  of  its 
right  to  fix  the  belief  of  its  native-born  citizens.  As  adminis- 
trator of  the  State  of  Zurich,  Zwingli  could  not  recognise 
late  baptism,  although  earlier,  and  as  long  as  he  was  in  the 
opposition  he  avowed  himself  to  be  in  favour  of  the  practice. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Brethren  were  made  to  adhere 
more  firmly  to  the  right  of  adult  baptism  by  the  increasing 
severity  of  the  persecution,  and  the  growing  consciousness 
that  they  were  in  the  minority  and  must  renounce  all  hope  of 
getting  the  government  into  their  hands.  They  saw  that  they 
could  vindicate  their  claims  only  by  separating  from  the  mass 
of  the  people  and  organising  themselves  into  a  peculiar  com- 
munity of  "  saints  "  and  "  elect  " — two  appellations  which 
sound  very  arrogant,  and  only  show  that  the  Brethren  had 
abandoned  the  hope  of  ever  constituting  the  mass  of  the 
population. 

Thus  the  question  of  adult  baptism  (or  as  its  opponents 
said,  ?'^-baptism)  came  more  and  more  to  the  front.  It  was 
just  as  far  from  being  the  objective  cause  of  the  struggle  as 


172  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

was  the  question  of  Communion  in  both  kinds  among  the  Hus- 
sites.i  But  as  was  the  case  with  the  lay  chalice,  circumstances 
caused  rebaptism  to  be  the  standard  round  which  the  Brethren 
gathered — a  token  by  which  they  recognised  each  other,  and 
from  which  they  received  the  name  they  have  borne  in 
history.2 

III.  Tke  Fortune  and  Fate  of  the  Anabaptists   in 
Switzerland. 

The  first  decisive  blow  received  by  the  Anabaptists  fell 
upon  them  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Peasant  War. 

Inflamed  by  their  preachers,  and  especially  by  Reublin, 
many  parents  refused  to  have  their  children  baptized.  In 
vain  did  pastors  and  Councilmen  exert  themselves  to  per- 
suade the  recalcitrants  to  yield.  On  the  i8th  of  January, 
therefore,  the  Council  issued  an  order  for  the  compulsory 
baptism  of  children,  at  the  same  time  enacting  the  punish- 
ment of  exile  to  any  one  transgressing  the  decree.  The 
execution  of  the  order  began  three  days  later,  by  the  banish- 
ment of  Reublin,  Hatzer,  Andreas  von  der  Stulzen,  together 
with  Brodli,  from  Graubiinden,  who  acted  as  preacher  in 
Zollikon,  but  supported  himself  by  manual  labour. 

The  answer  to  this  blow  was  fit  and  bold.  An  assembly 
was  convened  of  the  Brothers  remaining  in  Zurich,  at  which 
Jurg  Blaurock,  at  one  time  a  monk  in  Chur,  rose  and  asked 
Conrad  Grebel  to  baptize  him  with  the  true  Christian 
baptism.  After  the  ceremony  had  been  performed,  Jiirg 
baptized  all  others  present  at  the  meeting.     From  that  time 

'  Zwingli  himself  says  this  in  a  letter  to  Vadian  of  May  28,  1525,  in 
which  he  designates  the  conflict  with  the  Baptists  as  one  of  the  severest 
he  had  ever  carried  on.  All  previous  struggles  had  been  comparatively 
child's  play.  But  resistance  was  necessary,  as  it  was  not  merely  a  ques- 
tion concerning  baptism,  but  of  insurrection,  destruction,  and  contempt  of 
authority.     (Egli,  Ziiricher  Wiedertdufer,  p.  34.) 

•  "  Rebaptists  "  or  "  Anabaptists  "  ;  from  the  Greek  Ana,  a  particle  con- 
taining the  idea  of  repetition.  The  members  of  the  sect  protested 
against  this  appellation.  They  did  not  baptize  twice,  but  maintained 
that  infant  baptism  was  no  real  baptism  ;  being,  as  Hubmeir  calls  it, 
only  a  child-bath.  (In  a  work  entitled,  Vom  Cliristenlichen  Tauff  der 
Glaubieen,  1525.) 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  173 

rebaptism,  or  late  baptism,  was  the  recognised  symbol  of 
admission  to  the  league  of  Brethren.  An  attempt  was 
made  to  arrive,  at  the  same  time,  at  a  practical  realisation 
of  communism.! 

When  the  Zurich  Brethren  espoused  the  doctrine  of 
rebaptism,  they  did  so  with  the  full  consciousness  of  what 
awaited  them. 

"  The  Council  caused  many  to  be  thrown  into  prison,  among 
whom  were  Manz  and  Blaurock.  Interdictions,  trials,  and 
punishments  followed  ;  then  more  imprisonments,  con- 
ferences, and  severer  punishments.  But  this  people  had  a 
spirit  which  mocked  at  the  theology  of  Zwingli,  and  as  wind 
spreads  the  fire,  so  did  violence  spread  the  name  of  their 
Church  far  and  wide."  ^ 

In  fact  the  exiles  from  Zurich  soon  sowed  the  seed  of  their 
doctrines  throughout  all  German  Switzerland,  their  greatest 
success  being  achieved  on  the  German  frontier,  in  Waldshut, 
Schaffhausen,  and  St.  Galle. 

In  these  and  other  towns  of  Switzerland  and  South  Ger- 
many, the  Zurich  Reformation  movement  met  with  an  active 
response  ;  and,  as  in  Zurich,  there  also  appeared  a  radical 
Anabaptist  party,  who  wished  to  go  beyond  the  reform  of 
Zwingli,  and  who  were  more  successful  than  their  coadjutors 
had  been  in  the  capital,  where  the  population  was  less  plebeian 
in  character. 

The  wholesale  expulsions  from  Zurich  at  the  beginning  of 
the  year  1525  helped  to  stir  up  the  above-mentioned  towns. 
Grebel  repaired  to  Schaffhausen  ;  Brodli  began  to  preach  at 
Hallau,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  same  town ;  and  Reublin  finally 
went  to  Waldshut.  In  Schaffhausen  the  new  doctrines  made 
but  slow  progress  ;  but  Hallau  was  soon  won  over,  as  well 
as  Waldshut,  where  the   leader   of  the   movement  was  Dr. 

'  We  have  it  on  the  evidence  of  an  eye-witness,  Heini  Frei  (called 
Gigli),  that :  "  It  was  thought  that  all  things  should  be  in  common  and 
be  heaped  together ;  and  that  what  any  one  lacked  and  asked  for,  he 
should  take  from  the  heap,  as  far  as  his  actual  needs  demanded.  It  was 
also  thought  that  persons  of  wealth  and  high  family  should  be  gladly 
admitted,  and    be  'induced    to    join"    (Egli,    Ziiricher   Wiedertdufer, 

PP-  24,  97)- 
==  Cornelius,  Geschichte  des  Miinsterischen  Aufruhrs,  ii.  pp.  29,  30. 


174  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

Balthasar  Hubmeier,  who,  as  we  know,  had  had  dealings 
with  the  Bale  circle. 

This  man  merits  a  somewhat  closer  view.  Born  in  Fried- 
berg,  near  Augsburg,  in  1480,  he  had  devoted  himself  to  a 
scholastic  career,  and  had  been  made  professor  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Ingolstadt,  of  which  he  was  appointed  Pro-Rector  in 
15 15.  He  passed  the  following  year  at  Regensburg,  where 
he  was  preacher  in  the  cathedral,  and  became  conspicuous 
chiefly  for  his  agitation  against  the  Jews,  whom  the  handi- 
craftsmen accused  of  causing  the  decay  of  the  town  and  the 
crafts.  In  15 19  the  Jews  were  banished,  and  soon  after 
Hubmeier  also  left.  What  drove  him  away  we  do  not  know ; 
perhaps  his  participation  in  the  Reformation  movement.  He 
betook  himself  to  Waldshut,  which  was  at  that  time  in  the 
possession  of  the  Hapsburgs,  and  there  he  soon  acquired 
an  important  influence  as  a  preacher,  especially  among  the 
common  people.  This  influence  was  increased  when,  owing 
to  the  impulse  given  to  the  movement  in  Waldshut  by  the 
Zurich  Reformation,  a  democratic  agitation  began  against 
the  ruling  dynasty.  This  agitation,  which  finally  led  to  the 
insurrection  of  the  town  against  the  Hapsburgs  on  the  eve 
of  the  Peasant  War,  was  headed  by  Hubmeier,  whose  ro/e 
was  the  same  as  that  played  in  Zurich  by  Zwingli,  with 
whom  he  was  in  constant  communication. 

As  we  have  already  remarked,  the  success  of  this  movement 
was  coincident  with  the  prosperity  of  the  Anabaptists  in 
Waldshut. 

When  Zwingli  took  up  the  cudgels  against  the  Brethren, 
Hubmeier  was  forced  to  a  decision.  In  Waldshut  the 
common  people  had  more  power  than  in  Zurich,  and  were 
in  closer  proximity  to  the  rebellious  peasants  of  South 
Germany.  Hubmeier  separated  himself  from  Zwingli,  and 
with  his  community  went  over  to  the  Baptists,  with  whom 
he  had  previously  been  in  sympathy,  and  was  on  many  points 
in  accord.  When  Reublin  came  to  Waldshut,  Hubmeier  was 
baptized  by  him  (Easter,  1525).  More  than  three  hundred 
citizens  followed  his  example,  and  with  Hubmeier  the  town 
was  soon  won  over  to  the  cause.  This  rebellious  city 
became  "  a  rock  of  the  Baptist  Church  ;   a  centre  whence 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  175 

revival  preachers  and  missions  were  dispatched  in  all  direc- 
tions" (Cornelius). 

A  rapid  increase  took  place  simultaneously  in  the  St.  Galle 
community,  and  all  Appenzell  was  soon  roused  to  excitement. 

Manz  carried  the  Baptist  doctrines  to  Graubiinden  ;  others 
spread  them  in  Bale  and  Berne  ;  while  in  the  canton  of 
Zurich  itself  the  agitation  did  not  stagnate,  in  spite  of  all 
the  measures  taken  by  the  authorities.  For  a  long  time 
it  was  particularly  successful  in  the  highlands  of  the 
Griiningen. 

These  great  successes  would  have  been  impossible  without 
the  Peasant  War,  which  stirred  up  the  people  of  Switzerland 
and  Southern  Germany.  But  when  this  great  war  was  at  an 
end  ;  when  the  rebellious  German  peasantry  lay  in  the  dust, 
bleeding  from'  a  thousand  wounds,  the  position  of  things  in 
the  confederacy  was  altered  for  the  Baptists.  The  lower 
classes  now  grew  faint-hearted  and  despairing,  while  the 
rulers  became  more  arrogant,  their  thirst  for  blood  fired  by 
the  famous  example  of  their  German  neighbours.  In  the 
second  half  of  the  year  1525  the  persecution  of  the 
Anabaptists  became  general  throughout  Switzerland,  and 
all  the  more  bitter  and  cruel  in  proportion  to  the  increase 
of  danger  threatening  from  the  communistic  sectarians,  under 
the  aegis  of  the  Peasant  War. 

As  early  as  the  beginning  of  June  the  Council  of  St.  Galle 
was  roused  from  its  lethargy  and  decreed  the  prohibition  of 
rebaptism.  Burgesses  were  forced  to  swear  unconditional 
obedience  to  the  authorities,  under  penalty  of  banishment 
from  the  town.  In  July  Manz  was  arrested  by  the  Council 
of  Chur  and  handed  over  to  Zurich,  while  in  August  the 
Council  of  Schaffhausen  gained  the  mastery  over  the  Ana- 
baptists. October  saw  the  arrest  of  Grebel  and  Blaurock, 
and  in  November  Berne  enacted  the  penalty  of  banishment 
on  the  advocates  of  Anabaptism.  Finally  Waldshut,  the 
rock  of  the  Anabaptists,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Austrian 
Government  without  resort  to  arms,  and  Hubmeier,  to  whom 
all  other  loopholes  of  escape  were  closed,  fled  to  Zurich,  where 
he  was  seized  and  imprisoned. 

This  year,  which  during  its  first  half  had  been  so  full  of 


176  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

brilliant  success  for  the  Anabaptists,  ended  in  the  complete 
overthrow  and  dispersion  of  the  entire  league. 

Most  of  them  fled  to  Germany,  e.^:,  Rueblin,  Hatzer,  and 
Blaurock. 

Others  repented  and  renounced  their  errors,  among  whom 
the  best  known  was  Hubmeier.  After  he  had  recanted  and 
sworn  never  again  to  enter  the  canton  of  Zurich,  he  was 
mercifully  set  free  (April,  1526).  "Nevertheless,"  mourns 
Bullinger,  "  however  reasonable  and  right-minded  the  simple 
erring  folk  were  made  by  this  act  of  Dr.  Balthasar,  there 
were  many  Baptists  who  neither  by  this  nor  by  any  other 
means  could  be  induced  to  better  themselves."  ^ 

The  authorities  pursued  them  with  corporal  punishments 
of  increased  severity.  As  early  as  March  7,  1526,  the 
Council  of  Zurich  had  decreed  that  all  who  obstinately 
adhered  to  the  Anabaptist  cause  "should  be  laid  in  the 
tower,  kept  on  bread  and  water,  and  left  to  die  and  rot," 
women  and  maidens  as  well.  Moreover,  it  threatened  with 
rigorous  punishment  all  who  might  shelter  an  Anabaptist  or 
supply  him  with  food  and  drink.  Finally,  the  death  penalty 
was  ordained  for  those  who  should  relapse,  the  first  to  suffer 
being  Felix  Manz.  He  was  drowned  on  the  5th  of  January, 
and  his  property  confiscated. 

Persecution  however  did  not  succeed  in  suppressing  the 
doctrine  of  Anabaptism  in  Switzerland;  and  indeed  no 
communistic  sect  has  hitherto  being  annihilated  by  violent 
measures.  But  circumstances  no  longer  favoured  the  sect, 
and  hence,  after  the  overthrow  of  the  German  peasants,  the 
communistic  movement  in  the  Swiss  confederacy  was  soon 
forced  back  to  the  level  at  which  it  stood  before  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Reformation,  viz.,  that  of  a  secret  league,  boding 
no  danger  to  the  governing  classes  but  in  the  highest  degree 
dangerous  to  its  members — a  league  whose  existence  was 
made  known  only  by  occasional  law  proceedings  and  execu- 
tions. As  far  as  publicity  was  concerned,  the  movement  had 
vanished. 

'  Der  Wideddiiffcr  Ursprung,  p.  13. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS 


177 


IV.   Tke  Anabaptists  in  South  Germany. 


It  would  be  natural  to  presume  that  the  suppression  of 
the  Peasant  insurrection,  producing,  as  it  did,  so  violent  a 
reaction  against  the  Baptists  in  neighbouring  countries,  must 
have  made  any  success  of  that  order  in  Germany  itself  quite 
impossible.  But  while  this  view  would  accord  with  the 
circumstances  of  a  modern,  centralised  government,  it  does 
not  take  into  account  the  feudal,  local  separatism  so  strong 
in  the  German  Empire  at  that  time.  If  this  separatism 
increased  the  difficulty  of  combining  all  the  revolutionary 
or  rebellious  parties  into  one  common  movement,  it  also 
diminished  the  energy  of  the  reactionary  blow,  which  did  not 
fall  on  all  these  classes  simultaneously  or  with  equal  force. 

The  majority  of  the  large  free  cities  of  the  Empire  had 
confronted  the'Peasant  insurrection  with  great  coolness.  Not 
only  did  the  higher  classes  of  burgesses — the  patricians — 
stand  in  a  position  of  enmity  to  the  peasants,  but  the  middle 
and  lower  classes  of  the  urban  population — the  town  de- 
mocracy— entertained  only  a  lukewarm  sympathy  for  the 
rural  population  ;  a  lukewarmness  which  was  often  not  far 
removed  from  aversion. 

But  as  the  democracy  of  the  large  towns  had  refrained 
from  strengthening  with  their  power  the  insurrection  of  the 
peasantry,  they  were  not  affected — or  at  least  directly  affected 
— by  the  overthrow  of  that  insurrection.  The  democracy 
of  most  of  the  imperial  cities  of  South  Germany  was  un- 
broken after  the  Peasant  War.  But  at  that  period  an  acute 
character  was  given  to  the  conflicts  between  this  democracy 
and  the  urban  aristocracy  on  the  one  hand,  and,  on  the  other, 
between  the  whole  body  of  the  urban  population  and  the 
princely  powers  who  were  aspiring  to  the  rule  and  exploita- 
tion of  the  towns — conflicts  which  indeed  never  wholly  ceased 
in  those  centuries. 

The  mass  of  the  population  in  the  Imperial  cities  had 
welcomed  Luther's  resistance  to  the  Pope  with  joy,  and 
given  it  their  support ;  their  enthusiasm,  however,  diminished 
in  proportion  to  Luther's  increasing  lukewarmness  towards 
the  democracy. 

13 


178  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

At  the  same  time  that  Luther  began  to  sever  himself  from 
the  democracy,  there  arose  in  Zurich  a  form  of  Church 
Reformation  which  quite  coincided  with  the  interests  of  the 
urban  guild-democracy.  It  soon  excited  the  attention  of  the 
Imperial  towns  of  South  Germany,  where  it  gained  a  footing  ; 
without,  however,  at  the  outset,  placing  itself  in  opposition  to 
Lutheranism.  But  the  two  parties  were  bound  to  come  into 
antagonism  as  soon  as  Luther  and  his  followers  declared 
themselves  against  the  democracy.  And  thus  the  epoch  of 
the  Peasant  War  precisely  indicates  the  period  of  the  begin- 
ning of  the  great  struggle  between  Luther  and  Zwingli  ; 
seemingly  only  a  conflict  over  a  word  ;  a  battle  to  decide 
whether  Christ  said  :  "  This  "  (the  bread)  "  is  my  body,"  or 
"  This  signifies  my  body  " ;  but  in  reality  a  battle  between 
middle-class  democratic  reformation  and  princely  reformation, 
fought  out  with  theological  arguments,  but  concerning  very 
mundane  matters. 

All  Germany  had  been  full  of  the  struggle  since  1525,  but 
it  was  carried  on  most  eagerly  in  the  South  German  Imperial 
cities  of  Strassburg,  Ulm,  Constance,  Lindau,  Meinningen, 
Augsburg,  &c.  As  had  already  been  the  case  under  similar 
conditions,  the  communists  were  the  tertius  gaudens.  By 
their  conflict  with  the  Wittenberg  pope,  they  now  acquired 
room  and  light  for  a  freer  development,  just  as  they  had 
previously  done,  by  their  struggle  with  the  Roman  Pope. 
The  adherents  of  Zwingli  in  South  Germany  were  in  a 
position  to  use  the  Anabaptists  as  a  tool  against  the 
Lutherans  ;  hence  they  tolerated  that  sect  during  the  years 
immediately  following  1525,  Zwingli  himself,  now  their  perse- 
cutor in  Zurich,  having,  indeed,  very  recently  favoured  them. 

South  Germany  became  the  asylum  of  political  refugees 
from  the  free  republic,  who  went  there  in  large  numbers  and 
rapidly  gained  many  adherents.  Their  peaceable  intentions, 
which  repudiated  all  resort  to  violence,  exactly  harmonised 
with  the  universal  frame  of  mind  among  the  lower  classes 
after  the  suppression  of  the  Peasant  rebellion.  Some  who 
liad  previously  been  partisans  of  Miinzer,  went  over  to  them  ; 
e.g.y  Hans  Hut,  the  bookbinder,  and  Melchoir  Rinck.  Rinck 
was  at  one  time  schoolmaster  at  Hersfeld,  and  afterwards 


THE  ANABAPTISTS 


179 


pastor  at  Eckartshaufen  in  the  jurisdiction  of  Eisenach.  He 
had,  moreover,  fought  at  Frankenhausen,  but,  more  fortunate 
than  Miinzer,  escaped  with  his  life. 

The  subsequent  increase  among  the  order  of  the  Anabaptists 
in  Germany  was  so  rapid  that  it  was  thought  by  many  in  that 
country  that  the  order  had,  generally  speaking,  come  into 
existence  either  during  or  after  the  Peasant  War.  The 
Baptists  themselves  encouraged  this  view,  hoping  thereby  to 
refute  the  accusation  that  they  had  plotted  that  insurrection,  as 
was  firmly  asserted  by  their  opponents.  In  support  of  their 
denial  they  could  appeal  to  the  fact  that  the  adoption  of 
rebaptism  as  a  symbol  of  the  Brotherhood,  their  outspoken 
severance  from  the  Zwinglian  Church,  and  their  constitution 
as  a  separate  religious  community  took  place  no  earlier  than 
the  beginning  of  the  year  1525. 

Sebastian  Franck  accepts  this  representation,  exerting 
himself  most  zealously  to  prove  that  they  were  in  nowise 
rebelliously  inclined. 

At  all  events,  Franck's  view  is  nearer  the  truth  than 
the  one  still  more  widely  disseminated  and  adopted  by 
Bullinger — that  Miinzer  was  the  founder  of  the  Baptist  sect. 
Bullinger  had,  it  is  true,  seen  the  beginnings  of  Anabaptism 
in  Zurich,  but  the  Zurich  pastor  must  have  been  desirous  of 
shifting  the  birthplace  of  the  inconvenient  order  from  the 
home  of  Zwinglianism  to  that  of  Lutheranism. 

The  headquarters  of  the  Baptist  order  in  South  Germany 
were  Augsburg  and  Strassburg,  two  weaver  towns  in  which 
Beghardism  was  very  strong. 

Another  centre  was  Nurenberg,  where  we  know  Miinzer 
found  many  congenial  spirits,  although  the  patrician  element 
was  too  strong  to  admit  of  a  successful  popular  movement  at 
that  time. 

At  the  end  of  the  year  1524  (perhaps  immediately  after 
Munzer's  arrival  in  the  town)  a  number  of  "  heretics  "  were 
thrown  into  prison  at  Nurenberg,  among  whom  were  Diirer's 
pupil,  Jorg  Penz,  and  Hans  Denck,  who  had  been  appointed 
Rector  of  the  school  at  Sebald,  on  the  recommendation  of 
Oekolampadius  at  Bale. 

The  chief  personages    among    the    accused    were   exiled, 


i8o  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

including  Denck,  who  went  to  Switzerland,  where  the  cause 
of  the  Brethren  was  beginning  to  be  highly  prosperous.  At 
the  commencement  of  the  year  1525  we  find  him  as  proof- 
reader in  a  printing  establishment  at  St.  Galle  ;  but  the 
autumn  of  the  same  year  saw  him  once  more  at  Augsburg 
in  Germany.  In  this  town  the  enmity  between  Lutheranism 
and  Zwinglianism  was  beginning  to  show  itself  in  its  acutest 
form  ;  there  the  battle  fought  at  that  time  between  the  two 
parties  raged  at  its  fiercest,  and  consequently  the  Baptists 
came  under  conditions  which  were  most  favourable  to  them. 

The  community  grew  rapidly.  According  to  Urbanus 
Rhegius  it  already  numbered  1,100  members  in  1527.  This 
increase  is  chiefly  ascribed  to  the  agency  of  Denck,  "  who, 
with  his  vagabonds  (wandering  agitators),  wished  to  establish 
his  new  Baptist  order,  and  hid  himself  in  a  corner,  where  he 
secretly  poured  out  his  poison,"  over  this  Urbanus  Rhegius 
laments  in  a  pamphlet  against  Denck.^ 

Denck  was  certainly  much  favoured  by  circumstances  in 
Augsburg ;  but  a  large  part  of  the  success  he  attained 
must  be  attributed  to  his  zeal  and  intelligence.  He  and 
Hubmeier  stood  in  the  front  rank  of  the  vanguard  of  the 
Brethren.  Peter  Gynoraus,  who  lived  in  Augsburg  in  1526, 
speaks  of  him  as  the  "  head  of  the  Anabaptists."  Bucer  calls 
him  the  "pope";  and  in  a  letter  to  Zwingli  of  December  2, 
1527,  Haller  calls  him  the  "Apollo  of  the  Anabaptists." 

As  an  able  man  of  erudition  and  a  philosopher,  Denck 
directed  his  activity  above  all  to  divesting  the  Baptist 
doctrines  of  all  that  was  material  or  "  fleshly,"  and  to  making 
them  more  "  spiritual,"  He  was  one  of  the  foremost  repre- 
sentatives of  the  more  moderate  (or  perhaps  more  practical 
and  placable)  party  among  the  Anabaptists,  who  chafed  under 
the  burden  not  only  of  the  strict  enforcement  of  the  principle 
of  community  in  goods,  but  of  complete  passivity  towards  the 
Government.  It  is  true  that  the  antagonism  between  the  two 
parties  did  not  attain  to  its  full  development  in  Germany  ;  it 
first  reached  its  climax  in  Moravia,  where  the  community 
found   more  elbow-room,  and  could  better   allow   itself  the 

'  Wider  den  newen  Taufforden.  Notwendige  Warnung  an  alle  christ- 
glaubigen  dutch  die  Diener  dcs  Evangelii  zu  Augsburg.     1527. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  i8i 

luxury  of  internal  quarrels.  But  a  new  practical  party  in 
opposition  to  the  old  Zurich  faction  was  beginning  already 
to  be  conspicuous  in  Germany  and  especially  in  Augsburg, 
where  the  Brotherhood  was  exceedingly  prosperous,  and 
where  also  it  included  among  its  members  representatives  of 
the  higher  classes ;  of  whom  we  may  mention  Eitelhans 
Langenmantel,  "a  burgess  belonging  to  one  of  the  first 
families  in  Augsburg."  ^ 

As  was  the  case  with  the  Bohemian  Brethren,  the  larger 
part  of  the  educated  members  of  the  Anabaptist  community 
belonged  to  the  moderate  party.  Next  to  Denck,  the  most 
prominent  of  these  was  Hubmeier,  who,  it  is  true,  deserted 
the  sect  in  Zurich,  but  again  joined  it  as  soon  as  he  knew 
that  the  walls  of  Zurich  were  behind  him. 

Meanwhile'  there  were  men  of  education  on  the  other  side, 
e.g-.,  Eitelhans  Langenmantel,  who,  if  the  Short  Discourse  on 
the  True  Community  is  justly  ascribed  to  him,  made  cause 
with  the  stricter  form  of  communism. 

The  most  determined  advocate  of  the  rigorous  party  was 
the  bookbinder  and  accountant,  Hans  Hut,  who,  as  we  have 
seen,  had  been  through  the  Miinzer  school,  and  was  accused 
of  being  a  member  of  the  "Community  of  Wives  in  Common." 

Denck  and  Hut  had  already  encountered  each  other  at  the 
second  Augsburg  Congress  of  the  Brethren. 

Augsburg  was  so  important  a  place  that  the  two  primary 
synods  of  the  Baptists  were  held  there.  Among  those  who 
took  part  in  the  first  of  these,  convened  in  the  spring  of  1526, 
were  Hans  Denck,  Hans  Hut,  Ludwig  Hatzer,  and  Balthasar 
Hubmeier.  This  Congress  sanctioned  the  introduction  of  late 
Baptism  into  Germany,  the  practice  having  hitherto  been 
confined  to  Switzerland. 

Greater  importance,  however,  attaches  to  the  second  Con- 
gress in  August,  1527,  which  was  attended  by  more  than 
sixty  delegates  from  Germany,  Austria,  and  Switzerland. 
Its  chief  task  was  the  organisation  of  the  propaganda  work, 
the  sending  of  "  apostles^'  into  different  districts,  and  perhaps 
also  the  settling  of  the  programme,  or  "  Confession." 

'  Beck,  Die  GeschichtsbUcher  der  Wiedertdufer  in  Oesterreich  Ungarn. 
Vienna,  1883,  p.  36. 


i82  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

"  Unfortunately,"  says  Keller,  who  is  our  authority  with 
regard  to  these  two  Congresses,  "  we  are  not  in  possession  of 
the  protocols  of  the  resolutions  passed  by  this  assembly.  It 
is  certain,  however,  that  after  long  debate  (in  which  a 
difference  arose  between  Denck  and  Hut)  the  delegates 
unanimously  embodied  their  resolutions  ;  and  it  was  Denck's 
propositions  which  carried  the  day."  ^ 

Together  with  the  delegates  to  these  two  Congresses  from 
the  South  Germany  of  that  period,  we  meet  with  some  from 
Austria,  to  which  country  Anabaptism  had  also  penetrated  ; 
first  of  all  to  the  parts  of  Tyrol  bordering  on  Switzerland  and 
the  neighbouring  mountain  regions. 

Tyrol  at  that  time  played  a  much  more  important  part  in 
economics  and  politics  than  she  does  to-day.  In  that  province 
and  in  the  district  bordering  on  its  eastern  frontier,  the 
mining  industry  was  more  highly  developed  than  in  any 
other  land  with  the  exception  of  Saxony  and  Bohemia.  It 
could  boast  not  only  of  rich  iron  and  copper  ores  and  salt 
deposits,  but  also  of  numerous  veins  of  gold  and  silver. 
The  large  output  of  these  mines  must  have  contributed  to  the 
intensification  of  indigenous  social  antagonisms,  though  this 
effect  was  less  evident  in  its  mountainous  regions  than  in 
those  of  Saxony.  The  chief  cause  of  this  difference  lay  in  the 
inaccessibility  of  the  country  and  the  isolation  and  sterility  of 
its  lonely  valleys.  The  inhabitants  of  the  side  valleys  were 
untouched  by  the  influence  of  the  few  commercial  routes 
traversing  the  lofty  mountain  passes.  Their  wants  remained 
those  of  olden  times,  and  the  ways  and  means  of  satisfying 
them  had  not  changed.  No  prospect  of  gained  allured  the 
merchant  into  their  pathless  wilds,  and  the  peasant  produced 
no  surplus  for  barter. 

The  wealth  produced  by  the  mining  population,  especially 
in  the  gold  and  silver  mines,  contributed  but  slightly  to  the 
encouragement  of  manufacture,  for  the  chief  shareholders  of 
the  mines  of  Tyrol  were  non-Tyrolese,  the  most  important 
being  the  Fuggers  and  Hochstetters  of  Augsburg.  Moreover, 
Spaniards  also  were  among  those  who  worked  the  Tyrolese 
mines.  Even  the  share  that  fell  to  the  sovereigns  of  the 
'  Die  Reformation,  p.  429. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  183 

land,  the  Hapsburgs,  did  not  remain  in  the  country,  but  was 
scattered  abroad  in  support  of  their  foreign  policy,  going  into 
the  pockets  of  mercenaries  from  Switzerland,  the  Netherlands, 
and  Spain,  and  enriching  the  ministers  of  various  Courts 
whom  it  was  necessary  to  bribe,  as  well  as  the  German 
Electors  and  their  officials. 

Hence  in  Tyrol,  though  some  districts  were  highly  developed 
in  economics,  we  find  others  which  were  very  backward.  The 
old  constitution  of  the  Markgenossenschaft  still  prevailed  to 
a  very  great  extent,  and  there  was  but  little  exploitation  of 
peasants — at  least  north  of  the  Brenner.  The  climax  of 
class-antagonism  was  reached  only  in  the  towns  and  mining 
localities  and  their  environs. 

Hence  when  the  waves  of  the  Peasant  War  of  1525  beat 
upon  the  Tyrol  and  Salzburg  Alps  and  created  a  stir  among 
the  population  of  those  districts,  it  was  not  the  peasants  but 
the  miners  who  stood  at  the  head  of  the  insurrection. ^ 

The  military  strength  of  the  miners  then  became  evident, 
and  proved  how  dangerous  the  uprising  in  Thuringia  might 
have  been  if  the  miners  of  that  province  had  thrown  them- 
selves heartily  into  it.  The  rebellions  of  1525  in  Northern 
Tyrol  and  the  Salzburg  district  were  the  only  ones 
which  were  not  suppressed  by  military  force.  They  were 
conquered  by  moral  means,  t.e.,  by  broken  promises  and  by 
utilising  the  narrow  spirit  of  local  separatism,  exhibited  quite 
as  plainly  among  the  Salzburg  miners  as  among  the  Mans- 
felders.  A  few  of  the  more  dangerous  uprisings  were  sub- 
dued by  the  reform  of  some  all  too  flagrant  abuses,  and  a  free 
hand  was  thus  obtained  for  dealing  with  the  other  insurgents. 
After  these  had  been  defeated  and  time  gained  for  the  massing 
of  troops,  it  became  possible  to  subdue  those  districts  which 
had  remained  unconquered. 

Subjugated  and  depressed,  yet  without  having  suffered 
military  defeat,  the  lower  classes  of  Tyrol  were  every  whit  as 
discontented  and  ill-disposed  after  the  Peasant  War  as  those 
of  South  Germany,  though  not  so  disheartened. 

This  was  the  frame  of  mind  in  which  they  were  found  by 
'  This   is  fully  dealt  with  in  my  treatise   Die  Bergarbeiter  tind  der 
Bauernkrieg.     Neue  Zeit,  1889,  p.  508,  sqq. 


i84  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

the  Anabaptist  preachers  from  Switzerland  and  Bavaria,  to 
whom  it  soon  became  clear  that  Tyrol  offered  a  fertile  soil 
for  the  growth  of  their  doctrines. 

The  Baptist  sect  achieved  its  greatest  success  in  the  mining 
districts.  Before  the  Peasant  War  these  localities  had  gladly- 
embraced  Lutheranism,  which  in  the  countries  of  the  Catholic 
Hapsburgs  had  borne  the  character  of  direct  enmity  to  the 
ruling  powers.  "  In  addition  to  the  clergy,  laymen,  and 
even  miners,  clerks  of  Court,  students  and  others  had  the 
audacity  to  preach  the  new  Gospels.  .  .  .  Enthusiasm  for  the 
new  doctrines  sprang  up  in  all  directions,  the  nucleus  of  the 
adversaries  of  the  ancient  Church  being  the  Brotherhood 
at  Schwaz,  with  its  numerous  adherents  from  the  mining 
population."  ^ 

The  year  1525  saw  the  beginning  of  the  alienation  of  the 
democratic  classes  from  Luther's  doctrine,  which  had  emerged 
from  its  chrysalis  as  an  enemy  to  their  order ;  and,  as  soon  as 
the  doctrines  of  the  Baptists  became  known  to  them,  these 
classes  eagerly  went  over  to  that  sect. 

As  early  as  1526  there  were  reports  of  certain  "  Brethren" 
in  the  valley  of  the  Inn,  among  whom  was  Pilgrim  Marbeck, 
a  judge  in  the  Court  of  Mines  in  the  mining  district  of 
Rattenburg.  In  1527,  other  centres  of  Anabaptism  had 
been  formed  in  Schwaz,  Kitzbichel,  Sterzing,  Klauzen,  &c., 
where  the  miners  were  the  most  zealous  partisans  of  the 
Fraternity.2 

It  may  be  incidentally  mentioned  that  the  number  of  weavers 
among  the  Tyrolese  Baptists  was  surprisingly  large ;  but 
there  was  no  lack  of  members  from  other  labouring  classes, 
and  they  even  had  a  few  adherents  belonging  to  the  nobility. 

The  number  of  Baptists  in  Tyrol  increased  with  extra- 
ordinary rapidity  in  the  years  immediately  following  the 
Peasant  War,  as  it  also  did  in  the  towns  of  South  Germany. 

But  the  period  of  unrestricted  propagation  in  all  these 
districts  was  extremely  short ;  for  hardly  had  the  sect  begun 

'  Loserth,  Der  Anabaptismus  in  Tyrol  von  seineni  Anfdngen  bis  zutn 
Tode  Jakob  Hutters.    Vienna,  1892,  p.  21. 

'  Loserth,  op.  cit.  p.  37,  and  many  other  passages.  Compare  also 
Beck,  Die  Geschichtsbilcher  der  Wiedertdufer,  pp.  80,  81. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  185 

to  get  a  noticeable  following  when  the  municipal  and  State 
authorities  united  in  instituting  a  persecution  against  it.  It 
was  of  no  avail  to  the  Baptists  that  (even  on  the  admission 
of  their  enemies)  they  led  a  submissive  and  peaceable  life, 
and  repudiated  all  tumults  ;  these  doctrines  would,  it  was 
asserted,  inevitably  lead  to  a  revolution.  We  find  this 
argument  used  in  a  pamphlet  against  them  written  in  the 
year  1528.  (Ez'n  kurzer  Unterricht.^)  "  It  is  true,"  the  writer 
says,  "  that  the  Anabaptists  enjoin  obedience  to  the  authori- 
ties ;  but  this  is  only  an  artifice.  They  have  devised  their 
devilish  doctrines  for  the  sole  purpose  of  making  themselves 
great  and  powerful,  and  as  soon  as  this  object  is  attained  they 
will  set  themselves  up  against  the  authorities  and  pursue  their 
vile  wantonness.  He  who  teaches  that  all  things  are  in 
common,  has  naught  else  in  his  mind  than  to  excite  the 
subjects  against  the  rulers  ordained  by  God,  the  poor 
against  the  rich,  and  to  cause  discontent  and  tumult." 

This  argument  must  have  met  with  cordial  support  from  the 
ruling  classes  at  the  end  of  the  third  decade  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  when  the  remembrance  of  the  Peasant  War  was 
still  fresh.  An  additional  cause  for  opposition  to  the  Ana- 
baptists lay  in  the  fact  that  they  threatened  danger,  not  to  the 
small  villages,  but  to  the  rich  and  powerful  cities  ;  and  finally 
it  must  not  be  overlooked  that,  in  spite  of  their  peaceableness 
a  large  contingent  of  the  Anabaptists,  and  especially  the 
proletarian  adherents  of  Hut,  could  not  conceal  a  vein  of 
strongly  rebellious  sentiment.  It  is  true  that  they  all 
denounced  every  attempt  at  an  armed  insurrection  as  foolish 
and  sinful  ;  nevertheless  many  of  them  were  convinced  that 
the  fall  of  the  governing  class  was  at  hand,  though  they 
no  longer  relied  on  an  internal  uprising  for  the  realisation 
of  their  wishes,  but  put  their  trust  in  a  foreign  war. 

Even  Hut  built  his  hopes  on  the  impending  invasion  of  the 

»  The  full  title  runs  Ein  kurzer  vntcrricht  den  Pfarherrn  vnd  Prcdigern 
Inn  me'iner gned'igen  Herrn  der  Marggrafen  zu  Brandenburg,  &c.  Fiirstcnt- 
humben  und  Landen  hieniben  in  Franken  vnd  auf  dem  Geb'i'rg  verordnet, 
vees  sie  das  volck  wider  etliche  verfiirische  lere  der  widertaiiffer  an  den 
Feyertdgen  auff  der  Cantzel  zum  getreulichsten  ttnd  besten  aus  Gotlicher 
schrifft  vcrmancn  und  vnterrichicn  sollen. 


i86  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

Turks,  which  he  proclaimed  would  result  in  the  destruction  of 
the  Empire.  While  this  was  in  progress  the  associates  were 
to  keep  hidden,  but  show  themselves  as  soon  as  the  Turks  had 
done  their  part  in  the  work  to  be  accomplished.  He  even 
went  so  far  as  to  give  an  exact  date  for  the  beginning  of  the 
millennium,  viz.,  Whitsuntide,  1528. 

This  was  no  chimera.  The  Turks  really  were  approaching. 
The  Sultan  Suleiman  came  in  1529  instead  of  1528;  but 
though  he  succeeded  in  seizing  Hungary  he  did  not  penetrate 
so  far  as  Germany.  He  was  driven  back  before  the  walls  of 
Vienna,  to  the  affliction  not  only  of  the  zealous  Anabaptists, 
but  also  of  the  more  energetic  among  the  Emperor's  princely 
opponents,  especially  Landgrave  Philip  of  Hesse,  so  much 
extolled  by  patriotic  historians. 

The  communists,  therefore,  were  not  the  only  "  traitors  to 
their  country." 

The  sympathy  for  the  Turks  shown  by  a  section  of  the 
Anabaptists  did  not  make  public  sentiment  more  favourable 
to  them,  above  all  in  countries  under  the  sway  of  the  Emperor. 

Persecution  of  the  Anabaptists  was  the  chief  after-effect  of 
the  Peasant  War  ;  for  it  had  aroused  the  thirst  for  blood  and 
revenge  among  the  ruling  classes  quite  as  much  as  it  had 
terrorised  them,  and  after  its  close  they  looked  upon  every 
sympathiser  with  the  lower  classes,  however  submissive  and 
peaceable  he  might  be,  as  a  deadly  enemy,  who  could  not  be 
too  bitterly  resisted  or  too  cruelly  punished. 

Protestants  and  Catholics  emulated  each  other  in  their 
persecution  of  the  unfortunate  sect.  "  The  greatest  amount 
of  blood  flowed  in  Catholic  countries,"  writes  Cornelius 
{Munsterischen  Aufruhr,  ii.  p.  57).  "  In  Germany  the  Protes- 
tants surpassed  even  the  Catholics  in  rigorous  and  bloody 
persecution,"  says  Beck  {Die  Geschichtsbiicher  der  Wieder- 
tdufer,  xviii.).  Neither  of  the  two  parties,  indeed,  could 
boast  of  gaining  the  advantage  in  this  respect. 

Though  in  the  year  1526  the  persecution  of  the  Baptists 
was  limited  to  a  few  isolated  cases,  it  increased  in  rigour  with 
the  accession  of  adherents  to  the  sect.  The  year  1527  saw 
many  executions  of  the  Brethren,  but  the  universal,  cruel 
chase  really  began  in  the  following  year,  with    an  Imperial 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  187 

mandate  of  the  4th  of  January,  which  imposed  the  death 
penalty  on  all  who  espoused  Anabaptism.  This  mandate  was 
ratified  by  the  Reichstag  of  Speir  in  1529 — the  one  at  which 
the  evangelical  party  protested  against  every  act  of  intoler- 
ance directed  against  them,  and  thus  led  to  their  being  called 
"  Protestants." 

In  pursuance  of  the  sixth  clause  in  the  decree  of  this 
Reichstag,  the  Baptists  were  to  be  killed  like  wild  beasts  as 
soon  as  captured,  without  the  sentence  of  a  judge,  and  even 
without  judicial  inquiry ! 

This  decree  did  not  remain  a  dead  letter  ;  indeed  certain 
States  added  to  its  severity  while  carrying  it  out. 

"  Some,"  writes  one  of  the  chroniclers  of  the  Anabaptists, 
"  were  racked  and  drawn  asunder ;  others  burnt  to  ashes  and 
dust ;  some  roasted  on  pillars,  torn  with  red-hot  pincers  or 
locked  in  together  and  burnt.  Others  were  hanged  on  trees, 
beheaded  with  the  sword,  or  thrown  into  the  water.  Many 
were  gagged  so  that  they  could  not  speak,  and  in  this  manner 
led  to  their  death. 

"  They  were  led  to  the  slaughter  and  the  shambles  like 
sheep  and  lambs.  Some  either  starved  or  rotted  in  darksome 
prisons  ;  very  many,  before  they  were  killed,  being  tormented 
with  all  sorts  of  torture.  Some  who  were  deemed  too  young 
for  execution  were  whipped  with  rods,  and  many  lay  for 
years  in  dungeons  and  prisons.  Numbers  had  holes  burnt  in 
their  cheeks,  and  were  then  sent  away.  The  remainder,  who 
had  escaped  from  all  these  things,  were  hunted  from  one 
country  and  place  to  another.  Like  owls  and  ravens,  which 
dare  not  fly  by  day,  they  were  often  compelled  to  dwell  in, 
and  hide  among  rocks  and  clefts,  in  wild  forests,  or  in  caves 
and  pits.  In  some  places  their  Scriptural  books  were  inter- 
dicted, and  in  many  burnt." 

We  may  judge  of  the  fury  of  the  persecution  from  the  fact 
that,  with  the  exception  of  those  who  escaped  by  a  natural 
death,  nearly  all  the  prominent  Baptists  came  to  a  violent 
end.  Among  those  who  avoided  this  fate  were  the  invalid 
Conrad  Grebel,  who  died  in  Graubiinden,  in  the  summer  of 
1526,  and  Denck,  who  was  carried  off  by  the  plague  in  Bale 
at  the  end  of  the  year  1527. 


i88  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

As  has  already  been  mentioned,  the  first  martyr  to  the 
cause  was  Felix  Manz  ;  to  be  followed  on  May  21,  1527,  by 
the  erudite  Michel  Sattler  of  Staufen,  in  Breisgau,  who  had 
been  a  monk,  but  had  joined  the  Brethren  in  1524.  He  was 
taken  prisoner  at  Rothenburg  on  the  Neckar,  "  torn  with  red- 
hot  pincers  and  afterwards  burnt,  steadfast  in  God."  Hans 
Hut  met  his  fate  in  Augsburg  while  attempting  to  escape 
from  prison;  and  in  1528  BrodH  and  Hubmeier  suffered  a 
martyr's  death.  In  1529  Langenmantel  was  executed, 
Blaurock  burnt  at  the  stake  at  Klausen  in  Tyrol,  and  Hatzer 
beheaded  at  Constance. 

All  who  were  sentenced  to  death  met  their  end  steadfastly 
and  courageously ;  even  Hubmeier,  who,  it  is  true,  had 
previously  exhibited  considerable  weakness.  He  was  seized 
at  Nikolsburg,  in  Moravia,  in  the  summer  of  1527,  and 
dragged  to  Vienna,  at  the  instance  of  Ferdinand  (brother  to 
the  Emperor  Charles),  who  had  been  in  possession  of  the 
power  of  the  Hapsburg  House  in  Germany  since  1521,  and 
King  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia  since  1526.  In  imitation 
of  his  conduct  at  Zurich  in  1525  Hubmeier  now  sought  to 
save  himself  by  a  recantation  of  his  errors  ;  even  declaring 
his  willingness  to  submit  to  the  judgment  of  a  Church 
Council  as  regards  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  and 
simultaneously  offering  his  good  services  to  Ferdinand,  the 
persecutor  of  heretics.  In  a  memorial — his  "account" — to 
the  King,  of  January  3,  1528,  after  lauding  Ferdinand's 
well-known  clemency,  he  prays  that  "  Your  Majesty  would 
graciously  and  compassionately  pardon  me,  an  imprisoned 
and  afflicted  man  now  lying  in  a  dungeon,  in  great  sickness, 
cold,  and  tribulation  ;  for  with  God's  help  I  will  so  conduct, 
dispose,  and  restrain  myself  that  it  shall  meet  with  your 
Royal  Majesty's  approval.  I  promise  with  exceeding  earnest- 
ness and  diligence  to  direct  the  people  to  devotion,  godly 
fear  and  obedience,  as  I  have  always  prevailed  upon  myself 
to  do."  I 

But  all  petitions  and  promises  were  in  vain.  As  leader  of 
the  Waldshut  opposition,  Hubmeier  had  been  a  rebel  to  the 

'  Quoted  by  Loserth  in  Dr.  Balthasar  Hubmeier  und  die  Anfdnge  der 
Wiedertdufer  in  Mdhren,  Brunn,  1893,  p.  180. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  189 

Hapsburgs,   and  this  was  a  crime  never  forgiven    by   that 
House. 

When  Hubmeier  saw  that  his  doom  was  sealed,  he  took 
courage,  inspired  by  his  brave  wife  EHzabeth,  daughter  of  a 
burgess  of  Reichenau,  on  Lake  Constance,  whom  he  had 
married  at  Waldshut  in  1524.  She  exhorted  him  to  be 
brave,  and  he  perished  at  the  stake  in  Vienna,  steadfast  in  his 
faith  (1528).  Three  days  afterwards  his  faithful  wife  was 
thrown  into  the  Danube  and  drowned. 

The  weakness  displayed  by  Hubmeier  was  very  rare  among 
the  Baptists.  One  is  astonished  at  the  firmness  and  joy  with 
which  as  a  rule  they  went  to  their  death.  The  Baptists  glory 
in  their  heroes  quite  as  much  as  Christian  writers,  who  point 
to  the  noble  deaths  of  the  martyrs  of  primitive  Christianity 
in  proof  of  the  sanctity  and  sublimity  of  their  cause. 

All  this  steadfastness  and  heroism,  however,  had  but  one 
consequence — viz.,  the  enormous  increase  of  Anabaptist 
martyrs,  who,  according  to  Sebastian  Franck,  already 
numbered  2000,  in  1530. 

It  is  commonly  asserted  that  ideas  cannot  be  stamped  out 
by  violence.  There  are  many  proofs  of  the  truth  of  this 
dictum,  and  it  is  comforting  to  all  who  are  persecuted  ;  but 
in  this  unqualified  form  it  is  not  true.  Admittedly,  an  idea 
itself  cannot  be  annihilated  by  violence  ;  but  by  itself  alone 
an  idea  is  a  mere  shadow,  without  any  effective  force.  The 
strength  to  which  a  social  ideal  attains — and  it  is  only  this  kind 
of  ideal  which  is  under  consideration — is  dependent  upon  the 
individuals  who  uphold  it — t.e.,  upon  their  power  in  society. 
If  it  is  possible  to  annihilate  a  class  which  upholds  a  given 
idea,  then  that  idea  will  perish  with  its  advocates. 

The  sixteenth  century  belonged  to  governmental  abso- 
lutism. Even  in  the  few  free  cities,  the  power  of  the  executive 
authority  amongst  the  lower  classes  became  continuously 
more  unlimited.  If  absolutism  had  succeeded  in  mastering 
the  opposition  of  the  knights,  peasants,  and  petty  burgesses, 
it  could  easily  have  crushed  the  communistic  agitations  of 
a  few  proletarians  and  powerless  idealists.  Anabaptism 
vanished  in  South  Germany  quite  as  suddenly  as  it  had 
arisen.     Relentless  persecution  was  one  of  the  causes,  and 


IQO  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

indeed  the  most  active  cause  of  its  rapid  disappearance  ;  but 
this  was  aided  in  no  small  degree  by  the  circumstance  that 
at  the  very  moment  the  persecution  began  the  Baptists 
found,  outside  of  Germany,  an  asylum  to  which  they  flocked 
in  large  numbers.  This  asylum  was  Moravia — the  America 
of  the  sixteenth  century. 


V.   T^e  A  nabaptists  in  Moravia. 

Moravia  offered  very  favourable  conditions  for  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Baptist  power.  Being  under  the  same  rulers  as 
Bohemia,  the  Margravate  had  shared  the  fate  of  that  country 
during  and  after  the  Hussite  Wars.  The  conflicts  which  rent 
Germany  asunder  in  the  first  decade  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury had  long  ago  been  fought  out  in  the  countries  under 
the  Bohemian  Crown,  and  had  led  to  a  compromise  between 
the  old  and  new  faiths,  and  to  the  consequent  prevalence  of 
religious  toleration.  Side  by  side  with  the  Catholics  and 
Utraquists  the  sect  of  the  Bohemian  Brethren  had  arisen, 
without  in  the  slightest  degree  endangering  the  State  or 
society,  and  to  the  great  economic  advantage  of  the  barons  in 
whose  districts  they  dwelt. 

In  Bohemia  and  Moravia  a  new  sect  did  not  need  the 
protection  of  government  to  secure  its  toleration.  Since  the 
Hussite  Wars  the  sovereigns  had  been  powerless,  while  the 
higher  nobility  enjoyed  almost  complete  independence.  If  a 
sect  had  gained  the  good  graces  of  a  baron,  it  might  settle 
quietly  in  his  domain,  let  the  sovereign  think  what  he  might. 
This  condition  of  things  was  not  changed  until  Bohemia  and 
Moravia  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Catholic  Hapsburgs 
(1526). 

In  spite  of  these  favourable  circumstances,  the  Anabaptists 
never  gained  a  firm  foothold  in  Bohemia.  This  is  explained 
by  the  relations  between  the  nationalities  composing  the 
population  of  that  country.  In  the  sixteenth  century  the 
national  antagonism  which  had  attained  to  such  a  height 
in  the  previous  century  was  still  very  strong,  and  Germans 
could  have  hardly  felt  quite  at  ease  among  the  Czech  popu- 
lation.    In  Moravia,  on  the  contrary,  national  antagonisms 


THE   ANABAPTISTS 


191 


had  never  been  so  intense,  and  Germans  could  more  easily 
find  a  home  there. 

Early  in  the  autumn  of  1526  Hubmeier,  with  a  large 
following,  went  from  Augsburg  to  Moravia,  and  was  hospit- 
ably received  at  Nikolsburg,  in  the  domain  of  Baron  Leonhard 
von  Lichtenstein,  who  himself  received  baptism.  A  com- 
munity was  there  organised,  and — this  is  particularly 
significant — a  printing  house  immediately  established,  in 
which  Hubmeier's  works  were  printed. 

The  fame  of  the  new  "  Emmaus  "  soon  spread  on  all  sides 
among  the  Brethren,  and  led  many  a  one  to  escape  persecu- 
tion by  a  flight  to  the  promised  land.  Freedom  and  pros- 
perity however  tended  only  to  increase  the  already  existing 
schism.  The  antagonism  between  the  strict  and  moderate 
parties,  which  had  previously  appeared  in  Germany,  but  had 
been  forced  into  the  background  by  the  persecution,  came  to 
its  full  development  in  Moravia.  The  respective  leaders  of 
the  two  parties  were  Hubmeier  and  Hut,  both  refugees  from 
Germany. 

The  impending  war  with  Turkey  made  the  rupture  wider. 
A  war-tax  was  levied  to  carry  on  the  war  with  the  un- 
believers. Should  the  Baptists  pay  this  ?  They  deprecated 
war,  and  the  strengthening  of  the  Imperial  power  against  the 
Turks  accorded  ill  with  Hut's  plans,  as  he  expected  to  derive 
benefit  for  his  sect  from  the  invasion  of  the  infidels.  A  series 
of  discussions  on  this  subject  took  place  at  Nikolsburg. 

The  chronicles  of  the  Anabaptists  inform  us  that :  "  After 
the  cry  went  forth  in  1527  that  the  Turks  intended  laying 
siege  to  Vienna,  the  Brethren  and  elders  of  the  community 
assembled  in  the  courtyard  of  the  parsonage  at  Pergen,  near 
Nikolsburg  ...  to  hold  a  conference  on  the  above-mentioned 
matters,  but  did  not  arrive  at  a  unanimous  decision."  And 
in  another  place :  "  Hans  Hut  and  others  met  in  the  castle  of 
Lichtenstein  at  Nikolsburg,  to  take  counsel  concerning  the 
sword  ;  whether  or  not  they  were  to  use  or  to  wear  it,  and 
whether  the  war-tax  should  be  paid,  besides  other  mandates  ; 
but  they  could  not  come  to  an  agreement,  and  consequently 
separated. 

"As    Hut   could    not   and  would  not  agree   with   Baron 


192  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

Leonhard  von  Lichtenstein  that  the  sword  was  necessary,  he 
was  detained  against  his  will  in  the  castle.  Some  well-wisher, 
however,  who  had  his  interests  at  heart,  managed  to  lower 
him  from  his  prison  window  in  a  net.  The  following  day 
great  murmuring  and  complaint  arose  among  the  townfolk 
against  Baron  Leonhard  and  his  adherents,  because  he  had 
violently  detained  Hut  in  his  castle.  This  induced  Balthasar 
Hubmeier  and  his  colleagues  to  deliver  a  public  discourse  in 
the  hospital,  explaining  why  they  had  been  unable  to  come 
to  an  agreement  touching  the  sword  and  tax."  ^ 

Thus  it  appears  that  affairs  among  the  peaceable  Brethren 
had  at  that  time  reached  a  very  critical  stage. 

Hans  Hut  did  not  remain  in  Moravia.  In  the  autumn  of 
1527  we  find  him  once  more  at  Augsburg,  where  he  was 
seized,  and,  as  already  related,  put  to  death.  Hubmeier, 
however,  continued  his  campaign  against  the  more  severe 
tendencies.  His  publication.  Concerning  the  Sword,  is 
devoted  exclusively  to  polemics  against  his  opponents  among 
the  Brethren. 

At  the  same  time  he  published  controversial  treatises 
against  Zwingli  and  his  followers,  and  one  of  these  shows 
that  his  communism  was  of  a  mild  type.  In  his  Discourse 
upon  Master  Ulrich  Zwingli's  Pamphlet  concerning  Infant 
Baptism  he  says,  in  reply  to  the  reproach  that  he  advocated 
"  the  community  of  goods,"  = — i.e.,  communism  :  "  I  have 
always,  and  in  every  way,  taught  that  community  of  property 
means  that  one  man  should  have  compassion  on  another  ; 
that  he  should  feed  the  hungry,  give  drink  to  the  thirsty, 
and  clothe  the  naked  ;  for  in  truth,  we  are  not  masters 
of  our  possessions,  but  stewards  or  dispensers  only.  Cer- 
tainly none  could  think  that  we  ought  to  take  from  another 
what  belongs  to  him,  and  make  it  common  property,  but 
rather  give  the  cloak  in  addition  to  the  coat."  It  is 
not  very  satisfactory,  however,  that  Hubmeier,  when  he 
was  arrested,  sought  in  his  Account  to  recommend  himself 

'  Beck,  Die  Geschichisbiicher,  &c.  pp.  49,  51. 

'  Ein  Gesprech  Balthasar  Huebmorsvon  Friedbcrg,  Doktors.  auff  Mayster 
Ulrich  Zwinglens  zu  Zurich  Taufbiiechlein  von  detn  Kindcrtauf.  Nikols- 
burg,  1526. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  193 

to  the  favour  of  King  Ferdinand  by  particularising  his 
sharp  opposition  to  Hans  Hut.  He  there  speaks  of  "  the 
Day  of  Judgment,"  which  in  the  language  of  that  age  meant 
nothing  less  than  revolution.  "  Although  Christ  has  given  us 
many  signs  by  which  to  recognise  how  near  at  hand  is  the 
day  of  His  coming,  still  no  one  knows  this  day  but  God  alone. 
I  have  been  almost  severe  against  Johannes  Hut  and  his 
adherents,  because  they  have  fixed  a  definite  time  for  the  last 
day — viz.,  next  Whitsuntide  ;  because  they  have  preached  to 
the  people,  and  induced  them  to  sell  houses  and  property,  to 
forsake  wife  and  child  ;  and  have  prevailed  upon  the  foolish 
to  leave  their  work  and  run  after  him — an  error  which  has 
arisen  from  a  great  want  of  right  comprehension  of  the 
Bible."  Out  of  the  three  and  a  half  years  spoken  of  in 
Daniel,  Hut  had  made  four  ordinary  years,  which  was  a  great 
mistake.  According  to  Hubmeier's  calculation,  one  day  of 
Daniel's  year  equals  one  of  our  ordinary  years  ;  therefore 
these  three  and  a  half  years  would  amount  to  1277  ordinary 
years.  "  What  I  laid  before  him  plainly  and  earnestly  was 
that  he  had  persuaded  and  misled  the  poor  people,  and  for 
this  I  reproved  him."  The  revolutionary  who  awaited  a 
revolution  only  after  1277  years  was,  at  any  rate,  not  a 
dangerous  member  of  society. 

The  strife  between  the  two  opinions  was  in  no  way  ended 
by  the  death  of  both  the  great  adversaries,  even  though  it 
died  down  for  a  time — t.e.,  when  the  transitory  persecution  of 
the  Baptists  extended  to  Moravia  itself,  and  public  attention 
was  at  the  time  drawn  to  the  Turkish  invasion. 

Many  Brethren  set  forth  from  Germany  for  Moravia  during 
these  troubles,  and  a  "  people "  settled  down  at  Rossitz 
under  Gabriel  Ascherham,  after  whom  they  were  called  the 
Gabrielists.  Finding  themselves  too  circumscribed  there,  a 
portion,  chiefly  inhabitants  of  the  Palatinate,  withdrew  to 
Auspitz  under  the  leadership  of  Philip  Flener,  and  were  in 
consequence  called  Philippists.  Being  opposed  to  the  more 
severe  views,  both  communities  had  joined  the  milder  sect, 
but  they  could  not  agree  among  themselves.  Among  the 
Nikolsburg  townsmen,  the  dispute  between  the  two  parties 
continued   to   be   carried  on,  and   the   stricter   faction  now 

14 


194  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

received  the  nickname  of  Communists  {Gemeinschaftler)  or 
Staffists  {Stilbler),  and  their  opponents  that  of  Swordists 
{Schwertler). 

On  the  side  of  the  latter  was  Leonhard  von  Lichtenstein  ; 
but  when  the  quarrel  became  too  bitter  even  for  him,  he 
compelled  the  strict  communists,  now  risen  to  two  hundred 
strong,  to  quit  the  district  (1524).  The  moment  the  latter 
turned  their  backs  on  the  old  community,  they  gave  free  play 
to  their  communism.  "At  that  time  these  men  spread  out 
a  mantle  before  the  people,  and  every  one  laid  down  his 
possessions  on  it  for  the  support  of  the  needy,  under  no  com- 
pulsion or  pressure,  but  with  hearty  willingness,  according  to 
the  teaching  of  the  Prophets  and  Apostles."  ^ 

They  withdrew  to  Austerlitz,  where  the  Picards  had  settled 
themselves  as  early  as  151 1.  Here  they  were  received  with 
open  arms  by  the  lords  of  Kaunitz,  in  whose  territories  Aus- 
terlitz lay,  and  were  soon  followed  by  numerous  partisans, 
this  town  becoming  the  capital  of  the  Baptists  in  Moravia. 

Disputes,  however,  could  not  be  avoided  even  among  the 
people  of  Austerlitz.  Wilhelm  Reublin  of  Auspitz  gives  us 
a  graphic  description  of  this  in  a  letter  to  his  friend,  Pilgram 
Marbeck  (the  above  mentioned  mine-magistrate),  written 
January  26,  1531  ;  wherein  he  relates  how  and  why  he  and 
his  adherents  were  driven  out  of  Austerlitz  (January  8th). 
Among  other  things,  he  reproaches  those  who  remained 
behind  with  "  managing  the  community  of  temporal  and 
personal  property  dishonestly  and  fraudulently.  .  .  .  They 
were  respecters  of  persons,  permitting  the  rich  to  have  their 
own  little  houses,  so  that  Franz  and  his  wife  led  a  life  like  the 
nobles.  At  meals  the  ordinary  Brethren  had  been  content 
with  peas  and  cabbages,  but  the  elders  and  their  wives  had 
roast  meat,  fish,  fowls,  and  good  wine  ;  many  of  their  wives  I 
have  never  seen  at  the  common  table.  While  some  might  be 
in  want  of  shoes  and  shirts,  they  themselves  must  have  good 
breeches,  coats,  and  furs,  in  abundance."  2 

Reublin  and  his  adherents  withdrew  to  Auspitz,  and  there 

'  Beck,  Geschichtsbilcher,  p.  75. 

=  The  letter  has  been  printed  in  full  as  Supplement  V.  to  Cornelius, 
Miinsterischcr  Aufruhr,  vol.  ii.  p.  235. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  195 

formed  a  community  of  their  own ;  but  having  kept  back  forty 
gulden  which  he  had  brought  with  him  from  Germany,  instead 
of  paying  them  into  the  common  fund,  Reublin  was  soon 
declared  to  be  a  "  lying,  unfaithful,  malignant  Ananias,"  and 
was  accordingly  expelled.  In  1531,  the  disturbances  in 
Baptist  localities  in  Moravia  reached  their  culminating  point. 
Franck,  who  published  his  Chronik  at  that  time,  characterises 
the  position  of  the  Moravian  Brethren  very  exactly  in  the 
passage  already  quoted  (p.  164),  in  which  he  points  out  that 
a  great  many  in  their  community  were  anathematised,  and 
expresses  his  doubts  as  to  whether  there  was  "just  distribu- 
tion "  in  Austerlitz. 

"  The  Fraternity  have  proceeded  from  one  carnal  license  to 
another,"  relates  the  Baptists'  historian  in  Moravia  of  those 
times  :  "  They  have  become  exactly  like  the  world."  ^ 

But  what  appeared  to  be  a  process  of  dissolution  was  in 
reality  one  of  fermentation,  which  produced  clear  and  lasting 
results. 

The  effect  of  all  these  contests  was  a  communistic  organi- 
sation which  maintained  itself  for  nearly  a  whole  century,  and 
which  was  only  ultimately  crushed  by  superior  force.  The 
chief  merit  of  the  definitive  Baptist  organisation  is  due  to  the 
Tyrolese  immigrants,  who  flocked  by  hundreds  into  Moravia 
in  1529,  and  impressed  their  stamp  on  the  movement  there. 
Prominent  among  their  leaders  was  the  hatter  Jakob,  called 
after  his  trade  Huter  (frequently  confounded  with  Hans  Hut). 
His  influence  upon  the  organisation  was  so  great  that  a  com- 
munity in  Moravia  was  called  after  him,  being  known  as  the 
Huter  Fraternity.  How  far  Huter's  genius  alone  impressed 
itself  upon  the  new  organisation,  or  how  far  he  was  the 
executor  of  the  will  of  the  numbers  who  stood  behind  him 
and  lent  him  their  strength,  it  is  very  difficult  in  these  days  to 
determine. 

In  the  autumn  of  1529  Jakob  Huter  and  Schiitzinger  with 
their  adherents  came  from  the  Tyrol  to  Austerlitz,  and  entered 
into  close  connection  with  the  community  there.  Perceiving 
that  circumstances  were  favourable  to  their  party  in  Moravia, 
Jakob  returned  to  the  Tyrol  in  order  to  despatch  "  one  small 
•  Beck,  GeschicMsbiicher,  p.  99. 


196  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

community  after  another  "  to  the  land  of  his  adoption.  These 
new-comers  brought  enthusiasm,  self-sacrifice,  and  discipline 
with  them,  and  formed  the  kernel  of  the  communistic  com- 
munities which  fused  the  other  internal  elements  into  a  peace- 
ful and  steady  harmony. 

In  August,  1533,  Huter  himself  returned  with  numerous 
followers,  for  in  Tyrol  "  tyranny  had  reached  to  such  a  height 
that  it  was  impossible  for  the  faithful  to  remain  any  longer." 
Such  was  the  opinion  of  the  Brothers  who  were  assembled  at 
the  Congress  in  the  district  of  Gufidaun  (Tyrol)  in  the  July 
of  that  year.  The  real  work  of  the  organisation  now  began, 
and  must  have  been  carried  on  with  the  greatest  energy  and 
with  the  fullest  consciousness  of  the  aim  for  which  they  were 
working.  We  may  judge  so  at  least  from  the  fact  that  the 
peculiar  characteristics  of  the  Baptist  community  remained 
unchanged  up  to  the  time  of  their  rising  in  Munster.  This 
insurrection  spurred  on  the  sharpest  persecution  of  the  Ana- 
baptists, which  horrified  for  a  time  even  a  portion  of  the 
Moravian  nobility,  so  that  they  withdrew  their  protection 
from  the  Baptists.  The  first  great  persecution  began  in 
Moravia,  the  result  of  which  was  that  the  Baptist  community 
was  obliged  to  dissolve  itself,  and  its  members  were  banished. 
We  learn  through  this  circumstance  how  large  the  Fraternity 
had  grown  at  that  time,  its  numbers  amounting,  as  it  was 
estimated,  to  from  three  thousand  to  four  thousand. 

Huter  also  was  forced  to  take  refuge  in  flight.  The  protest 
against  the  persecution  of  the  Brethren  which  he  sent  on 
May  I,  1535,  to  the  Governor-General  of  Moravia,  shows  the 
exceeding  boldness  of  the  man.  "  Alas  and  woe !  "  he  ex- 
claimed, among  other  things,  "  and  again  eternal  woe  to  you, 
ye  Moravian  lords,  that  you  should  have  promised  and  agreed 
to  the  demands  of  the  tyrant  and  enemy  of  divine  truth, 
Ferdinand,  to  drive  the  pious  and  god-fearing  out  of  the 
country,  and  that  you  should  dread  mortal,  vain  man  more 
than  the  Almighty  and  the  Lord."  ^ 

This  protest  could  produce  but  one  result,  that  of  making 
the  pursuit  after  Huter  more  keen.     "The  authorities  have 

'  The  protest  is  printed  as  Supplement  XVII.  to  Loserth's  Anabaptis- 
mus  in  Tyrol  bis  zum  Tode  Huters,  pp.  171-175. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  197 

hunted  down  Brother  Jakob  in  a  most  determined  manner, 
often  exclaiming,  'If  we  only  had  Jakob  Huter!'  as  though 
they  wished  to  imply  that  if  he  could  be  got  rid  of,  everything 
would  return  to  the  old  condition."  ^ 

Huter  managed,  however,  to  escape  to  the  Tyrol,  though 
he  was  no  safer  there  than  he  had  been  in  Moravia,  being 
finally  taken  prisoner  in  Klausen,  November,  1535.  Of  his 
treatment  the  Brethren  relate :  "  They  made  him  sit  in  ice- 
cold  water,  and  afterwards  led  him  into  a  hot  room  and  beat 
him  with  rods.  They  also  wounded  him  in  the  body,  and 
after  pouring  brandy  into  his  wounds,  set  him  alight  and  let 
him  burn,"  &c.,  &c.  He  was  burnt  early  on  a  morning  of 
March,  1536,  with  great  secrecy,  for  fear  of  the  people. 

Though  their  leader  had  fallen,  the  community  possessed 
sufficient  internal  strength  to  enable  it  to  surmount  this  and 
many  another  blow.  In  1536  the  Baptists  were  again  allowed 
to  assemble  in  Moravia,  as  the  lords  upon  whose  properties 
they  had  settled  had  recognised  the  economic  importance  of 
these  industrious  and  skilful  workmen  during  the  persecution, 
and  were  glad  to  summon  them  back.  Forth  they  came, 
therefore,  out  of  all  their  hiding-places,  and  before  long  were 
able  not  only  to  repair  the  old  injuries,  but  to  take  measures 
for  the  founding  of  fresh  communities. 

Far  from  doing  the  Baptists  any  harm,  the  persecution 
seemed  on  the  contrary  to  have  strengthened  them,  as  it  had 
eliminated  all  doubtful  elements  from  among  them.  Their 
unanimity  was  much  greater  after  the  year  1536  than  it  had 
been  before  that  date,  and  they  thenceforth  made  great  strides, 
all  the  other  branches  being  finally  absorbed  into  the  Huter 
community. 

The  strictest  communism  was  now  the  basis  of  the  organi- 
sations of  Moravian  Baptists.  To  possess  even  the  most 
trifling  things  as  personal  property  was  considered  a  sin. 
"  On  being  condemned  to  death,  Hans  Schmidt  sent  his  ear- 
pick  to  his  Magdalena  as  a  remembrance,  provided  i^e 
Brothers  had  no  objection.  This  same  Hans  Schmidt  paid 
for  his  faith  in  the  community  of  property  with  his  head. 

"Whosoever  joins  himself  to  the  Baptists  is  obliged   to 
'  Beck,  Geschichtsbiicher,  p.  117. 


198  COMMUNISM  IM  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

relinquish  all  his  possessions,  and  give  them  over  to  the 
appointed  directors.  The  communities  consist  chiefly  of  poor 
people,  work-people,  and  trades-people  ;  but  we  learn  from 
the  public  records  in  the  Tyrol  that,  quite  apart  from  a  few 
isolated  members  of  the  nobility,  some  really  opulent  peasants 
turned  towards  the  new  teaching."  ^ 

Whatever  a  member  might  present  to  the  community 
belonged  to  it  absolutely,  and  was  not  merely  capital 
advanced.  Even  should  the  donor  retire  or  be  expelled,  he 
could  not  receive  the  contribution  back. 

In  State  and  military  affairs  the  stricter  doctrines  remained 
triumphant ;  the  regulation  being  that  in  all  equitable  things 
the  authorities  were  to  be  submitted  to,  but  that  God  was  to 
be  obeyed  rather  than  man,  i.e.,  the  Baptists  reserved  to  them- 
selves the  right  to  decide  the  cases  in  which  obedience  was 
justifiable.  They  continued,  therefore,  to  repudiate  any  share 
in  the  executive  power,  such  as  the  carrying  on  of  war,  or 
even  the  payment  of  a  war  tax. 

"If  any  n;ian  require  of  us  something  which  God  has  not 
commanded,  such  as  a  iax  for  war,  or  an  executioner's  wages, 
or  other  things  which  are  not  becoming  to  a  Christian,  and 
which  are  not  authorised  by  Scripture,  we  must  in  no  wise 
consent."  Such  was  the  declaration  of  the  Baptists  in  1 545, 
in  a  memorial  to  the  Moravian  Diet. 

The  development  among  the  Baptists  was  different  from 
that  among  the  Bohemian  Brethren.  Among  the  latter  the 
moderate  side  triumphed  in  the  battle  between  the  two  con- 
flicting opinions,  while  among  the  former  the  strict  faction 
gained  the  mastery. 

The  causes  for  these  differences  must  be  sought  in  the 
circumstances  in  the  midst  of  which  the  two  sects  lived. 

The  Bohemian  Brethren  worked  among  their  own  nation, 
and  as  soon  as  their  community  began  to  thrive  and  spread, 
the  sibility  naturally  occurred  to  them  (accompanied  by 
the  de^i  ;)  of  gaining  the  whole  nation  to  their  cause.  Every 
attempt  of  practical  efficacy  in  this  direction  led,  however,  in 

•  Loserth,  Dcr  Kommunisinus  dcr  MahiiscJien  Wiedaidufer  im  16  tin d 
17  Jahrhundeii,  pp.  102,  106.     Wieu  18. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS 


199 


those  days  of  rising  commercialism,  to  a  modification  of  their 
communistic  tendencies  and  their  abstention  from  politics. 

The  Baptists  in  Moravia,  on  the  contrary,  were  Germans  in 
the  midst  of  a  Czech  population,  and  chose  to  remain  so. 
They  felt  themselves  strangers  in  a  foreign  land  and  could 
reconcile  themselves  without  effort  to  remaining  a  small  sect ; 
a  tiny  circle  of  the  "  elect "  and  "  godly  "  in  the  midst  of  the 
heathen.  They  had  but  few  points  of  sympathy  with  their 
surroundings,  and  even  these  had  no  attractions  for  them,  but 
drew  them  closer  to  each  other. 

It  is  a  familiar  phenomenon  that  even  without  communistic 
organisation,  people  of  similar  origin  or  similar  language,  living 
ir  the  midst  of  a  foreign  population,  experience  a  greater 
sense  of  solidarity  than  they  feel  while  in  their  own  homes. 

Hence  still,  another  condition  of  things  arose.  Among  the 
Bohemian  Brethren,  the  advance  of  moderate  views  went  hand 
in  hand  with  the  admission  of  men  of  letters  into  the  Brother- 
hood. The  learned  men  thus  admitted  within  the  community 
formed  the  most  determined  champions  of  the  moderate 
opinions,  perhaps  because  their  views  were  broader,  perhaps 
because  they  felt  most  keenly  the  loss  of  social  status  which 
the  sect  had  suffered. 

The  learned  men  among  the  Anabaptists  also  were,  in  the 
majority  of  cases,  holders  of  the  moderate  opinions.  But  the 
first  persecution  in  Germany,  which  began  in  1527  and  lasted 
till  the  commencement  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  swept  away 
nearly  all  of  them,  and  they  have  had  no  followers.  From 
that  time  no  men  of  letters  are  to  be  found  among  the 
Baptists,  nearly  all  the  persons  of  consequence  being  thence- 
forth simply  working  people.  The  hatred  of  learning,  which 
had  always  been  perceptible  in  most  of  the  communistic  sects 
during  the  Middle  Ages  and  the  period  of  the  Reformation, 
could  now  display  itself  among  them  unhindered. 

"  The  profound  contempt  of  the  Anabaptists  fnjr  all 
literary  subjects,"  says  Loserth,  "  for  universities  an  -irned 
individuals,  has  astonished  their  contemporaries."  ^^'ischer,  a 
Catholic  priest,  and  a  bigoted  enemy  of  the  Anabaptists, 
exclaims  :  "  Are  not  these  Anabaptists  then  chiefly  wine- 
dressers,    peasants,   tradesmen  ;    uncouth,    coarse,    ignorant, 


200  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

illiterate  people,  scarcely  distinguishable  from  the  common 
rabble  ?  Do  they  not  despise  all  the  liberal  arts  as  well 
as  the  Holy  Scriptures,  i.e.,  when  the  latter  are  of  no  use 
to  them  ?  Do  they  not  contemn  all  the  universities  ?  Do 
they  not  hinder  the  influence  of  all  the  learned  ?  Do  they 
not  repudiate  all  history  ? "  There  is  much  truth  in  what 
Fischer  asserts.  In  the  numerous  judicial  trials,  and  in  the 
epistles  to  the  communities  in  Moravia,  they  expressed  un- 
hesitatingly their  contempt  for  the  learned  professions ;  nay, 
they  even  treated  their  learned  judges  and  the  missionary 
priests  of  the  different  Confessions  somewhat  disrespectfully 
for  the  same  reason.^ 

The  fact  that  after  the  first  persecution  no  more  learned 
men  joined  the  Baptists  is  chiefly  attributable  to  the  cir- 
cumstances which  this  persecution  called  into  existence. 
From  1527  every  one  who  professed  the  faith  of  the 
Baptists  was  outlawed  from  respectable  society.  If  he 
could  not  make  up  his  mind  to  become  a  peasant  among 
peasants,  a  workman  with  workman,  or  to  banish  himself 
to  the  limits  of  the  civilised  world,  then  it  was  wiser  for 
him,  however  strong  his  convictions  of  the  truth  of  the 
Baptist  faith,  to  keep  them  closely  concealed  within  his 
own  breast. 

Next  to  these  circumstances  another  point  comes  into 
consideration  which  explains  the  triumph  of  the  stricter 
opinions  among  the  Baptists. 

The  same  persecution  which  exterminated  literary  men 
in  the  Baptist  movement  drove  the  great  mass  of  the 
Tyrolean  Brethren  into  Moravia  ;^  amongst  them  were 
numerous  miners,  who  had  passed^  through  the  school  of 
capitalistic  exactions,  and  had  learnt  systematic  discipline 
and  co-operation  in  that  industry.  About  the  same  time 
the  weavers  appeared,  among  whom  communistic  enthu- 
siasm had  always  been  particularly  strong.  Thus  it  is 
chiefly  due  to  the  pressure  of  these  circumstances  that 
the  stricter  communism  of  the  Moravian  Fraternities 
gained  the  upper  hand. 

Like  all  the  various  kinds  of  Fraternities  hitherto  con- 
'  Loserth,  Kommunismtts  der  Wiedertdiifer,  p.  144. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  201 

1 

sidered,   the    fundamental  principle   of    this   sect    was   the      I 

association  of  the  consumers  and  the  community  of  the  '^ 
means  of  consumption.  With  this  was  necessarily 
combined  the  abolition  of  the  private  family  ;  but  the 
Moravian  Baptists  certainly  never  arrived  at  the  abolition 
of  individual  marriages.  One  form  of  this  abolition — 
celibacy — was  forbidden  to  them  in  consequence  of  the 
practice  being  a  tenet  of  the  Romish  Church,  which 
they  opposed  on  the  ground  that  it  would  have  placed 
them  on  a  level  with  the  monks,  the  most  detested  of  all 
the  defenders  of  the  Papacy,  and  the  champions  of  the 
worst  sort  of  exactions  and  corruptions  of  those  times. 
The  free  intercourse  of  the  sexes  was  even  more  opposed 
than  celibacy  to  the  convictions  of  the  petty  citizens,  and 
that  small  peasant  world,  in  whose  sphere  of  thought  the 
proletariat  of  that  time  also  moved. 

Greater  freedom  in  love  or  marriage  was  more  appre- 
ciated by  the  upper  revolutionary  classes — the  princes, 
merchants,  and  humanist  savants  of  the  sixteenth  century 
— than  by  the  elements  from  which  the  Baptists  were 
recruited.  Happiness  and  the  consciousness  of  their 
position  in  life  were  possible  among  the  upper  classes, 
and  all  the  conditions  of  society  only  engendered  self- 
satisfaction  more  strongly  and  actively,  encouraging 
individualism  and  a  hatred  of  every  kind  of  restraint.  The 
communists  among  the  ill-used  and  downtrodden  classes, 
on  the  other  hand,  could  only  hold  their  ground  in  the 
conflicts  of  their  times  (to  some  extent,  at  all  events)  by 
sinking  their  personality  in  a  great  association.  These  ' 
communists,  with  their  gloomy  asceticism,  looked  upon 
sexual  pleasure,  as  upon  every  other  sort  of  pleasure, 
as  something  unworthy  a  thought  ;  and  they  considered 
the  self-assertion  of  individualism  to  be  also  sinful, 
rejecting  it  the  more  carefully  in  that  it  appeared  to 
them  to  be  united  with  wantonness  and  arrogance  among 
the  upper  classes.  The  modern  conception  of  individual 
sexual  affection  was  at  that  time  in  its  infancy,  and  its 
preliminary  conditions  were  to  be  found  rather  among  some 
of  the  upper  classes  than  among  the  lower. 


202  COMMUNISM   IN  CENTRAL   EUROPE 

Thus  in  the  Reformation  the  courtiers  of  the  princes 
were  the  very  ones  who  urged  the  easier  dissolution  of 
marriage.  Luther  and  Melancthon  even  held  that  plurality 
of  wives  was  permissible,  and  Luther  himself  declared  that 
illicit  sexual  intercourse  was  more  deserving  than  chastity. 
"  All  nuns  and  monks,  who  are  without  faith,  and  trust 
in  their  purity  and  their  order,  are  not  worthy  to  rock  a 
baptized  child,  or  to  make  pap  for  it,  even  if  it  be  a 
bastard.  Why  ?  Because  they  have  not  God's  Word  for 
their  Orders  or  their  life  ;  neither  may  they  boast  that 
God  is  pleased  with  what  they  do,  a  boast  which  a  woman 
may  make  even  if  she  bear  an  illegitimate  child." 

Amidst  the  communists  of  that  time,  on  the  contrary, 
the  greatest  strictness  with  regard  to  marriage  prevailed, 
with  few  exceptions.  Adultery  was  a  serious  crime,  and 
marriage  was  held  to  be  indissoluble.  '*  What  God  has 
joined  together  let  no  man  put  asunder,"  said  the  Baptists. 
In  a  case  of  adultery,  not  only  was  the  guilty  party 
punished  with  temporary  exclusion,  but  the  guiltless 
husband  also  came  in  for  his  share  of  condemnation.  He 
might  no  longer  have  anything  to  do  with  the  guilty 
party,  at  all  events  as  long  as  the  latter  was  not  com- 
pletely absolved.  Any  lapse  with  regard  to  this  regulation 
drew  down  upon  him  a  relentless  sentence  of  expulsion. 
Thus,  for  example,  we  are  told  in  the  Chronicle  of  the 
year  1530,  of  one  Jbrg  Zaunring,  the  successor  of  Wilhelm 
Reublin  in  the  headship  of  the  Auspitz  community  : 
'*  When  one,  to  wit  Thomas  Lindl,  had  committed 
adultery  with  the  wife  of  Jorg  Zaunring,  they  [perhaps  the 
elders]  only  banished  these  two  secretly  ;  and  Jorg,  during 
the  time  of  his  wife's  punishment,  renounced  and  withheld 
himself  from  her.  But  as  soon  as  the  two  were  again 
admitted  and  had  received  the  pardon  of  their  sins, 
Zaunring  took  his  wife  back  again  as  before  ;  and  this 
being  publicly  known,  the  community  could  not  suffer  this 
disgrace  of  adultery  and  harlotry  to  be  so  lightly  punished. 
.  .  .  Linhard  Schmerbacher,  a  server  of  the  secular  needs, 
pointed  out  to  the  community  that  Jorg  Zaunring  had 
by   this   transaction    participated  in    the   debauch,  and   the 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  203 

members  at  once  passed  sentence  unanimously  ;  because 
the  '  members  of  Christ  cannot  be  the  members  of  a 
harlot,'  these  two  transgressors  were  justly  expelled  from 
the  community."  ^ 

Expulsion  was  the  severest  punishment  inflicted  by  the 
Baptists. 

There  is  no  trace  of  any  community  of  wives.  They 
were,  on  the  contrary,  much  stricter  on  marriage  questions 
than  the  "  heathen."  But  there  was  little  of  marriage 
left  among  the  Baptists  except  the  pairing.  In  conse- 
quence of  the  gloomy,  joyless  asceticism  which  interdicted 
dancing  and  courtship,  individual  sexual  affection  was 
more  strange  to  them  than  to  the  mass  of  the  population 
of  their  times  :  marriages,  therefore,  were  mostly  arranged 
by  the  elders  (the  heads  of  the  community)  similar  to  the 
pairing  in  Plato's  Republic,  and  among  the  Perfectionists 
of  Oneida. 

Apart  from  the  pairing,  the  essential  features  of  individual 
marriages  were  done  away  with  by  the  community  of  house- 
keeping and  the  education  of  the  children  in  common. 

The  community  was  made  up  of  households  {Haushaben) 
scattered  over  the  whole  of  Moravia.  At  the  time  of 
greatest  prosperity  there  were  seventy  of  these,  in  each 
of  which  from  400  to  600  persons  or  more  lived  together, 
and  in  the  largest  of  them  even  2,000.  "  They  all  had 
but  one  kitchen,  one  bakehouse^  one  brewhouse,  one  school, 
one  room  for  women  in  child-bed,  one  room  in  which  the 
mothers  and  the  children  were  with  each  other,  and  so  on. 

"In  such  a  household  there  was  one  who  was  host  and 
householder,  who  purchased  all  the  wheat,  wine,  wool,  hemp, 
salt,  cattle  and  every  necessary,  out  of  the  money  of  all 
the  trades  and  all  the  incomes,  and  divided  it  according 
to  the  several  needs  of  all  in  the  house  ;  food  for  the 
children,  the  lying-in  women  and  all  other  people  being 
brought  into  one  room,  the  eating-room.  Sisters  were 
appointed  for  the  sick,  who  carried  them  their  food  and 
waited  upon  them.  " 

"  The  very   old  were   placed  apart  ;   and  to  them   some- 
»  Beck,  Geschiditsbiicher,  p.  loi. 


204  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

what  more  was  allowed  than  to  the  young  and  healthy, 
but  to  all  a  sufficiency  was  granted  according  to  their 
several  wants  and  the  wealth  of  the  community."  ^ 

A  letter,  written  to  the  "Elder  Brothers  at  Wintz," 
gives  us  some  details  in  regard  to  the  food  served  at 
these  general  meals.  It  was  indited  at  the  time  of  the 
decline  of  the  communities,  when,  driven  out  of  MoraWa, 
they  dragged  on  a  miserable  existence  in  Hungary  (1642). 
"  How  we  keep  our  table  with  food  and  drink  :  we  have 
meat  at  supper  every  day,  and  in  the  mornings  once, 
twice,  thrice,  or  four  times  during  the  week,  according  as 
the  seasons  serve.  At  the  other  meals  we  are  content 
with  vegetables. 

"  Twice  every  day  at  meals  a  luscious  drink  of  wine  ; 
otherwise  nothing  at  midday,  nor  in  the  afternoon  {Marend)^ 
nor  in  the  evening  ;  but  when  we  go  to  evening  prayers 
we  receive  a  drink,  and  sometimes  even  have  beer. 

"  With  the  bread,  which  is  generally  to  be  had  in  the 
house,  we  are  quite  content,  even  if  we  are  not  permitted 
to  bake  anything  special  during  the  whole  year  ;  this,  how- 
ever, we  are  permitted  to  do  when  there  is  any  peculiar 
reason,  such  as  for  the  Day  of  the  Lord's  Remembrance,  or 
the  festivals  of  Easter,  Whitsuntide,  and  Christmas."  2 

The  fare  of  the  Geschwistriget  (Brothers  and  Sisters),  as 
the  Baptists  called  themselves  amongst  each  other,  was 
simple  but  abundant.  There  was  no  fixed  rule  for  it, 
but,  as  has  been  already  observed,  "  every  one  received 
according  to  his  needs  and  the  common  wealth."  How 
this  was  managed  is  shown  us  in  a  food  regulation  of 
1569  (made  for  a  time  of  famine),  which  portioned  out 
the  food  according  to  age,  sex,  business,  condition  of 
health,  &c.,  &c.  Even  this  rough  and  primitive  community 
stands  far  above  the  "  State-kitchens  "  with  their  similarity 
of  food   and   equally   large   portions    for   everybody,  which 

'  Andreas  Ehrenpreis,  A  Circular  Letter  .  .  .  concerning  brotherly  Com- 
munion, which  is  the  Jiighest  precept  of  Love.  1650.  Quoted  by  Loserth, 
Der  Kommunismus  der  Mdhrischen  Wiedertdufer,  p.  115  sqq.  Ehrenpreis, 
a  miller  who  was  head  of  the  united  Fraternity  from  1639  to  1662. 

'  Beck,  Geschichtsbiicher,  pp.  406,  407. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS 


205 


Eugene  Richter's  fancy  has  pictured  in  the  democratic 
State  of  the  Future  of  the  twentieth  century. 

After  the  community  in  housekeeping,  the  joint  training 
of  the  Baptist  children  is  specially  worthy  of  remark.  Beck 
speaks  of  the  "  Spartan  education  of  the  children,  who  went 
into  the  general  room  from  their  mother's  breasts,  and  grew 
up  strangers  to  their  parents  and  to  all  feelings  of  childhood  " 
(Beck's  history,  p.  17).  It  would  have  been  more  accurate 
if  he  had  called  it  the  Platonic,  instead  of  the  Spartan 
education  of  the  children.  Many  points  put  us  in  mind 
of  Plato's  Republic,  and  others  of  More's  Utopia,  and  it 
is  not  impossible  that  these  were  borrowed  from  them, 
Plato  not  being  unknown  to  the  communists  of  that 
time.  Miinzer  refers  to  him  (compare  p.  121)  as  well 
as  the  Sebastian  Franck  who  was  so  closely  allied  to 
the  Baptists.  The  men  of  letters  who  were  connected 
with  the  Baptist  movement  at  its  commencement  certainly 
knew  Plato.  More's  Utopia  was  also  pondered  and 
discussed  in  the  Humanist  circle  at  Bale,  which  gathered 
round  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam,  and  influenced  so  many  of 
the  early  learned  Baptists.  It  is  not  impossible — perhaps 
even  very  probable — that  suggestions  from  these  writings 
were  conveyed  even  to  the  uneducated  Brethren  by  the 
scholars.  This  fact  has  not  been  proved,  however,  and  it 
is  not  absolutely  necessary  to  accept  it  in  order  to  explain 
the  similarity  between  some  of  Huter's  institutions  and 
those  of  Plato  and  More  ;  as  this  may  have  for  its  basis 
the  fact  that  the  logic  of  events  led  the  uncultivated 
proletariat  in  Moravia  to  adopt  the  same  course  which 
the  Greek  philosopher  and  the  English  humanist  have 
described  as  the  outcome  of  their  conceptions. 

The  followers  of  Huter  did  not  go  so  far  as  Plato  in  taking 
the  child  from  the  mother  immediately  after  its  birth,  and 
making  it  impossible  for  her  to  recognise  it  again.  There 
was  a  special  room  for  the  lying-in  women,  another  of  the 
same  kind  for  women  nursing  their  infants,  and  the  child 
remained  with  its  mother  in  the  latter.  Nevertheless,  at 
eighteen  months  or  two  years  of  age,  we  find  it  already  at 
school,  in  the  general  institution  for  education. 


2o6  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

This  was  one  of  the  points  which  gave  the  enemies  of  the 
Baptists  the  greatest  cause  for  animadversion.  "The  per- 
verted Anabaptists  act  against  nature,"  wrote  Fischer,  the 
priest,  in  1607.  "  They  are  less  intelligent  than  the  little 
birds,  and  more  unmerciful  towards  their  young  than  are  the 
wild  beasts ;  for,  as  soon  as  the  child  is  weaned,  it  is  taken 
from  its  mother  and  given  over  to  the  appointed  Sisters.  After 
that,  schoolmasters  and  cross,  ill-tempered  governesses,  who 
are  strangers  to  it,  strike  it  at  times  passionately  and  mercilessly, 
without  love,  decency,  or  pity.  Children  are  thus  brought  up 
with  the  greatest  strictness,  so  that  many  a  mother,  after  five 
or  six  years,  neither  recognises  nor  knows  her  offspring,  and 
much  incest  springs  up  from  this  cause."  The  children 
brought  up  under  such  a  system  are  miserably  sickly  and 
"  swollen." 

Facts  proved  this  not  to  be  the  case.  Fischer  even  contra- 
dicts himself;  for,  in  other  passages,  he  laments  over  the 
circumstance  that  the  well-to-do  classes  in  Moravia  preferred 
to  take  women  from  the  Anabaptist  schools  as  wet-nurses 
and  children's  maids,  which  they  certainly  would  not  have 
done  if  the  results  of  these  schools  had  been  so  disastrous  as 
he  has  implied.  "  God-'a-mercy !  It  has  come  to  such  a  pitch 
that  nearly  all  the  women  in  Moravia  must  have  none  but  the 
Anabaptist  women  as  mid-wives,  wet-nurses,  and  children's 
maids,  as  if  they  alone  were  the  most  experienced  in  these 
things."  Nothing  could  testify  more  highly  to  the  superiority 
of  the  communistic  education  than  this  admission  of  a  most 
hostile  enemy  of  communism. 

Not  only  were  their  women  in  demand  as  instructresses  for 
the  young,  but  their  schools  also  enjoyed  such  an  excellent 
reputation  ^"aX  persons  of  other  faiths  gladly  sent  their  children 
to  them. 

Like  other  communists,  since  the  time  of  the  Waldenses,  the 
Huterites  laid  the  greatest  stress  upon  a  sound  popular  educa- 
tion. Their  school  regulations  and  their  rules  for  the  masters 
are  worthy  of  notice  even  in  the  present  day,  but  they  were 
magnificent  performances  for  the  sixteenth  century,  a  period 
which,  probably,  represented  the  lowest  level  of  pedagogism, 
and  exhibited  its  cruelty  and  roughness  in  its  schools. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS 


207 


The  Baptists  declare  :  "  Hard  blows  will  not  effect  much  ; 
children  should  be  worked  upon  through  teaching  ;  if  men 
possessed  the  fear  of  God,  so  that  they  could  control  them- 
selves, they  would  require  no  schoolmaster." 

The  Baptist  schools  possessed  a  numerous  staff  of  school- 
masters and  "  school-sisters,"  as  well  as  "  children's  maids  " 
under  a  "  school-mother."  These  had  charge  not  only  of  the 
spiritual,  but  also  of  the  bodily  welfare  of  the  young. 

Both  training  and  tuition  were  regulated  by  "  old  customs  " 
which  were  formulated  in  1 568,  and  this  school  system  lays 
great  stress  upon  the  physical  well-being  of  youth.  It  says,  for 
example :  "  If  a  child  be  brought  to  school,  its  state  of  health    1 
must  be  carefully  investigated.     Should  it  have  any  bad  ill-    C 
ness,  such  as  putrid  fever,  syphilis,  or  the  like,  it  must  be    / 
separated    from  the   other  children  during  sleep,  and  while     \ 
eating  and  washing." 

"  If  a  school-mother  has  cleansed  the  mouth  of  a  sick  child, 
she  must  not  examine  the  mouth  of  a  healthy  one  with  un- 
washed fingers,  but  before  doing  so  must  always  cleanse  her 
fingers  with  a  clean  towel  and  water."  She  is  also  to  instruct 
the  school-sisters  how  to  clean  a  child's  mouth. 

Great  importance  was  universally  attached  to  the  main- 
tenance of  a  most  scrupulous  degree  of  cleanliness. 

The  Sisters  had  to  keep  watch  over  the  slumber  of  the  little 
ones,  and  to  refrain  from  striking  them  if  they  cried  out  some- 
what in  their  sleep.  Should  one  throw  off  its  coverings,  it  was 
to  be  recovered,  lest  it  should  take  cold.  During  the  night 
nothing  was  to  be  given  to  a  child  to  eat,  unless  it  was  ill. 
Without  real  necessity,  no  sleeping  child  was  to  be  roused  by 
force,  &c.,  &c. 

Children  were  not  to  be  treated  with  unnecessary  severity. 
Should  it  be  necessary  to  blame  a  child  a  little  at  spinning, 
instructresses  were  to  refrain  from  impulsive  blows.  A 
notice  to  the  schoolmaster  was  sufficient.  The  schoolmaster 
punished  the  big  boys;  the  school-mother  the  girls.  For 
such  offences  as  thieving,  lying,  and  other  sins,  the  degree  of 
the  penalty  was  always  to  be  determined  with  the  advice  of  a 
Brother,  and  too  severe  punishments,  like  blows  on  the  head 
or  the  mouth,  were  strictly  forbidden. 


2o8  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

The  trainin^4-  of  children  was  to  be  individual :  "In  the 
bringing  up  of  a  child,  great  watchfulness  is  required,  and  a 
fine  power  of  discrimination  ;  for  one  is  best  drawn  by  kind- 
ness, another  by  gifts,  while  a  third  requires  strict  discipline." 

These  extracts  from  the  school  regulations  should  be 
enough  to  prove  that  Loserth  is  correct  when  he  says  they 
contain  maxims  which  would  do  honour  even  to  schools  of 
modern  days. 

It  is  not  known  what  subjects  were  taught  by  the  instruc- 
tors beyond  reading  and  writing — in  which  all  the  Baptists 
were  fairly  skilled.  But  mental  culture  appears  to  have  gone 
hand  in  hand  with  productive  work,  the  girls  at  least  being 
kept  at  the  spinning-wheel  from  an  early  age. 

To  what  age  the  school  regulations  extended  is  almost  un- 
known ;  but  on  leaving  school  the  children  were  sent  into  the 
various  industries,  or  agriculture,  or  into  the  household.  The 
primary  duty  in  all  industrial  and  agricultural  work  was  to 
provide  for  the  necessities  of  the  community.  Before  these 
were  supplied,  no  work  could  be  undertaken  for  outsiders. 

The  Baptists,  however,  were  excellent  and  diligent  work- 
men, and  their  labour  supplied  an  important  surplus.  Their 
achievements  were  specially  prominent  in  the  departments  of 
horse-breeding,  mills,  brewing,  and  later  on  in  cutlery  and 
cloth-making  as  well,  which  became  their  most  important 
trade.  Here  again  we  find  wool-weaving  in  intimate  connec- 
tion with  communism.  The  great  proportion  of  their  produce 
was  sold,  thus  affording  them  the  opportunity  of  steadily 
extending  the  production  of  certain  commodities  far  beyond 
their  own  needs,  and  thereby  attaining  to  production  on  a 
large  scale  in  some  branches  of  industry. 

The  household  system  and  that  of  production  had  at  all 
times  been  in  close  connection,  and  in  earlier  ages  was  even 
more  conspicuous  than  at  the  period  under  consideration,  the 
extent  of  the  industrial  or  rural  establishment  determining 
that  of  the  family.  The  capitalistic  form  of  production  altered 
all  this  by  separating  the  workshop  from  the  household,  so 
that  there  was  no  longer  any  interdependence  between  the  two. 

The  extent  of  the  family,  however,  did  not  remain  without 
influence  upon  that  of  the  industrial  establishment. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  209 

Communal  housekeeping — e.g:,  that  of  the  monasteries  and 
the  Beghard  houses — always  encouraged  the  tendency  towards 
the  establishment  of  industries  and  farms  on  a  large  scale.  If 
about  twenty  weavers  shared  in  a  common  household,  they 
always  bought  the  raw  material  in  common,  and  manufactured 
it  together  in  one  place.  This  tendency,  however,  had  but 
little  opportunity  for  developing  itself  In  one  of  these  insti- 
tutions— the  monastery — it  was  checked,  because,  sooner  or 
later,  these  organisations  invariably  ceased  to  be  associations 
of  workmen,  and  became  communities  of  idlers.  And  in  the 
others — Beghard  houses  and  similar  institutions — the  develop- 
ment was  hindered  by  persecutions.  Both  of  these  flourished 
as  associations  for  work,  in  an  age  when,  socially  and  techni- 
cally, the  conditions  of  wholesale  business  were  not  in  exis- 
tence. 

This  was  not  the  case  with  the  Anabaptists  in  Moravia. 
Their  institutions  were  more  secure  than  most  of  the  Beghard 
houses  had  been  ;  nevertheless,  as  strangers  who  were  only 
tolerated  and  who  had  suffered  from  the  constant  enmity  of 
the  rulers,  they  were  unable  to  develop  their  households  into 
communities  of  idlers,  as  the  monasteries  had  done.  Finally, 
they  began  at  a  period  when  numerous  provisions  for  co- 
operative production  were  already  in  existence.  The  mining 
and  smelting  houses  were  already  regulated  and  worked  by 
capitalists  on  a  wholesale  scale.  At  that  time  the  crafts  also 
were  striving  in  many  ways  to  extend  themselves  into  manu- 
factories, and  to  burst  the  barriers  raised  by  the  guilds.  If 
from  one  thousand  to  two  thousand  persons  formed  them- 
selves into  a  common  household,  that  household's  inherent 
tendency  towards  the  establishment  and  development  of  in- 
dustry and  farming  on  a  large  scale  must  have  found  ample 
scope. 

In  the  case  of  the  Anabaptists  "  everything  was  carried  on 
upon  a  wholesale  basis,  and  the  individual  artisans  worked 
into  each  other's  hands."  It  was  strictly  forbidden  to  take  the 
raw  material  elsewhere  than  from  the  Anabaptists  themselves, 
always  supposing  that  they  possessed  what  they  wanted. 
Thus  with  the  butchers,  the  hides  of  the  animals  were  de- 
livered to  the  tanners,  and  by  them  prepared  and  handed  over 

•15 


2IO  COMMUNISM   IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

to  the  saddlers,  harness-makers,  and  shoemakers.  It  was  the 
same  with  the  cotton  department,  the  weavers,  cloth-makers, 
tailors,  &c.,  &c.  Only  a  few  raw  materials  like  iron,  refined 
oil,  and  others  were  bought  from  the  outside  world,  and  thus 
connection  with  people  not  included  in  the  community  was 
largely  due  to  the  fact  that  some  manufactures  such  as  knives, 
scythes,  bolting  cloths,  cloth,  shoes,  &c,,  &c.,  found  eager  pur- 
chasers, not  only  among  their  own  Brethren,  but  also  among 
surrounding  neighbours. 

One  of  the  raw  materials  which  they  bought,  and  which 
Loserth  (to  whom  we  owe  these  details)  ought  to  have  men- 
tioned, was  wool,  as  it  was  one  of  their  most  important  com- 
modities. Their  cloth  manufacture  flourished  to  such  a  high 
degree  that  the  Moravian  wool  was  not  sufficient  to  supply 
the  demand,  and  they  were  obliged  to  import  it,  probably 
from  Hungary. 

Every  trade  possessed  its  purveyors,  its  distributors  (or 
cutters-out)  and  foremen.  The  first-mentioned  bought  the 
necessary  raw  material  wholesale  ;  the  others  distributed  it  to 
the  individual  workmen,  and  supervised  their  systematic  co- 
operation in  its  manufacture.  The  regulations  for  these 
offices  and  for  production  in  general  occupied  the  Brethren 
very  much.  This  is  proved  by  the  numerous  labour-ordinances 
which  they  have  left ;  but,  unfortunately,  none  of  those  re- 
ferring to  the  crafts  have  been  preserved.  We  have,  therefore, 
no  detailed  evidence  as  to  the  height  to  which  Baptists'  pro- 
duction on  a  large  scale  reached  ;  neither  do  we  know  to 
what  extent  the  division  of  labour  and  systematic  co-operative 
work  was  carried  in  particular  industries. 

It  is  certain  that  they  had  made  a  great  stride  in  advance 
of  the  guild-crafts  of  that  day  towards  the  manufacture  system. 
They  were  always  careful  to  stand  abreast  with  their  times  in 
technical  matters,  and  for  this  reason  millers,  for  example, 
were  from  time  to  time  sent  to  Switzerland,  in  order  to  study 
the  business  methods  of  that  country. 

Successful  as  they  were  in  the  handicrafts  technically,  they 
were  even  more  so  commercially,  particularly  as  they  either 
bought  the  raw  material  wholesale,  or  drew  upon  their  own 
resources.     It  was  also  to  their  advantage  that  they  were  able 


THE   ANABAPTISTS  211 

to  surmount  the  crises  of  trade  more  easily  than  was  possible 
for  private  producers  ;  but  they  could  not  entirely  avoid  oc- 
casional overproduction,  since  they  worked  wholesale  for  the 
market.  Yet  the  results  of  overproduction  were  not  very 
disastrous.  It  was  only  necessary  for  a  time  to  employ  the 
overplus  of  labour  in  agriculture  instead  of  the  industries,  and 
there  work  never  failed. 

To  all  these  advantages  of  the  communistic  wholesale  trade 
as  compared  with  the  "  individualism  "  of  the  isolated  trader 
there  was  naturally  joined  the  fact  that  the  maintenance  of 
each  individual  in  large  co-operative  households  cost  much 
less  than  in  the  small  private  households  of  the  trade-masters. 
And  thus  it  cannot  surprise  us  that  from  the  time  of  the 
organisation  of  the  Huter  communities  of  Moravia,  the  com- 
plaints on  the  subject  of  ruinous  competition  made  by  the 
guild-masters  against  the  communists  were  never  silenced. 

As  early  as  1 545  the  Fraternity  declared  in  their  memorial 
to  the  Moravian  Diet :  "  Half  of  the  towns,  as  we  hear,  com- 
plain and  lament  about  us,  as  if  we  took  the  bread  out  of  the 
mouths  of  the  agriculturalists  ;  but  we  know  only  this — that 
we  apply  ourselves  diligently  in  everything  to  honourable 
work,  to  pay  each  one  his  penny,  so  that  our  integrity  is 
well  known  in  nearly  all  nations.  Therefore,  if  any  one  un- 
justly complain  of  us,  we  cannot  on  that  account  deteriorate 
our  work." 

In  the  year  1600  the  Chronik  relates :  "  During  this  year 
a  great  outcry  from  our  adversaries  has  gone  abroad  in 
Moravia,  that  the  Fraternity  increases  beyond  measure  in  that 
country,  and  by  their  trade  do  no  small  damage  and  hurt  to 
the  commercial  interests  of  the  towns  and  boroughs.  For 
this  reason  the  reigning  princes  have  resolved  to  forbid  us  to 
erect  new  households,  and  yet  they  permit  the  territorial  lords 
to  make  use  of  the  Brothers  as  workmen."  ^ 

As  in  the  system  of  their  schools,  so  in  their  methods 
of  production,  the  superiority  of  the  Baptists  over  their 
opponents  was  brought  most  forcibly  to  light  by  the  com- 
plaints of  the  latter.  We  recommend  this  fact  to  the 
consideration  of  all  those  who  maintain  that,  under  no 
'  Beck,  Geschichtsbiichcr,  pp.  171,  331. 


212  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

circumstances,  can  communism  be  a  sound  economic  prin- 
ciple. 

The  same  cause  which  made  the  town  journeymen  the 
enemies  of  the  Huterites,  won  for  them  the  favour  of  the 
great  landed  proprietors  upon  whose  estates  they  lived  and 
to  whom  they  paid  rent.  As  it  was  by  and  through  the 
Anabaptists  that  the  nobility  came  to  wealth  and  power, 
they  became  economically  indispensable  to  them.  Thus  the 
Anabaptists  gained  economic  importance,  not  only  by  their 
own  produce,  but  also  by  their  workmen  who  were  hired  by 
numerous  employers.  No  small  number  of  Sisters  were 
engaged  in  private  service  also,  as  nurses  and  governesses, 
as  we  have  already  seen.  At  the  same  time,  the  Brothers 
were  active  in  private  agricultural  and  industrial  esta- 
blishments, such  as  mills.  But  they  were  especially  popular 
as  managers ;  which  may  probably  be  explained  by  the  fact 
that  the  administration  of  the  large  households  had  highly 
developed  the  talent  for  organisation  and  management 
among  them.  One  of  their  fiercest  enemies,  Christopher 
Fischer,  wrathfully  writes  :  "  You  have  so  far  captivated  the 
nobles  in  Moravia,  that  they  follow  your  advice  and  lead  in 
everything,  and  have  given  you  appointments  in  all  their 
establishments  as  cashiers,  butlers,  borough-stewards,  millers, 
shepherds,  masters  of  fisheries,  gardeners,  foresters,  and 
bailiffs  ;  you  are  high  in  consideration  and  repute  among 
them,  so  that  you  eat  and  drink  with  them,  and  get  favours 
of  all  kinds  from  them.  Is  not  this  what  is  meant  by  '  to 
rule  and  to  reign?'" 

The  staunch  Fischer  of  course  exaggerates,  but  it  is  true 
that  the  Baptists  were  very  much  sought  after  as  stewards. 
Strictly  speaking,  however,  it  was  not  isolated  individuals 
who  were  in  private  service,  but  the  whole  community. 
Individuals  were  employed  in  private  service  merely  as  the 
deputies  of  the  commune.  Not  only  were  they  under  the 
discipline  of  the  community,  but  they  were  obliged  to  yield 
up  to  it  all  their  earnings ;  not  merely  their  salaries  and 
wages,  but  even  their  gratuities  and  presents^  whether  these 
consisted  of  money  or  anything  else. 

Generally  speaking,   the   enforcement   of    this   regulation 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  213 

seems  to  have  given  no  trouble,  except  in  the  case  of  the 
doctors.  With  all  their  contempt  for  learning,  the  Baptists 
greatly  esteemed  pharmacology  and  the  use  of  mineral 
waters.  Their  surgeons  had  not  apparently  much  to  do  with 
science ;  but  they  must  have  been  very  clever  practitioners, 
for  they  were  sought  after  throughout  the  whole  country ; 
indeed  one  was  sometimes  summoned  to  the  Imperial  Court, 
in  spite  of  the  horror  of  communism  which  prevailed  there. 

The  constitution  of  the  Fraternity  was  democratic.  At  its 
head  stood  clerical  and  secular  officials  ;  the  former,  "  the 
Servants  of  the  Word,"  were  either  "apostles,"  who  wan- 
dered about  the  world  to  enlist  new  disciples,  or  were 
preachers  at  home  ;  the  secular  functionaries,  "  the  Servants 
of  Need,"  were  the  purchasers,  foremen,  householders  and 
stewards.  The  chief  authority  lay  with  the  community  itself, 
but  in  order  that  it  should  not  be  consulted  on  every  occasion, 
there  was  a  Council  of  Elders,  with  whom  the  servants  of  the 
Fraternity  despatched  business  of  minor  importance.  At 
the  head  of  the  general  community  was  a  Bishop.  That 
functionary,  however,  was  not  elected  ;  but  from  among  those 
who  appeared  to  be  suitable  for  the  post,  one  was  selected  by 
the  casting  of  lots,  and  was  called  "  Chosen  of  the  Lord." 
He  could  not,  however,  enter  on  his  office  before  the 
community  had  sanctioned  the  "  Will  of  God,"  and  ratified 
the  choice. 

The  singular  commune  here  delineated  maintained  its 
communal  existence  in  full  strength  for  nearly  a  century, 
and  finally  fell,  no^  from  internal  deterioration  but  through 
external  force. 

Ever  since  Bohemia  and  Moravia  had  come  under  the 
sway  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg  it  had  been  in  continual, 
though  sometimes  bloodless,  war  with  the  independent  nobles 
of  these  countries.  At  length  there  came  that  decisive 
struggle  which  ushered  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  and  ended 
in  the  complete  destruction  of  the  nobles  in  the  Battle  of 
Weiss  Berg,  near  Prague  (1620).  The  nobility  were  almost 
annihilated,  and  with  them  fell  their  prot^g^s,  the  Bohemian 
Brethren,  and  the  other  Huter  communities  of  Moravia. 

On   the   22nd   of  February,   1622,  Cardinal  Dietrichstein 


214  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

issued  letters  patent  by  order  of  Ferdinand,  decreeing  that  "  all 
such  as  are  attached  to  the  Huter  Fraternity,  be  they  men  or 
women,  are  not  to  be  found,  or  suffered  to  set  foot,  in 
Moravia  after  the  expiration  of  four  weeks  from  the  date 
notified,  under  pain  of  extreme  penalty  to  body  and  life." 

On  this  occasion  the  decree  of  banishment  did  not  remain 
on  paper  only.  The  organised  Baptist  community  in  Moravia 
came  to  an  end.  Many  of  the  Baptists  became  Catholics, 
although  most  of  them  in  their  hearts  remained  true  to  the 
old  teachings,  and  sometimes  even  transmitted  them  to  the 
younger  generation  ;  others  perished  through  fugitive  wan- 
derings in  winter  ;  but  a  portion  at  length  succeeded,  after 
losing  nearly  all  their  possessions,  in  reaching  Hungary, 
where,  as  early  as  1 546,  a  branch  of  the  Brotherhood  had 
already  established  several  households.  The  Hungarian 
chiefs  required  colonists,  and  received  them  gladly.  They 
organised  themselves  in  their  new  homes  after  the  old 
methods,  but  were  never  again  of  any  importance.  The 
association  never  recovered  from  the  frightful  blow  which  had 
struck  it  down  and  robbed  it  of  all  its  possessions.  The 
state  of  affairs  at  that  time  in  Hungary,  where  Turkish 
inroads  and  civil  wars  alternated  with  each  other,  was  not 
such  as  to  allow  a  poor  community  to  rise  to  opulence.  It 
therefore  declined  and  perished,  and  with  it  perished  its 
communism. 

Whether  the  community  would  have  stood  its  ground  if 
it  had  been  allowed  to  develop  progressively  and  unmolested, 
can  neither  be  positively  afBrmed  nor  denied.  It  is  not  very 
probable,  however,  that  it  would  have  succeeded  in  main- 
taining its  communism  permanently  uninjured  in  the  midst 
of  the  capitalist  society  with  which  it  was  in  the  closest 
economic  relation  by  reason  of  its  production  of  commodities 
and  the  hiring  out  of  its  labour. 

In  any  case,  however,  the  community  of  the  Huterites  in 
Moravia  has  the  greatest  significance  in  the  history  of  socialism. 
It  is  the  ripest  fruit  of  heretical  communism,  and  most  clearly 
demonstrates  to  us  the  tendencies  of  the  Anabaptists.  Its 
original  lines  are  still  the  same  as  those  of  the  monastic 
system ;    the   household    is   only  a   sort   of  cloister.     But  it 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  215 

makes  some  steps  beyond  this  in  the  direction  of  modern 
socialism,  because  it  introduces  marriage  into  monastic 
communism  and  develops  industrial  production  on  a  large 
scale  in  such  a  way  that  the  latter  is  no  longer  merely  an 
accessory  to  communism,  but  begins  to  form  its  basis. 

In  spite  of  their  importance  and  singularity,  the  Anabap- 
tist organisations  in  Moravia  have  been  lost  to  remembrance 
for  a  long  time.  "  It  is  an  extraordinary  thing  that  even  the 
recollection  of  the  Anabaptists  in  Moravia  should  have 
disappeared  so  universally  from  the  popular  mind,  and  that 
their  memory  should  have  been  revived  but  a  short  time 
ago,  and  then  only  by  learned  historians."  ^  Thus  writes  a 
Bohemian  historian  in  1858.  Since  then  learned  investiga- 
tions have  shed  a  searching  light  upon  them,  thanks  chiefly 
to  the  zeal  of  Dr.  Joseph  Beck,  who  collected  extraordinarily 
extensive  material  on  the  subject,  and  himself  partly  pub- 
lished the  Chronicle  of  the  Anabaptists,  which  has  been  so 
often  quoted  here,  and  which  appeared  in  1883.  After 
the  publication,  however,  his  bequest  still  offered  great 
treasures,  which  Loserth  has  admirably  brought  to  light. 
But  beyond  this  particular  history,  the  Moravian  Anabaptists 
have  not  yet  met  with  due  consideration,  while  historians  of 
the  old  communism  have  almost  completely  ignored  them. 

This  need  not  surprise  us.  These  writers  were  not  actuated 
by  a  desire  to  comprehend  socialism,  but  to  collect  materials 
which  seemed  useful  for  its  condemnation.  For  such  a 
purpose  the  Moravian  Anabaptists  were  but  poorly  qualified. 
The  Anabaptist  insurrection  in  Miinster  appeared  much  more 
suited  to  this  design.  Hence  it  is  this  insurrection  which  is 
set  forth  in  the  usual  books  of  history  as  the  embodiment  of 
the  Anabaptist  character.  It  was  referred  to  by  preference 
when  historians  wished  to  point  out  what  horrors  communism 
of  necessity  involved. 

As  a  rule  when  one  hears  of  the  Anabaptists,  he  at  once 
thinks  of  the  outbreak  in  Miinster ;  and  whoever  mentions 
them,  speaks  with  bated  breath,  as  of  some  wild  Walpurgis 
Night. 

We  will  see  whether  this  is  justified,  and  how  far  it  is  so. 
'  Gindely,  Geschichtc  der  Bdhmischcn  Briider,  vol.  ii.  p.  19. 


2i6  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 


VI.   TAe  Disturbances  in  Miinsier. 

The  Reformation  movement  began  to  develop  itself  and 
to  let  loose  the  class  antagonisms  of  that  era  later  in  North, 
than  in  South  Germany.  In  a  great  measure  this  is  attri- 
butable to  the  economic  backwardness  of  the  North  Germans. 
In  those  districts  of  the  North- West  which  were  more  highly 
developed,  the  Reformation  agitation  was  checked  by  the 
proximity  of  the  Hapsburg  Netherlands,  from  which  Charles  V. 
could  exercise  far  more  adverse  influence  upon  the  border 
districts  than  he  could  upon  the  other  parts  of  the  Empire. 

The  peasants  in  the  North  did  not  join  in  the  universal 
movement,  as  the  events  of  the  year  1525  in  South  and 
Central  Germany  found  no  echo  among  them,  partly  on 
account  of  their  being  in  a  better  position  than  their  brothers 
in  Upper  Germany,  and  partly  because  single  districts  were 
more  separated  from  each  other,  and  intercourse  between 
them  was  consequently  less  frequent  than  in  the  more  thickly 
settled  North. 

Only  two  aspects  of  the  Reformation  were  prominent  in 
South  Germany;  t\\Q  princely  and  the  municipal;  but  the 
municipal  Reformation  in  the  North  was  marked  by  severer 
and  keener  contests  between  the  municipal  and  the  princely 
authorities  on  the  one  side,  and  on  the  other  between  the 
guilds  and  the  municipal  patricians.  The  analogy  with 
South  Germany  goes  still  further  ;  for  the  struggle  between 
these  conflicting  classes  could  not  be  fought  out  without  the 
lowest  stratum  of  the  urban  population  taking  part  in  the 
movement. 

The  most  celebrated  and  powerful  of  the  North  German 
cities  which  played  a  part  in  the  Reformation  was  the 
Hanse  town  Liibeck. 

The  aristocratic  Town  Council  sided  with  the  existing 
authority,  i.e.y  the  Catholic  Church,  while  the  democrats  made 
the  cause  of  the  "Gospel"  their  own.  In  1530  an  insur- 
rection gained  the  victory  over  the  nobles  and  Church  ;  the 
constitution  was  changed  to  suit  democratic  ideas,  and  the 
Church  property  confiscated  by  the  town.     But  this  victory 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  217 

had  been  won  only  by  the  guilds  combining  with  the  masses 
of  the  "  common  "  people.  The  leader  in  the  conflict,  and 
the  most  prominent  representative  of  the  union  was  Jiirg 
Wullenweber,  Burgomaster  of  Lubeck,  in  the  year  1533. 
The  fact  that  he  had  been  obliged  to  rely  on  the  common 
people  makes  it  comprehensible  why  he  should  have  mani- 
fested sympathy  with  the  Anabaptists.  So  notorious  was 
this  sympathy,  that  when  he  was  Burgomaster  of  the  town, 
the  report  went  through  Germany  that  LUbeck  had  been  won 
over  to  the  cause  of  the  Anabaptists.  Whether  Wullen- 
weber really  did  favour  the  opinion  of  the  Baptists,  and  if  so, 
to  what  extent,  cannot  now  be  ascertained.  Certain  it  is, 
however,  that  the  Anabaptists  in  Lubeck  gained  no  advantage 
from  his  sympathy,  nor  did  any  of  the  other  North  German 
cities  in  which  they  were  numerously  represented. 

In  one  town  only  were  they  temporarily  successful,  thanks 
to  a  singular  conjunction  of  circumstances — in  Miinster. 

North-Western  Germany  was  particularly  rich  in  ecclesias- 
tical principalities;  Cologne,  Miinster,  Paderborn,  Osnabriick, 
Minden,  &c.  Of  these,  the  Archbishopric  of  Cologne  and 
the  Bishopric  of  Miinster  were  by  far  the  most  important. 

The  social  and  political  contests  in  the  ecclesiastical  prin- 
cipalities took  a  special  colour.  There  the  reigning  prince 
united  in  his  person  the  ruling  powers  of  both  Church  and 
State ;  though  he  was  by  no  means  an  absolute  prince  in 
consequence.  Much  more  dependent  on  the  Emperor  and 
the  Pope  than  a  secular  lord,  he  was  at  the  same  time  more 
of  a  puppet  than  a  ruler  among  the  nobility  and  clergy  in  his 
dominions.  The  election  of  Bishops  had  everywhere  been 
monopolised  by  the  Chapter  for  themselves,  and  these,  like 
the  higher  and  more  lucrative  places  in  the  Church  generally, 
had  become  a  privilege  of  the  nobility  (in  Miinster  since 
1392).  Nobility  and  clergy  were  in  consequence  bound 
together  in  a  close  association  of  mutual  interests,  and  they 
presented  a  far  more  formidable  phalanx  against  their  elected 
ruler  than  was  the  case  in  the  secular  principalities.  The 
constitutional  States  had,  in  consequence,  more  to  say  in  the 
ecclesiastical  provinces  than  in  the  others ;  but  in  the  con- 
stitutional States,  again,  the  nobility  and  the  Church  were  in 


2i8  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

the  majority,  when  united.  The  cities  were  always  out- 
voted ;  the  lesser  among  them  were  oppressed,  while  the 
greater  were  driven  to  help  themselves  in  whatever  way  they 
could. 

Under  these  circumstances  the  nobility  and  the  higher 
Church  dignitaries  had  the  most  to  lose,  and  therefore  held 
fast  to  the  old  faith.  They  preferred  sharing  with  the  Vatican 
the  huge  amount  of  wealth  which  the  Church  had  amassed 
in  the  ecclesiastical  principalities,  to  losing  it  altogether. 

The  Bishops,  on  the  other  hand,  were  not  to  be  depended 
on.  Only  too  easily  did  they  give  way  to  the  temptation 
which  the  example  of  their  temporal  neighbours  offered 
them.  Conversion  to  the  Lutheran  doctrines  promised  them 
not  only  independence  of  the  Pope,  who  taxed  them  heavily, 
but  a  free  right  over  Church  property  and  great  power  over 
the  nobles.  It  is,  therefore,  not  at  all  surprising  that  the 
Bishops  of  Munster,  like  many  of  their  colleagues,  opposed 
the  Evangelical  doctrines  in  a  very  lukewarm  and  half- 
hearted manner ;  and,  indeed,  not  seldom  secretly  favoured 
them. 

When  Bernt  Rothmann,  in  1 531,  began  to  preach  Lutheran 
doctrines  in  the  suburb  of  Munster  (St.  Moritz)  the  Chapter 
appealed  in  vain  to  Bishop  Frederick,  petitioning  him  to 
restrain  the  mischief  which  was  being  done.  He  certainly 
forbade  Rothmann  to  preach,  but  did  not  do  the  smallest 
thing  to  enforce  his  mandate,  thus  enabling  Rothmann  to 
continue  his  ministry  undisturbed.  Only  an  Imperial  com- 
mand at  last  induced  the  Bishop  to  stop  him  (in  January, 
1532).  Rothmann  quitted  St.  Moritz;  not  to  turn  his  back 
on  the  country,  however,  but  to  be  the  better  able  to  assail 
the  Church  in  Munster  at  its  centre ;  that  is,  he  transferred 
his  preaching  to  Munster  itself. 

Munster  was  a  large  city,  rich  and  well  fortified,  the  chief 
town,  not  only  of  the  bishopric,  but  of  the  whole  of  West- 
phalia. Democracy  had  proved  itself  particularly  strong 
there.  Originally,  as  was  the  case  in  every  mediaeval  town, 
the  Council  had  been  exclusively  in  the  hands  of  the 
patricians,  the  "  hereditary  race  "  (Erdmanner),  as  they  were 
called   in    Munster.     But   when    the    trades  and  handicrafts 


THE  ANABAPTISTS 


219 


began  to  flourish,  and  the  guilds  attained  to  power  and 
importance,  they  also  were  admitted  into  the  Council,  which 
was  thenceforward  selected  annually  by  ten  electors  {Korgen- 
sten),  who  were  nominated  by  the  assembled  citizens.  Only 
half  of  the  four-and-twenty  members  of  the  Council  were  to 
be  drawn  from  the  aristocratic  class  ;  but  as  the  management 
of  municipal  affairs  had  already  become  an  occupation  which 
demanded  more  time  and  knowledge  than  was,  as  a  rule, 
attainable  for  a  man  of  the  lower  classes,  the  twelve  seats 
in  the  Council  which  appertained  to  the  citizens  again  and 
again  fell  to  the  members  of  a  few  wealthy  families,  from 
among  whom,  little  by  little,  a  second  aristocracy  was 
developed,  less  eminent  than  the  Erbmanner,  but  united  to 
them  by  association  of  interests. 

Thus  the  Council  gradually  became  once  more  exclusively 
representative  of  the  municipal  aristocracy ;  men  who  lived 
partly  on  their  rents  from  the  leasing  of  their  landed 
property,  and  partly  by  commercial  enterprise.  But,  next 
to  the  Council,  the  power  of  the  companies  or  guilds  held 
its  ground.  There  were  seventeen  guilds  in  Mlinster,  each 
of  which  possessed  its  own  Guildhall,  and  made  bye-laws  for 
its  own  guidance.  The  "  Schohaus"  Guildhall  was  the  central 
point  of  the  assembled  civic  guilds.  In  Lent,  shortly  after 
the  election  of  the  Council,  the  four-and-twenty  guildmasters 
met  there,  and  elected  two  aldermen.  "  These,"  says  a 
Munster  historian  of  those  times,  "  are  the  heads  and  repre- 
sentatives of  the  whole  community  of  burgesses,  and  their 
authority  is  so  great  that  they,  together  with  the  guild- 
masters,  could  reverse  the  decisions  of  the  Council  if  they 
wished.  Hence  the  magistrates  can  hardly  decide  anything 
of  importance  in  matters  concerning  the  welfare  of  the  commu- 
nity, without  the  consent  of  the  above-mentioned  principals."  ^ 

In  peaceful  times,  certainly,  the  Council  was  at  liberty  to 
act  very  much  according  to  its  own  sweet  will ;  but  if  it 
came  to  a  conflict  between  the  community  and  the  Council, 
or  between  the  clergy  and  community,  the  authority  of  the 
Council  vanished  very  quickly. 

'  H.  V.  Kerssenbroick,  Geschichte  der  Wiedeiidujer  zu  Milnster.  nebst 
eitier  Beschreibung  dcr  Hatibtstadt  dieses  Landes.     iTJ^,  vol.  i.  p.  98. 


220  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

This  had  been  practically  demonstrated  more  than  once, 
especially  in  1525.  The  mighty  struggle  in  Upper  Germany 
did  not  pass  over  Lower  Germany  without  leaving  its  traces. 
In  the  towns  the  "  common  man "  everywhere  arose  ;  the 
result  of  this,  in  Cologne  as  in  Miinster,  was  an  agitation 
against  the  clergy,  which  increased  into  violent  rebellion 
when  the  Council  endeavoured  to  oppose  the  movement. 
The  people  resisted,  and  nominated  a  committee  of  forty 
men,  who  formulated  the  demands  of  the  community  in 
thirty-six  articles ;  not  concerning  religious  subjects,  but  on 
I  economic  questions  ;  thus  proving  that  the  guilds  were  the 
'instigators  of  the  movement. 

But  though  the  articles  were  accepted  by  the  Council  (the 
Chapter  even  signing  some  of  them),  they  were  not  carried  in 
their  entirety.  The  overthrow  of  the  North  German  uprising 
brought  the  South  German  agitation  also  to  a  standstill, 
while,  at  the  same  time,  it  set  free  the  power  of  the  victorious 
princes,  and  enabled  them  to  help  their  friends  in  the  South. 
It  came  to  a  compromise  between  the  clergy  and  the  town, 
by  which  the  rights  of  the  clergy  were  restored  ;  and,  in 
return,  the  latter  relinquished  all  their  original  claims  to 
compensation  and  security  against  any  contingent  future 
injury. 

Peace  was  thereby  restored,  though  the  opposition  of  the 
civic  elements  (particularly  the  town  democracy)  to  the  rich, 
privileged,  and  tax-imposing  clergy  continued.  The  mighty 
catastrophe  of  1525  had  set  the  masses  in  motion,  though 
they  had  taken  but  little  interest  in  the  Reformation  up  to 
that  time.  This  was  the  case,  not  only  with  Miinster,  but 
with  the  whole  of  Lower  Germany,  where  the  "  cause  of  the 
Gospel  "  now  found  a  joyful  reception.  The  clergy  were  at 
the  head  of  the  movement,  which  had  originally  been  purely 
economic,  but  now  began  to  make  use  of  religious  arguments, 
and  to  assume  an  apparently  purely  religious  character. 

This  is  a  phenomenon  which  often  meets  us  in  the  period 
of  the  Reformation,  and  finds  its  analogy  in  modern  middle- 
class  and  proletarian  movements. 

The  cause  of  this  is  not  difficult  to  discover.  As  long  as  a 
social  movement  is  merely  a  question  of  the  special  demands 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  221 

of  the  moment,  its  economic  character  is  clearly  evident. 
But  the  deeper  its  penetration  and  the  greater  its  expansion, 
the  more  it  seeks  to  transform  the  whole  of  society — i.e.,  the 
whole  of  the  commonwealth — the  greater  becomes  the  neces- 
sity for  establishing  a  rational  connection  between  its  separate 
claims.  Thoughtful  men  will  feel  impelled  to  be  clear  as  to 
the  ultimate  aims  of  a  movement  whose  first  efforts  represent 
only  passing  demands,  and  will  endeavour  to  explain  these 
on  lofty  general  principles.  In  proportion  to  the  limit  of 
economic  knowledge  in  any  age,  and  the  generally  subversive 
aims  of  the  movement,  the  arguments  and  theories  of  the 
agitators  appear  as  a  rule  more  and  more  mystical,  and  the 
malcontents  more  easily  lose  a  right  comprehension  of  the 
economic  basis  of  their  agitation.  When,  for  example,  the 
cause  of  a  movement  happens  to  be  only  a  question  of  free- 
trade,  or  some  trifling  tax  ;  or  when  it  concerns  shorter  hours 
of  labour  and  higher  wages,  the  economic  principle  is  clear 
enough  to  the  most  shortsighted.  But  if  the  movement  has 
to  do  with  the  general  class-antagonism  of  the  middle  class 
or  proletariat  against  existing  society,  then,  to  a  superficial 
observer,  the  economic  basis  is  almost  wholly  lost  sight  of, 
and  it  becomes  a  question  of  the  everlasting  principles  of 
natural  right,  reason,  justice,  &c.,  &c.  At  the  time  of  the 
Reformation,  the  general  tone  of  thought  was  not  legal,  but 
theological,  and,  in  consequence,  the  more  radical  a  social 
movement,  the  more  theological  were  its  party  words  ;  such 
as  the  "  Will  of  God,"  the  "  Word  of  Christ,"  and  others  of  a 
similar  nature. 

In  the  year  1529  the  democratic  Protestant  movement  in 
Lower  Germany  received  a  special  stimulus.  At  that  time  a 
terrible  famine  broke  out,  which  lasted  till  1531,  as  Sebastian 
Franck  tells  us  in  his  Chronicles,  published  in  this  year.  At 
some  places  a  bushel  of  rye  cost  three  shillings  and  sixpence, 
and  in  the  following  summer  nine  shillings.  In  1531  the  price 
went  up  still  more.  In  Dortmund  in  1530,  a  bushel  of  rye 
cost  five  shillings  and  sixpence  ;  in  1531  the  price  had  gone 
up  to  fourteen  shillings.  A  devastating  plague,  the  so-called 
"  English  sweating  sickness,"  ravaged  the  country,  at  the 
same  time  as  the  famine. 


222  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL   EUROPE 

Then  ciame  the  Turkish  invasion,  which  was  felt  in  Lower 
Germany,  in  consequence  of  the  war-tax,  i.e.,  the  "Turkish 
tax,"  which  was  at  once  levied.  But  in  those  parts  of  the 
country  which  had  nothing  to  fear  from  the  Turks,  this  tax 
must  have  been  most  exasperating,  in  the  midst  of  so  much 
distress,  especially  as  the  rate  of  assessment  was  not  low. 
For  instance,  in  the  Duke  of  Cleves*  Principality  it  was  lo 
per  cent,  on  the  income. 

This  must  have  intensified  the  social  antagonism  im- 
mensely, adding  bitterness  to  the  contests  of  the  democracy 
against  the  wealthy  clergy,  who  knew  only  too  well  how  to 
avoid  taxation  themselves,  and  to  whom,  in  their  short- 
sighted avarice,  it  did  not  occur  to  subscribe  voluntarily  to 
the  war  expenses. 

In  this  state  of  affairs  the  preaching  of  Bernhard  Rothmann 
found  a  favourable  hearing;  and  when  he  withdrew  in  1532 
from  St.  Moritz  to  Munster,  he  was  received  with  open 
arms  by  the  democracy,  and  protected  from  all  attempts  at 
violence.  The  most  prominent  of  the  democratic  party  was 
a  rich  cloth-merchant,  named  Bernhard  Knipperdollinck  ;  "  a 
stately  man,  still  young  in  years,  with  beautiful  hair  and 
beard  ;  brave,  frank,  and  strong  in  appearance,  gestures,  and 
movements  ;  full  of  plans,  clever  in  speech,  and  swift  in  deed" 
(Cornelius) ;  stubborn,  active,  and  with  a  propensity  for  the 
romantic. 

It  was  very  fortunate  for  the  struggling,  aspiring  democracy 
at  a  time  when  they  had  to  put  forth  all  their  strength  in 
defence  of  Rothmann,  that  the  clerical  authorities  were  taken 
up  with  internal  affairs  which  were  characteristic  of  the  Church 
at  that  period. 

Bishop  Frederick  was  an  ease-loving  noble,  whom  the  office 
of  Bishop  pleased  so  long  as  it  occasioned  little  trouble  and 
brought  in  plenty  of  money.  Now,  when  the  difficulties  of  the 
Church  multiplied,  when  Pope,  Emperor,  and  Chapter  urged 
him  to  a  more  energetic  policy  in  defence  of  the  Church,  the 
Bishop's  chair  grew  odious  to  him.  He  therefore  looked 
about  for  a  successor  who  should  take  the  episcopal  com- 
mission off  his  hands  for  a  good  round  price  ;  and  such  a 
person  he  at  last  found  in  Bishop  Eric  of  Paderborn  and 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  223 

Osnabriick,  a  noble  as  greedy  of  land  as  he  was  capable  of 
paying  for  it,  and  who  gladly  seized  the  opportunity  to  add 
yet  a  third  episcopal  commission  to  the  two  he  already 
possessed.  The  Catholic  Archbishop  of  Cologne  and  the 
Lutheran  Elector  of  Saxony  were  the  intermediaries  in  this 
clerical  traffic  (whether  they  received  commission  fees  is  not 
known).  The  purchase-money  was  fixed  at  40,000  gulden. 
By  a  gross  fraud,  these  nobles,  as  pious  as  they  were  powerful, 
gained  the  consent  of  the  Chapter :  a  counterfeit  agreement 
was  laid  before  the  latter,  instead  of  the  real  one,  in  which 
only  half  of  the  true  amount  was  stated  as  the  purchase- 
money.  And  it  was  a  person  of  this  class  who  took  upon 
himself  to  defend  religion,  morals,  and  property  against  the 
Anabaptists  ! 

After  he  had  received  his  price,  Eric  was  provisionally 
elected  Bishop  in  1 531,  and  Frederick  laid  down  his  episcopal 
dignity  in  March,  1532. 

During  this  interim  the  heretics  throve  gaily  in  Miinster. 
The  entrance  of  the  new  Bishop  upon  his  office  did  not  affect 
them  much,  however,  as  he  looked  upon  himself  in  the 
light  of  a  ruler  rather  than  a  Bishop,  and  the  spread  of  the 
Lutheran  teaching  was  even  less  distasteful  to  him  than  it 
'had  been  to  his  predecessor.  Moreover,  he  was  the  close 
friend  of  the  Elector  John  of  Saxony  (one  of  the  inter- 
mediaries in  the  purchase  of  the  Bishop's  chair)  and  of 
Landgrave  Philip  of  Hesse,  both  leaders  of  the  Evangelical 
movement  in  Germany.  In  fact,  so  little  did  he  hesitate  to 
manifest  his  Protestant  sympathies,  that  he  acted  as  a  witness 
to  the  marriage  of  Graf  von  Tecklenburg  with  a  nun  who  had 
quitted  the  cloister. 

The  election  of  the  Bishop  strengthened  the  Protestant 
cause  in  Miinster  enormously,  but  also  led  to  a  division  of 
the  movement  into  two  parties.  Much  as  Eric  inclined 
towards  the  Reformation,  it  was  not  the  Reformation  of  the 
lower  classes,  but  of  the  higher,  that  he  favoured  ;  a  reforma- 
tion which  increased  the  power  of  the  rulers,  but  not  that  of 
the  democracy,  at  the  expense  of  the  Church. 

Against  the  clerical  party  and  the  knighthood,  Eric  sought 
for  the  support  of  the  town  patricians  and  the  Council,  with 


224  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL   EUROPE 

its  adherents  ;  the  two  together  forming  a  "  moderate  party  " 
which  coquetted  with  the  Lutherans. 

So  long  as  all  their  adversaries  were  Catholics,  the  urban 
democracy  were  willing  to  make  the  Lutheran  doctrines  serve 
as  the  foundation  of  their  faith ;  but  now  that  Lutheranism 
threatened  to  be  turned  from  a  weapon  of  defence  into  one  in 
the  hands  of  their  most  dangerous  enemies,  viz.,  the  Bishop 
and  the  patricians,  they  began  to  lose  their  sympathy  with 
Luther's  teachings,  and  to  turn  towards  Zwinglianism,  which 
was  better  suited  to  their  wants, 

Eric  and  the  Council  considered  it  most  important  that 
they  should  get  the  upper  hand  of  the  municipal  democracy  ; 
and  by  beginning  in  this  way  they  were  sure  of  the  assistance 
of  the  clergy.  On  the  17th  of  April,  1532,  the  Bishop  issued 
a  mandate,  in  which  he  offered  a  prospect  of  speedy  reform 
in  the  Church ;  but  asked,  first  of  all,  that  the  preacher 
whom  the  community  had  so  arbitrarily  protected  should  be 
removed. 

The  Council,  thereupon,  gave  orders  to  Rothmann  to 
discontinue  his  sermons ;  but  the  community  would  not 
consent,  declaring  that  they  would  retain  their  preacher 
under  all  circumstances  (April  28th). 

Again  the  democracy  were  in  luck.  "In  fact,"  writes  the 
good  episcopalian,  Kerssenbroick,  "  this  upright  Bishop  would 
have  effected  much  in  this  matter  by  means  of  his  own 
authority  and  the  support  of  his  friends,  if  he  had  not  been 
prevented  by  a  premature  death.  Making  more  merry  than 
usual  at  his  castle  of  Flirstenau,  situated  in  the  Diocese  of 
Osnabruck,  he  suddenly  became  ill ;  though  some  assert  that 
he  died  suddenly,  on  May  14th,  after  having  emptied  a  large 
beaker  of  wine."  ^ 

This  event  was  the  signal  for  an  insurrection  in  all  the 
three  bishoprics  which  had  been  harassed  and  oppressed 
during  the  lifetime  of  him  who  had  expired  in  so  holy 
a  manner.  In  Osnabruck,  Paderborn,  and  Miinster  the 
people  rose,  drove  away  the  Catholic  priests,  and  appointed 
Protestant  pastors  of  their  own  way  of  thinking  ;  the  Council 
being  nowhere  in  a  position  to  check  them.  In  Osnabruck 
'  Kerssenbroick,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  204. 


J 


THE  ANABAPTISTS 


225 


a  compromise  was  effected  between  the  clerical  party  and  the 
town  by  the  interposition  of  the  knights.  Paderborn  was 
utterly  crushed  by  force  in  October,  1532,  by  the  Archbishop 
Hermann  of  Cologne ;  but  in  Miinster,  on  the  contrary,  the 
rebels  understood  better  how  to  carry  out  their  plans. 

The  Chapter  had  immediately  elected  Franz  v.  Waldeck 
to  succeed  Eric  ;  and  on  June  28th  a  letter  from  him  arrived 
in  MiJnster,  summoning  the  town  to  return  to  its  allegiance. 
The  assembly  of  the  hereditary  aristocrats  declared  itself 
ready  to  submit ;  but  that  of  the  guilds  decreed  (July  ist) 
the  formation  of  a  confederacy  for  the  defence  of  the  gospel. 
The  appointment  of  the  committee  of  thirty-six  men  so 
frightened  the  Town  Council  that  they  joined  it,  and 
granted  the  demands  of  the  community.  The  committee 
of  thirty-six  immediately  urged  the  reorganisation  of  the 
Church  on  Evangelical  principles,  and  sought  for  help  from 
abroad,  finally  concluding  an  alliance  with  Philip  of  Hesse ; 
and  when,  in  October,  Bishop  Franz,  supported  by  the 
clerical  and  secular  aristocracy,  made  preparations  to  over- 
come Miinster  by  force,  the  community  compelled  the 
Council  to  make  counter  preparations  ;  three  hundred 
soldiers  were  enrolled  and  the  fortifications  repaired. 

There  were  unimportant  collisions  between  the  parties  ; 
but  the  Bishop  shrank  from  a  decisive  advance  upon  the 
strong  city,  which  threatened  him  either  with  defeat  or  with 
foreign  intervention  and  the  loss  of  his  independence.  More- 
over, his  coffers  were  empty,  and  the  greedy  clergy  refused 
to  make  sacrifices  for  him.  The  Emperor,  the  most  powerful 
protector  of  Catholicism  in  that  region,  was  himself  financially 
embarrassed  at  that  time,  in  consequence  of  the  Turkish  war. 
Bishop  Franz  therefore  endeavoured  to  return  to  the  policy 
of  his  predecessor,  and  to  make  peace  with  the  Council, 
entering  into  negotiations  for  this  purpose. 

Self-interest  inclined  the  Council  to  make  concessions,  but 
the  people  would  hear  nothing  of  the  kind.  "  Not  a  step 
backwards !  rather  let  us  kill  and  eat  our  children  !  "  cried 
Knipperdollinck  ;  and  the  masses  supported  him. 

In  order  to  manage  the  negotiations  with  more  chance 
of  success,  the   Bishop   had  betaken   himself  to  the  little 

16 


226  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL   EUROPE 

town  of  Telgt,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Munster,  But  the 
proximity  of  the  Bishop  incited  the  warlike  community  to 
anything  but  peace.  A  sudden  attack  on  Telgt  was  secretly 
planned  and  successfully  carried  out  on  the  night  of  December 
26th  ;  but  the  Bishop  himself  was  not  captured,  as  he  had 
accidentally  left  Telgt  the  day  before.  A  great  number, 
however,  of  the  most  illustrious  representatives  of  the  Catholic 
cause — ecclesiastical  and  secular  aristocrats  and  fugitive 
hereditary  patricians  from  Munster — were  taken  prisoners. 

This  victory  had  important  results.  By  the  interposition 
of  Philip  of  Hesse  a  treaty  was  concluded  (February  14,  1533), 
of  which  the  chief  stipulation  was  that  the  Bishop,  Council, 
and  knights  should  permit  the  democratic  party  such  advan- 
tages as  they  had  gained  in  the  insurrection.  Munster  was 
thenceforth  recognised  as  an  Evangelical  town. 

VII.   The  Anabaptists  in  Strassburg  and  the  Netherlands. 

The  democratic  guilds  had  been  victorious  in  Munster,  but 
having  won  all  their  successes  solely  through  the  help  of  the 
lower  masses  of  the  population,  they  could  not,  as  had  often 
happened  before  in  similar  cases,  throw  aside  the  tools  which 
had  been  used  as  soon  as  they  had  attained  their  object. 
The  victory  had  been  won  by  a  lucky  stroke  of  fortune, 
not  by  a  decisive  defeat  of  the  adversary  in  open  fight. 
Peace,  therefore,  merely  meant  a  temporary  cessation  of 
hostilities,  while  the  prospect  of  more  severe  battles  loomed 
up  before  the  middle-class  democracy,  making  them  afraid 
to  drop  their  connection  with  the  proletarian  democrats.  The 
convictions  of  the  latter  found  their  most  congenial  expression 
in  Anabaptism.  The  prominent  position  which  the  proletariat 
had  attained  in  Munster  made  that  town  the  centre  of  the 
Baptist  faith  in  Lower  Germany. 

Zwinglians  having  made  their  appearance  in  Munster 
during  the  year  1532,  in  addition  to  Catholics  and  Lutherans, 
the  Baptists  joined  them.  The  two  centres  from  which 
Anabaptist  doctrines  spread  into  Lower  Germany  were 
Strassburg  and  the  Netherlands. 

In  Strassburg,  which  was  in  close  economic  and  political! 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  227 

intercourse  with  the  great  towns  of  North  Switzerland,  the 
Zwinglian  State  Church  triumphed  in  1525.  The  struggle 
of  Zwinglianism  against  Catholicism  and  Lutheranism  assisted 
the  Baptists  in  Strassburg,  as  in  other  South  German  towns. 
After  Augsburg,  as  we  have  already  seen,  Strassburg  became 
the  most  important  centre  of  the  South  German  Baptist 
community.  It  there  held  its  ground  longer  than  in  other 
places,  thanks  to  the  power  possessed  by  the  "  common  man," 
and  to  the  fear  of  an  insurrection,  which  prevented  the 
Council  from  taking  decisive  measures  against  the  Baptists. 
So  strong  were  these  people  in  this  powerful  capital,  that 
the  most  important  of  the  Church  leaders  there,  especially 
Capito,  continued  the  policy  at  first  followed  by  Zwingli,  and 
for  a  long  time  showed  a  great  inclination  towards  Baptist 
opinions. 

During  the  great  persecution  Strassburg  was  a  city  of 
refuge  for  those  "  Brothers  "  who  did  not  emigrate  to  Moravia, 
and  after  the  Baptist  community  in  Augsburg  had  been  cruelly 
suppressed,  it  became  the  metropolis  of  the  movement  in 
South  Germany,  so  long  as  such  a  movement  could  be  said 
to  exist. 

Nearly  all  the  prominent  men  among  the  South  German 
Baptists  passed  through  the  new  metropolis  at  various  times ; 
but  the  most  important  of  them  all  was  the  journeyman 
furrier,  Melchoir  Hofmann,  from  Hall  in  Swabia,  a  man  who 
had  travelled  a  great  deal.  In  1523  he  had  preached  the 
Evangelical  doctrines  in  Livland,  and  had  become  a  preacher 
in  the  German  community  at  Stockholm.  Driven  from 
there,  he  took  refuge  in  Holstein,  where  King  Frederick  of 
Denmark  granted  him  the  means  of  livelihood  and  freedom 
to  preach.  But  when  he  changed  from  Lutheranism  to 
Zwinglianism,  he  was  banished  from  the  country  (1529),  and 
turned  towards  Strassburg,  where  he  was  soon  carried  away 
by  the  Baptist  opinions,  becoming  one  of  the  community  in 
1530,  and,  after  the  old  chiefs  had  fallen  or  been  driven  out, 
rising  to  a  position  of  the  highest  prominence  among  them. 

An  eccentric  and  visionary  enthusiast,  he  took  up  with  Hans 
Hut's  views  on  the  millennium,  which  must  now  have  found  a 
still  more  favourable  soil  among  the  Brethren,  as  the  persecu- 


228  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

tion  against  them  was  still  raging.  In  fact,  if  there  had  not 
been  some  signs  of  a  speedy  deliverance,  it  would  have  been 
difficult  to  remain  steadfast  in  the  midst  of  the  cruelties  of 
the  hunt  for  heretics.  But  the  fiercer  the  persecution,  the 
stronger  grew  their  faith  in  the  promises  which  foretold  the 
approaching  collapse  of  the  existing  state  of  society — that 
most  passionate  desire  of  their  hearts.  Nothing  more,  how- 
ever, was  to  be  expected  from  the  Turks. 

Strassburg  was  looked  upon  as  the  heavenly  Jerusalem  by 
Hofmann  ;  for  it  was  confidently  expected  that  power  would 
fall  to  the  Baptists,  in  that  place,  within  a  very  short  time, 
perhaps  in  the  year  1533. 

But  Hofmann  agreed  so  far  with  the  Baptists'  usual  mode 
of  thinking,  that  he  declared  himself  against  all  employment 
of  force.  He  relied  upon  the  effect  of  his  propaganda,  which 
was  that  God  would  bring  about  victory,  and  that  all  rebellion 
was  sinful. 

At  first  Hofmann  met  with  angry  resistance  in  the  com- 
munity. Two  different  parties  were  formed,  of  which  his 
finally  triumphed,  perhaps  more  from  his  success  in  the 
Netherlands  than  from  the  force  of  his  arguments,  or  the 
innermost  needs  of  the  Brothers. 

He  was  too  restless,  however,  to  remain  long  in  Strassburg. 
In  1530  he  went  down  the  Rhine  to  promulgate  his  new 
conviction  in  the  Netherlands. 

The  Netherlands  was  the  home  of  heretical  communism 
north  of  the  Alps.  There  Beghardism  had  its  origin  ;  there 
"  the  Brothers  of  the  Common  Life  "  had  worked,  and  educated 
the  people.  But  the  rapid  economic  development  of  the 
country  which  led  to  the  creation  of  communism  there,  also 
matured  a  strong  government,  the  most  dangerous  enemy  of 
communism.  At  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  the 
government  was  far  more  powerful  and  absolute  than  in  the 
neighbouring  part  of  Germany. 

The  Burgundian  House,  and,  after  its  extinction  in  1477, 
its  successor,  the  House  of  Hapsburg,  had  united  the  seven- 
teen provinces  of  the  Netherlands  into  one  whole,  by  the 
most  diverse  means — through  inheritance,  by  purchase,  and 
by  conquest. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  229 

Moreover,  in  1504,  the  Hapsburgs  had  also  succeeded  to 
the  throne  of  Spain,  in  which  country  despotism  had  already 
made  great  progress.  The  Church  especially  was  there 
reduced  to  almost  total  dependence  upon  the  Crown.  The 
Inquisition,  which  nowhere  exercised  such  terrible  power  as 
in  Spain,  had  become  a  blind  tool  of  a  despotism  which 
crushed  all  intractable  elements.  Abroad  the  strength  of  the 
Spanish  power  was  so  great  at  that  time  that  it  ventured  to  take 
up  the  quarrel  with  France  about  Italy  and  the  Papal  rule. 
As  kings  of  Spain,  the  Hapsburgs  had  even  more  reason 
for  supporting  Catholicism  than  they  had  in  their  capacity 
as  rulers  of  Austria  (then  threatened  by  the  Turks)  and 
Emperors  of  Germany,  whose  power  was  undermined  by  the 
Evangelical  princes,  for  the  Catholic  Church  had  become 
one  of  the  most  important,  if  not  tke  most  important  of  their 
instruments  of  power. 

They  had,  therefore,  every  reason  for  being  decidedly 
opposed  to  Protestantism  ;  but  they  could  attack  it  with  more 
energy  in  the  Netherlands  than  in  Germany.  As  Emperor 
of  Germany,  Charles  V.  united  the  Netherlands  to  the 
Spanish  kingdom  in  15 16.  Besides  the  highly  efficient 
means  of  governmental  power  which  the  Netherlands  offered 
him,  he  had  at  his  command  the  forces  of  the  Spanish  throne 
with  which  he  could  crush  all  opposition  in  any  of  his 
dominions.  Without  outwardly  touching  the  old  forms  of 
government,  he  took  from  them  every  vestige  of  political 
freedom.  The  despotism  which  assumed  such  terrible  pro- 
portions under  Philip  II.,  and  which  later  on  could  be  put 
down  only  by  a  sanguinary  war  of  nearly  a  hundred  years' 
duration  (i  561-1648),  and  then  in  only  a  portion  of  the 
Netherlands,  was  initiated  by  Charles  V.,  who,  whenever  it 
appeared  necessary,  relentlessly  enforced  his  autocratic  power. 
The  lower  classes  were  kept  down  with  an  iron  hand,  and 
rendered  powerless  so  long  as  there  was  no  great  conflict 
among  the  rulers  themselves.  This  was  the  reason  why  the 
native  land  of  heretical  communism  apparently  remained  an 
unfruitful  soil  for  communistic  propaganda  during  the  first 
decade  of  the  German  Reformation.  The  mind  of  the  people, 
however,    was    well    prepared,   and   communistic   tendencies 


230  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

were  widespread  before  Hofmann  appeared  on  the 
scene. 

At  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  "Waldensian"  secret 
societies  were  reported  to  exist  in  Flanders  and  Brabant, 
and  were  called  "  Turlupins,"  or  "  Pifles,"  often  also  (and 
this  is  worthy  of  notice)  "  Tisserands  "  (weavers).  "  They 
were  strict  in  their  morals,  charitable  towards  all  men,  and 
harboured  no  revengeful  feelings.  Many  joined  the  Dutch 
Anabaptists,  and  added  much  to  their  strength."  ^ 

According  to  their  own  tradition,  the  Baptists  had  spread 
their  propaganda  to  the  Netherlands  as  early  as  the  year 
1534,  and  indeed  it  is  known  that  three  "  Brothers"  suffered 
martyrdom  for  the  cause  in  Holland  in  1527. 

Hofmann's  importance  lay,  not  in  his  introduction  of 
Anabaptism  into  the  Netherlands,  but  in  the  courage  he 
imparted  to  the  members  of  the  sect  to  propagate  their 
doctrines.  This  courage  flowed  from  his  convincingly  con- 
fident prophecy  that  the  end  of  the  existing  order  of  society 
was  at  hand,  and  that  the  year  1533  would  see  the  inaugura- 
tion of  the  new  state  of  things.  The  effect  of  his  preaching 
was  enhanced  by  the  pestilence  and  famine  which  had  been 
prevalent  since  1529,  as  well  as  by  the  democratic  movement 
in  the  adjacent  provinces  of  Lower  Germany,  especially  in 
Westphalia. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  new  sect  (called  Melchior- 
ites,  from  Melchior  Hofmann)  could  never  obtain  a  firm 
footing  in  Flanders  and  Brabant,  where  economics  and 
politics  had  reached  an  advanced  stage  of  development,  and 
where  the  executive  power  was  strong  and  concentrated. 
The  centre  of  the  movement  lay  in  the  towns  of  the 
Northern  provinces — in  Holland,  Zealand,  and  Friesland, 
which,  though  backward  in  politics  and  economics,  had  for 
that  very  reason  preserved  a  large  measure  of  municipal 
independence,  and  which,  unlike  Flanders  and  Brabant,  were 
afterwards  successful  in  freeing  themselves  from  Spanish 
domination.  Amsterdam  became  the  seat  of  the  leading 
community  of  Anabaptists. 

'  A.  Brons,  Urspriuig,  Entwickelnng  und  Schicksale  der  altevangelischen 
Taiifgesinntcn  oder  Meniwniten,  Harden,  1891,  p.  57. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  231 

The  Melchiorites  had  hardly  begun  to  be  numerous,  when 
they  divided  themselves  into  two  parties.  All  of  course 
believed  in  the  imminent  coming  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  but 
the  more  practical  among  them  were  forced  to  admit  that  it 
would  not  come  of  itself,  by  means  of  a  miracle,  but  that  the 
proletariat  must  free  itself.  They  maintained  that  they  must 
fight  their  opponents  with  the  same  weapon  which  had  been 
used  in  the  subjugation  of  the  people  :  that  the  sword,  which 
the  godless  had  drawn  from  its  scabbard  against  God's 
people,  should  now  be  turned  against  the  hearts  of  their  tyrants. 

So  taught  Jan  Mathys,  a  baker  of  Haarlem,  who  was  the 
first  of  the  Melchiorites  to  counsel  violent  measures.  "Jan 
Mathys  was  the  first  to  demand  and  inaugurate  the  use 
of  arms  and  force  against  the  authorities,"  said  Jan  van 
Leyden  to  his  judges ;  and  in  an  earlier  confession,  he  tells 
of  the  dissension  which  had  arisen  between  Mathys  and 
Hofmann.i 

The  doctrines  promulgated  by  Mathys  were  favoured  in  the 
Netherlands  by  the  circumstance  that  class  antagonisms  were 
much  more  acute  in  that  province  than  in  Switzerland,  the 
native  land  of  the  Baptist  sect.  In  the  Netherlands,  hardly  a 
single  representative  of  the  upper  classes  was  to  be  found  in 
the  ranks  of  the  order,  the  movement  in  that  country  being 
eminently  proletarian  in  character,  and  among  classes  who 
had  nothing  to  lose  but  their  fetters  ;  a  fact  which  must  have 
increased  both  the  strength  of  their  resistance  and  their 
eagerness  for  it. 

Mathys  succeeded  in  firmly  establishing  himself  in  the 
community  of  Amsterdam,  and  also  gained  many  adherents 
outside  that  community  by  the  instrumentality  of  his 
messengers,  the  number  of  which  increased  with  the  growth 
of  the  Melchiorites.  By  far  the  most  prominent  among  them 
was  the  before-mentioned  Jan  Bockelson  of  Leyden.  His 
mother,  who  was  a  tradeswoman  from  the  neighbourhood  of 
Munster,  had  been  servant  to  Bockel,  mayor  of  Soevenhagen, 
to  whom  she  bore  a  son — Jan.  (1509)- 

-Berichte  dcr  Augenzcugen  ttber  das  Miinstmschc  WiedeHduferrcich. 
Edited  by  C.  M.  Cornelius,  vol.  ii.  of  Geschichtsquellen  des  Bisthume 
MiUister,  1853,  pp.  370,  399- 


232  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

She  subsequently  married  Bockel,  after  having  bought  her 
freedom.  Jan  learned  the  craft  of  tailoring  in  Leyden,  but 
received  a  very  scanty  mental  training.  His  extraordinary 
natural  endowments,  however,  compensated  for  this.  After 
studying  Munzer's  works,  he  took  a  lively  interest  in  the 
stirring  questions  of  his  day,  and  was  especially  enthusiastic 
concerning  communism.  His  mental  horizon  was  broadened 
by  extensive  travels  also.  As  a  journeyman  tailor,  after 
going  to  Flanders,  he  visited  England,  where  he  remained 
four  years.  On  his  return  home,  he  did  not  pursue  his  craft, 
but  married  the  widow  of  a  mariner,  and  set  himself  up  in 
trade.  Business  took  him  to  Llibeck  and  Lisbon  ;  but  having 
no  luck,  or  perhaps  lacking  the  requisite  business  capacity,  he 
became  a  bankrupt  just  at  the  time  when  the  Baptist  sect 
made  its  appearance  in  the  Netherlands.  With  all  the  ardour 
of  youth,  he  now  embraced  the  doctrines  with  which  he  had 
always  been  in  sympathy.  Much  as  he  had  seen  and  expe- 
rienced, he  was  not  yet  twenty-five  years  old  when  he  was 
won  over  to  the  cause  of  Jan  Mathys  (November,  1533). 

Handsome,  vivacious,  enthusiastic  and  of  captivating 
eloquence,  he  soon  made  conquest  of  hearts.  Enjoyment  of 
life  and  of  the  beautiful  was  a  conspicuous  trait  of  his 
character,  in  striking  contrast  to  the  bulk  of  his  associates, 
who  favoured  a  gloomy  puritanism  ;  in  this  respect  he  also 
completely  differed  from  Thomas  Miinzer.  From  early  youth 
he  had  manifested  poetical  talent,  and  Kerssenbroick  informs 
us  that  "he  had  also  written  all  sorts  of  plays,  which,  as 
was  customary  in  that  country,  he  produced  on  the  stage 
before  the  whole  people,  to  gain  money."  His  proclivity  and 
aptitude  for  theatrical  affairs  were  afterwards  displayed  in 
Munster. 

Kerssenbroick,  however,  has  little  cause  for  deriding  him  as 
a  "  tailor  "  and  "  theatre  king."  The  masters  whose  devoted 
servant  Kerssenbroick  was,  trembled  for  fear  of  the  tailor 
and  theatre  king  ;  for  to  the  characteristics  just  described,  the 
dictator  of  Munster  united  an  inflexible  will  and  a  penetrating 
acuteness,  which  made  him  an  opponent  to  be  dreaded. 

Before  Bockelson  became  a  partisan  of  Mathys,  the  latter 
was  at  the  head  of  the  Melchiorites  in  the  Netherlands,  Hof- 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  233 

mann  having  left  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  1533  to  return 
to  Strassburg,  as  the  time  for  the  commencement  of  the  New 
Jersualem  had  arrived.  Hofmann  hid  prophesied  that  he 
should  be  taken  prisoner  and  remain  confined  for  half  a  year, 
but  that  then  the  Redeemer  would  come.  The  first  part  of 
the  prophecy  was  soon  fulfilled,  as  he  was  arrested  in  May. 
The  Brothers  were  now  on  the  tenterhooks  of  expectation, 
and  looked  forward  with  feverish  impatience  to  the  time 
when,  at  last,  there  should  be  an  end  to  all  sorrow  and  want. 

The  remainder  of  the  prophecy  lacked  fulfilment.  The 
year  1533  drew  to  its  close,  and  all  continued  to  be  quiet  in 
Strassburg.  As  a  chief  result  of  Hofmann's  agitation,  the 
Council  was  spurred  on  to  energetic  measures  against  the 
Baptists.  All  their  wavering  adherents  fell  away  from  the 
sect,  and  their  cause  from  that  moment  continued  to  lose 
ground  in  the  town.^  Just  at  this  time,  however,  an  impetus 
was  given  to  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Brothers,  which  made 
it  blaze  up  once  more ;  for  "  throughout  the  Netherland 
communities  a  report  was  spread  that  the  Lord  had  rejected 
Strassburg  on  account  of  its  unbelief,  and  had  in  its  stead 
chosen  Miinster  as  the  seat  of  the  New  Jerusalem" 
(Cornelius). 

Let  us  now  see  what  had  meanwhile  been  transpiring  in 
Miinster. 

VI IL  How  Miinster  was  won. 

As  early  as  the  year  1532,  Baptist  and  other  similar 
tendencies  had  become  noticeable  in  Miinster,  and  during 
the  following  year  rapidly  gained  in  definiteness,  strength, 
and  range. 

The  Town  Council  was  divided  in  its  policy ;  for  the  election 
of  March  3,  1533,  had  introduced  into  its  midst  a  number 
of  decidedly  democratic  elements.  One  of  the  two  Burgo- 
masters, Hermann  Tilbeck,  a  patrician  by  descent,  but  a  good 
democrat  in  opinions,  was  a  partisan  of  these,  and  he  subse- 
quently joined  in    bringing  about   the    union    between    the 

'  Hofmann  never  regained  his  freedom.  After  long  years  of  imprison- 
ment, he  died  in  a  dungeon. 


234  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

radical   section   of  the   burgess   democracy   and    the    Ana- 
baptists. 

The  guilds  were  quite  as  disunited,  vacillating,  and  uncer- 
tain as  the  Council,  knowing  that  the  Bishop  and  clergy  were 
only  watching  for  a  favourable  opportunity  to  regain  their 
control  of  the  town.  A  part  of  the  body  of  the  guild- 
burgesses,  however,  began  to  feel  anxious  concerning  the 
poor  population,  whose  aggressiveness  was  stayed  by  no 
consideration  of  privilege  or  possession,  and  would,  therefore, 
make  no  exception  of  the  property  of  the  guilds.  This  body 
weighed  and  compared  the  respective  dangers  threatening 
them  from  the  masses  on  one  side  and  the  aristocracy  on  the 
other.  Those  among  the  democrat  burgesses  who  had  most 
to  fear  from  priestly  and  aristocratic  domination,  remained 
true  to  their  alliance  with  the  proletarian  elements ;  others 
joined  the  Lutherans  and  even  the  Catholics  of  the  town  ; 
while  the  majority  of  the  guild  faction  oscillated  unceasingly 
hither  and  thither,  concerned  alone  in  keeping  the  mastery 
out  of  the  hands  of  any  of  the  other  parties. 

This  condition  of  affairs  was  highly  favourable  to  the 
Baptists,  as  it  prevented  all  decisive  action  against  them  on 
the  part  of  the  Town  Council ;  and  they  were  not  slow  in 
taking  advantage  of  their  opportunity.  Their  zeal  for  the 
cause  left  nothing  to  be  desired,  and  their  numbers  were 
augmented  not  merely  by  the  accession  of  proselytes  from 
the  town,  but  (and  this  is  worthy  of  remark)  by  the  influx  of 
immigrants,  at  first  from  neighbouring  districts,  but  after- 
wards from  distant  ones,  and  especially  from  the  Netherlands. 
These  immigrants  came  partly  as  refugees  from  persecution 
and  partly  because  they  were  impelled  by  a  desire  for  great 
deeds  ;  for  they  were  not  only  in  less  danger  in  Munster  than 
elsewhere,  but  there  was  greater  scope  for  their  activity  in 
aid  of  the  good  cause.  They  became  of  the  highest  impor- 
tance to  the  development  of  affairs  in  MUnster,  as  they 
belonged  to  the  most  courageous  and  energetic  party,  and 
gave  an  important  moral  and  military  support  to  the  Baptists 
in  the  town.  Gresbeck,  who  was  an  eye-witness  of  events, 
ascribes  to  them  the  leading  part  in  the  triumph  of 
Anabaptism  and  in  all    the   incidents   which  took  place  in 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  235 

the  town  under  the  communist  regime.  He  invariably 
speaks  of  the  strict  Baptists  in  Miinster  as  "  the  Dutch  and 
Frieslanders." 

The  "party  of  order"  (as  we  may  briefly  designate  the 
opponents  of  the  Baptists)  dwindled  away  from  day  to  day ; 
for  a  panic  had  seized  the  wealthy  inhabitants,  and  every 
advance  made  by  the  democracy  drove  some  of  them  away 
in  flight. 

The  propertied  classes  now  displayed  a  disposition  to 
combine  ;  but  each  endeavoured  to  turn  the  agitation  to  its 
own  profit  alone,  and  in  spite  of  their  co-operation  they 
never  could  overcome  a  certain  mutual  distrust ;  for  while 
each  member  of  the  league  wanted  to  deceive  his  associates, 
he  also  feared  being  deceived  by  them.  Even  when  Miinster 
had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Baptists,  it  was  not  easy  to 
combine  the  propertied  classes  into  a  solid  body. 

As  soon,  however,  as  the  beginnings  of  a  "  party  of  order  " 
became  visible,  the  more  radical  among  the  middle  class 
democratic  elements,  under  the  leadership  of  Rothmann  and 
Knipperdollinck,  found  it  necessary  to  bind  themselves  more 
closely  to  the  proletarian  factions,  and  consequently  went 
over  to  Anabaptism.  On  September  5,  1532,  Rothmann, 
who  had  hitherto  combated  the  doctrines  of  the  Anabaptists, 
wrote  to  Busch  :  "  I  have  had  some  trouble  with  the  Ana- 
baptists, who  long  since  left  us,  threatening,  however,  to 
return  with  greater  power.  But  '  if  God  be  with  us,  who  shall 
be  against  us?"'i 

As  early  as  May  in  the  following  year,  Rothmann  declared 
himself  opposed  to  infant  baptism. 

The  Town  Council  endeavoured  to  overcome  the  Baptists 
with  "  spiritual  weapons."  They  induced  Melancthon  to 
write  to  Rothmann,  in  order  to  bring  him  back  to  the  true 
faith.  As  this  and  similar  letters  bore  no  fruit,  the  Council 
ordered  a  disputation  for  August  7  and  8,  1533,  which  of 
course  did  not  convert  the  Baptists,  but  rather  encouraged 
them. 

The    Council    now    resorted    to    sharper    measures.      A 
number  of  municipal  preachers  had  joined  the  Baptists.     In 
'  Quoted  by  Kerssenliioick,  vol.  i.  p.  183. 


236  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

September  the  Council  threatened  them  with  dismissal  if 
they  refused  to  baptise  infants  :  to  which  the  pastors  replied 
that  they  must  obey  God  rather  than  man  ;  whereupon  the 
Council  endeavoured  to  carry  out  its  menace.  First  of  all, 
Rothmann  was  deprived  of  his  office  of  preacher  in  the 
Lamberti  Church  ;  but  the  attitude  of  the  community  was  so 
threatening,  that  the  Council  installed  him  in  another  Church 
in  October,     The  Baptists  had  thus  gained  their  first  victory. 

In  the  beginning  of  November  there  was  another  trial  of 
strength  between  the  contending  parties.  The  Council  at 
that  time  made  an  attempt  to  combine  all  the  different 
opponents  of  Anabaptism  in  united  action.  It  invited  the 
guildmasters  and  Catholic  patricians  to  a  conference  on  the 
best  means  to  be  adopted  for  gaining  the  mastery  over  the 
Baptist  faction.  At  this  conference  it  was  agreed  that  an 
armed  attack  should  be  made  on  the  following  day. 

In  pursuance  of  this  agreement  the  members  of  the  party 
of  order  met  under  arms,  and  sought  first  of  all  to  get 
possession  of  the  Baptist  preachers.  Now,  however,  certain 
extreme  reactionists  (probably  Catholics)  demanded  that 
all  members  of  the  Council  in  sympathy  with  the  Baptists 
should  be  banished  from  the  town,  together  with  the 
preachers.  Burgomaster  Tilbeck  was  especially  named. 
Not  a  word  had  been  uttered  to  this  effect  on  the  preced- 
ing day,  and  the  moderates  among  the  party  of  order 
were  so  startled  by  the  demand  that  they  began  to 
distrust  their  colleagues.  In  the  meantime,  the  Baptists 
assembled  and  intrenched  themselves  in  the  Lamberti 
Churchyard.  The  following  day  the  Council  entered  into 
negotiations  with  them,  and  the  conflict  which  was  to 
have  ended  in  the  dissolution  of  the  Baptists,  really  ter- 
minated in  a  few  insignificant  concessions  to  them.  Some 
of  their  preachers  left  the  town  ;  but,  though  inhibited 
from  preaching,  Rothmann  was  allowed  to  remain. 
While  open  propagandism  of  Baptist  doctrines  was  for- 
bidden, the  party  of  order  had  to  submit  to  the  retention 
of  the  leaders  in  the  town.  Thus  the  Anabaptists  had  suc- 
cessfully withstood  a  second  and  far  more  dangerous  assault. 

Kerssenbroick  informs  us  that :    "  Although  the  compact 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  237 

of  November  inhibited  Rothmann  from  preaching,  he  did 
not  cease  to  do  so  ;  first  of  all  secretly  and  by  night,  but 
afterwards,  when  his  adherents  grew  in  number,  by  day 
also,  in  the  houses  of  some  of  the  burgesses.  The  time 
of  preaching  was  announced  by  musket-shot,  and  no 
one  was  admitted  to  the  gathering  who  was  not  tainted 
with  Anabaptism  "  (vol.  i.  p.  453). 

The  propaganda  was  carried  on  not  only  by  these  oral 
means,  but  also  by  printed  pamphlets ;  a  printing-press 
being  secretly  set  up  in  Rothmann's  house,  where  it  was 
afterwards  discovered  by  the  authorities. 

Attempts  at  a  practical  realisation  of  communistic  ideas 
were  now  initiated.  The  rich  among  the  Brethren  "  laid  all 
their  wealth  at  Rothmann's  feet,  tore  up  and  burned  all 
written  evidences  of  debt,  and  absolved  their  debtors  from 
payment.  And  this  was  done  not  only  by  men,  but  by 
women  as  well,  who  at  other  times  were  wont  to  throw 
nothing  away.  Frau  Brandsteinin,  Knipperdollinck's 
mother-in-law,  a  very  wealthy  woman,  was  so  moved  by 
the  spirit  of  God  as  to  restore  their  bonds  to  her  debtors, 
'together  with  the  interest  already  paid  on  them."  ^ 

Unselfish  enthusiasm  of  this  kind  must  have  powerfully 
influenced  the  masses,  and  as  a  result  the  Baptists  soon 
became  so  strong  that  they  could  openly  defy  their 
enemies.  On  the  8th  of  December  the  journey-smith, 
Johann  Schroder,  began  to  preach  Baptist  doctrines  in 
public.  On  the  15th,  he  was  arrested  by  order  of  the 
^'  Council  ;  but  the  guild  of  smiths  assembled,  marched  to 
the  town  hall,  and  extorted  his  release.  Though  Roth- 
mann had  been  banished,  he  remained  quiet  and 
unmolested  in  the  town.  At  the  end  of  the  year  the 
preachers  who  had  left  in  November  returned,  but  were 
again  exiled  by  the  Council,  January  15,  1534.  They 
were  led  out  by  soldiers  through  one  of  the  town 
gates,  only  to  be  brought  back  again  through  another  by 
the  Brethren,  with  whom  the  Council  did  not  dare  to 
interfere.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Baptists  were  already 
masters  of  the  city. 

^  Kerssenbroick,  vol.  i.  p.  455. 


238  COMMUNISM   IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  Brethren  everywhere  now 
admitted  that  Strassburg  had  been  rejected  by  God,  and 
that  Miinster  was  to  be  the  seat  of  the  New  Sion.  The 
centre  of  the  movement  was  consequently  transferred 
thither  from  Amsterdam,  In  the  beginning  of  the  year, 
Jan  Mathys  sent  a  series  of  messengers  to  Miinster,  among 
whom  was  Jan  Bockelson,  of  Leyden,  who  arrived  on 
January  13th.     In  February  we  find  Mathys  himself  there. 

Complete  despair  now  seized  the  party  of  order.  They 
saw  only  one  possible  means  by  which  the  swelling  flood  of 
communism  could  be  checked  ;  they  threw  themselves  into 
the  arms  of  the  Bishop,  and  treacherously  surrendered  to  him 
the  freedom  of  the  town. 

The  solemn  compact  by  which  Bishop  Franz  had 
guaranteed  freedom  of  religious  worship  in  Miinster  had, 
from  the  very  first,  been  regarded  by  him  as  a  mere 
scrap  of  paper,  to  be  torn  in  pieces  at  the  first  favourable 
opportunity.  The  more  democratic  the  town  became,  the 
more  he  longed  to  break  the  treaty.  As  early  as  December, 
I533>  he  had  begun  to  make  preparations  for  taking  the 
Miinster  democracy  by  surprise  and  annihilating  it  ;  hence 
the  treacherous  proceeding  of  the  party  of  order  was  most 
opportune  for  him. 

"  When,  therefore,"  writes  Gresbeck,  "  my  gracious  Lord 
of  Miinster  saw  that  the  Anabaptists  in  the  town  would 
neither  listen  to  the  Council  nor  plead  for  pardon  of  the 
Bishop,  he  came  to  an  agreement  with  the  Town  Council, 
and  some  of  the  other  burgesses  who  did  not  hold  with 
the  Anabaptist  doctrines,  that  they  should  leave  two  gates 
to  the  town  open  for  the  Bishop  ;  namely,  the  gate  of  our 
Blessed  Virgin  and  the  gate  of  the  Jewish  quarter.  Then 
were  these  gates  opened  for  the  Bishop,  so  that  he  brought 
into  the  town  from  2,0CX)  to  3,000  footmen,  and  a  force  of 
horsemen,  and  my  gracious  Lord  of  Munster  became  master 
of  the  city."  ^ 

This  occurred  on  the  loth  of  February.  The  Bishop's 
forces,  which  had  thus  so  treacherously  fallen  upon  the  town 
in  the  midst  of  peace,  were  joined  by  the  "  order  loving 
'  Berichte  derAugenzcugeii,  pp.  14,  15. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS 


239 


burgesses  "  who  had  been  awaiting  them  and  wore  armour 
under  their  clothing.  By  previous  arrangement  they  had 
hung  wreaths  of  straw  on  their  houses  that  they  might  be 
spared  from  the  pillage  of  the  town  which  it  was  expected 
would  be  carried  out  by  the  "  defenders  of  property." 

Success  at  first  attended  the  conspirators,  who  laid  hold 
of  Knipperdollinck  and  a  few  other  Anabaptists,  and  cast 
them  into  prison. 

The  Baptists,  who  had  been  taken  completely  by  surprise, 
soon  assembled,  however,  and  showed  that  the  spirit  of  the 
war-like  party  of  Jan  Mathys  still  lived  in  them.  They 
gained  the  upper  hand  in  the  street  combat  which  ensued  ; 
the  Bishop's  troops  fell  back  offering  to  come  to  terms,  and 
"  the  footmen  and  horsemen  were  cleverly  and  skilfully 
driven  out  of  the  city"  (Gresbeck).  Their  treachery  had 
turned  against  the  traitors  themselves,  and  as  a  result  the 
town,  which  had  already  virtually  belonged  to  the  Baptists, 
now  fell  into  their  military  power,  captured,  not  in  aggressive 
riot,  but  in  self-defence. 

The  fight  of  February  had  two  results.  From  that  time 
war  was  waged  between  the  town  and  the  Bishop.  On  the 
28th  of  the  month,  Franz  and  his  troops  moved  into  Telgt, 
to  begin  the  siege,  and  on  the  same  day  the  legally-prescribed 
election  of  magistrates  took  place  in  Miinster,  which,  with- 
out any  alteration  in  the  electoral  views,  ended  in  the 
complete  triumph  of  the  Baptist  party.  Knipperdollinck 
and  Kippenbroick  (a  cloth -maker  who  had  repeatedly 
distinguished  himself  in  the  Baptist  cause)  became  Burgo- 
masters. "  The  leaders  of  the  movement  were  consequently 
raised  by  legal  methods  to  the  highest  power,  and  the 
chief  town  of  Westphalia  lay  at  the  feet  of  the  new 
prophets  "  (Keller). 

IX.  Tke  New  Jerusalem. 

(a)  Our  Sources  of  Information. — According  to  the  repre- 
sentation usually  given  in  the  accounts  of  historians,  the 
seizure  of  Miinster  was  followed  by  frenzied  orgies  of 
debauchery  and  bloodthirstiness.     "  When  the  city  fell  into 


240  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

their  hands,"  writes  Bishop  Franz,  in  an  official  report,  "  they 
overthrew  all  godly  and  Christian  law  and  justice,  all  rules  of 
Church,  and  secular  government  and  policy,  and  substituted 
a  bestial  manner  of  life"  This  is  the  way  in  which  these 
events  have  generally  been  depicted  from  the  time  of  the 
MUnster  "  commune  "  down  to  the  present  day. 

A  recent  writer,  the  anonymous  author  of  Schlaraffia 
politica,^  tells  us  with  awe  :  "  Munster  became  the  theatre 
of  the  lowest  debauchery  and  bloody  butchery  ...  A  power 
was  thus  established  which  carried  into  practice  communism 
and  polygamy  ;  a  government  in  which  spiritual  insolence 
and  fleshly  concupiscence,  bloodthirsty  barbarism  and  base 
epicurianism,  were  associated  with  pious  renunciation  and 
self-sacrifice.  The  infamies  of  which  the  women  of  Munster 
were  victims,  the  Nero-like  debaucheries  and  barbarities  of 
Jan  van  Leyden  and  his  colleagues,  are  the  historical 
illustration "  of  the  aim  of  modern  socialism.  Neverthe- 
less our  writer  thinks  that  in  the  socialist  society  of  the 
future  "  the  Saturnalia  of  Munster  will  doubtless  be  sur- 
passed "  (pp.  68,  70). 

This  is  the  key-note  of  nearly  all  representations  of  the 
Munster  commune.  The  closing  sentence  of  the  above 
quoted  passage  discloses  one  of  the  reasons  why  middle- 
class  historians  have  found  it  difficult  to  deal  impartially 
with  the  Anabaptist  communism.  It  bore  for  them  too 
close  a  resemblance  to  modern  socialism. 

Another  obstacle  to  impartiality  respecting  that  order  is 
presented  by  the  character  of  our  sources  of  information. 
The  historians  were  too  easily  convinced  of  the  truth  of 
everything  told  by  witnesses  of  the  Anabaptist  rule.  Yet 
it  is  precisely  here  that  the  greatest  caution  is  necessary  in 
the  use  made  of  the  evidence. 

From  the  loth  of  February,  the  day  of  the  decisive 
Baptist  victory,  Munster  was  a  beleaguered  town,  cut  off 
from  the  outer  world.  After  it  was  recaptured  by  the 
besieging  forces,  almost  the  whole  population  was  mas- 
sacred.     No    defender    of    the    Baptist    cause    escaped    a 

^  Schlaraffia  politica,  Geschichte  der  Dichtungen  voni  Besten  Staat. 
Leipzig,  1892. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  241 

bloody  grave,  who  was  in  a  position  to  give  a  literary 
account  of  the  events  of  the  siege.  All  the  descriptions 
proceed  from  the  enemies  of  the  Anabaptists. 

There  are  three  main  sources  of  information.  Immediately 
after  the  fall  of  Munster  a  work  appeared  entitled  :  Wa/ir 
haftige  historie^  wie  das  Evangelium  zu  Munster  angefangen 
und  darnach,  durch  die  Widdertauffe  vers  tort  widder  aufgehort 
hat,  &c.  Beschrieben  durch  Henricuni  Dorpium  Monasterie- 
meem,  1536.  ("  A  True  History  of  the  Introduction  of  the 
Gospel  into  Munster,  and  its  subsequent  Destruction  by  the 
Anabaptists,"  &c. ;  "  written  by  Henry  Dorpius  of  Miinster.") 
In  his  treatise  on  the  "  Sources  of  the  History  of  the  Munster 
Insurrection,"  forming  the  introduction  of  his  Berichten  der 
Augenzeugen  ("  Accounts  of  Eye-witnesses  "),  Cornelius  thus 
characterises  the  work  :  "  It  is  a  Wittenbergian  partisan 
production,  printed  in  Wittenberg,  and  with  a  preface  by 
Luther's  chief'  coadjutor  and  delegate  for  South  Germany, 
Johann  Bugenhagen  .  .  .  The  object  of  the  book  is  to 
compass  the  complete  moral  defeat  of  his  opponents,  and 
by  this  means  advance  the  interests  of  his  party  "  (pp.  16, 
17).  Even  the  title  contains  a  falsehood.  Cornelius  points 
out  that  even  if  the  author  were  named  Dorpius,  he  was  not 
a  resident  of  MUnster,  although  "  the  book  makes  it  appear 
that  he  had  himself  been  in  Munster,  and  had  personally 
experienced  that  which  was,  in  fact,  only  reported  to  him  " 
(pp.  II,  12).  Hence  he  was  a  swindler,  whose  "book  is 
not  to  be  regarded  as  an  accurate  and  unprejudiced 
account  of  the  whole  course  of  events."  ^ 

Kerssenbroick's  work  on  the  Munster  Anabaptist  regime, 
of  which  the  Latin  original  is  still  in  manuscript,  is  of  far 
greater  importance.  When  it  was  about  to  be  printed  in 
1573,  its  publication  was  prohibited  by  the  Munster  Town 

I  The  Protestant  Hase  endeavours  to  free  Dorpius  from  the  re- 
proaches of  CorneHus,  but,  in  our  opinion,  unsuccessfully.  {Heilige 
und  Propheten.  Leipzig,  1892,  vol.  ii.  p.  291,  sqq.)  In  other  respects, 
Hase's  account  and  the  often  quoted  work  by  Keller  are  relatively  the 
best  which  have  appeared  from  the  middle-class  side.  The  classical 
work  by  Cornelius  on  the  Munster  rebellion  was  unfortunately  not 
completed,  but  breaks  off  just  at  the  capture  of  the  town  by  the 
Baptists. 

17 


242  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

Council.  It  has  been  preserved  in  transcriptions  only,  but 
a  translation  appeared  in  177 1,  of  which  we  have  availed 
ourselves.  Born  in  1520,  Kerssenbroick  went  to  the 
Cathedral  school  of  Miinster  from  1534  until  the  Ana- 
baptist victory,  and  was  rector  of  the  same  school  from 
1550  to  1575.  In  the  latter  capacity  he  wrote  his  history, 
which  has  an  importance  on  account  of  the  numerous 
public  documents  given  in  it,  but  which,  while  uncritical 
and  careless  as  regards  the  sources  of  information,  is,  in 
addition,  full  of  party  spirit.  The  following  passage  is 
enough  to  show  this.  Kerssenbroick  affirms  that  he  has 
not  written  for  fame,  but  "  to  serve  my  country  and 
posterity,  so  that  the  brilliant  deeds  may  not  be  for- 
gotten, which  were  done  to  the  destruction  of  the  most 
barbarous  and  infamous  heresy,  by  the  most  Reverend 
Count  and  Lord  in  Christ  Frantz — that  righteous  Bishop 
of  the  Miinster  Church,  and  branch  of  the  ancient 
Waldeck  stem.  I  furthermore  give  this  history  to  the 
world,  that  all  righteous  people  may  avoid  and  detest  the 
abominable  and  infamous  madness  of  the  Anabaptists." 
His  purpose,  therefore,  is  not  to  give  an  objective  repre- 
sentation, but  to  glorify  the  Bishop  and  to  vilify  the 
Anabaptists.  Hence  everything  is  extolled  which  re- 
dounds to  the  credit  of  the  hero,  while,  where  possible, 
silence  is  maintained  on  all  that  might  cast  a  slur  upon 
him.  On  the  other  hand,  the  author  eagerly  seeks  for 
the  most  pitiable  gossip  unfavourable  to  the  Anabaptists, 
and,  without  examination  or  verification,  inserts  it  in  his 
work,  even  exaggerating  it  when  he  can. 

Let  us  give  an  example.  He  tells  us :  "  Just  about  this 
time  "  (the  beginning  of  February)  "  the  prophet  Jan  Mathys, 
who  was  an  extremely  sensual  man,  secretly  called  together 
the  Anabaptists  of  both  sexes  by  night  in  KnipperdoUinck's 
rather  spacious  house.  When  they  had  assembled  the  prophet 
stood  in  the  centre  of  the  room  before  a  copper  candlestick 
fastened  to  the  floor,  in  which  three  candles  were  burning, 
instructing  the  surrounding  crowd,  and  by  his  prophetic  spirit 
fanned  into  full  flame  the  fire  smouldering  in  the  hearts  of 
many.     He  then  explained  the  first  chapter  of  the  first  Book 


THE   ANABAPTISTS  243 

of  Moses,  and  when  he  had  read  the  words  of  the  twenty-eighth 
verse,  '  Be  fruitful  and  multiply  and  replenish  the  earth,'  the 
lights  were  blown  out.  What  infamies  were  then  practised 
may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  on  one  occasion  the 
prophet  was  found  lying  in  a  most  indecent  attitude  in  the 
lap  of  a  maiden.  They  called  this  assembling  together  the 
*  Fiery  Baptism.'  T/izs  is  no  fiction  ;  for  though  mention  was 
made  of  the  Fiery  Baptism  here  and  there  in  the  town,  no 
one  knew  what  was  meant  until  a  certain  woman  was  induced 
to  investigate  the  matter  by  a  bribe  from  my  landlord,  Wesse- 
ling.  After  learning  the  Anabaptist  sign  this  woman  gained 
admission  to  the  above-mentioned  house,  saw  everything,  and 
related  it  to  us  afterwards  "  (i.  p.  504).  Our  trustworthy  rector 
considered  this  sufficient  ground  for  his  assurance  that  his 
account  of  the  Fiery  Baptism  is  "no  fiction  "!  Let  us  deliberate 
a  moment.  For  the  sake  of  a  gratuity  some  woman  relates  any 
tale  she  likes  to  the  landlord  of  the  house  in  which  Kerssen- 
broick  lived  when  a  youth  of  fourteen  ;  a  generation  later  he 
writes  it  down  from  memory,  and  asks  us  on  this  single 
unsubstantiated  piece  of  evidence  to  attribute  the  most 
unbridled  licentiousness  to  the  Anabaptists  :  scientific  his- 
torians, too,  scrupulously  reproduce  this  woman's  gossip — if  it 
be  not  something  worse — because  in  this  way  communism 
is  to  be  "  scientifically "  annihilated  ! 

The  fact,  to  which  we  shall  again  allude,  that  in  a  particular 
work  the  Munster  Anabaptists  pronounce  all  such  accusations 
"  shameless  and  scandalous  lies  "  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
noticed  by  any  one ;  and  quite  as  little  that  Kerssenbroick 
himself  in  other  passages  gives  prominence  to  the  puritanism 
of  the  sect. 

"After  he  had  gone  over  to  the  Baptists,  Rothmann's 
morals  became  quite  changed,  because  he  had  taken  upon 
himself  to  propagate  Anabaptist  doctrines,  and  consequently 
displayed  greater  holiness  and  fear  of  God  than  formerly. 
He  renounced  all  feastings  and  all  sensual  intercourse  with 
the  other  sex  ;  in  a  word,  all  that  could  cast  on  him  a 
suspicion  of  frivolousness.  ...  In  order,  however,  to  make 
his  teachings  tally  with  his  morals  and  to  arouse  the  people 
to  deeds  of  charity,  he  proclaimed  in  all  his  sermons  that  men 


244  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

should  use  their  possessions  in  common  and  render  each 
other  service,"  &c.  (p.  429). 

This  is  exactly  the  picture  of  the  typical  Anabaptist  and 
heretical  communist  in  general  with  whom  we  have  already 
become  acquainted.  At  all  events  this  description  is  accu- 
rate ;  but  how  is  it  to  be  reconciled  with  the  accounts  given 
us  of  orgies  ? 

Kerssenbroick  seems  to  have  been  particularly  impressed 
by  the  gossip  of  the  anonymous  woman,  as  he  expressly  relies 
upon  it  to  prove  that  he  is  relating  "  no  fiction  "  ;  and  this  is 
one  of  the  few  instances  in  which  he  finds  it  necessary  to  tell 
whence  he  obtained  his  knowledge.  He  generally  gives  none 
of  the  sources,  so  that  these  may  have  been  of  an  even  more 
lamentable  kind  ! 

By  far  the  most  important  of  the  sources  of  infor'mation 
regarding  the  Anabaptist  government  is  Gresbeck's  narrative, 
already  cited.^  A  joiner  by  trade,  Gresbeck  returned  in 
February,  1534,  to  his  native  town,  Miinster,  which  he  had 
left  in  1530.  He  remained  until  the  23rd  of  May,  1535,  and 
was  consequently  in  a  position  to  disclose  the  most  eventful 
occurrences  there,  from  personal  observation  ;  but  he  wrote, 
perhaps  eight  or  nine  years  after  the  end  of  the  Anabaptist 
regime,  entirely  from  memory  and  without  any  collateral  aid. 
Hence  he  frequently  confuses  events.  Moreover,  the  clear- 
ness of  his  memory  was  dimmed  by  one  serious. circumstance  ; 
for  Gresbeck  was  the  man  who  betrayed  Miinster  and  brought 
the  Bishop's  forces  into  the  town.  He  naturally  hated  his 
former  associates,  whom  he  had  betrayed,  more  than  they 
were  hated  by  their  open  enemies.  He  almost  invariably 
speaks  of  them  as  "  miscreants "  and  rogues.  This  is  the 
way  with  renegades  and  traitors.  Quite  as  naturally  he  tries 
to  distort  facts,  so  as  to  make  it  appear  that  he  had  by 
merest  accident  come  to  Miinster — when  all  the  world  was 

'  Summarische  ertzehtngk  unci  bericht  der  Wiederdope  und  wat  sich  binnen 
derstat  Miinster  in  Westfhalen  zngetragen  in  j air,  mdxxxv.  Cornelius  was 
the  first  to  recognise  the  importance  of  this  work,  which  is  preserved 
in  several  hand  copies.  He  reproduced  it  in  the  already  quoted 
Berichic  der  Angeiizeugen  iiber  das  Miinstcrische  Wicdertdnfcrreich,  of 
which  it  forms  the  most  prominent  part. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  245 

full  of  the  news  that  the  town  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Ana- 
baptists— and  joined  them  under  the  influence  of  fear  alone ! ' 
Hence  he  paints  the  picture  of  the  reign  of  terror  in  the 
coarsest  tones  possible,  and  by  this  means  succeeds  not  only 
in  appearing  blameless  for  his  treachery,  but  in  giving  it  the 
aspect  of  a  highly  meritorious  deed. 

These  are  the  chief  sources  of  our  knowledge  concerning 
the  Munster  episode.  Although  they  should  be  used  only 
with  the  greatest  circumspection,  they  have  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  historians  who  from  the  outset  accepted  as  proved 
the  statement  which  these  authorities  wished  to  prove,  viz., 
that  communism  of  necessity  engenders  wildness  and  atrocity. 
It  is  not  surprising  that  under  this  method  of  writing  history 
the  reign  of  the  Anabaptists  presents  itself  as  a  frenzy  not 
only  of  hideousness  and  vulgarity,  but  of  inane  and  aimless 
vulgarity  and  hideousness. 

Nevertheless  even  these  sources  make  it  possible  to  com- 
prehend the  Anabaptist  regime  in  Munster,  provided  they  are 
critically  examined  and  compared  with  the  scanty  remains  of 
other  contemporaneous  testimony ;  and  if  a  view  is  kept  both 
of  the  generic  character  of  heretical  communism  and  of  the 
peculiar  conditions  prevalent  in  the  town  at  that  time. 

(b)  The  Reign  of  Terror. — It  is  of  the  first  importance  to 
remember  that  a  state  of  war  existed  in  Munster  from  the 
day  the  Bishop  surprised  it  on  February  loth.  A  war 
must  be  a  remarkably  insignificant  affair,  else  how  comes 
it  that  historians  who  are  acute  enough  to  discover  the  most 
trivial  circumstance  of  possible  moment  to  the  often  puerile 
actions  of  a  monarch  almost  invariably  forget  to  take 
account  of  the  state  of  war,  when  they  concern  themselves 
with  the  actions  of  a  democratic  and  even  communistic 
commonwealth  fighting  for  its  life  ?  We  refer  in  proof 
of  this  to  any  of  the  traditional  descriptions  of  the  up- 
risings of  the  Paris  Commune  in  1 871,  or  of  the  Reign  of 
Terror  during  the  great  French  Revolution. 

'  In  a  letter  written  by  him  during  the  siege  he  admits  that  his 
master's  mother  warned  him  against  going  to  Munster,  telling  him  that 
he  would  assuredly  allow  himself  to  be  baptized  {Berichte  dcr  Aiigen- 
zeugen,  p.  323). 


246  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

Precisely  the  same  thing  has  happened  with  regard  to  the 
Anabaptists  in  Munster.  If,  however,  we  would  understand 
them,  we  must  not  measure  them  by  the  standard  of  a  con- 
dition of  peace,  but  of  a  state  of  siege  ;  and  indeed  a  sz'eg-e  of 
peculiar  severity.  They  could  not  appeal  to  the  customary 
laws  of  war  ;  they  were  precluded  from  making  an  honourable 
capitulation  ;  they  had  only  the  choice  between  victory  and 
a  most  agonising  death. 

Together  with  this  peculiar  situation  favourable  to  violent 
deeds,  regard  must  be  had  to  the  characteristics  of  the 
century,  which  was  one  of  the  most,  if  not  the  most,  blood- 
thirsty in  history.  The  Anabaptists  gained  ample  knowledge 
of  this  from  personal  experience.  They — the  most  peaceable 
of  all  men — were  hunted  down  like  wild  beasts,  and  handed 
over  as  victims  to  the  most  atrocious  cruelties.  It  is  not 
surprising  that  among  this  suffering  people  a  party  should 
have  finally  arisen  who  became  wearied  with  sheepish  patience 
and  counselled  violent  resistance.  The  only  cause  for  wonder 
is  that  this  spirit  was  so  long  in  developing  itself  and  that 
it  never  affected  more  than  a  portion  of  the  persecuted 
community. 

A  series  of  fortuitous  circumstances  had  now  placed  a 
fortified  town  in  the  hands  of  this  maltreated  sect.  Already, 
however,  complete  destruction  threatened  them  from  without. 
Let  us  see  how  they  acted  under  these  circumstances. 

Janssen  tells  us  (with  a  proper  show  of  indignation)  that 
'  On  February  27th  the  Reign  of  Terror  began  with  the  pro- 
clamation of  a  decree  that  all  the  inhabitants  must  either 
receive  the  new  baptism  or  leave  the  town."  He  then  quotes 
the  Bishop  of  Munster,  who  in  a  certain  document  grows 
wrathful  over  the  fact  that  the  "  pious  citizens  "  were  driven 
in  poverty  from  the  city  ;  and  affirnis  that  "  in  no  land,  even 
of  infidels,  or  Turks,  or  heathens,  had  such  unheard-of  and 
inhuman  barbarities  taken  place."  ^ 

So  great  is  the  rage  of  the  Catholic  historian  that  he  quite 

forgets  to  mention  that  the  tender-hearted  Bishop  was  at  that 

time   laying  siege   to   Munster,    nay,   that   on   the    13th   of 

January  he   had   already  issued   an    edict   commanding   his 

'  Janssen,  Geschichte  des  dentschen  Volkes,  iii.  p.  30. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  247 

officials  to  treat  all  "disobedient  and  rebellious"  persons 
conformably  to  the  Imperial  decree,  that  is,  to  slay  them. 
Moreover,  this  edict  was  rigorously  carried  out.  Kerssen- 
broick  exultantly  tells  us  that  "in  order  satisfactorily  to 
execute  the  Imperial  decree  and  the  ordinances  of  Justice 
the  Anabaptists  remaining  in  various  localities  in  the  diocese 
were  severely  punished,  for  at  that  time  five  women  and  one 
man  belonging  to  Wollbeck  were  thrown  into  the  water  and 
drowned  ;  in  Bewergern  four  women  were  drowned  and  two 
men  burnt.  Many  of  those  whom  Rothmann  had  secretly 
baptized  were  also  punished,  as  they  deserved,  by  being  put 
to  death  "  (i.  p.  517).  Janssen  says  not  a  word  concerning  all 
this,  and  in  this  respect  affords  us  a  specimen  of  traditional 
representation.  Of  course  Janssen  is  also  silent  about  the 
conspiracy  entered  into  with  the  Bishop  by  the  opponents  of 
the  Anabaptists  within  the  town  to  open  the  gates  on  the 
loth  of  February  for  the  passage  of  the  Bishop's  troops. 
After  the  siege  had  begun  the  traitors  were  not  executed,  in 
conformity  with  the  laws  of  war  and  the  good  Bishop's 
example,  but  were  invited  to  leave  the  town !  And  this, 
forsooth,  is  called  the  "  reign  of  terror " !  Was  there  ever 
more  pitiable  cant? 

In  the  course  of  the  siege  a  rigorous  government  became 
necessary  within  the  city,  and  a  series  of  executions  took 
place.  If  the  cases  adduced  by  Kerssenbroick  and  Gresbeck 
are  examined  they  will  be  found  in  every  instance  to  relate 
to  offences  against  the  safety  of  the  town  ;  such  as  treacherous 
communication  with  the  enemy,  offences  against  discipline 
and  attempts  to  desert,  or  to  discourage  the  populace.  With- 
out doubt  an  execution  is  a  cruel  deed,  but  no  more  cruel 
than  war.  The  Baptists  had  not  sought  this  war  ;  it  was 
forced  upon  them,  for  on  all  occasions  they  earnestly  asseve- 
rated their  love  of  peace."  ^ 

A  "  reign  of  terror  "  existed  not  only  in  Miinster,  but  also 

•  In  a  pamphlet  issued  to  the  besieging  mercenaries  they  proclaim  : 
"  Hear  ye,  5'oung  men  and  elders,  who  have  encamped  yourselves 
against  our  city,  as  we  wish  not  only  to  live  in  feaec  with  every  one,  but 
also  to  prove  by  our  acts  our  brotherly  love  in  Christ  for  all  men,  ye  must 
take  heed  how  ye  shall  answer  before  pious  persons— not  to  speak  of 


248  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

in  the  domain  of  the  Bishop ;  and  the  comparison  between 
the  two  does  not  redound  to  the  credit  of  the  latter. 

The  Bishop  was  the  aggressor,  the  Baptists  the  defenders  ; 
the  Bishop  slew  for  his  own  gain  ;  the  Baptists  slew  that  they 
might  not  be  themselves  slain.  They  fought  for  their  lives. 
While  the  Bishop  delighted  in  inflicting  cruel  modes  of  death 
upon  the  Baptists  (especially  drowning  and  burning)  the  con- 
demned in  Munster  were  not  tortured,  as  there  existed  only 
two  modes  of  execution,  viz.,  beheading  and  shooting,  and  no 
less  offensive  form  of  capital  punishment  has  been  advanced 
in  even  the  humane  nineteenth  century. 

It  has  been  regarded  as  evidence  of  a  peculiarly  strong 
spirit  of  bloodthirstiness  that  the  heads  of  the  town,  "  King  " 
Jan  van  Leyden,  and  his  lieutenant,  Knipperdollinck,  carried 
out  the  executions  with  their  own  hands.  This  betrays  a 
gross  misconception  of  the  feeling  and  the  thought  of  that 
period.  If  the  great  lords,  who  at  that  time  generally  de- 
cided matters  of  life  and  death,  did  not  themselves  execute 
the  condemned,  it  was  not  from  humane  sentiments,  but 
because  the  loathsome  and  filthy  work  of  the  executioner's 
calling  seemed  too  base  for  them.  The  executioner,  whose 
trade  was  the  handling  of  corpses,  was  everywhere  looked 
upon  as  the  most  despicable  of  men,  with  whom  all  inter- 
course was  anxiously  avoided.  If,  then,  the  leaders  of  the 
movement  in  Munster  undertook  the  office  of  executioner, 
they  thus  performed  an  act  of  unexampled  self-abasement — 
an  act  which,  far  from  evidencing  a  cruel  disposition,  merely 
exhibited  a  high  feeling  of  equality. 

That  this  is  "  no  fiction  "  (to  use  Kerssenbroick's  expres- 
sion) is  borne  witness  to  by  that  worthy  man  himself,  whom 
we  can  trust  on  this  point.  "  Just  at  this  time,"  he  writes, 
"  the  prophet  and  man  of  God,  Jan  Bockelson,  for  the  terror 
of  evil-doers,  handed  over  the  sword  to  Knipperdollinck, 
whom,  before  the  assembled  multitude,  he  dubbed  the  'bearer 
of  the  Sword '  /  for  as  all  the  high  were  to  be  laid  low,  and 
Knipperdollinck  had  hitherto  been  burgomaster  and  head  of 

God — for  having  laid  violent  siege  to  us  and  murdered  us,  against  all 
written  and  signed  treaties  of  peace,  and  without  proper  declaration  of 
war.    The  whole  pamphlet  is  reproduced  by  Kerssenbroick,  ii.  p.  9. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  249 

the  city,  it  was  now  the  will  of  the  father  that  Knipperdol- 
linck  should  fill  the  office  of  public  executioner,  so  ill 
esteemed  by  mankind"  (i.  p.  545). 

It  is  impossible  to  speak  more  plainly.  The  carrying  out 
of  executions  with  his  own  hands  by  Knipperdollinck,  sprang 
from  the  same  principle  that  caused  him  and  the  "  Queen " 
to  wait  upon  the  multitude  at  the  public  meals.i 

Where  then,  after  all,  is  the  unheard  of  Nero-like  cruelty 
of  the  Anabaptists  ?  Upon  close  inspection  it  vanishes  like 
vapour.  Far  from  being  exceptionally  cruel,  they  show 
themselves  to  have  been  unusually  lenient  for  their  time, 
and  in  view  of  their  peculiar  situation.  Their  cruelty  lay 
in  not  patiently  allowing  themselves  to  be  slaughtered — an 
unpardonable  crime  of  course!  Shooting  them  was  a  service 
of  love,  as  Luther  said ;  every  shot  on  their  part  was  an 
iniquitous  brutality ! 

The  charge  of  tyranny  is  closely  related  to  that  of  cruelty. 
It  is  said  that  Miinster  shows  us  whither  the  freedom  and 
equality  of  communism  lead. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Baptists  at  Miinster  acquired  their 
mastery  by  strictly  legal  means,  the  Council  being  composed 
of  adherents  to  their  cause.  But  for  the  very  reason  that  the 
election  was  legal,  it  took  place  within  the  limits  prescribed 
by  the  ancient  electoral  law,  which  restricted  the  franchise  by 
a  rule  of  eligibility ;  resident  burgesses  alone  being  repre- 
sented in  the  Council,  There  was  no  representation  of  the 
proletarians  or  of  the  immigrants,  who  were  about  equal  in 
number  to  the  remaining  population  capable  of  bearing  arms, 
and  who  bore  their  full  share  of  the  burdens  of  the  conflict. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  civil  government  was  established  for 
a  time  of  peace,  and  was  unequal  to  the  demands  set  up  by 
the  siege. 

A  state  of  siege  has  always  led  to  the  temporary  suspension 
of  civil  rights  and  privileges,  and  to  the  transference  to  the 

'  We  have  found  no  authentic  evidence  of  the  horrible  story  related 
by  Kerssenbroick,  that  Jan  van  Leyden  beheaded  one  of  his  wives  ; 
those  remaining  afterwards  dancing  round  the  corpse.  It  probably 
belonged  to  the  same  category  as  the  "Fiery  Baptism"  spoken  of  by 
Jan  Mathys, 


250  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

military  authority  of  an  unlimited  power  over  the  life  and 
property  of  the  people ;  so  much  so  indeed  that  the  words 
"state  of  siege"  imply  the  setting  aside  of  freedom  and 
ordinary  judicial  methods.  Communism  has,  unfortunately, 
not  yet  discovered  the  miraculous  elixir  which  shall  make 
this  necessary  consequence  of  a  state  of  siege  superfluous. 
Neither  could  it  prevent  the  siege  of  Munster  leading  to  a 
military  dictatorship. 

Besides  conducting  the  very  formless  Church  service,  the 
preachers  in  the  town  gave  their  attention  to  questions  of 
legislation  and  government.  It  was  through  their  influence 
that  a  popular  assembly  was  instituted  apart  from  the  Town 
Council,  composed  of  members  from  the  different  parishes, 
in  the  election  of  which  the  non-guild  portion  of  the  popula- 
tion had  votes  as  well  as  the  burgesses.  After  the  death 
of  Mathys  the  preachers  also  proposed  the  formation  of  a 
"  Committee  of  Public  Safety,"  the  members  of  which  were 
appointed  by  them,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  community. 

Gresbeck  tells  us  that  "  the  prophets  and  preachers  wanted 
to  abolish  all  government  in  the  town  of  Munster.  Prophets 
and  preachers,  Dutchmen  and  Frieslanders — the  villains ! — 
who  were  the  true  Anabaptists,  wanted  to  be  the  only  rulers. 
To  this  end  they  decreed  that  twelve  from  among  the  wisest 
elders,  who  were  to  be  good  Christians,  should  govern  the 
people  and  take  precedence  of  them  ;  and  that  these  twelve 
elders  should  have  power  in  the  city.  They  thus  supplanted 
the  burgomasters  and  council  (whom  they  had  installed)  as 
well  as  all  guilds  and  aldermen,  so  that  these  were  no  longer 
to  have  any  authority"  (p.  35).  Kerssenbroick  expressly 
mentions  among  the  elders  three  foreign  brethren,  of  whom 
one  was  a  Frieslander,  the  patrician  Hermann  Tilbeck,  who 
was  a  member  of  the  old  Council,  and  indeed  one  of  the 
two  burgomasters  of  1533,  and  who  had  from  the  outset 
sympathised  with  the  Baptists. 

As  none  of  the  community  had  received  a  classical  educa- 
tion, but,  like  all  heretical  communists  and  democrats,  based 
their  order  on  the  Old  Testament,  they  did  not  call  the 
members  of  the  committee  senators,  or  directors,  or  dictators, 
but    "the   elders   of    the   twelve    tribes   of    Israel."     These 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  251 

were  endowed  with  unrestricted  power  in  judicial,  legislative, 
and  administrative  affairs. 

As  a  consequence  of  the  state  of  siege,  however,  the 
supreme  power  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  commandants  of 
the  fortress,  of  whom  the  first  was  the  prophet  Jan  Mathys. 
After  he  had  fallen,  fighting  most  bravely,  in  the  sortie  of 
April  5th,  Jan  van  Leyden  took  his  place,  and,  as  the  result 
shows,  filled  it  satisfactorily. 

In  his  capacity  of  commander-in-chief  of  the  military 
forces,  he  became  the  autocratic  ruler  of  the  town.  On  the 
31st  of  August,  after  a  heavy  cannonade,  a  severe  attack  was 
made  upon  the  city,  which  was  repulsed.  After  this  success, 
Rothmann  and  the  twelve  elders,  in  the  presence  of  the 
community,  handed  over  their  authority  to  Jan  van  Leyden, 
at  the  instance  of  the  goldsmith  and  prophet  Dusentschen, 
and  with  the  consent  of  the  most  prominent  Baptists 
(Knipperdollinck  and  Tilbeck,  together  with  Henry  and 
Bernt  Krechtinck — two  brothers  who  had  immigrated  in 
February).  In  so  doing  they  only  publicly  recognised  the 
state  of  affairs  already  existing. ^ 

That  the  Baptists  found  no  more  suitable  name  for  their 
municipal  chief  than  "  King  of  Israel,"  was  due  to  their 
one-sided  Biblical  training,  already  noticed.  Pious  minds 
should  least  of  all  see  evil  in  this  ;  and  loyal  historians  should 
be  especially  sympathetic  with  those  communists  who  make 
to  themselves  a  king.  These  writers  will  in  vain  seek  for  the 
smallest  trace  of  monarchial  tendencies  among  Anabaptists 
while  living  in  a  state  of  peace  {e.^.,  the  Moravians). 

Like  a  good  general,  Jan  van  Leyden  concerned  himself 
not  only  about  the  sufBciency  of  military  equipment  and  the 
drill  of  his  troops,  but  also  about  the  good  psychological 
training  of  the  people.  In  order  to  counteract  the  depressing 
inactivity  and  anxiety  of  the  siege  he  endeavoured  to  keep  them 

'  According  to  Kerssenbroick,  of  course,  the  whole  Anabaptist 
government  was  arbitrarily  framed  by  Jan,  merely  that  he  might 
become  its  ruler.  "Jan  Bockelson,  of  Leyden,  had  long  striven  for 
such  things.  For  that  reason  he  also  repudiated  and  contemned  all 
authority,  and,  to  the  same  end,  ordered  that  all  citizens  should  share 
possessions  in  common,  at  the  same  time  seizing  them  for  himself,"  &c. 
(ii.  p.  47). 


252  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

employed  and  to  amuse  them.  The  first  object  was  attained 
by  work  upon  the  entrenchments  and  the  razing  of  superfluous 
churches  and  old  buildings.  We  are  told  by  Kerssenbroick — 
not,  of  course,  without  his  customary  suspicion,  "  In  order, 
however,  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  might  have  no  time 
for  thinking  of  an  insurrection  against  the  king,  they "  (the 
chiefs  of  the  city)  "unceasingly  burdened  the  people  with 
labour  ;  and  that  they  might  also  not  grow  too  petulant  gave 
them  only  bread  and  salt  to  eat.^  As  at  that  time  "  (January 
I5>  1535)  "there  were  no  new  entrenchments  to  build  nor 
old  ones  to  repair,  the  people  were  set  to  work  razing  the 
churches,  and  old  huts,  and  other  low  houses  in  the  orchards, 
and  to  digging  up  all  the  walls.  To  that  end  they  began  on 
January  the  21st  to  remove  the  upper  roof  from  the  church  ; 
whereas  previously  their  whole  time  had  been  occupied  in 
work  on  the  fortifications  "  (ii.  p.  142). 

Jan,  however,  made  provision  for  amusement  as  well  as  for 
work.  Together  with  military  and  gymnastic  exercises  he 
arranged  public  meals,  games,  and  dances,  festal  processions, 
and  theatrical  representations.  In  these  matters  his  joyous, 
artistic  nature  stood  him  in  good  stead.  His  appearance  and 
actions  at  these  popular  entertainments,  especially  in  the 
processions,  may  well  appear  theatrical  to  the  modern  spec- 
tator ;  and  we  know,  indeed,  that  he  was  at  home  on  the 
stage,  and  understood  scenic  effects.  Jan  should  not,  how- 
ever, be  viewed  with  modern  eyes. 

Festal  shows  seem  somewhat  theatrical  to  us  because  we 
get  our  ideas  of  them  from  the  theatre  only,  whereas  three 
hundred  or  four  hundred  years  ago  they  were  a  common 
feature  of  social  life.  Church,  sovereigns,  and  nobility  then 
vied  with  each  other  in  pompous  display.  The  Anabaptists, 
like  all  other  heretical  communists,  repudiated  this  splendour, 
as  it  could  be  maintained  only  by  spoliation.  They  not  only 
wore  the  very  simplest  clothes,  but  in  Moravia  even  refused 
to  make  sumptuous  clothing  for  others.^     In  Mlinster,  how- 

*  Thus  out  of  the  simple  fact  that  provisions  were^  short  in  the 
beleaguered  town,  our  objective  historian  contrives  to  twist  a  halter  for 
the  Anabaptist  leaders, 

'  A  Moravian  Baptist  states  :  "  Concerning  the  making  of  clothes,  we 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  253 

ever,  abnormal  conditions  prevailed  in  this  as  in  other 
respects.  The  sumptuousness  of  attire  displayed  by  Jan 
and  his  people  was  not  kept  up  by  the  spoliation  of  labourers. 
This  "tailor-like,"  "theatrical"  splendour  had  existed 
previously.  "  The  Counsellor  of  the  King  (Jan  van  Leyden)," 
says  Gresbeck,  "had  obtained  possession  of  the  garments 
formerly  belonging  to  the  wealthy  persons  who  had  been 
driven  from  the  town  "  (p.  89,  with  which  compare  1 36,  where 
the  former  owners  of  the  clothes  are  spoken  of  as  burgesses 
and  young  noblemen).  Kerssenbroick  moreover  informs  us  : 
"They  seized  and  appropriated  gold  and  silver  whether  it 
belonged  to  the  town  or  to  the  burgesses,  as  well  as  the  holy 
embroidered  silken  purples  and  all  other  ornaments  employed 
in  divine  worship.  They  also  appropriated  everything  else 
belonging  either  to  the  town  or  the  burgesses,  and  even  slew 
those  who  resisted  and  would  no  longer  suffer  and  endure 
such  robbery.  Thus  did  they  deck  and  adorn  themselves  for 
their  own  gratification,  regardless  of  the  fact  that  the  means 
for  this  had  been  obtained  by  others  through  hard  toil" 
(ii.  p.  58). 

Hence  the  pomp  displayed  by  the  Anabaptists  was  habitual 
in  Munster ;  those  who  displayed  it  had  alone  changed. 

The  study  of  the  Apocalypse  must  also  have  encouraged 
the  development  of  pomp  among  the  MUnster  Baptists.  In 
that  Book  the  New  Jerusalem  is  depicted  as  being  full  of  gold 
and  precious  stones  ;  "  And  the  kings  of  the  earth  do  bring 
their  glory  and  honour  into  it"  (Rev.  xxi.  24).  It  was 
imperative  therefore  in  Munster  to  prove  that  the  town  was 
truly  the  long  yearned-for  New  Jerusalem. 

Imagination  should  not  picture  the  splendour  of  Munster 
as  being  so  excessive  as  is  generally  represented.  Were  the 
descriptions  by  Gresbeck  to  be  believed,  Jan  and  his  soldiers 
must  have  carried  about  an  incredible  quantity  of  gold  and 

ought  to  and  will  serve  our  neighbour  with  all  zeal  in  his  necessity,  to 
the  praise  of  God  and  to  the  end  that  our  diligence  may  be  known ; 
but  that  which  conduces  to  pride  and  arrogance  only,  such  as  sloped, 
bordered,  and  fringed  work,  we  will  make  for  no  one,  in  order  that  our 
consciences  may  be  kept  undefiled  "  (Loserth,  Dcr  Kommunismus  der 
Mdhrischcn  Wiedertdiifer,  p.  126). 


254  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

silver.  Whoever  takes  these  descriptions  literally  will,  on 
close  inspection,  be  quite  as  much  disappointed  as  were  the 
Bishop's  soldiers,  whose  mouths  had  been  made  to  water  by 
similar  stories  of  booty.  There  was,  for  instance,  a  renegade 
from  the  Baptists,  who  related  that  "  the  king  had  a  great 
treasure  of  gold,  silver  and  money."  Five  or  six  tons  of  gold 
awaited  them  in  the  town !  When,  however,  Munster  had 
been  taken,  they  found  barely  half  a  ton  ;  and  it  availed 
them  nothing  that  they  tortured  Jan  and  his  treasurer,  and 
beheaded  the  soldier  who  told  the  silly  tale ;  they  got  none 
the  more. 

There  could  be  no  question  of  the  treasure  having  been 
buried  ;  for  the  town  had  been  captured  by  a  night  surprise, 
and  the  besieged  had  found  barely  time  to  seize  their  weapons, 
much  less  to  bury  treasure. 

The  theatrical  representations  carried  out  by  Jan's  orders 
are  characteristic.  One  of  them  is  described  by  Gresbeck. 
It  is  a  didactic  play  :  "  As  the  common  folk  found  great 
pleasure  in  anything  that  whiled  away  the  time,  the  king 
caused  them  to  be  assembled  in  the  cathedral.  Men  and 
women  all  obeyed  the  summons  (with  the  exception  of  those 
who  had  to  keep  watch  on  the  walls)  in  order  to  see  the  great 
show,  and  the  wonderful  thing  that  was  to  take  place.  The 
king  had  caused  a  stage  with  curtains  to  be  erected  in  the 
choir  where  the  High  Altar  stands,  and  so  placed  that  it  could 
be  seen  by  every  one  ;  and  on  this  stage  was  performed  the  play 
of  '  The  rich  man  and  Lazarus.'  They  began  the  piece  and 
played  it  through,  holding  speech  with  each  other.  When 
the  rich  man  had  finished  speaking  to  Lazarus,  three  fifers 
stood  at  the  foot  of  the  stage  and  played  a  three-part  piece 
on  German  fifes.  Then  the  rich  man  began  once  more  to 
speak,  and  again  the  fifers  played.  Thus  the  play  went  on  to 
the  end.  Then  the  devil  came  to  fetch  the  rich  man,  body 
and  soul,  and  dragged  him  away  behind  the  curtains.  There 
was  great  laughter  in  the  cathedral  when  the  people  saw  the 
great  show"  (p.  i68). 

The  other  popular  entertainments,  of  which  Gresbeck 
writes,  were  as  harmless  as  this  one.  He  is  malicious  and 
crabbed  enough  in  regard  to  this  cheerful  scene,  but  makes  no 
mention  of  licentiousness  or  even  frivolity. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  255 

The  most  wicked  of  the  "  orgies,"  described  by  him,  is  the 
following:—"  After  the  election  by  the  people  of  the  twelve 
gate-commanders,  called  dukes,  the  king  held  a  feast,  to  which 
he  invited  all  his  dukes  and  counsellors,  and  the  counsellors 
and  handmaids  of  the  queen,  and  all  the  highest  servants  of 
the  king.  ,  .  .  After  having  assembled,  they  behaved  as  if 
they  were  to  remain  at  the  head  of  the  Government  for  their 
lives  long.  When  the  banquet  was  ended,  they  paid  court  to 
each  other  and  danced,  eack  with  his  own  wife.  The  king 
banqueted  with  the  dukes,  and  they  all  ate,  drank,  and  were 
merry"  (p.  184). 

This  is  reproduced  by  Keller,  with  the  words :  "  The  king 
assembled  at  his  residence  all  the  dukes,  counsellors,  stadt- 
holders,  and  holders  of  office,  with  their  wives,  at  a  great  feast, 
and  caroused  with  them  in  great  splendour  and  superabun- 
dance." '^ 

In  this  way  is  history  written  !  There  is  not  one  word 
about  "  carousal,  splendour,  and  superabundance "  in  the 
whole  account ! 

It  appears  from  the  context  that  it  was  not  Gresbeck's  pur- 
pose to  call  attention  to  the  carousal,  but  to  stigmatise  the 
fact  that  the  king  and  his  retinue  had  enough  to  eat  and 
'drink,  while  the  populace  were  starving ;  for  he  continues  : 
"  The  common  folk  fled  from  the  city  through  hunger,  and  a 
part  began  to  die  of  starvation." 

This  is  Gresbeck's  most  heinous  charge  against  Jan  van 
Leyden  ;  not  that  he  indulged  in  wild  orgies,  but  that  he 
withheld  the  necessary  means  of  subsistence  from  the  hunger- 
ing population,  while  he  himself  had  plenty  to  eat, 

Gresbeck  was  not  a  personal  spectator  of  these  scenes,  for 
he  belonged  neither  to  the  king's  entourage,  nor  to  the  officers 
of  the  army,  nor  to  the  Government  officials.  He,  therefore, 
speaks  of  the  above-mentioned  "  banquet "  as  of  Jan's  private 
luxury  in  general,  only  from  hearsay.  That  many  in  the 
town  grew  discontented  as  the  rations  got  lower  and  lower  is 
extremely  probable,  and  it  is  equally  probable  that  they  gave 
utterance  to  their  discontent  in  evil  reports  about  their  com- 
manders ;  but  it  is  remarkable  that  the  farther  removed 
persons  were  from  the  "king,"  the  more  positive  they 
'  Geschichte  der  Wiedertdufer,  p.  237. 


256  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

became  in  their  assertions  respecting  his  luxury  in  the  midst 
of  misery. 

For  example,  Justinian  von  Holzhausen,  a  Burgomaster  of 
Frankfort,  who  was  in  the  camp  before  Mlinster,  wrote  to  his 
father,  June  8,  1535  :  "The  cows  in  the  town  ^  are  eaten  by 
the  king  and  his  people  unknown  to  the  public.  We  wonder 
that  the  king's  deception  has  not  been  discovered^  2  How  then 
did  the  Burgomaster  come  to  discover  it  in  the  camp  outside 
the  town  ? 

Gresbeck  betrays  himself  on  one  occasion  by  his  reference 
to  the  fact  that  Jan  shared  in  the  universal  want :  "  Most  of 
the  women,  therefore,  had  fled  the  town  through  great  hunger. 
The  king  had  fifteen  wives,  to  whom,  with  the  exception  of 
the  queen,  he  gave  leave  of  absence,  telling  them  that  each 
should  go  to  her  friends,  and  that  all  were  to  obtain  food 
wherever  they  could."  ^  Gresbeck  relates  this  immediately 
after  his  account  of  the  "great  banquet."  He  had  not  ac- 
quired the  art  of  writing  history  "systematically." 

(c)  Communism. — Community  of  goods  was  the  basis  of 
the  whole  Baptist  movement.  For  its  sake  the  great  fight 
was  waged  at  Mlinster.  It  was  not,  however,  the  chief  factor 
in  determining  the  character  of  the  Mlinster  Baptist  govern- 
ment, that  factor  being  the  siege.  The  town  was  a  great  war- 
camp  ;  the  demands  of  war  took  precedence  of  all  other  matters, 
and  sentiments  of  freedom  and  equality  were  active  only  in 
so  far  as  they  were  compatible  with  military  dictatorship. 

Hardly  had  the  city  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Baptists 
on  February  lOth,  when  they  sent  letters  in  all  directions, 
inviting  comrades  holding  similar  views  to  come  to  Mlinster. 
In  one  of  these  missives,  still  preserved,  it  says  :  "  Here  shall 
all  wants  be  satisfied.  The  poorest  amongst  us,  who  were 
formerly  treated  like  beggars,  now  go  as  sumptuously  at- 
tired as  the  highest  and  most  prominent  with  you  or  with  us. 
Hence  the  poor  are,  through  God's  mercy,  become  as  rich  asj 
the  Burgomasters,  or  the  wealthiest  in  the  town." 

*  He  writes  on  May  29th  that  the  town  still  had  200  cows. 

»  Beridite  derAugenzeugen,  p.  354. 

3  This  passage  alone  confutes  the  dreadful  story  before  alluded  to,  of jj 
the  beheading  of  one  of  his  wives  by  the  king.  If  he  assembled  themj 
to  their  full  number,  and  gave  them  permission  to  leave,  he  could  notj 
previously  have  murdered  one  of  them. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  257 

This  communism,  however,  stopped  short  in  its  beginning. 

Historians  are  fond  of  assuming  that  all  private  proprietor- 
ship was  abolished  in  Miinster.  Private  property  in  gold, 
silver,  and  money  was  alone  completely  abolished.  The  pro- 
phets, preachers,  and  Council  (the  twelve  elders  had  not  yet 
been  inaugurated)  "  came  to  an  agreement,  and  decreed  that 
all  possessions  should  be  in  common  ;  each  one  should  bring 
forward  his  money,  gold  and  silver,  and  this  was  finally  done" 
(Gresbeck,  p.  32).  This  money  served  to  defray  the  expenses 
of  intercourse  between  the  town  and  outer  world,  and 
especially  the  sending  out  of  agitators,  as  well  as  proselytising 
among  the  mercenaries. 

The  single  household,  however,  remained  in  existence,  and 
private  proprietorship,  in  articles  of  consumption  and  pro- 
duction, was  abolished  only  to  the  extent  demanded  by  the 
exigencies  of  the  war. 

That  rights  of  inheritance  were  not  abrogated  is  shown  by 
the  following  regulations  of  the  elders,  recorded  by  Kerssen- 
broick  (ii.  p,  80)  :  "  If  any  one  should,  by  God's  dispensation, 
be  shot,  or  in  other  way  fall  to  sleep  in  the  Lord,  no  one  shall 
dare  to  take  away  his  property  for  himself,  be  it  in  arms, 
clothes,  or  other  things  ;  but  it  shall  be  brought  to  the  Sword 
'  Bearer,  Knipperdollinck,  who  shall  spread  it  before  the  elders, 
so  that,  by  their  instrumentality,  it  may  be  adjudged  to  the 
rightful  heirs." 

Even  a  portion  of  the  war-booty  might  become  private  pro- 
perty. The  fourteenth  of  the  twenty-four  articles  submitted 
by  Jan  van  Leyden  to  the  people  (January  2,  1535), 
directed  that :  "  If  booty  be  captured  from  the  enemy,  no  one 
shall  keep  it  for  himself,  or  dispose  of  it  after  his  own  caprice  ; 
but,  as  is  fit,  he  shall  notify  the  authorities  in  the  matter.  If 
they  give  him  a  part  of  it,  he  may,  without  injustice,  use  it  for 
his  own  needs." 

The  next  article  says :  "  Under  penalty  of  the  last  judg- 
ment, no  Christian  is  to  trade  with  his  brother,  or  buy  any- 
k thing  from  him  for  money  ;  nor  shall  any  one  act  deceitfully 
or  fraudulently  in  exchange  and  barter." 
After  the  abolition  of  money,  exchange  and  barter  became 
inevitable,  if  private  proprietorship  in  articles  of  production 
18 


258  .     COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

and  consumption  was  to  be  preserved.  How  little  this  right 
had  been  abrogated  is  shown  by  the  following  incident,  which 
occurred  after  the  raising  of  Jan  to  the  kingship,  and  is 
narrated  by  Gresbeck(p.  144):  "Then  came  Knipperdollinck 
to  a  shopkeeper,  zv/to  still  carried  on  his  trade.  Knipperdol- 
linck said  to  him  :  '  Thou  wouldst  be  in  truth  holy,  yet  art 
not  willing  to  give  up  thy  shop.  There  thou  sittest,  and 
ponderest  how  thou  canst  get  profit  from  it.  Thy  shop  is  thy 
God.  Thou  must  yield  it  up  if  thou  wouldst  be  holy."  From 
this  it  appears  that  shopkeeping  was  not  deemed  honourable  ; 
but  the  "  government  of  terror  "  was  far  from  resorting  to 
violent  measures  to  make  it  impossible  to  keep  a  shop. 

It  is  true  that  we  find  common  repasts  in  Munster ;  but 
these  were  in  part  occasional  festal  assemblages  of  the 
populace,  and  in  part  a  war  regulation.  "  Before  every  gate 
there  was  a  house  belonging  to  the  community,  in  which 
every  one  took  his  meals  who  kept  watch  at  the  gate,  or 
worked  on  the  walls,  or  in  the  trenches.  A  sermon  was 
preached  every  morning  in  these  houses,  the  management  of 
the  food  being  undertaken  by  the  deacons,  each  of  whom  had 
his  own  gate. 

"  Each  parish  had  its  community  house,  for  which  a 
manager  was  appointed  whose  duty  it  was  to  cook  and  take 
care  of  the  house.  At  noon  a  young  man  stood  up  and  read 
aloud  a  chapter  from  the  Old  Testament  or  the  Prophets. 
After  they  had  eaten  they  sang  a  German  Psalm,  then  rose 
and  went  back  to  their  watch  "  (Gresbeck,  pp.  34,  35). 

Not  only  men,  but  women  shared  in  these  meals ;  for 
women  also  took  an  active  part  in  the  defence.  The  picture 
of  these  "  bacchanalia,"  drawn  by  Gresbeck,  is  completed  by 
the  regulation  prescribed  by  the  elders  and  given  by  Kerssen- 
broick  (ii.  p.  5) :  "  That  a  due  regard  to  order  may  be  had 
in  the  management  of  eating  and  drinking,  not  only  shall 
those  who  serve  the  meals  be  mindful  of  their  duty,  and  give 
the  Brothers  what  they  have  hitherto  received,  but  the  Brothers 
and  Sisters  are  always  to  sit  apart  at  the  tables  assigned  to 
them,  preserving  fit  modesty  and  asking  for  no  other  food 
than  that  which  shall  have  been  provided."  According  to 
Kerssenbroick,  not  a  word  was  spoken  at  table,  attention 
being  given  to  the  reader. 


THE   ANABAPTISTS  259 

All  this  reminds  us  more  of  a  meeting  of  pietists  than 
of  libertines  ;  but  it  accords  with  the  general  character  of 
heretical  communism. 

The  expenses  of  these  common  meals  were  thrown  upon 
the  Catholic  Church  and  the  emigrants  from  the  town,  the 
provisions  being  taken  from  the  monasteries  and  deserted 
houses. 

Three  deacons,  were  appointed  for  each  parish  (by  whom 
chosen  Gresbeck  unfortunately  does  not  tell  us,  but  probably 
by  the  populace),  whose  duty  it  was  to  look  after  the  poor. 
Christian  communism  has  never  gone  beyond  that  limit  in 
communities  which  retained  the  system  of  single  households. 
"  The  deacons,"  Gresbeck  informs  us,  "  sought  out  the  poor 
in  their  respective  districts  and  supplied  all  needs.  They 
made  a  good  show  in  Munster  of  allowing  no  one  to  want  for 
anything, 

"  These  deacons  went  into  every  house  and  made  a  written 
memorandum  of  what  it  contained  in  the  way  of  food,  grain, 
or  meat.  When  all  had  been  recorded,  the  householder  had 
no  further  control  over  the  provisions"  (p.  34).  This  regulation 
was  not  an  outcome  of  communism,  but  a  war  measure,  always 
absolutely  necessary  in  a  beleaguered  town  where  the  military 
authorities  must  know  the  quantity  of  provisions  available. 
This  very  regulation  presupposes  the  existence  of  a  single 
household.  Only  afterwards,  and  under  the  pressure  of 
necessity,  was  it  ordered  that  all  superfluous  clothing  should 
be  delivered  up  as  well  as  the  stores  of  provisions.  This 
measure  did  not,  however,  do  away  with  the  single  house- 
hold ;  for  the  deacons  had  to  give  to  each  family  its  share  in 
the  common  store,  of  bread  as  well  as  of  meat,  so  long  as 
these  lasted.  "  They  killed  a  number  of  horses,  and  had  the 
meat  carried  to  the  house  to  which  the  people  went  for  their 
provisions.  The  deacon  first  asked  how  many  persons  there 
were  in  each  house,  and  then  served  out  the  meat  accordingly, 
writing  down  what  had  been  given,  so  as  to  prevent  any  one 
from  being  served  twice  "  (Gresbeck,  p.  1 74). 

Moreover,  such  land  as  necessity  compelled  them  to  culti- 
vate was  not  held  in  common,  but  was  allotted  among  the 
households.   "  The  king  appointed  four  administrators  of  land, 


26o  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

who  went  over  all  the  farms,  and  allotted  from  them  one  or 
two  pieces  of  land  to  every  household,  according  to  the 
number  of  its  inmates.  These  allotments  were  planted  with 
cabbages,  turnips,  roots,  beans,  and  peas.  The  owner  of  a 
large  farm  was  not  allowed  to  use  more  of  it  than  had  been 
allotted  to  him  by  the  land  administrators.  They  had  even 
proposed  to  move  all  hedges  and  fences  from  the  farms  inside 
the  town  area,  so  that  these  might  be  in  common  "  (Gresbeck, 
pp.  175,  176).  This  last  measure,  however,  was  not  carried 
out.  The  regulation  that  all  house  doors  should  be  left  open 
day  and  night  was  probably  of  a  moral  rather  than  an 
economic  nature,  and  designed  to  increase  the  feeling  of 
brotherhood. 

The  preservation  of  the  single  household  was  closely 
allied  with  the  maintenance  of  the  disciplinary  power  of 
the  house-master  over  the  members  of  the  household.  In  the 
Middle  Ages  a  family  consisted  of  more  persons  than  the 
married  couple  with  their  children.  The  large  households 
of  that  period  demanded  a  staff  of  servants,  and  hence,  in 
Munster,  we  find  the  authority  of  the  husband  over  the  wife 
combined  with  that  of  the  master  over  the  servants.  In  one 
of  the  edicts  of  the  elders,  the  third  clause  treats  of  "the 
dominion  of  the  husband  and  the  subjection  of  the  wife  "  ; 
while  the  fourth  deals  with  "  the  obedience  of  house-servants 
to  the  house-masters,  and  the  duties  of  house-masters  to  their 
servants''  (Kerssenbroick,  ii.  i).  The  common  meals  were 
participated  in  by  "  each  Brother  and  his  wife,  together  with 
his  house  servants"  (Gresbeck,  p.  106). 

There  was  no  abolition  of  the  distinction  between  master 
and  journeyman,  nor  of  production  in  single  petty  shops, 
so  closely  bound  up  at  that  time  with  the  single  household. 
In  an  already  quoted  edict  of  the  elders,  certain  crafts- 
men were  designated  to  work  for  the  town  and  populace. 
This  should  not  be  regarded  as  a  socialistic  organisation  of 
labour,  but  as  a  regulation  engendered  by  the  exigences  of 
war  ;  z.e.,  the  specified  craftsmen  were  exempt  from  guard 
duty  (Kerssenbroick,  p.  221).  The  edict  says:  "No  one 
shall  carry  on  the  trade  of  fishing  except  the  master  fisher- 
men, Christia  Kerckring  and   Hermann  Redecker,  together 


THE   ANABAPTISTS  261 

with  their  men,  who,  moreover,  when  necessary,  shall  not 
refuse  fish  to  the  sick  and  women  with  child.  .  .  .  Hermann 
Tornate  and  Johann  Redecker,  with  their  six  journeymen,  shall 

make  shoes  for  the  New  House  of  Israel Johann  Coesfeld 

and  his  journeymen  shall  make  iron  keys"  (Kerssenbroick, 
ii.  p.  6). 

Hence  historians  are  by  no  means  accurate  in  asserting 
that  "  a  far  reaching  community  of  goods  "  was  inaugurated 
in  Munster.i  That  it  did  not  arrive  at  that  stage  may  be 
explained  in  the  same  way  as  the  small  activity  in  social 
affairs  of  the  Paris  Commune  of  187 1.  It  was  an  inevitable 
consequence  of  the  siege,  which  left  its  evil  trail  at  every  step 
and  laid  claim  to  every  thought  and  act.  A  time  of  war  has 
never  yet  proved  itself  to  be  the  suitable  moment  for  the 
inauguration  of  a  fundamentally  new  order  of  society. 

In  so  far  as  the  introduction  of  a  new  state  of  things  was 
concerned,  the  Anabaptists  were  as  unsuccessful  in  ecclesias- 
tical matters  as  they  had  been  in  those  relating  to  economics. 
Keller  wonders  at  this.  "It  was  to  be  expected,"  he  says, 
"  that  their  activity  would  begin  with  the  promulgation  of  a 
new  Church  discipline,  or  with  a  regulation  concerning  the 
form  of  divine  worship,  or  similar  affairs  ;  yet  not  only  was 
there  a  lack  of  all  necessary  provision  for  these  things  at  the 
inception  of  their  government,  but,  so  far  as  we  know,  no 
regulation  of  Church  ritual  was  ever  made  "  (Geschichte  der 
Wiedertdufer,  p.  202).  This  does  not  seem  so  surprising  to 
us.  We  ascribe  this  circumstance  in  part  to  the  war,  but  in 
part  also  to  the  indifference  to  the  form  of  divine  worship 
shown  by  the  Anabaptists,  quite  as  much  as  by  the  Bohemian 
Brethren  and  the  disciples  of  Munzer. 

The  predilection  for  the  Old  Testament  shown  on  every 
occasion  by  the  Baptists  is  quite  in  harmony  with  the  uni- 
versal spirit  of  heretical  communism,  as  is  also  their  con- 
tempt for  erudition,  evidenced  by  their  burning  of  all  books 

'  Lamprecht,  Deutsche  Geschichte,  vol.  i.  p.  356.  Lamprecht  contrives  to 
delineate  the  "  grotesquely  abominable  conditions  "  in  Munster  without 
in  the  least  connecting  them  with  the  state  of  siege,  this  being  after- 
wards mentioned  in  two  lines  as  an  insignificant  trifle,  having  no  effect 
on  the  internal  life  of  the  town. 


262  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

(with  the  exception  of  the  Bible)  and  all  letters  found  in  the 
town.  Moreover,  they  confirmed  the  rule  that  disdain  for 
learning  among  the  committee  went  hand  in  hand  with  care 
for  popular  education.  In  spite  of  the  siege,  they  established 
five  or  six  new  schools  "  where  children,  youths,  and  maidens 
were  made  to  learn  German  Psalms,  and  read  and  write.  All 
their  instruction  appertained  to  Baptism,  and  was  given  in 
the  manner  of  the  sect "  (Gresbeck,  p.  47). 

Mysticism  is  once  more  met  with  among  the  Munster 
Baptists,  e.£:,  the  belief  of  some  few  enthusiastic  Brothers  in 
direct  intercourse  with  God,  and  in  revelations  and  prophecies. 
In  regard  to  Knipperdollinck,  Jan  Mathys,  Bockelson,  and 
other  prophets  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  many  features  of 
morbid  ecstasy  are  recounted  which,  although  in  many  cases 
distorted  and  exaggerated,  are  probably  not  wholly  without 
foundation. 

However  great  may  have  been  the  resemblance  of  their 
conduct  in  these  matters  to  that  of  their  peaceable  forerunners 
in  Moravia,  they  were  (if  we  may  trust  their  Chronicles)  com- 
pletely dissimilar  in  one  respect,  viz.,  their  dissoluteness.  We 
have  already  had  frequent  occasion  to  touch  on  this  point,  but 
will  now  examine  it  more  closely. 

(d)  Polygamy. — Modern  sentiment  is  generally  offended 
by  the  austerity  and  puritanism  of  the  Anabaptists,  but  it 
has  had  no  reason  to  complain  of  their  dissoluteness. 
If  these  characteristics  were  prominent  among  peaceable 
Baptists,  it  may,  at  the  outset,  be  anticipated  that  they 
were  not  weakened  by  the  exigencies  of  a  siege  demand- 
ing, before  all  things,  the  strictest  discipline.  Closer 
inspection  confirms  this,  and  we  should  not  allow  ourselves 
to  be  misled  by  the  accounts  of  the  popular  entertainments 
already  mentioned. 

That  good  behaviour  and  discipline  were  zealously  pre- 
served, is  proved  by  some  of  the  twenty-eight  articles  of 
January  22,  1525,  in  which  among  others  we  read: — 

"6.  No  one  who  fights  under  the  standard  of  Justice 
should  defile  himself  with  the  infamous  and  hateful  vice  of 
drunkenness,  with  disgraceful  shamelessness,  with  fornication 
and  adultery,  or  with    gambling — a   vice   which   betrays   a 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  263 

greed  for  gold  and  often  engenders  dissension  and  hatred  ; 
for  such  sins  shall  not  go  unpunished  among  the  people 
of  God." 

"  16.  No  Christian  "  (z>.,  no  Anabaptist)  "shall  be  admitted 
from  one  society  or  community  into  another,  unless  he 
shall  have  previously  shown  that  he  is  blameless,  and  has 
not  been  guilty  of  any  crime  ;  if,  however,  the  contrary  is 
discovered  he  shall  be  punished  without  forbearance." 

"  20.  No  Christian  shall  resist  a  heathen "  (?>.,  a  non- 
Anabaptist)  "authority  who  has  not  yet  heard  the  Word 
of  God,  nor  been  instructed  therein  ;  nor  shall  he  do  the 
said  authority  any  injury,  provided  it  forces  no  one  into 
disbelief  and  ungodliness.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Baby- 
lonish tyranny  of  priests  and  monks  and  all  their  partisans 
and  adherent?,  who  darken  the  justice  of  God  with  their 
violence  and  injustice,  shall  be  crushed  in  every  possible 
way." 

"21.  If,  after  the  commission  of  a  crime,  a  heathen  shall 
fly  to  the  community  to  escape  punishment,  he  shall  not 
be  admitted  by  Christians,  but  so  much  the  more  certainly 
be  punished,  provided  it  is  proved  that  he  has  acted 
directly  against  God's  command,  as  it  is  not  to  be 
permitted  that  a  community  of  Christians  should  be  a 
refuge     for    the    doers    of    infamous    deeds    and    crimes  " 

(ii.  pp.  133-137)- 

As  lovers  of  peace,  they  exhorted  to  obedience  where  it 
was  possible,  and  carefully  guarded  themselves  from  asso- 
ciation with  common  criminals.  Drunkenness,  gaming,  and 
every  kind  of  illicit  sexual  intercourse  were  severely  pun- 
ished. 

A  striking  example  of  the  strict  discipline  maintained  in 
Munster  is  given  by  Gresbeck  :  "On  the  28th  of  June,  1534, 
it  so  happened  that  ten  or  twenty  soldiers  were  seated  in  a 
house  in  the  town,  where  they  had  a  drinking-bout  and  had 
become  merry.  They  were  frolicsome,  as  soldiers  are  wont  to 
be,  and  consequently  the  landlord  and  his  wife  would  draw 
no  more  for  them ;  whereupon  the  soldiers  said,  '  Landlady, 
if  you  will  not  draw,  then  we  will,'  and  upbraided  her.  Upon 
this  the  landlord  and  his  wife  went  before  the  twelve  elders, 


264  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

and  accused  the  soldiers  of  having  been  violent  in  their  house, 
and  of  having  chidden  the  landlady.  The  twelve  elders 
immediately  had  the  soldiers  arrested  and  thrown  into  prison. 
The  next  day  a  congregation  was  convened  in  the  Cathedral 
yard  and  the  soldiers  were  brought  before  it  Then  the 
chancellor,  Heinrich  Krechting — the  rascal ! — proclaimed 
what  was  said  to  have  been  done  by  the  soldiers,  who  imme- 
diately sued  for  pardon.  At  last  the  door  of  mercy  was  a 
little  opened  ;  some  received  pardon,  but  six  had  to   die " 

(p.  36). 

This  case  of  severe  discipline  is  adduced  by  Keller  as  a 
proof  of  "  the  criminal  character  of  their  proceedings."  Yet 
only  two  pages  further  on  he  is  forced  to  praise  this  disci- 
pline, whose  stern  punishments  so  operated  that  drunkenness 
was  hardly  ever  seen  among  the  Baptists,  while  in  the  Bishop's 
camp  it  raged  to  such  an  extent  that  it  caused  many  military 
operations  undertaken  by  the  besieged  forces  to  be  successful. 

We  will  cite  only  one  more  passage  from  Gresbeck's  work 
illustrative  of  the  spirit  prevalent  among  the  Baptists  :  "  Now 
the  Anabaptists  often  used  to  sally  out  for  a  skirmish  with 
the  soldiers ;  at  such  times  they  held  themselves  as  boldly 
as  if  they  had  done  twenty  years'  service,  and  moreover 
did  everything  with  sagacity,  dexterity,  and  calmness.  For 
the  prophets,  preachers,  and  head  men  of  the  town  sharply 
forbade  any  one  daring  to  drink  himself  full,  so  that  they 
always  retained  their  senses,  were  never  drunk,  and  were 
invariably  calm.  When,  therefore,  they  sallied  out  they  acted 
with  wisdom  and  skill  "  (p.  50). 

It  is  this  that  constitutes  the  "brutal  dissoluteness,"  and 
"  wildness,"  delineated  by  an  eye-witness  who  was  least  of  all 
given  to  palliation. 

But  how  is  it  with  regard  to  unchastity — polygamy  ?  On 
this  point  at  least,  it  is  possible  to  speak  of  brutal  dissolute- 
ness? 

We  have  now  reached  the  most  difficult  and  obscure  phase 
in  the  history  of  the  Miinster  Anabaptists.  Polygamy  is  so 
opposed  to  the  generic  character  of  that  sect  (^.^.,  the  Mora- 
vians, and  indeed  to  heretical  communism  in  general)  that  we 
were  at  first  inclined  to  assume  the  existence  of  a  misappre- 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  265 

hension,  based  upon  a  confusion  of  terms.  There  is,  in  fact, 
no  more  difficult  task  for  an  observer  than  that  of  correctly 
and  impartially  estimating  the  features  of  an  unusual  relation 
between  the  sexes.  Nowhere  does  the  extraordinary  produce 
such  repulsion  and  repugnance  as  in  sexual  matters.  To 
this  prejudice  is  chiefly  due  the  fact  that  only  within  the  last 
generation  has  it  been  possible  to  conduct  a  scientific  and 
unprejudiced  investigation  into  the  sexual  relations  of  the 
folk  of  primitive  times  and  among  modern  savages  and 
uncivilised  races. 

Those  who  know  what  nonsense  has  been  proclaimed  to  the 
world  by  missionaries  concerning  the  intercourse  between 
the  sexes  in  the  South  Sea  Islands,  might  well  surmise  that 
the  assumption  of  the  prevalence  of  "  polygamy  "  in  Munster 
was  based  upon  a  confusion  of  that  term  with  a  sort  of 
community  of  wives  similar  to  that  existing  among  the 
Adamites — a  form  of  sexual  intercourse  associated,  as  we 
know,  with  many  kinds  of  communism  in  the  means  of 
consumption.  This  surmise,  however,  is  untenable,  as 
there  never  was  any  talk  of  a  community  of  wives  in 
Mun.ster. 

The  edict  with  which  the  twelve  elders  inaugurated  their 
government,  imposed  the  dea^A  penalty  on  adultery  and  the 
seduction  of  a  maiden.  At  about  the  same  time  the  Munster 
community  must  have  published  their  written  defence  en- 
titled :  Bekentones  des  Globens  und  lebens  der  gemein  Christe  zu 
Munster  ("Confession  of  Faith  and  Life  of  the  Community 
of  Christians  at  Munster").  ^  In  the  chapter  On  Marriage 
(pp.  457  sqq.)  it  says :  "In  respect  of  that  with  which  we 
are  charged,  and  the  malevolent  lies  by  which  many  good- 
hearted  persons  are  led  to  suspect  that  we  live  in  illicit 
wedlock,  together  with  numerous  fabricated  and  slanderous 
accusations  unnecessary  to  repeat,  we  wish  herewith  to  set 
forth  our  judgment  and  usage  concerning  the  holy  state  of 
matrimony.  .  .  . 

"  Marriage  we  say — and  we  hold  by  the  Scriptures — is  a 

'  Reproduced  in  Berichte  dcr  Augemeugen,  pp.  445-464.  Concerning 
the  probable  date  of  this  document,  compare  V.  W.  Bouterwek,  Zur 
Literatur  und  Geschichte  der  Wicdertliufer.    Bonn,  1864,  p.  37. 


266  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

union   and  an  obligation  between   man  and  woman  in  the 
Lord  ,  .  . 

"  God  in  the  beginning  created  man  ;  '  male  and  female 
created  He  them,'  and  joined  the  two  in  holy  matrimony, 
so  that  the  two  souls  were  to  be  one  flesh.  For  this  reason 
no  man  may  sunder  such  a  union.  .  .  . 

"  Marriage  is  an  image  of  Christ  and  His  holy  bride, 
z.e.,  the  congregation  of  His  believers.  As  Christ  and  His 
congregation  care  for  each  other  and  hold  to  each  other, 
so  those  who  are  married  in  the  Lord  and  joined  together 
by  God,  should  care  for  and  hold  to  each  other.  While 
then  it  so  stands  with  the  married  state,  we  make  a  dis- 
tinction between  it  and  the  marriage  of  heathens  and 
disbelievers,  which  is  sinful  and  unclean,  and  is  not  marriage 
in  the  sight  of  God,  but  only  harlotry  and  adultery.  .  .  . 

"  For  as  is  plainly  seen,  they  marry  only  for  the  sake  of 
friendship  and  kinship,  or  for  money  and  possessions,  or 
for  the  flesh  and  adornment.  Nay,  they  seldom  or  never 
rightly  consider  what  true  marriage  is,  or  how  one  should 
be  married  ;  much  less  do  they  see  to  it  that  they  are  truly 
married  and  keep  their  vows.  .  .  . 

"  Since  then  marriage  is  a  glorious  and  honourable  state, 
no  one  should  be  frivolous  respecting  it,  but  enter  into  it 
with  pure  and  true  heart,  so  that  nothing  but  God's  honour 
and  will  be  sought  for,  as,  thanks  and  praise  be  to  God, 
is  the  custom  with  us,  and  shall  be  spread  abroad  to  the 
glory  of  God. 

"We  hear  that  many  other  evil  things  are  imputed  to  us: 
that  we  have  our  women  common  to  all  in  a  platonic  way, 
or  after  the  manner  of  the  Nikolaitans  "  (Adamites),  "toge- 
ther with  sundry  other  vile  accusations,  as  if  we  made  no 
distinction  in  matters  of  blood-relationship.  But  this  is  a 
shameless  lie,  as  are  all  other  abusive  and  wicked  things 
published  with  intentional  deceit  respecting  us.^     We  know 

'  Master  Gresbeck  found  it  necessary  to  spread  these  miserable  lies  (p. 
80) ;  it  did  not  trouble  the  worthy  gentleman  that  he  thereby  contra- 
dicted his  other  deductions  regarding  the  married  state  in  Miinster. 
They  seemed  suitable  for  compromising  his  opponents,  and  that  was 
his  chief  purpose. 


THE   ANABAPTISTS  267 

that  Christ  said :  '  Ye  have  heard  that  it  was  said  by  them 
of  old  times,  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery ;  but  I  say 
unto  you,  That  whosoever  looketh  on  a  woman  to  lust  after 
her,  hath  committed  adultery  with  her  already  in  his  heart.' 
Were  such  a  one  to  be  found  among  us — which  God  forbid — 
we  should  in  no  wise  suffer  him,  but  excommunicate  him, 
and  deliver  him  unto  Satan  for  the  destruction  of  the  flesh." 

We  see  that  the  "  sensuality "  (called  "  Neronic "  by  a 
modern  German  author)  declares  even  flirting  with  a  maiden 
to  be  sinful.  The  opinions  prevalent  in  Miinster  are  in  com- 
plete harmony  with  the  austerity  in  sexual  matters  which 
characterised  the  majority  of  other  Anabaptists.  Jan  van 
Leyden  ratified  these  views  on  January  2,  1535,  in  his 
Twenty-eight  Articles  already  mentioned,  by  providing  for 
the  punishment  of  adultery  and  harlotry  (the  latter  word 
implying  not  only  prostitution,  but  every  illicit  intercourse 
between  the  sexes).  Moreover,  this  was  at  a  period  when 
polygamy  had  already  been  introduced. 

How,  then,  is  the  apparent  inconsistency  to  be  accounted 
for  ?  The  usual  explanation,  based  upon  the  assumed  innate 
sensuality  and  immoderation  of  communists,  is  very  con- 
venient, but  it  has  one  defect — it  has  no  certain  foundation. 
The  explanation  rests  wholly  and  solely  on  the  thing  to  be 
explained.  Everything  else  contradicts  it,  for  we  have  seen 
that  abstinence  and  discretion  were  conspicuous  characteristics 
of  the  Anabaptists. 

Neither  can  the  solution  be  found  in  the  character  of 
Baptist  communism  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  makes  the  matter 
more  inexplicable.  There  remains  nothing  but  to  seek  for 
the  elucidation  in  the  peculiar  relations  between  the  sexes  in 
Miinster  during  the  siege.  Moreover,  these  relations  were  of 
such  a  strikingly  singular  kind,  that  it  would  have  required  an 
incredible  degree  of  obduracy  or  a  great  lack  of  good  intention 
to  prevent  their  being  recognised. 

We  must  remember  the  large  emigration  from  Miinster  of 
aristocratic  and   middle-class  citizens.      The  men  went,  but 

kthey  left  their  women  and  female  servants  behind.  There 
was  thus  an  excess  of  women  over  men,  which,  from  the 
figures  given  by  Gresbeck,  must  have  been  enormous.  He 
i 


268  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

writes  of  an  evening  meal  on  Mount  Sion :  "  Men,  old 
persons,  and  youths  were  there  to  the  number  of  two 
thousand.  The  number  of  men  in  Munster  capable  of 
bearing  arms  was  never  greater  than  fifteen  hundred.  The 
women  in  the  town,  old  and  young,  numbered  eight  or  nine 
thousand,  more  or  less — I  cannot  be  exact  about  the  children 
who  could  and  could  not  walk,  they  were  perhaps  one 
thousand  or  twelve  hundred."  ^ 

The  situation  was  further  complicated  by  the  fact  that 
quite  half  the  men  were  unmarried  ;  such  being  the  case 
with  the  majority  of  the  numerous  immigrants,  and  of 
course  with  the  soldiers  who  came  as  prisoners  or  deserters, 
and  joined  the  sect. 

In  face  of  the  strictness  of  the  Baptist  in  sexual  matters, 
these  conditions  must,  in  the  course  of  the  siege,  have  become 
insupportable  for  the  majority  of  the  marriageable  population, 
cut  off  as  they  were  from  the  outer  world.  The  very  strict- 
ness which  threatened  all  illicit  sexual  intercourse  with  severe 
punishment,  finally  made  a  revolution  in  the  relations  between 
the  sexes  unavoidable. 

The  very  persons  who  cannot  show  enough  indignation 
over  the  polygamy  of  Munster  look  upon  prostitution  as  a 
self-evident  necessity.  This  vice  was  of  course  prevalent 
under  the  reign  of  "respectability."  In  the  Thirty-six 
Articles  formulated  by  the  Munster  insurrectionists  in  1525 
(compare  p.  265),  the  eighteenth  required  that :  "  All  lewd 
women  and  the  concubines  of  the  priests  shall  be  dis- 
tinguished from  virtuous  women  by  certain  marks." 

'  P.  107.  The  Baptist  Werner  Scheiffurth  von  Merode,  who  was 
made  prisoner  in  a  sortie,  gave  a  smaller  number  in  his  judicial  examina- 
tion on  December  11,  1534:  "The  men,  women,  and  children  in  the 
town  number  approximately  between  eight  thousand  and  nine  thousand, 
of  whom  about  fourteen  hundred  are  able  to  bear  arms"  (Bcrichic  der 
Atigeuzeugen).  This  number  of  men  available  for  the  defence  nearly 
agrees  with  that  named  by  Gresbeck,  and  the  estimate  of  the  total 
adult  male  population  is  probably  correct,  as  he  gives  it  with  great 
preciseness.  They  had  evidently  been  counted.  If  to  this  we  add 
one  thousand  children,  the  number  of  marriageable  women  must  still 
have  been  from  five  thousand  to  six  thousand,  and  therefore  twice 
or  thrice  as  great  as  the  number  of  men. 


THE   ANABAPTISTS  269 

These  "lascivious  debauchees"  put  an  end  to  prostitution. 
Prostitution  and  communism  are  two  reciprocally  incom- 
patible conditions.  The  various  forms  of  communism  are , 
compatible  with  the  most  diverse  kinds  of  sexual  intercourse, 
but  not  with  one  kind — venal  love.  Where  there  is  no  pro- 
duction of  commodities  for  sale,  where  nothing  is  bought  or 
sold,  the  body  of  woman,  like  the  power  to  work,  ceases  to  be 
saleable  ware.  Incomplete  as  was  the  communism  of  MUn- 
ster,  no  maiden  of  that  town  was  forced  to  sell  herself  during 
the  reign  of  Anabaptism.  The  wenches  who  from  habit 
would  gladly  have  obtained  the  gains  of  the  trade  they 
carried  on  under  the  old  society,  found  no  buyers  in 
Mtinster,  where  no  private  person  possessed  money.  Such 
women  were  forced  to  seek  their  pay  among  their  old 
customers  in  the  camp  of  the  "defenders  of  morality  and 
order,"  i.e.,  among  the  soldiers,  the  reputable  burgesses,  and 
the  secular  and  spiritual  aristocracy. 

The  natural  working  of  communism  was,  in  addition, 
favoured  by  the  sexual  austerity  of  the  Baptists.  Is  it 
conceivable  that  prostitution  should  not  have  existed  among 
the  thousand  and  more  unmarried  men  and  several  thousand 
husbandless  women  living  together  for  months  in  a  town 
which,  according  to  modern  ideas,  was  of  small  size?  It 
was  inevitable  that  adultery  and  illicit  sexual  intercourse 
should  make  their  appearance.  The  severest  penalties  must 
have  been  powerless  to  prevent  it.  There  was  only  one 
means  by  which  the  destructive  sexual  confusion  could  be 
remedied,  viz.,  a  new  regulation  of  the  condition  of  marriage. 
In  July,  the  fifth  month  of  the  siege,  and  after  long  opposition, 
the  elders  and  preachers  set  about  the  work. 

The  task  was  a  difficult  one,  nay  almost  impossible ;  for  it 
concerned  the  making  of  marriage-laws  in  harmony  both 
with  the  austere  morality  of  the  Anabaptists  in  matrimonial 
matters,  and  the  unique  sexual  conditions  existing  in  Miinster. 
It  was  quite  in  conformity  with  this  difficulty,  that  the  new 
marriage  law  did  not  appear  in  the  form  of  a  unified  and 
completely  elaborate  statute,  but  in  numerous  regulations, 
partly  supplementing  and  partly  abrogating  each  other.  The 
Anabaptists  never  got  beyond  the  search  for  a  suitable  form  of 


270  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

marriage,  and  indeed  could  not  do  so  under  the  abnormal 
conditions  of  their  existence. 

Gresbeck  follows  their  uncertain  gropings  after  a  marriage 
law,  but  his  account  is  so  confused  and  so  full  of  contra- 
dictions and  absurdities,  that  it  is  difficult  to  get  a  clear 
picture  from  it.  ^  It  enables,  us  however,  to  distinguish  two 
features  of  this  search.  One  consists  in  the  effort  to  make 
marriage  a  free  union.  First  of  all  it  was  necessary  to  pro- 
nounce all  marriages  invalid  which  had  been  contracted  before 
the  adoption  of  the  Anabaptist  faith ;  otherwise  a  new 
marriage  union  would  have  been  impossible  for  the  wives  of 
the  burgesses  who  had  emigrated.  This  decree  of  invalidity 
came  the  more  easily  from  the  Anabaptists,  since  although 
they  declared  marriage  to  be  an  indissoluble  union,  they  held 
"  heathen  "  marriage  to  be  no  true  marriage,  just  as  infant 
baptism  was  said  to  be  no  true  baptism.  Hence  they  now 
required  a  renewal  of  vows  on  the  part  of  those  who  had 
been  married  before  joining  them. 

The  second  feature  shows  itself  in  the  attempt  to  bring  all 
the  women  into  the  married  state  ;  at  the  outset,  however,  not 
in  a  corporeal,  but  in  an  economic  state. 

In  order  to  understand  the  "  polygamy "  of  Munster,  it 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  single  household  was  never 
abolished.  As  a  result  of  the  emigration  of  burgesses,  it 
came  about  that  there  were  many  households  which  contained 
no  man,  and  indeed  some  in  which  there  was  no  mistress,  but 
only  maids.  In  a  beleaguered  city  holding  so  many  un- 
married soldiers,  this  state  of  things  must  have  entailed 
numerous  disadvantages  ;  hence  it  was  ordered  that  no 
woman  should  be  without  male  protection  and  also  male 
guardianship.  For  as  the  Munster  Anabaptists  did  not  do 
away  with  the  system  of  single  households,  they  were 
quite  as  little  advocates  of  the  emancipation  of  woman  as 

'  Kerssenbroick's  account  is  absolutely  idiotic.  He  relates  that  a 
soldier  had  surprised  Jan  van  Leyden  as  the  latter  was  creeping  to 
one  of  Knipperdollinck's  maids.  To  save  himself  from  falling  into  bad 
odour,  Jan  thereupon  persuaded  Rothmann  and  the  other  preachers 
("  who  were  not  less  given  over  to  lasciviousness  and  lewdness  "),  to  . 
introduce  simply — polygamy  ! 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  271 

emancipation  of  the  flesh.  The  third  clause  of  the  already 
quoted  edict  of  the  elders,  which  treats  of  "  the  sovereignty 
of  the  man  and  the  subjection  of  the  woman,"  says,  "Husbands 
love  your  wives.  Let  wives  be  subject  to  their  husbands,  as 
to  their  lords.     And  let  the  wife  fear  the  husband."  i 

In  this  connection  .  Rothmann  expresses  himself  very 
drastically  in  his  Restitution — a  pamphlet  which  appeared  in 
October,  1534.2  "The  husband  is  therefore  to  accept  the 
sovereignty  over  his  wife  with  manful  feeling,  and  to  keep 
his  marriage  undefiled.  In  most  places  wives  have  the 
mastery,  and  lead  their  husbands  as  bears  are  led.  ...  It 
is  highly  needful  that  wives,  who  almost  everywhere  now 
wear  the  breeches,  should  humble  themselves  in  right  and 
becoming  obedience  ;  for  it  is  agreeable  to  God  that  every 
one  should  keep  in  his  place — the  husband  under  Christ,  and 
the  wife  under  the  husband." 

The  women  who  are  without  masters  were  now  ordered  to 
attach  themselves  to  households  in  which  there  were  men  ; 
not  as  drudges  or  servants,  but  as  companions  of  the  wives. 

This  regulation  was  not  based  upon  actual  conditions — 
.they  were  not  so  materialistic  in  those  days — but  upon 
Biblical  precedent.  There  was,  however,  but  one  example 
in  Scripture  which  in  any  way  suited  their  case,  viz.,  the 
polygamy  of  the  ancient  Jews,  more  especially  of  the 
patriarchs ;  and  they  appealed  to  this  with  the  greater 
confidence  as  the  patriarchs  had  undoubtedly  been  highly 
pious  men,  whom  God  had  honoured  with  personal  visits, 
or  with  visits  from  His  angels.  That  which  had  been  done 
by  these  prototypes  of  Christianity  could  not  possibly  be 
sinful.  Moreover,  the  Baptists  could  rely  upon  the  most 
prominent  evangelical  lights  of  the  Church  for  support  to 
this  mode  of  thinking.  On  August  27,  1521,  Melancthon 
had    advised    the    King  of  England  to   take  a  second   wife 

'  Kerssenbroick,  ii.  p.  i. 

"  Eyne  Restitution  edde  Eyne  wedderstellinge  rechter  unde  gesundc 
Christliche  leer,  gelanens  unde  lencns  nth  Gades  genaden  durch  dc 
gemcynte  tho  Miinster,  an  der  Dach  gegenen  .  .  .  Miinster,  1534.  A 
long  extract  from  this  work,  with  many  quotations,  is  given  by 
Bouterwek  in  his  Literatur  und  Geschichte  der  Wiedertdufer,  pp.  15-34- 


272  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL   EUROPE 

in  addition  to  his  first,  and  had  declared  that  "  polygamy- 
was  not  forbidden  by  Godly  law."  ^ 

The  true  character  of  Munster  "  polygamy  "  has  been  much 
obscured  by  its  religious  dress.  It  has,  moreover,  been  made 
no  clearer  by  the  pile  of  odium,  slanders,  and  distortions 
heaped  upon  it  by  antagonistic  chroniclers  ;  while  the 
unfair  interpolations  of  partisan  accounts  have  completely 
concealed  almost  every  trace  of  the  true  nature  of  this 
regulation.  Fortunately,  however,  the  chroniclers  were  too 
shortsighted  to  remove  every  vestige  of  the  truth.  A  few 
statements  which  they  have  handed  down  to  us  suffice  to  show 
that  the  aim  of  the  Baptists  in  introducing  "  polygamy  "  was 
the  uniting  of  several  women  in  one  household,  but  not  in  one 
marriage-bed  ;  though  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  latter 
condition  was  favoured  by  the  former. 

It  is  highly  important  to  point  out  the  fact  that  eve^y  woman 
was  obliged  to  seek  a  man ;  not  only  those  who  were  suitable 
for  sexual  intercourse,  but  the  old  and  those  who  had  not  yet 
reached  the  age  of  puberty.^ 

This  is  not  the  only  point  in  support  of  our  views.  Another 
is  the  following  communication  by  Kerssenbroick,  "  In  the 
beginning    of    October    the    wife    of   one    Butendick    was 

^  Even  after  the  introduction  of  polygamy  into  Munster  had  caused 
such  scandal,  and  been  everywhere  condemned,  Luther  and  Melancthon 
declared  to  Landgrave  Philip  of  Hesse  that :  "  What  the  Mosaic  law 
permitted  is  not  forbidden  in  the  Gospel."  He  might,  therefore,  be 
tranquil  with  regard  to  polygamy.  (See  also  numerous  similar  quotations 
by  Keller,  Die  Reformation,  p.  454  sqq.)  It  was,  therefore,  not  polygamy 
itself  which  so  enraged  pious  persons  against  the  Baptists,  but  their 
impertinence  in  transforming  it  from  a  privilege  of  rulers  to  a  common 
right. 

=  Gresbeck  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  last  measure  had  for  its  aim  the 
forcing  of  young  maidens  into  sexual  intercourse.  It  is  not  impossible 
that  some  heads  of  households  (perhaps  rough  soldiers)  abused  their 
position.  Even  Kerssenbroick  said  no  more  than  this.  Similar  things 
may  happen  elsewhere.  That,  however,  the  aim  of  the  regulation  was 
the  ravishing  of  young  children,  we  must  have  more  than  a  Gresbeck  to 
make  us  believe  ;  for  however  valuable  many  of  his  statements  are  when 
they  deal  with  facts,  he  can  only  adduce  odious  and  unsupported  gossip 
respecting  the  motives  and  aims  of  the  Baptists.  We  hold  that  those 
eminent  gentlemen  who  levy  maiden-tribute  in  our  modern  Babylons 
are  incapable  of  demanding  the  enforcement  of  this  brutahty  by  law. 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  273 

publicly  accused  by  her  lord  and  husband.  The  cause 
was  that  she  resisted  him,  and  insulted  him  with  many 
slanderous  and  abusive  words,  saying  that  he  lived  with 
the  rest  of  his  women  and  fellow-sisters  not  in  a  spiritual 
but  in  a  fleshly  manner,  and  often  had  carnal  intercourse 
with  them."  She  was  found  guilty  and  sentenced  to  death, 
but  pardoned  after  having  asked  forgiveness  of  her  husband 
(p.  80).  ^      .    ^ 

Hence  a  distinction  was  made  between  a  lawful  wife  and 
the  sisters  of  the  community  living  with  her.  Not  all  female 
members  of  a  household  were  the  lawful  wives  of  the  head  of 
the  house,  although  they  were  designated  as  his  wives. 

Meanwhile,  it  is  presumable  that,  with  the  prevalence  of 
such  intimate  life  in  common,  the  same  state  of  things  arose 
which  is  not  absent  elsewhere,  viz.,  that  the  husband  sometimes 
remained  unsatisfied  with  his  lawful  wife  alone,  which  was  the 
reproach  brought  against  Butendick  by  his  wife.  This  was 
made  more  probable  by  the  austerity  of  the  Baptists,  which, 
under  certain  circumstances,  prohibited  sexual  intercourse 
even  between  husband  and  wife,  e.g:,  when  she  was  barren  or 
pregnant,  on  the  ground  that  sexual  intercourse  was  not  to 
serve  for  the  gratification  of  sinful  lust,  but  solely  for  the 
perpetuation  of  the  human  race.^  Hence,  in  certain  cases, 
a  man  was  allowed  to  make  natural  wives  of  those  women 
who  had  been  commended  to  his  protection,  in  addition  to  his 
first  wife.  Thus  Rothmann  says  in  his  Restitution,  "  If  a  man 
should  be  so  richly  blessed  of  God  as  to  impregnate  one  wife 
and,  in  consequence  of  God's  commands,  should  not  wish  to 
abuse  such  a  blessing,  then,  on  necessity,  he  shall  be  free  to 
take  to  himself  several  fertile  wives ;  for  to  know  a  woman 
out  of  wedlock  is  adultery  and  harlotry." 

It  is,  however,  always  possible  to  distinguish  clearly  between 
this  sexual  polygamy  and  that  which  was  of  an  economic 
character.      In  the  former   the  man   chose  the  women  ;  in 

'  Rothmann  says  in  his  Restitution:  "That  a  man  neither  should  nor 
ought  to  know  a  woman  who  is  pregnant  or  barren  can  be  proved,  in  the 
first  place,  by  the  fact  that  God  commanded  mankind  to  increase  and 
multiply ;  and  for  that  end  alone  should  husband  and  wife  employ  the 
blessing  of  God,  and  not  for  lust." 

19 


274  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

the  latter  the  women  chose  the  man  whom  they  wished 
to  acknowledge  as  their  protector  and  master.  The  former 
kind  was,  under  certain  conditions,  allowed  ;  and,  in  the  state 
of  things  described,  impossible  wholly  to  prevent.  The  law- 
givers of  Munster  contented  themselves  with  the  effort  to 
keep  it  in  the  paths  of  regulated  marriage.  The  polygamy, 
on  the  contrary,  which  was  for  a  long  time  prescribed  by  law, 
was  economic ;  that  is,  the  union  of  several  women  under 
the  protection  and  guardianship  of  one  man.  The  Munster 
marriage-law  imposed  on  women  the  obligations  of  the  latter 
kind  of  polygamy,  but  not  those  of  the  former.  Moreover, 
this  compulsion  soon  ceased,  as  is  proved  by  the  Twenty-eight 
Articles  promulgated  by  Jan  van  Leyden.  We  will  give  those 
which  treat  of  marriage,  as  they  are  highly  characteristic  of 
the  spirit  of  the  Munster  marriage  law : — 

"  24.  No  one  shall  be  forced  to  marry ;  since  marriage  is  a 
voluntary  compact,  entered  into  more  from  a  natural  instinct 
and  the  bonds  of  love  than  through  mere  words  and  outward 
ceremonies. 

"25.  If,  however,  any  one  is  afflicted  with  epilepsy,  venereal 
disease,  or  other  complaints,  he  shall  not  marry  unless  he 
previously  makes  known  his  malady  to  the  person  whom 
he  wishes  to  marry. 

"  26.  No  one  who  is  not  a  virgin  shall  give  herself  out  to 
be  such,  and  deceive  and  entrap  her  fellow-brothers.  More- 
over, such  deceit  shall  be  severely  punished. 

"  27.  Every  unmarried  woman,  or  those  who  have  not  their 
regular  husbands,  shall  be  authorised  to  choose  a  guardian  or 
protector  from  the  congregation  of  Christ." 

The  final  clause  contains  a  prophecy,  "The  voice  of  the 
living  God  has  instructed  me  that  this  is  a  command  of  the 
All  Highest :  The  men  shall  demand  a  confession  of  faith,  as 
well  from  their  legal  wives  as  from  those  whom  they  are 
charged  to  guard  and  protect ;  not  that  which  is  commonly 
recited — *  I  believe  in  God  the  Father,'  but  a  confession  of 
faith  of  the  marriage-union  in  the  New  Kingdom — why 
and  to  what  purpose  they  were  baptised.  They  shall  show 
and  disclose  all  this  to  their  husbands"  (ii.  pp.  138,  139). 

This  is  the  last  form  of  the  marriage-law  among  the  Munster 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  275 

Anabaptists.  It  completely  agrees  with  the  sober  and  rational 
simplicity  which  we  have  learnt  was  their  distinguishing 
characteristic;  and  the  most  dexterous  and  unscrupulous 
annihilator  of  socialism  will  find  it  a  hard  task  to  produce 
therefrom  a  trace  of  unbridled  licentiousness. 

These  Articles  of  January  2nd  contain  an  important 
amelioration  of  the  marriage-law  introduced  on  July  23rd 
of  the  previous  year.  By  the  latter,  every  woman  had  the 
obligation  imposed  on  her  of  seeking  a  protector  and  master, 
whose  household  she  was  compelled  to  join.  This  regulation 
seems  to  have  had  manifold  disadvantageous  consequences, 
as  it  was  abrogated  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  and 
those  women  who  wished  to  do  so  were  allowed  to  leave 
the  "  lords  "  to  whom  they  had  attached  themselves.  From 
the  obligation  resting  upon  women  there  grew  up  a  right 
which  they  were  free  to  exercise. 

Whatever  mental  picture  one  may  make  of  this  "polygamy," 
it  should  in  no  case  be  that  of  an  Oriental  harem.  The  latter 
implies  the  complete  enslavement  of  the  woman.  There  was 
no  question  of  such  a  thing  in  Miinster ;  indeed,  it  was  the 
women  who  had  free  choice  of  their  husbands,  protectors,  and 
guardians.  How  little  they  were  oppressed  by  the  new 
regulations  may  be  seen  from  the  circumstance  that  the 
majority  of  them  were  numbered  among  the  most  enthusi- 
astic combatants  for  the  New  Kingdom. 

Some,  of  course,  were  discontented.  Not  every  one  had 
remained  in  the  town  through  conviction ;  and  the  new 
marriage  law,  which  engendered  such  an  abnormal  state  of 
things,  was  in  too  sharp  contradiction  to  deeply-rooted 
sentiments.  Moreover,  the  new  regulation  could  not  set 
aside  existing  complications  without  now  and  then  creating 
fresh  ones.  Nevertheless,  we  very  rarely  hear  of  any  resist- 
ance on  the  part  of  the  women,  ^  while  we  very  often  hear 

'  How  well  some  historians  contrive  to  exaggerate  this  resistance 
may  be  seen  from  the  following  example.  Keller  writes  in  his  Gcs- 
cliichte  der  Wiedertiiufer,  p.  211:  "It  is  certain  that  many  women, 
married  and  unmarried,  showed  the  greatest  repugnance  to  the  new 
regulation.  It  is  related  that  one  of  them  chose  a  voluntary  death  to 
escape  from  the  infamy  to  which  it  was  proposed  to  subject  her." 
What  is  actually  related  ?     Gresbeck  writes  :    "  On  one  occasion  a. 


276  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

of  the  enthusiasm  with  which  they  embraced  the  new  order 
of  things. 

An  example  of  this  is  afforded  by  the  Mollenheck  insur- 
rection. This  is  represented  as  an  uprising  of  the  moral 
portion  of  the  citizens  against  polygamy.  "  Though  the 
complete  community  of  wives  was  not  introduced,"  says 
Bezold,  "the  command  of  the  prophets,  that  no  woman 
should  be  without  a  husband,  led  to  the  institution  of  a 
kind  of  polygamy  which  was  not  much  better.  The  feelings 
of  the  native-born  Brothers  revolted  against  these  horrors ; 
but  their  attempt  at  insurrection  was  frustrated  in  blood, 
and  the  distribution  (!)  of  the  women  (who  formed  by  far 
the  larger  part  of  the  population)  among  the  male 
minority — the  'lords' — was  proceeded  with"  {Geschichte 
der  deutschen  Reformation,  p.  710). 

What  are  the  facts  ?  Mollenheck,  a  former  guild  presi- 
dent, "gathered  round  him  a  part  of  the  burgesses,  pious 
inhabitants  and  soldiers,"  not  merely  to  do  away  with  the 
new  marriage  law,  but  "  that  every  one  might  receive  back 
his  property,  the  Burgomasters  and  Council  be  reinstated 
in  their  control  of  the  town,  and  things  in  general  be  as 
they  were  previously "  (Gresbeck,  p.  73).  The  deserters 
from  the  besieging  army  were  in  the  vanguard  of  this 
movement,  which,  ostensibly  in  defence  of  chastity,  was  in 
reality  a  counter-revolution.  Success  attended  the  first 
efforts  of  the  insurrectionists,  who  even  went  so  far  as  to 
make  prisoners  of  Jan  van  Leyden  and  Knipperdollinck. 
Gresbeck  further  says  that  if  they  had  immediately  opened 

woman  was  found  lying  in  the  water,  drowned  and  floating  on  the 
surface  of  the  water  in  her  clothes.  The  common  people  did  not  know 
how  she  came  to  that  pass ;  whether  the  prophets  and  preachers  had 
caused  her  to  be  drowned,  or  if  she  had  done  so  of  her  own  will.  The 
people  of  the  town  were  of  the  opinion  that  she  had  drowned  herself, 
because  she  was  grieved  by  the  marriage  regulations.  I  am  not  able  to 
write  more  concerning  the  true  cause  of  her  misfortune  "  (pp.  64,  65). 

Hence  it  was  "  related  "  simply  that  a  drowned  woman  was  found  in 
Miinster.  Whether  it  was  a  case  of  crime  or  suicide  (or  a  mere  acci- 
dent, in  regard  to  which  possibility  Gresbeck  is  strangely  silent),  is 
totally  unknown.  From  this,  forsooth,  a  tale  of  murder  is  concocted  ; 
and  this  single  story  of  murder  serves  as  proof  that  many  women 
"  showed  the  greatest  repugnance  to  the  new  regulations  ! " 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  277 

one  of  the  gates,  the  Bishop's  forces  would  have  obtained 
possession  of  the  city ;  but  the  revolutionists  were  thinking 
of  plunder  only.  "  They  were  more  anxious  to  get  hold  of 
booty  than  to  capture  a  gate.  They  had  their  sleeves  full 
of  money,  and  sat  the  whole  night  drinking  wine  until  they 
were  drunk.  This  was  the  cause  of  their  defeat  by  the 
Frieslanders  and  Dutchmen." 

The  saddest  feature  of  the  overthrow  of  this  counter- 
revolution is  the  circumstance  that  while  the  soldiers  ven- 
tured their  lives  for  "  chastity  and  morality  "  in  drunkenness 
and  pillage,  those  whose  cause  they  were  espousing — the 
"  down-trodden  women " — fought  most  resolutely  against 
them  in  defence  of  "rape  and  incest"  When  the  rebels 
barricaded  themselves  in  the  town-hall,  it  was  women  who 
brought  heavy  guns  to  the  market  to  blow  in  the  doors. 

Kerssenbroick  and  Gresbeck  give  numerous  proofs  of  the 
enthusiasm  and  joyfulness  with  which  women  fought  on 
the  walls  when  an  assault  had  to  be  repulsed.  Moreover, 
they  were  ready  to  take  part  in  the  sorties.  On  one  occa- 
sion Jan  van  Leyden  made  preparations  for  a  sortie  in 
force  to  assist  the  relieving  army  which  he  expected  from 
the  Netherlands,  and  called  for  volunteers  for  the  hopeless 
undertaking  from  the  women  as  well  as  the  men.  "  The 
next  day  those  women  who  wished  to  take  part  in  the 
sortie  assembled  in  good  order  three  hundred  strong  in  the 
Cathedral  yard  armed  with  various  weapons,  one  having  a 
halberd,  another  a  pike,  and  so  forth.  As  the  king  did  not 
wish  to  take  all,  he  had  them  mustered  and  selected  fifty- 
one,  a  written  list  being  made  of  their  names. 

"The  next  day  all  women  who  wished  to  remain  in 
the  town,  were  ordered  to  assemble  in  the  Cathedral 
yard.  These  also  came  with  their  weapons,  and  marched 
about  in  good  order,  like  soldiers."  After  being  divided 
into  as  many  sections  as  there  are  gates  to  the  town, 
each  section,  together  with  a  body  of  men,  was  detailed 
to  guard  a  gate.  They  thereupon  marched  off  singing  the 
Marseillaise  of  the  German  Reformation,  the  Psalm:  £me 
fest  Burg  ist  unser  Gott  ("  A  tower  of  strength  is  our  God  ") 
(p.  128). 


278  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

This  was  the  way  in  which  the  women  of  Munster  defended 
themselves  against  the  "  infamies  heaped  upon  them." 

Enough  has  been  said  respecting  the  "  woman  question  "  in 
Munster.  There  is  still  much  to  clear  up,  many  lacunar  still 
to  be  filled  ;  but  what  has  been  given  is,  we  think,  sufficient 
to  make  the  new  regulation  of  sexual  matters  in  Munster 
quite  comprehensible,  and  to  show  that  in  spite  of  its  imper- 
fection, its  simplicity,  and  even  its  crudity,  it  had  much  that 
was  in  sympathy  with  modern  sentiment.  The  defenders 
of  the  society  of  to-day  have  least  cause  of  any  to  grow  irate 
over  the  "shameless  licentiousness"  of  the  Munster  Ana- 
baptists ;  those  defenders  of  a  society  which  has  for  one  of  its 
supports  the  most  shameless  and  debauching  form  of  sexual 
intercourse,  viz.,  the  taking  advantage  of  the  poverty  and 
ignorance  of  young  girls,  for  the  noble  purpose  of  debasing 
them  to  passive  instruments  for  the  gratification  of  men,  and 
to  a  condition  in  which  they  are  helplessly  abandoned  to 
every  form  of  lust.  But  for  this  high-minded  regulation, 
where  would  be  the  prosperity  of  a  great  number  of  our 
industries,  and  where  the  virtue  and  modesty  of  our  middle- 
class  maidens? 

The  picture  by  middle-class  historians  of  the  sexual  licen- 
tiousness of  Munster  is  in  reality  a  picture  of  the  present 
time.  It  is  a  true  portrayal  of  what  takes  place  day  by  day, 
in  every  modern  civilised  town  ;  and  the  last  exhibition 
of  wisdom  in  our  society  is — the  regulation  of  these  "  Satur- 
nalia "  by  law ! 

X.   The  Fall  of  Munster. 

Our  investigation  into  the  character  of  the  Munster  "  com- 
mune "  has  grown  wider  in  its  range  and  more  polemical  than 
was  originally  intended,  or  than  quite  suits  the  plan  of  this 
work ;  but  no  little  labour  is  required  to  remove  the  mountain 
of  falsehood  which  rests  on  the  true  picture  of  the  Anabaptists 
of  that  town.  It  is  impossible  to  preserve  scientific  equa- 
nimity when  one  sees  how  an  originally  quiet  and  peaceable 
people  are  systematically  stigmatised  as  a  band  of  blood- 
thirsty and  lascivious  villains,  simply  because  on  one 
occasion,  under  the  oppression  of  constant  maltreatment  and 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  279 

danger,  they  did  not  passively  submit  to  destruction,  but  rose 
in  energetic  resistance,  and  not  only  suffered  but  fought  for 
their  convictions,  opposing  fierce  attack  by  fierce  defence, 
and  exhibiting  much  military  heroism ! 

After  the  treacherous  surprise  of  February  loth  had  been 
repulsed.  Bishop  Franz  undertook  the  siege  with  a  light  heart, 
for  he  felt  sure  of  soon  making  an  end  of  the  crowded  mob 
of  starving  vagabonds,  as  he  regarded  the  mass  of  Ana- 
baptists. He  had  at  his  disposal  several  thousand  veteran 
troops  under  experienced  generals,  and  before  Whitsuntide 
had  assembled  about  8,000  men.^  But  the  Baptists,  though 
inferior  in  numbers  (they  were  never  more  than  1,500  strong) 
and  without  military  experience,  had  an  advantage  over 
their  opponents  not  only  in  the  strength  of  their  fortifi- 
cations, but  in  discipline,  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  and 
enthusiasm. 

Examples  of  the  state  of  discipline  in  the  Bishop's  camp 
have  already  been  given.  Drunkenness  proved  especially 
prejudicial  to  all  their  military  operations,  as  was  shown 
by  the  first  assault  on  the  town. 

The  first  bombardment  began  May  21,  1534,  and  lasted 
five  days.  On  the  25th  the  besiegers  attempted  to  storm 
the  town  ;  but  some  of  their  soldiers,  being  drunk,  advanced 
prematurely,  and  were  driven  back,  throwing  those  behind 
them  into  disorder.  In  spite  of  this  the  rear-guard  reached 
the  walls  with  their  scaling  ladders,  only  to  meet  with  such 
powerful  resistance  that  they  fell  back  in  confusion  and 
retreated  to  their  camp. 

Shortly  afterwards  the  besieged  forces  made  a  sortie 
against  an  outpost,  surprised  the  soldiers  while  they  were 
gambling  and  drinking,  drove  them  off,  spiked  the  guns,  and 
attacked  the  main  body  of  the  army  (which  had  hurried 
to  the  scene)  so  vigorously  that  it  did  not  dare  to  pursue 
them,  but  allowed  them  to  return  unmolested  to  the  town. 

The  besieging  army  fared  no  better  at  the  second  storming, 

which  took  place  on  August  the  3 1  st,  after  a  violent  cannonade 

lasting  three  days.     It  led  to  a  furious  battle  and  ended  m 

the  complete  defeat  of  the  attacking  force,  whose  loss  was 

'  Jorg  Schenck's  account  {Berichte  der  Augenzeugen,  p.  260). 


28o  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

enormous,    amounting    to    forty-eight    in    officers   of    rank 
alone.  ^ 

From  that  day  the  besiegers  abandoned  all  hope  of  taking 
the  town  by  assault,  and  limited  their  operations  to  main- 
taining a  blockade,  for  the  purpose  of  starving  it  into  a 
surrender. 

Yet  in  the  end  t^e  entire  German  Empire  was  engaged  in 
the  war  against  this  one  town. 

At  the  outset  the  different  enemies  of  Anabaptism  showed 
an  unwillingness  to  come  to  an  agreement.  It  soon  became 
clear,  however,  that  the  forces  of  the  Bishop  alone  were 
insufficient  for  the  capture  of  Miinster.  Franz,  therefore, 
sought  allies  among  both  Catholics  and  Evangelicals ;  but 
each  member  of  the  league  being  eager  to  get  the  better  of 
the  others,  the  fight  over  the  bear's  skin  seriously  retarded  the 
fight  against  the  still  living  bear.  Meanwhile,  in  spite  of  all 
intrigues,  the  number  of  the  besiegers  and  the  strength  of 
their  military  equipment  continued  to  increase,  through  the 
instrumentality  of  diplomatic  adjustments  and  the  decrees  of 
Congresses  and  Diets,  until  finally  the  German  Reichstag 
met  at  Worms,  April  4,  1535,  and  conferred  the  dignity  of 
an  Imperial  affair  on  the  siege  of  Miinster  by  levying  a  tax 
for  carrying  it  on.  In  addition  to  this,  the  burgomasters  of 
Frankfort  and  Nurenberg  were  despatched  to  the  besieged, 
with  orders  to  summon  them  to  surrender  in  the  name  of 
the  Empire.     All  idea  of  surrender,  however,  was  repudiated. 

Yet  the  position  of  the  town  was  already  hopeless.  From 
the  outset  the  Miinster  Baptists  must  have  known  that,  in 
face  of  the  embittered  enmity  of  the  propertied  classes 
throughout  the  whole  Empire,  their  insurrection  could  be 
maintained  only  by  ceasing  to  be  local  and  spreading  to  other 

*  In  a  folk-song  of  that  period  a  soldier  who  was  present  is  made  to 
sing: 

"  Die  Landsknect  waren  in  grossen  Noth, 
Da  bliebcn  wohl  dreitausend  todt 
Zu  Miinster  unter  den  Mauern." 

("  The  soldiers  were  all  in  dire  need, 
A  good  three  thousand  lay  there  dead, 
Under  the  walls  of  Miinster,") 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  281 

parts  of  the  nation.  Their  prospects  in  this  respect  were  by 
no  means  unfavourable,  for  they  had  numerous  adherents  in 
all  the  towns  of  North  Germany  ;  in  fact,  in  Llibeck  the 
reins  of  government  were  in  the  hands  of  a  party  friendly  to 
their  cause.  Messengers  were  sent  out  in  all  directions,  and 
endeavours  made  to  operate  on  the  outer  world  by  means  of 
circulars  and  pamphlets.  We  have  already  quoted  from  one 
written  by  Rothmann,  which  is  worthy  of  special  mention. 
It  was  entitled,  Restitition  oder  Wiederherstellung  der  rechten 
und  gesunden  chrislichen  lehre,  Glaubens  und  Lebens  ("  The 
Restitution  or  Restoration  of  True,  and  Sound  Christian 
Doctrine,  Belief,  and  Life"),  and  appeared  in  October,  1534, 
as  a  vindication  of  the  Baptist  tenets  and  institutions.  It 
advocated  the  use  of  the  sword  against  the  "  godless,"  and  in 
defence  of  communism  and  polygamy.  The  pamphlet  was 
smuggled  out  of  the  town  and  distributed  so  freely  that 
within  a  short  time  a  second  edition  became  necessary. 

In  December  a  tract  appeared  entitled,  Das  Buchlein  von 
der  Rache  ("A  Tract  on  Vengeance").^  Vengeance,  it  says,  is 
at  hand  ;  it  will  be  accomplished  on  those  who  have  hitherto 
been  in  power,  and  when  it  is  accomplished,  the  New 
Heaven  and  the  New  Earth  will  appear  to  the  people  of 
God.  The  pamphlet  ends  with  a  summons  to  revolt :  "  Now, 
beloved  brethren,  the  time  for  vengeance  is  come  to  us  ;  God 
has  raised  up  the  promised  David,  armed  for  vengeance  and 
the  punishment  of  Babylon  and  its  people.  You  have  heard 
how  it  shall  come  to  pass  ;  what  a  rich  reward  awaits  us,  and 
how  gloriously  we  shall  be  crowned  if  we  only  fight  bravely 
and  manfully,  and  know  that  whether  God  grants  us  life  or 
death,  we  cannot  be  lost.  Wherefore,  beloved  brethren,  arm 
yourselves  for  the  fight,  not  only  with  the  humble  weapons 
of  the  apostles,  for  suffering,  but  also  with  the  glorious 
armour  of  David,  for  vengeance ;  and  with  God's  might  and 
help   destroy   the    Babylonian   power   and   all   that  godless 

'  Eyn  gantz  iroefilick  bericht  van  der  Wrake  wide  straffe  des  Babilonis- 
Chen  gruwels,  an  alle  ware  Israeliten  uudc  Bundgenoien  Christi,  her  wide 
dar  vorstroyet,  durch  de  gemeinte  Christi  tho  Miinsfer.  Reproduced  in  its 
entirety  and  in  the  original  tongue  by  Boutenwek,  in  his  Zur  Literatur 
und  Geschichte  der  Wiedertaufer,  pp.  66-80. 


282  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

estate.  .  .  .  All  wisdom,  plans,  skill,  and  methods  must  be 
employed  to  grieve  the  godless  enemy  of  God  and  strengthen 
the  standard  of  the  Almighty.  For  consider  what  they  have 
done  to  you  !  But  this  can  you  again  do  to  them  ;  yea,  with 
what  measure  they  meted,  shall  it  be  measured  to  them  again ; 
and,  what  is  more,  shall  be  poured  into  the  same  cup.  Take 
heed  that  you  make  no  sin  of  that  which  is  not  sinful.  Now, 
beloved  brethren,  make  diligent  speed  to  hold  to  the  cause 
with  zeal,  and  hasten,  as  many  as  possible,  to  come  under  the 
banner  of  God.  May  God,  the  Lord  of  the  army  hosts,  who 
hath  decreed  this  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  and  pro- 
claimed it  by  His  prophets,  arm  you  and  all  His  Israel  as 
pleaseth  Him,  for  His  praise  and  for  the  increasing  of  His 
Kingdom.  Amen."  When  this  stirring  appeal  was  issued, 
all  the  insurrectionary  movements  in  German  towns  had 
already  been  suppressed.  Since  the  occurrences  at  Munster, 
the  municipal  authorities  had  been  particularly  cautious,  and 
had  succeeded  in  either  opportunely  checking  all  Baptist 
uprisings,  or  in  putting  them  down  by  violent  measures,  e.g:, 
in  Warendorf,  Sveft,  Osnabruck,  Minden,  Wesel,  Cologne, 
&c.  In  May,  1534,  however,  war  broke  out  between  the 
Lubeck  democracy  and  Denmark,  making  it  thenceforth 
impossible  for  that  town  to  lend  more  than  moral  aid  to  the 
Munster  struggle.  Moreover,  this  war  soon  took  a  turn 
highly  unfavourable  to  the  ancient  Hanseatic  city,  whose 
ultimate  overthrow  led  to  the  downfall  of  democracy  and  to 
Wullenweber's  ruin. 

At  the  end  of  the  year  1534  the  Munster  Baptists  had  no 
further  expectation  of  help  from  Germany.  One  hope  still 
remained,  viz.,  assistance  from  the  Netherlands,  from  which 
country  the  Munster  insurrection  had  already  derived  so 
much  of  its  strength. 

When  Munster  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Baptists 
the  movement  had  become  powerful  in  the  Netherlands, 
especially  in  Amsterdam,  which,  after  Munster,  was  looked 
upon  as  the  metropolis  of  the  sect.  It  had  a  foothold  also 
in  other  towns  of  Holland  and  Friesland.  "  In  April  it  was 
estimated  that  two-thirds  of  the  population  of  Monnikendam 
were  adherents  of  Jan  Mathys,  and  a  like   state  of  things 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  283 

existed  everywhere  in  the  environs  of  the  capital  of  the 
Netherlands."  I  They  were  also  strong  in  Oberyssel,  and 
particularly  so  in  the  town  of  Deventer,  where  in  fact  the 
Burgomasters  joined  them. 

On  the  6th  of  February,  1534,  Erasmus  Schetus  wrote  from 
Amsterdam  to  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam :  "  In  these  provinces, 
and  above  all  in  Holland,  we  are  made  extremely  anxious 
by  the  Anabaptist  conflagration  ;  for  it  is  mounting  up  like 
flames.  There  is  hardly  a  spot  or  town  where  the  torch  of  the 
insurrection  does  not  secretly  glow."  2 

These  revolutionary  masses,  however,  were  not  like  the 
Brothers  in  Munster,  confronted  by  a  powerless  executive, 
and  a  mingling  of  princely  and  municipal  authorities,  but 
by  a  strong  central  government,  which  at  once  summoned 
all  the  means-  at  its  command  to  crush  the  impending 
revolt.  It  is  impossible  to  give  the  long  list  of  executions 
which  then  ensued  ;  the  same  cruel  things  repeat  them- 
selves ad  nauseam.  But  in  spite  of  all  these,  the  Govern- 
ment did  not  succeed  in  preventing  the  formation  of 
armed  bodies,  whose  plan  was  to  proceed  to  Vollenhove 
(mostly  by  water)  with  a  view  to  marching  to  the  relief  of 
Munster. 

On  March  22nd  thirty  vessels,  with  armed  Baptists  on 
board,  arrived  at  Vollenhove  from  Amsterdam.  These  were 
followed  on  the  25th  by  twenty-one  others  carrying  three 
thousand  men,  many  partisans  going  at  the  same  time  in 
vehicles  or  on  foot.  The  Netherland  authorities,  however, 
who  had  got  wind  of  the  affair,  attacked  and  dispersed  each 
of  these  bodies  separately. 

In  this  way  the  attempt  at  relief  was  frustrated  at  the 
outset.  But  the  great  victories  of  the  besieged  at  Munster  on 
May  25th  and  August  31st  revived  the  Baptist  agitation  in 
the  Netherlands,  which  was  also  fanned  by  emissaries  from  the 
beleaguered  city.  Jan  van  Leyden  proposed  a  bold  plan  for 
relieving  the  scarcity  of  provisions  which  had  begun  to  make 
itself  felt  in  the  winter  of  1534-35-  The  associates  in  the 
Netherlands  were  to  rise  ;  he  would  cut  his  way  through  the 

'  Cornelius,  Miinsterischer  Anfruhr,  p.  234. 
=  Berichtc  dcr  Augemcugen,  p.  315. 


284  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

besieging  army  with  a  part  of  his  men,  join  tlr-^,  relieving 
forces,  spread  the  insurrection,  and  thus  set  Munster  free. 
We  have  seen  that  he  called  on  volunteers  for  this  hopeless 
undertaking.  He  exercised  his  troops  for  this  purpose,  and 
had  a  special  fort  constructed,  made  of  army  waggons,  to  be 
used  in  the  sortie. 

But  the  scheme  ended  in  failure.  One  of  Jan's  envoys, 
the  "  apostle  "  Johann  Grass,  a  whilom  schoolmaster,  turned 
traitor.  Despatched  for  the  purpose  of  assembling  the 
Brethren  outside  the  town  and  leading  them  to  Deventer, 
whence  they  were  to  push  on  to  MUnster,  he  left  the  latter 
place  on  New  Year's  Day,  1535,  only,  however,  to  go  straight 
to  Bishop  Franz,  divulge  the  plan,  and  betray  the  names  of 
the  most  prominent  associates  in  the  Lower  Rhine  country,  as 
well  as  their  places  of  meeting.  Thus  the  attempt  to  raise 
the  siege  was  nipped  in  the  bud. 

Once  more  Jan  van  Leyden  endeavoured  to  carry  out  the 
plan.  On  this  occasion  the  ardently  longed-for  relief  was  to 
come  on  Easter  Day.  Keller,  who  has  accurately  followed 
up  these  movements,  informs  us  that :  "  It  is  related  that 
the  Baptists  proposed  having  four  banners  raised  at  a  time 
previously  agreed  upon  ;  one  at  Eschenbruch,  near  the  river 
Maas  in  the  Julich  district ;  one  in  Holland  and  Woterland  ; 
the  third  between  Masstricht,  Aachen,  and  the  district  of 
Limburg,  and  the  fourth  near  Groningen  in  Friesland. 
Until  the  stipulated  time  had  arrived  the  brothers  were  to 
busy  themselves  in  obtaining  weapons  and  money,  and  as 
soon  as  the  command  was  given,  each  was  to  betake  himself 
to  the  nearest  banner,  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  in  the 
relief  of  Munster, 

"This  plan  was,  in  part,  actually  carried  out.  The  very 
next  Easter  Day,  March  28th,  the  so-called  Olden  Monastery, 
between  Sneek  and  Bolswarben,  in  West  Friesland,  was  occu- 
pied by  the  Baptists,  and  fortified.  It  was  a  strong  position, 
with  fourfold  walls  and  ditches. 

"When  the  Imperial  governor  received  information  of  this 
he  at  once  marched  against  the  place,  hoping  by  a  sudden 
attack  to  recapture  it ;  but  he  saw  himself  forced  to  a  regular 
siege,  and  had  to  bring  up  heavy  artillery. 


THE   ANABAPTISTS  285 

"  After  having  increased  his  forces  by  enrolling  every  third 
man  in  the  town  and  country,  he  began  the  bombardment  on 
the  1st  of  April,  and  immediately  afterwards  stormed  the 
works.  Four  times  did  he  have  to  lead  his  soldiers  under 
fire.  The  first  two  attacks  were  repulsed,  but  at  the  third 
and  fourth  he  succeeded  in  occupying  a  few  of  the  advanced 
positions.  Some  of  the  outworks,  however,  together  with 
the  church,  remained  in  the  possession  of  the  defenders, 
thus  compelling  the  besiegers  to  renew  the  bombardment  on 
April  7th.  When  breaches  had  been  made  at  five  points 
the  place  was  stormed  at  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
and  after  a  severe  fight  finally  taken.  Eight  hundred  or  nine 
hundred  lay  dead  about  the  walls." 

The  greater  part  of  another  force,  which  went  to  Deventer 
by  water,  was  destroyed  by  Duke  von  Geldern  ;  but  Keller 
was  unable  to  discover  any  information  with  regard  to  the 
other  places  in  which  uprisings  were  planned. 

Once  again,  however,  a  dangerous  insurrection  broke  out 
in  Amsterdam,  whither  the  Munster  Baptists  had  despatched 
"  one  of  their  best  officers,"  Johann  von  Geel,  who  succeeded 
in  reaching  his  destination,  and  in  exciting  a  revolt. 

"The  insurrection  broke  out  at  about  eight  o'clock  in 
the  evening  of  May  nth.  Five  hundred  armed  Baptists 
seized  the  town-hall,  slew  one  of  the  Burgomasters  who  fell 
into  their  hands,  and  put  the  position  into  a  state  of  defence." 

"  The  rebels,  however,  were  by  no  means  strong  enough 
to  surprise  the  whole  of  the  large  town  without  further 
trouble.  Moreover,  the  outbreak  seems  to  have  taken  place 
before  all  the  conspirators  had  assembled,  as  a  few  days  later 
some  fresh  allies  appeared  before  the  walls.  At  all  events, 
after  his  first  success,  Johann  von  Geel  found  himself  con- 
fronted by  a  resistance  which  it  is  possible  he  may  not  have 
anticipated.  The  main  body  of  citizens  took  up  arms  with 
one  accord,  and  a  sanguinary  fight  ensued,  which  lasted 
through  the  whole  night,  and  ended  in  the  complete  over- 
throw of  the  Baptists.  The  hatred  of  the  victors  displayed 
itself  in  the  most  horrible  barbarities.  Johann  von  Campen, 
for  example,  whom  Jan  van  Leyden  had  installed  as  Bishop 
among  the  Baptists,  had  his  tongue  torn  out  and  his  hand 


286  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

cut  off.  While  in  this  maimed  condition  a  tin  mitre,  bearing 
the  escutcheon  of  the  town,  was  placed  on  his  head  in 
mockery ;  after  which  he  was  led  to  the  pillory.  Not  till 
then  was  he  beheaded."  ^  The  hearts  of  the  other  prisoners 
were  torn  from  their  living  bodies  and  thrown  in  their  faces. 
Nevertheless,  what  a  brutal  horde  were — tke  Anabaptists  ! 

The  overthrow  of  the  Amsterdam  insurrection  signified 
the  downfall  of  the  only  portion  of  the  war-party  of  Ana- 
baptists outside  of  Munster  who  were  capable  of  action,  and 
destroyed  the  last  hope  of  the  besieged  for  help  from  without. 

Starvation  was  already  rife  among  the  defenders  of 
Munster.  "  At  first  they  ate  horses,  head  and  feet  as  well, 
together  with  the  liver  and  lungs.  They  ate  cats,  dogs,  mice, 
rats,  slugs,  fish,  frogs,  and  grass,  while  moss  was  their  bread. 
Salt,  as  long  as  they  had  any,  was  their  fat.  They  also  ate 
the  hides  of  oxen,  and  even  shoes,  after  they  had  been  soaked. 
.  .  .  One  after  another  the  children  and  aged  died  of  star- 
vation" (Gresbeck,  pp.  189,  190). 

When  the  famine  had  become  insupportable,  Jan  issued  a 
proclamation  to  the  effect  that  all  those  who  no  longer  took 
part  in  the  defence,  and  wished  to  leave  the  town,  should  give 
notice  thereof  at  the  town-hall.  Every  one  was  at  liberty  to 
leave  the  city  within  four  days.  Not  a  few  took  advantage 
of  this  permission — women,  children,  aged  persons,  and  even 
some  who  were  able  to  bear  arms.  A  part  of  those  who  went 
out  were  slain  by  the  Bishop's  soldiers,  and  the  others  thrown 
into  prison.  The  young  women  were  seized  by  the  soldiery, 
who  carried  on  polyandry  with  them — this  seeming  to  be  the 
best  means  of  relieving  those  miserable  creatures  from  the 
infamies  with  which  they  had  been  burdened  by  t]\Qpolygamy 
of  the  Baptists. 

Those  who  remained  in  the  town  were  for  the  most  part 
resolved  to  hold  out  till  the  last  gasp,  that  when  all  should 
be  lost  they  might  be  buried  under  the  ruins  of  burning 
Munster.  Their  pitiable  condition  was  known  in  the  Bishop's 
camp.  They  had  very  little  powder  left.  "  They  have  ceased 
to  fire ;  their  doom  is  certain.  According  to  the  accounts 
given  to  us  by  prisoners  their  stock  of  powder  is  reduced  to 
^  Keller,  Geschichte  der  Wiedertditfer,  pp.  276,  279. 


THE   ANABAPTISTS  287 

a  ton  and  a  half."  Thus  wrote  the  already-mentioned  Burgo- 
master of  Frankfort,  Justinian  von  Holzhausen,  from  the  camp 
before  Munster,  May  29th.  ^  On  May  24th  Jan  mustered 
"  all  the  folk  in  the  town  who  could  bear  arms,  amounting, 
as  we  are  informed  by  prisoners,  to  about  two  hundred  men. 
The  others,  women,  children  and  men,  were  lying  ill,  or  going 
about  sick,  many  of  them  on  crutches.  They  were  all  swollen 
and  weak,  and  dared  not  go  far  outside  the  gates,  as  they 
could  not  run  away  from  our  soldiers."  2 

Yet,  so  much  were  the  forces  of  Jan  van  Leyden  feared 
that  the  besiegers  did  not  dare  to  storm  the  town  openly,  so 
long  as  the  defenders  felt  themselves  possessed  of  a  vestige 
of  strength  to  resist.  The  Bishop's  forces  remembered  too 
well  that  they  had  already  lost  six  thousand  men  in  their 
fights  with  the  little  body  of  Baptists  (Holzhausen,  op.  cit 
p.  343).  Hence  the  Frankfort  Burgomaster  could  again  write, 
to  his  father  on  the  8th  of  July  :  "  As  far  as  I  can  judge  of 
affairs  before  Munster,  I  fear  that  unless  we  are  aided  by 
treachery  the  town  will  not  be  captured  this  summer  ;  for  the 
'king,'  his  'dukes,'  and  foul  adherents,  have  obstinately  set 
themselves  to  so  managing  the  rascally  business,  that  they 
may  die  and  rot  with  the  whole  town  "  {pp.  cit.,  pp.  353,  354). 

When  Holzhausen  wrote  the  above  letter,  the  traitor  whom 
he  hoped  for  had  already  been  found — the  man  Gresbeck,  so 
well  known  to  us.  He  deserted  the  town  on  May  23rd, 
and,  on  being  taken  prisoner,  offered  to  conduct  the  besiegers 
to  a  part  of  the  walls  where  there  was  no  danger.  The 
Baptists  were  in  fact  no  longer  able  to  guard  the  whole  line 
of  fortifications.  Gresbeck's  information  was  confirmed  by 
Hans  Eck  von  der  Langenstraten,  a  soldier  who  had  previously 
deserted  from  the  Bishop's  camp  to  the  Baptists,  but  had 
returned  when  things  began  to  go  badly  with  them.  In  spite 
of  this  it  was  long  before  the  cautious  besiegers  ventured  on 
the  surprise.  After  all  had  been  most  carefully  prepared,  and 
under  cover  of  a  severe  thunderstorm,  they  set  about  the 
task  on  June  25th. 

Under  Gresbeck's  guidance,  the  vanguard  of  the  soldiers, 
about  two  hundred  strong,  succeeded  in  scaling  the  wall  in 

'  Bcrichtc  der  Augenzeugen,  p.  343-         "  Holzhausen,  of.  cit.,  p.  343- 


288  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

the  vicinity  of  the  Gate  of  the  Cross.  The  nearest  guards 
were  killed  and  the  gate  opened.  Five  or  six  hundred  of  the 
Bishop's  forces  rushed  in,  and  to  all  appearances  Munster 
was  won.  ^  Once  again,  however,  was  their  wild  thirst  for 
booty  to  prove  dangerous  to  the  "  defenders  of  the  rights 
of  property." 

Drunk  with  victory,  those  who  had  forced  their  way  in, 
rushed  forward  to  plunder,  leaving  the  gate  unguarded.  In 
the  meantime  the  nearest  watch  of  the  Baptists  had  hastened 
to  the  scene  of  action,  and  before  the  main  body  of  soldiers 
could  force  their  way  in,  had  recaptured  the  gate,  thus  cutting 
ofif  the  soldiers  in  the  town  from  those  outside.  Instead  of 
attacking  with  the  latter  and  coming  to  the  rescue,  the  com- 
mander of  the  Bishop's  forces.  Count  Wirich  von  Dhann, 
when  he  saw  the  gate  once  more  in  the  hands  of  the 
Baptists,  gave  the  order  to  retreat.  Derisive  laughter  and 
flights  of  arrows  followed  him  from  the  defenders  on  the 
walls — men  and  women.  Meantime  the  Baptists  had  risen 
throughout  the  town.  Far  from  joyously  casting  off  the 
yoke  of  the  reign  of  terror,  all  who  could  hold  a  weapon, 
threw  themselves  in  furious  onset  against  the  soldiers  who 
had  penetrated  to  the  town  ;  so  that,  instead  of  the  two 
hundred  whom  they  had  expected  to  meet,  the  Bishop's  forces 
found  themselves  confronted  by  eight  hundred  armed 
antagonists.2  The  intruders  were  reduced  to  great  straits, 
and  at  three  in  the  morning  held  a  parley  with  Jan  van 
Leyden.  A  few  of  the  soldiers,  however,  had  succeeded  in 
cutting  their  way  to  an  unoccupied  part  of  the  walls,  and 
when  morning  dawned  attracted  the  attention  of  their 
comrades  outside  the  walls.  The  main  body  now  advanced 
to  the  attack,  and  scaled  the  weakly  guarded  walls.     "  Thus 

'  Compare  General  Wirich's  report  to  the  Duke  of  Cleve,  July  29th. 
{Berichte  dcr  Augenzeugen,  p.  359.) 

=^  Holzhausen,  in  a  communication  through  the  town  of  Frankfort,, 
July  I  St,  op.  cit.,  p.  366.  On  one  occasion,  Keller  remarks:  "It  is 
impossible  to  note  without  astonishment  how  a  few  immigrant  rascals, 
succeeded  in  reducing  the  entire  native  population  more  and  more  to  a 
condition  of  slavery"  {Wiedertdufer,  p.  103).  Still  more  astounding. 
is  the  fury  with  which  those  who  were  "  freed  "  from  the  reign  of  terror 
fell  upon  their  "  deliverers." 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  289 

the  town  was  taken  by  the  grace  of  God  alone,  and  not  by 
the  skill  of  the  soldiers"  (Holzhausen,  op.  cit,  p.  366). 

A  frightful  street  fight  ensued.  Where  they  could  the 
Baptists  barricaded  themselves,  and  at  eight  in  the  morning 
the  pick  of  their  forces,  two  hundred  strong,  occupied  the 
market  which  had  previously  been  put  in  a  state  of  defence. 
A  council  of  war  of  the  Bishop's  generals  decided  that  to 
drive  the  Baptists  from  their  last  position  was  a  hazardous, 
and,  in  any  event,  a  too  costly  undertaking.  Freedom  and 
safe  conduct  were  consequently  promised  to  the  besieged  on 
condition  of  laying  down  their  arms. 

Driven  to  bay,  and  with  no  further  hope  left  to  them, 
the  Baptists  accepted  the  conditions.  Hardly  had  they 
given  up  their  arms  and  left  their  barricades  when  they 
were  massacred.  One  infamous  deed  more  or  less  was  a 
matter  of  no  consequence  to  the  princely  banditti. 

On  the  day  of  the  capture  four  hundred  and  fifty  Baptists 
were  slain,  the  following  days  being  given  up  to  the  slaughter 
of  the  unfortunates  who  were  found  hidden  in  the  houses.^ 

A  vigorous  part  had  been  taken  in  the  fight  by  the  women, 
of  whom  the  larger  number  were  also  massacred.  Those 
who  survived  were  brought  before  the  Bishop,  who  told  them 
that  he  would  grant  them  pardon  if  they  would  renounce 
Anabaptism.  As  few  accepted  this  offer  (the  rest  continuing 
firm  and  obstinate  in  their  undertaking)  "  the  most  prominent 
among  them  were  executed,  and  the  others  driven  out  of  the 
town.     Many  of  these  are  said  to  have  gone  to  England."  2 

The  greater  number  of  the  leaders  had  fallen,  among 
whom  were  Tilbeck  and  Kippenbroick,  and  probably  Roth- 
mann.  Only  a  few,  like  Heinrich  Krechtinck,  managed  to 
escape.  His  brother  Bernt,  as  well  as  Knipperdollinck  and 
Jan  van  Leyden,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  victors,  and  were 
kept  for  purposes  of  a  delightful  spectacle.  In  accordance 
with  the  custom  of  the  times  of  accusing  those  who  were 
most  dreaded  with  cowardice,  Kerssenbroick  relates  that  Jan 
acted  the  poltroon  and  ran  away.     Neither  before  or  after  the 

'  Sigmund   von   Beineburgk's  report  to   Philip  of    Hesse,  July  7th, 
op.  cit.,  p.  368. 
'  Gresbeck,  p.  213,  and  Beineburgk,  op.  cit.,  p.  368. 

20 


290  ,  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

capture  of  the  town  does  his  conduct  betray  cowardice.  It 
would  indeed  have  been  hardly  possible  to  assert  with 
certainty  anything  regarding  the  behaviour  of  individuals 
during  the  night's  fight  in  the  streets.  When  the  Bishop 
had  entered  the  town  he  summoned  Jan  to  his  presence. 
"  Then  my  most  reverend  lord  said,  *  Art  thou  a  King  ? ' 
The  king  replied,  '  Art  thou  a  Bishop  ? ' "  This  answer  does 
not  savour  of  cowardice. 

The  treatment  experienced  by  the  prisoners  was  the  one 
usually  dealt  out  to  the  defenders  of  the  exploited  classes 
at  that  time — and  of  other  times. 

Iron  collars  were  forged  for  Jan,  Knipperdollinck,  and 
Krechtinck,  who  were  afterwards  dragged  about  the  country. 
It  seems  as  if  their  torments  were  never  to  cease.  Not  until 
January  22,  1536,  were  they  executed  at  Miinster  in  the 
presence  of  the  whole  populace,  the  Bishop  also  being  a 
witness  of  the  edifying  spectacle.  "  The  first  act  of  the 
executioners  was  to  bind  the  victims  to  the  stake  by  their 
iron  collars.  Seizing  white-hot  pincers  they  then  proceeded 
to  pinch  the  king  in  all  parts  of  the  body  in  such  a  manner 
that  flames  blazed  out  from  every  part  which  was  touched  by 
the  pincers,  until  nearly  all  who  were  standing  in  the  market- 
place were  sickened  by  the  stench  which  arose.  The  same 
punishment  was  meted  out  to  the  others,  who,  however, 
endured  their  tortures  with  greater  impatience  and  irritability 
than  the  king,  and  made  known  their  anguish  in  plaints  and 
screams.  Terrified  at  the  sight  of  the  horrible  torture, 
Knipperdollinck  hung  himself  by  the  iron  collar,  trying  by 
this  means  to  cut  his  throat  and  hasten  his  death  ;  but  when 
the  executioners  became  aware  of  this  they  raised  him  up 
once  more,  forced  his  jaws  wide  asunder,  put  a  rope  between 
his  teeth,  and  bound  him  so  firmly  to  the  stake  that  he  could 
neither  sit  nor  break  his  neck,  nor  (since  his  throat  was  quite 
wide  open),  choke  himself.  When  they  had  been  tortured 
long  enough,  and  while  they  were  still  living,  their  tongues 
were  pulled  out  from  their  throats  with  red-hot  pincers,  and  a 
dagger  driven  home  to  their  hearts."  It  is  well  known  that 
the  corpses  were  put  into  iron  cages  and  hung  in  the  Lamberti 
Church.     "The  pincers  with  which   they  were   tortured  are 


THE  ANABAPTISTS  291 

Still  to  be  seen  in  the  market-place  on  a  bolt  of  the  town-hall, 
where  they  were  hung  to  serve  as  an  example  and  terror  to 
all  rebels  and  enemies  to  the  authorities."  i 

A  modern  historian  has  the  effrontery  to  call  this  the 
"merited  punishment  for  their  misdeeds"  (Keller,  Wieder- 
tdufer,  p.  280).  We  challenge  the  noble  masters  of  "  German 
Science "  to  point  out  a  single  instance  in  which,  during  the 
terrors  of  the  siege,  the  uneducated,  rough  proletarians  of 
Miinster  practised  on  their  enemies  a  hundredth  part  of  the 
bloodcurdling  cruelties  which  the  right  reverend  Bishop,  in 
perfect  tranquillity  of  mind,  had  prepared  and  carried  out 
before  his  own  eyes  six  months  after  his  victory !  Yet  these 
gentlemen,  who  cannot  too  highly  extol  their  own  transcendent 
ethics,  exult  over  the  triumph  of  the  priestly  bloodhound, 
while  they  drag  his  victims  through  the  mire  as  infamous 
criminals. 

«  *  .  w  «  » 

Anabaptism,  the  proletarian  cause,  nay,  the  collective 
democracy  in  the  German  Empire,  lay  helpless  in  the  dust ; 
and  outside  of  Germany  also  the  fighting  party  of  the 
Baptist  order  had  lost  all  support. 

At  the  Congress  of  Bockholt  in  1536  a  rupture  occurred 
between  the  Netherland  Baptists.  The  war  party  began  from 
that  moment  to  disappear ;  but  the  peaceable  and  millennarian 
section  maintained  itself  some  time  longer.  Its  leader  was 
Davis  Joris,  who  was  born  in  Brugge,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  and  brought  up  at  Delft.  The  Obbenites 
(so  named  from  Obbe  Phillips),  who  completely  acquiesced  in 
the  existing  order  of  things,  now  became  the  most  important 
party  among  the  Anabaptists.  They  taught  that  no  other 
condition  of  the  world  than  the  existing  one  was  to  be  looked 
for,  and  that  mankind  must  adapt  themselves  to  it. 

Menno  Simons  subsequently  became  the  head  of  this  party, 
whose  adherents  were  named  after  him,  Mennonites.  Born 
in  Witmarsum,  a  Friesland  village  near  Franecker,  he  became 
a  Catholic  priest,  but  united  himself  to  the  Baptists  in  1531, 
and  in  1533  was  already  a  partisan  of  the  submissive  section 

'  Kerssenbroick,  p.  212.    We  may  give  complete  credence  to  this 
account. 


292  COMMUNISM  IN  CENTRAL  EUROPE 

and  an  opponent  of  Jan  Mathys.  While  his  brother,  who 
belonged  to  the  war  party,  joined  the  force  which  set  forth 
from  West  Friesland  to  the  relief  of  Miinster  on  Easter  Day, 
1535,  and  fell,  fighting  bravely,  Menno  did  not  hesitate  to 
stab  his  grievously  afflicted  Miinster  associates  in  the  back, 
by  initiating  an  agitation  against  them. 

After  the  fall  of  Miinster  his  faction  became  the  most 
prominent  of  all  the  Baptist  divisions. 

Menno's  end,  like  that  of  Joris,  is  indicative  of  the 
character  which  the  Baptist  order  was  thenceforth  to  assume. 

These  two  leaders  had  to  pass  through  many  persecutions  ; 
but  both  died  respected  and  in  easy  circumstances. 

Joris  had  saved  up  a  snug  sum,  and,  in  order  to  enjoy  it  in 
peace,  this  prophet  of  the  latter  day  emigrated  to  B^le  in 
1544,  and  settled  there  under  the  alzas  of  Johann  of  Brugge. 
Not  until  after  his  death  was  his  true  name  discovered,  when 
his  body  was  burnt  by  order  of  the  Bale  Council. 

Menno  Simons  died  soon  afterwards  in  1559.  The  last 
years  of  his  life  were  passed  at  Oldesloe  in  Holstein,  on  the 
estate  of  a  nobleman  who,  while  in  war  service  in  the  Nether- 
lands, had  learnt  to  know  the  Baptists  as  a  very  harmless  and 
industrious  people,  and  had  offered  them  an  asylum  on  his 
property,  to  his  own  great  advantage. 

But  the  Netherlands  themselves  were  soon  to  become 
the  refuge  for  persecuted  Baptists.  The  casting  off  of  the 
Hapsburg  yoke  brought  freedom  of  belief  to  the  country 
about  the  mouths  of  the  Rhine,  and  a  higher  form  of  tolerance 
came  into  vogue  there  at  almost  the  same  time  that  it  disap- 
peared in  Bohemia  and  Moravia,  where,  though  crude  and 
incomplete,  it  had  existed  since  the  Hussite  Wars.  After  the 
close  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  Mennonites  were  tolerated 
in  the  Dutch  Republic,  until,  in  1626,  their  freedom  of  belief 
was  officially  confirmed.  Like  the  Herrnhuters,  who  were 
the  successors  of  the  Bohemian  Brethren,  they  have  main- 
tained themselves  till  the  present  day ;  but  for  a  long  time 
have  formed  nothing  more  than  a  small,  well-to-do  middle- 
class  community,  of  no  importance,  either  to  the  proletarian 
struggle  for  emancipation,  or  to  the  development  of  socialistic 
ideas. 


THE   ANABAPTISTS  293 

From  the  Netherlands,  which  in  the  times  of  the  Beghards 
were  already  in  close  intercourse  with  England,  Baptist  ideas 
spread  to  the  latter  country.  In  the  last  part  of  the  reign  of 
Henry  VIII.,  more  especially,  there  were  many  edicts  issued 
against  the  Anabaptists,  and  in  1525  and  the  following  years 
a  great  number  were  executed,  of  whom  a  large  proportion 
were  Dutch.  But  the  Governments  of  Henry  VIII.  and 
Elizabeth  were  too  strong  to  allow  Anabaptism  to  publish 
itself  otherwise  than  by  martyrdoms.  It  was  different  with  the 
wars  of  the  seventeenth  century,  which  even  brought  Ana- 
baptist ideas  into  the  foreground.  The  close  of  one  century, 
however,  had  altered  those  ideas  in  many  points ;  and  great 
as  may  be  the  apparent  resemblance  between  the  Anabaptists 
and  the  democratic  and  socialistic  section  of  the  party  of 
independence,- their  views  are  essentially  different. 

As  a  real,  effective  force  in  public  life,  Christian  com- 
munism came  to  an  end  in  the  sixteenth  century.  That 
century  saw  the  birth  of  a  new  system  of  production,  the 
modern  State  and  the  modern  proletariat;  and  it  saw  also 
the  birth  of  modern  socialism. 

A  new  era  was  dawning  for  mankind. 


Zh«  Oresbam  pveee, 

XJNWDJ  BROTHEB8, 
WOEINQ  AND  LONDON. 


T.  FISHER  PN'WIN,  Publisher, 


WORKS  BY  PROF.  PASQUALE  VILLARI 

THE   LIFE  AND  TIMES   OF  GIRO- 
LAMO  SAVONAROLA 

Translated  by  LINDA  VILLARI 

New  and  Cheaper  Edition  in  one  volume.    Fully  Illustrated. 
Cloth,  large  crown,  7s.  6d. 

"  No  more  interesting  book  has  been  issued  during  the  present  season." 

.,_...   ^        , Pall  Mall  Gazette. 

"The  most  interestmg  reugious  biography  that  we  know  of  in  modern  times." 

"  A  book  which  is  not  likely  to  be  forgotten."— .,4M^«««»i. 

"  By  far  the  best  book  on  Savonarola  available  for  English  K2iAtTs."— Standard. 

"  Is  perhaps  the  book  of  the  publishing  sezson."— Star. 

"  Sincere,  complete,  and,  upon  the  whole,  well-balanced  and  candid."— Yorkihire  Post. 

"A  work  of  very  great  value." — Scotsman. 

"  No  more  graphic  view  of  the  ecclesiastical  and  social  life  of  ancient  Italy  has  been 
opened  up  for  us  than  this  of  Linda  Villari." — Morning  Leader. 

"As  complete  and  trustworthy  as  care,  judgment,  and  the  fullest  investigation  can 
make  W.:'— Dundee  Advertiser. 

"A  credit  to  the  publisher." — Independent, 


THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF  NICC0l6 
MACHIAVELLI 

2  Vols.,  Svo.,  with  Illustrations,  32s. 

"  Indispensable  to  the  serious  student  of  Machiavelli,  his  teaching  and  his  times." 

Times. 

"The  fullest  and  most  authoritative  history  of  Machiavelli  and  his  times  ever  given 
to  the  British  public." — Glasgow  Herald. 

"  May  be  regarded  as  an  authority  on  the  times  of  which  it  treats.  .  .  .  The  book  is 
enriched  with  rare  and  interesting  illustrations,  and  with  some  valuable  historical 
documents."— DaiVy  Telegraph. 


THE   TWO   FIRST   CENTURIES  OF 
FLORENTINE   HISTORY 

2  Vols.,  with  Illustrations,  ivo.,  16b.  each. 

"  Professor  Villari's  learned  and  original  work.  .  .  .  Its  value  has  long  been  recognised 
by  all  competent  students  of  Dante  and  of  the  Florentine  history  of  his  time."— Times. 
"  Its  value  to  those  in  search  of  real  knowledge  could  not  be  easily  exaggerated." 

Scotsman. 

11,  Paternoster  Buildings,  London,  E.G.  gg 


T.  FISHER  UNWIN,  Publisher, 


THE    CENTURY     DIG 
TIONARY 

Six  volumes  bound  in  dotk,  gat  Uttered,  sprinkled  edges, 

per  vol.    £2    2s. 

Do.  in  half  morocco,  marbled  edges,  per  vol.    £2  16a. 

24  Parts,  strongly   bound   in  cloth,  per  part,  lOs.  6d. 

Bookcase  for  holding  the  Dictionary,  price    £3   Sa. 

Size  of  each  volume  13  in.  x  9^  in.  x  2J  in. 


PRESS  NOTICES. 
"Tie  exceptional  merits  of  the  '  Century  IMctionary '  are  beyond  dispute'— TYmmx. 
"One  of  the  most  notable  monuments  of  the  philological  indostry  of  the  age." 

DaHy  TeUgrapk. 
"  It  is  a  work  of  great  abifity,  fine  scholarship,  and  patient  research  in  many  widdy 
difierent  departments  of  learning." — Standard. 

'  As  we  turn  the  leaves  of  this  splendid  woric,  we  fed  acntdy  the  inadequacy  cf  any 
description  xpait  frcMn  actual  handling  of  the  volumes."— ZJaiTr  ChronicU. 

"  It  is  fuller,  more  complete,  with  fewer  faults  than  any  rival"- Poi^  Mali  GasttU. 


THE   CYCLOPAEDIA   OF 

NAMES 

Clolh,  £2  2s.  net.;  half  morocco,  £2  15s.  nH. 
Size— 13  in.  x  8J  x  2^  In. 


PRESS  NOTICES. 

"A  book  of  ready  reference  for  proper  names  of  every  conceivable  kind." — Daily  Nemu 

"Tte ' Cyclopaedia  of  Names'  deserves  to  rank  with  important  works  of  reference^ 
for  tbcogh'its  facts  on  any  given  subject  are,  cA  course,  dementary,  they  can  l>e  quickly 
foond,  and,  oa  the  whole,  they  are  admirably  chosen.' — Standard. 

"A  most  handsome  and  scdid  volume  ....  It  will  t>e  found  exceedingly  useful. 
...    It  is  tteautifoOy  prioted." — Daily  ChronicU. 

"A  most  valuable  comiflatioa,  and  one  «didi  win  be  valoed  for  the  great  mass  ox 
iiddnnation  wbidi  it  contains."— -<rAujtw  Herald. 

"  Every  Sbraiy  of  reference,  no  matter  how  ri<±ly  stocked,  will  be  the  richer  for 
having  it  ...  .  may  l>e  consulted  freely  v^ithout  the  inconveniences  of  human 
haulage." — Scotsman. 

11,  Paternoster  Buildings,  I^ndon,  E.G.  ^ 


0 


■  •  r^wv;     1.7    I^Q^ 


PLEASE  DO  NOT  REMOVE 
CARDS  OR  SLIPS  FROM  THIS  POCKET 


UNIVERSITY  OF  TORONTO  LIBRARY 


HX  Kautsky,   Karl 

628  Corainuinism  in  Central  Europe 

K263  in  the  time  of  the  Reformation 


^^ 

1 

/c  • 

//-(f 

Wb 

v^ 

/- 

1C> 

2 

/f^? 

^R^