Admonition to Peace: A Reply to the Twelve Articles of the Peasants in Swabia
Luther’s first answer to the peasants’ Twelve Articles. He blames the princes and bishops for the unrest, tells the peasants that rebellion can never be Christian, and urges both sides to negotiate.
Martin Luther wrote the tract after reading the Twelve Articles of the Peasants. It has three parts. To the princes and lords he says that they, and above all the bishops, have brought the revolt on themselves by oppressing their subjects and resisting the gospel. To the peasants he says that a just grievance does not make rebellion right, that Christians suffer wrong and do not avenge themselves, and that they misuse the name of Christ. He rejects the article against serfdom as turning Christian freedom into a bodily thing. He ends by telling both sides that they are in the wrong and advising them to let nobles and town councillors settle the matter.
The translator’s introduction says that Luther received the articles shortly before 16 April 1525 and that the tract came out early in May, when events had already overtaken it. Read beside Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants, written within weeks, it shows how sharply his tone changed.
Cited in
- 1524 to 1525, firm date