bavarikon4UDescription
The print published with Joseph Klug in Wittenberg comprises only two layers. On the title frame below you can see the vision of a knight to whom the three Graces appear. In terms of style, it can be assigned to the Cranach workshop in Coburg. Since there is no reference to the content, a title page created elsewhere may have been re-used. The core is a treaty from the Peasants' War dated to 22 April 1525. In 15 articles, representatives of two peasant lots (Lake Constance and Allgäu) agree with the Swabian League led by George Truchsess (Seneschall) of Waldburg (1488-1531). This defused a source of conflict, while elsewhere the bloody battles continued until the peasants finally submitted. Publishing legal documents and making them known generally was widespread practice in the sixteenth century. As soon as the technical prerequisites were available, disputes were also dealt with publicly in the media. The print is less important for its own sake, but rather because of Martin Luther's (1483-1546) statement on the subject. In a preface and a warning at the end, he expressed his joy about the agreement and made it clear that the peasants' revolts which had been violent since April 1525 were for him violations of God's order or of the authority decreed by God, murder, breach of the king's peace and abuse of the Gospel. Datum: 2016
Author
Landesbibliothek Coburg, Dr. Silvia Pfister