WHO was Thomas Müntzer, asks Andrew Drummond. Was he, as Martin Luther suggested, a “ravening wolf”, a “false prophet” who stirred up rebellion and bloodshed? (Each chapter opens with a juicy piece of invective by a member of Luther’s Wittenberg team). Or was Müntzer, as his admirers have suggested, a hero of the downtrodden, a harbinger of spiritual, social, and political equality?
Either way, he is, as Drummond emphasises, a difficult subject for a biography. Many of the details of his life cannot be reconstructed with certainty, and in places we are heavily dependent on hostile reports of his activities. But, in 15 compellingly written chapters, Drummond insightfully recounts Müntzer’s early years, his itinerant life, his dramatic end, and his legacy.
Probably born in 1489 in Stolberg, in the Harz mountains, possibly as the son of a coin minter, Münzter entered a world of political and religious turmoil. Drummond provides a vivid account of this late-medieval context, emphasising the importance of millenarian expectations and the growth of challenges to the established Church.
Müntzer’s own career began in Zwickau, where he served as a preacher until his dismissal as a result of disturbances in the town. Drummond follows his subsequent peregrinations to Allstedt (1523-24), where he introduced a highly influential German liturgy. Amid the narrative, key elements of the Reformer’s thought emerge clearly: the distinction between the Elect and the Godless, the importance of suffering and of inner spiritual experience, and the motivating power of the fear of God.
AlamyThe Thomas Müntzer monument in Stolberg, in the Harz
Against the backdrop of an irrevocable split with Wittenberg, Müntzer moved on again, this time settling in Mühlhausen, home for the final phase of his short life. In May 1525, he stood alongside the rebellious peasants at Frankenhausen, 6000 of whom were massacred by the troops of Philip of Hesse, Heinrich of Braunschweig, and Georg of Saxony. Müntzer fled the battlefield, but was swiftly captured, tortured, and executed.
In 2024-25, the 500th anniversary of the Peasants’ War is upon us, and we can look forward to hearing plenty more about Müntzer. Drummond’s biography is a perfect place to start. Although not immersed in current debates about the nature of the war or the motivations of the peasants, it provides a perceptive and highly readable account of one of its key figures. In its emphasis on the struggle for equality and “early democracy”, it echoes a well-established heroic narrative that sees the war as a coherent expression of clear and indisputably admirable objectives. Yet, by examining events through the prism of Müntzer’s life and religious thought, Drummond also reveals the complex and contingent nature of the conflict as it unfolded. Above all, in Drummond’s deft hands, Müntzer’s story testifies to the extraordinary dynamism and fervour of the early years of the German Reformation.
Dr Bridget Heal is Professor of Early Modern History at the University of St Andrews.
The Dreadful History and Judgement of God on Thomas Müntzer: The life and times of an early German revolutionary
Andrew Drummond
Verso Books £25
(978-1-83976-894-1)
Church Times Bookshop £22.50