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Thomas Muentzer (or Müntzer, Münzer) ( 1489 or 1490 - 27 May 1525) was an early Reformation-era German pastor.
He was born in the small village of Stolberg in the Hartz Mountains. Thomas Muentzer initially studied for the priesthood, earning the MA degree and completing the Bacculareus biblicus. He became versed in the Greek, Hebrew and Latin languages. After ordination in 1513 he became a priest at St. Michael's in Braunschweig in May 1514.
As early as 1519 Muentzer had accepted the need for ecclesiastical reforms. He joined Martin Luther's Reformation, becoming a pastor in Zwickau in Saxony in 1520Events January 18 King Christian II of Denmark and Norway defeats the Swedes at Lake Asunde. June Moctezuma II, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan is declared deposed due to his captivity by conquistador Hernan Cortes. His brother Cuitlahuac rises to the throne. on Luther's recommendation. Luther, however, did not go far enough for Muentzer, who broke with him in 1521Events January 3 Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther. January 28 Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25. March 6 Ferdinand Magellan discovers Guam. March 16 Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Philippines. April 7 Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Cebu. over infant baptism, among other issues, and founded his own sect. For this reason, Muentzer ranks as one of the founders of the AnabaptistAnabaptists ("re-baptizers", from Greek ana and baptizo in German: Wiedertaufer are Christians of the so-called "radical wing" of the Protestant Reformation. The term was coined by critics, who objected to the practice of performing baptism for adults who movement. Yet doubt exists as to whether he ever received adult "rebaptism".
The Zwickau authorities expelled Muentzer in 1521Events January 3 Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther. January 28 Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25. March 6 Ferdinand Magellan discovers Guam. March 16 Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Philippines. April 7 Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Cebu.. In 1522Events January 9 Adrian Dedens becomes Pope Adrian VI. February 26 Execution by hanging of Cuauhtemoc, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan under orders of conquistador Hernan Cortes. April 22 Battle of Bicocca French and Swiss forces under Odet de Lautrec are def he engaged in a disputation with Luther. In 1523Events April Battle of Villalors Forces loyal to Emperor Charles V defeat the Comuneros, a league of urban bourgeois rebelling against Charles in Spain. June 6 Gustav Vasa becomes King of Sweden, establishing finally its full independence from Denmark. he married a former nun and became pastor at Allstadt, where he preached until 1524Events March 1, 1524/ 5 Giovanni da Verrazano lands near Cape Fear (approx. April 30 Battle of the Sesia Spanish forces under Charles de Lannoy defeat the French army in Italy under William de Bonnivet. The French, now commanded by Francois de St. Pol, wi. In 1524, Muentzer became one of the leaders of the uprising later known as the Peasants' War. He led a group of about 8000 peasants at the battle of Frankenhausen ( 15 May 1525), convinced that God would intervene on their side. Utterly defeated, captured, imprisoned and tortured, Muentzer recanted and accepted the Catholic mass prior to his beheading in Mühlhausen in Thuringia on May 27, 1525.
A widespread belief exists that Muentzer encouraged the peasants to revolt against the wealthy landowners based on his interpretations of apocalyptic literature, especially the struggle of good against evil as found in the Book of Revelation. Applying the victory of Revelation to his own situation, he led a group of singing peasants to their slaughter. Muentzer's struggle of "good against evil" later made him a symbolic hero for the East German state (German Democratic Republic, GDR) in the 20th century. It may seem odd for the atheist GDR state to have a theologian as a hero, but it may have come about in part, according to Torkel Brekke, because Muentzer's movement and the peasants' revolt formed an important topic in Friedrich Engels' book The Peasant War in Germany, a classic defense of historical materialism. Engels describes Muentzer as a revolutionary leader who chose to use biblical language -- the only language the peasants would understand. This view seems naïve: Thomas Muentzer, as a theologian, based his ideas around biblical themes concerning God's true servants and the battle against evil. He acted as a prophet, and had little interest in revolution or in class struggle.