German Peasants' War of 1525
100,000 killed in the Deutscher Bauernkrieg
All the illiterate peasants knew was that somewhere in these bizarre objects known as books their intolerable debts were consigned, unless they viewed them as symbols of an enigmatic world that would never share its privileges or benefits.1
The German Peasants’ War, put down by the Swabian League2, resulted in the burning of books and documents3 at the residence of the Augustinians of Anhausen, St.Blausen near Feiburg, Ebrach, Kempton, Maihingen and Reinhrdsbrunn. The emblem of the peasants was an overturned shoe 4 as illustrated in the image by Andrea Modesti.5 Over 100,000 peasants were killed.
Polastron, Lucien X., and Jon E. Graham. Books on fire: the destruction of libraries throughout history. Rochester, Vt: Inner Traditions, 2007, p.142.
Thomas F. Sea. 1999. “The Swabian League and Peasant Disobedience before the German Peasants’ War of 1525.” The Sixteenth Century Journal 30 (1): 89–111.
Polastron, op.cit., pp.142-143.
Sreenivasan, Govind P. "The Social Origins of the Peasants' War of 1525 in Upper Swabia." Past & Present, no. 171 (2001): 30-65.
German Peasants' War, 1524-25: Peasant Rebel of the "Bundschuh." Andrea Modesti Art.
I've never heard this story before about the Peasant's War. Thanks for telling us about it.
Finally a book burning I could actually get behind. Tragic that it did not end better for them.