As a result of all this an insurrection broke out,--a double
insurrection in fact,--here of the peasantry for their rights, there of
the religious fanatics for their license. Suddenly all Germany was
upturned by the greatest and most dangerous outbreak of the laboring
classes it had ever known, a revolt which, had it been ably led, might
have revolutionized society and founded a completely new order of
things.
In 1522 the standard of revolt was first raised, its signal a golden
shoe, with the motto, "Whoever will be free let him follow this ray of
light." In 1524 a fresh insurrection broke out, and in the spring of the
following year the whole country was aflame, the peasants of southern
Germany being everywhere in arms and marching on the strongholds of
their oppressors.
Their demands were by no means extreme. They asked for a board of
arbitration, to consist of the Archduke Ferdinand, the Elector of
Saxony, Luther, Melanchthon, and several preachers, to consider their
proposed articles of reform in industrial and political concerns.
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