Reformation · 1524-1525

The German Peasants' War of 1525

Inspired partly by Reformation ideas, peasants across southern and central Germany demand an end to serfdom. Students read their Twelve Articles, follow the rising on the map and discuss why Luther turned against them.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
13–16
On the map
3 steps, AD 1525 to AD 1530
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

Inspired partly by Reformation ideas, peasants across southern and central Germany demand an end to serfdom. Students read their Twelve Articles, follow the rising on the map and discuss why Luther turned against them.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Name three demands from the peasants' Twelve Articles of 1525.
  • Locate the main areas of the rising on the map.
  • Explain why Luther and the princes turned against the peasants.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1525

Where it began

Open the map in 1525 and zoom in on south-west Germany, between the Black Forest and Lake Constance. Find Memmingen. Which empire are these villages part of?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1525

A spreading fire

Zoom out a little and find Thuringia around Mühlhausen in the north-east, then Alsace across the Rhine in the west. Why could news of the rising travel so fast between these regions?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1530

Who held power

Jump to 1530 and look at the whole Holy Roman Empire. It was made up of princes, bishops and free cities. Who had the soldiers to stop a rising like this?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. The peasants wanted to choose their own pastor. Why would that matter to a village?
  2. The peasants used the Bible to argue that serfdom was unjust. Why would that argument worry lords?
  3. Luther first criticised the lords, then wrote that the rebels should be struck down. Why did he change?
  4. The princes won, and many thousands of peasants died. Did the peasants gain anything?
  5. Some historians call the Twelve Articles an early statement of rights. Do you agree?
4

Game round

9 min

Play a round of Rule History as Suleiman the Magnificent, who ruled a huge empire of farmers in the same years. Make one ruling about taxes or land. Discuss: how can a ruler keep farmers loyal without using force?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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