登陆注册
5210200000022

第22章

Precursors: Peasant Uprisings, 1475-1517 A bout fifty years after the suppression of the Hussite movement, the first symptoms of a budding revolutionary spirit became manifest among the German peasants.

The first peasant conspiracy came into being in 1476, in the bishopric of Wuerzburg, a country already impoverished "by bad government, manifold taxes, payments, feuds, enmity, war, fires, murders, prison, and the like,"and continually plundered by bishops, clergy and nobility in a shameless manner.A young shepherd and musician, Hans Boeheim of Niklashausen, also called the "Drum-Beater" and "Hans the Piper," suddenly appeared in Taubergrund in the role of a prophet.He related that the Virgin had appeared to him in a vision, that she told him to bum his drum, to cease serving the dance and the sinful gratification of the senses, and to exhort the people to do penance.Therefore, he said, everybody should purge himself of sin and the vain lusts of the world, forsake all adornments and embellishments, and make a pilgrimage to the Madonna of Niklashausen to attain forgiveness.

Already among these precursors of the movement we notice an asceticism which is to be found in all mediaeval uprisings that were tinged with religion, and also in modern times at the beginning of every proletarian movement.

This austerity of behaviour, this insistence on relinquishing all enjoyment of life, contrasts the ruling classes with the principle of Spartan equality.

Nevertheless, it is a necessary transitional stage, without which the lowest strata of society could never start a movement.In order to develop revolutionary energy, in order to become conscious of their own hostile position towards all other elements of society, in order to concentrate as a class, the lower strata of society must begin with stripping themselves of everything that could reconcile them to the existing system of society.They must renounce all pleasures which would make their ,subdued position in the least tolerable and of which even the severest pressure could not deprive them.

This plebeian and proletarian asceticism differs widely, both by its wild fanatic form and by its contents, from the middle-class asceticism as preached by the middle-class Lutheran morality and by the English Puritans (to be distinguished from the independent and farther-reaching sects) whose whole secret is middle-class thrift.It is quite obvious that this plebeian-proletarian asceticism loses its revolutionary character when the development of modern productive forces increases the number of commodities, thus rendering Spartan equality superfluous, and on the other hand, the very position of the proletariat in society, and thereby the proletariat itself becomes more and more revolutionary.

Gradually, this asceticism disappears from among the masses.Among the sects with which it survives, it degenerates either into bourgeois parsimony or into high-sounding virtuousness which, in the end, is nothing more than Philistine or guild-artisan niggardliness.Besides, renunciation of pleasures need not be preached to the proletariat for the simple reason that it has almost nothing to renounce.

Hans the Piper's call to penitence found a great response.All the prophets of rebellion started with appeals against sin, because, in fact, only a violent exertion, a sudden renunciation of all habitual forms of existence could bring into unified motion a disunited, widely scattered generation of peasants grown up in blind submission.A pilgrimage to Niklashausen began and rapidly increased, and the greater the masses of people that joined the procession, the more openly did the young rebel divulge his plans.The Madonna of Niklashausen, he said, had announced to him that henceforth there should be neither king nor princes, neither pope nor other ecclesiastic or lay authority.Every one should be a brother to each other, and win his bread by the toil of his hands, possessing no more than his neighbour.All taxes, ground rents, serf duties, tolls and other payments and deliveries should be abolished forever.Forests, waters and meadows should be free everywhere.

The people received this new gospel with joy.The fame of the prophet, "the message of our Mother," spread everywhere, even in distant quarters.Hordes of pilgrims came from the Odenwald, from Main, from Kocher and Jaxt, even from Bavaria and Suabia, and from the Rhine.Miracles supposed to have been performed by the Piper were being related; people fell on their knees before the prophet, praying to him as to a saint; people fought for small strips from his cap as for relics or amulets.In vain did the priests fight him, denouncing his visions as the devil's delusions and his miracles as hellish swindles.But the mass of believers increased enormously.

The revolutionary sect began to organise.The Sunday sermons of the rebellious shepherd attracted gatherings of 40,000 and more to Niklashausen.

For several months Hans the Piper preached before the masses.

同类推荐
  • 诸法无行经

    诸法无行经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 碣石调幽兰

    碣石调幽兰

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • ON THE SURGERY

    ON THE SURGERY

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 瑜伽师地论释

    瑜伽师地论释

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 赠徐安宜

    赠徐安宜

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 豪门婚心计:前妻,别想逃

    豪门婚心计:前妻,别想逃

    她爱他所以嫁给了他,为了曾经的承诺她独守这段婚姻一年多,哪怕他身边无数女人她依旧不放弃。用尽所有力气去爱他却被他狠狠地践踏在脚下。终于她累了,乏了,自尊也没有了,她死心了,也逃离了。直到她的离开他才知道自己是真的爱上了,不过他还有机会吗?再相遇时她已经是两个孩子的母亲了,她却对他嫣然一笑。他发誓一定要把这个重新追回来,让她逃了一次怎么可能让她再逃第二次。这次他是死也不会让她离开的。喜欢的进群:152201330
  • 伤寒杂病论

    伤寒杂病论

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 论与死神谈恋爱的方式

    论与死神谈恋爱的方式

    她以为,父母的死,是天灾人祸,是不可逆之的人生劫数,却不想,这场看似意外的灾难,竟是被刻意策划的一场阴谋。为了查清父母死亡的真相,她决定找出这场阴谋背后的主使。一次次的,她凭借自己睿智的头脑和异于常人的身体力量,破解了一桩桩麻烦而又匪夷所思的死亡事件,可最后得到的真相,竟让她无法接受……男女主天才,从相杀到相爱,再到携手拯救地球,欢迎各位看官前来围观!
  • 遗忘降临

    遗忘降临

    多变/不稳定的世界,前一秒是冷兵器时代,下一秒却可能变成星际争霸;前一秒是飞机、大炮、火箭筒,下一秒却可能变成火球、闪电、圣光术。伴随着这种无法解释的现象,人们会自然而然带入进全新的人生角色,忘记上一秒的一切。遗忘,便是不再记得。你是谁?我是谁?这个世界怎么了?如何破解世界的真相?是否能重塑稳定?是否能不再遗忘?!
  • 职场狩猎者的8堂必修课

    职场狩猎者的8堂必修课

    职场就是一个狩猎场,输赢皆有规则!是主动出击,成为职场的狩猎者,还是消极等待,成为他人的猎物?本书通过职业发展的8堂课,全面剖析职场规则,帮助职场中的你在充分了解自身的基础上,有针对性地设计自己的职业生涯,轻松行走职场!
  • 会驯兽的召唤师

    会驯兽的召唤师

    都市青年被车撞死因祸得福,受父母遗物的吊坠上的传承重生在异界贵族获得同万物交谈的能力和强化魔兽的能力。看龙岚如何以召唤师,驯兽师的双身份成为君主,成为帝王。
  • 少年犯

    少年犯

    工作是嘉兴市中级法院的一名法官。已发表小说100万余字,散见于《小说选刊》、《中篇小说选刊》、《中国作家》、《江南》、《山花》、《百花洲》等期刊。
  • 娘子太妖娆

    娘子太妖娆

    【完结】她是杀手界的传奇,她是令男人趋之若鹜的毒药,她是一个没有心的女人。一次意外让她的灵魂穿越到了一个强者为尊的世界——神魔大陆。也许是神的恩赐,让她这一世得享亲情;也许是神的玩笑,让她这一世遭受灭门之祸。既然,她是被神遗弃的生命,那么化身为魔又如何?天地不仁,那么毁了这天地又何妨?且看一个女子如何纵横异世,仗剑天下,翻云覆雨,惑乱红尘......女主绝非善类,典型的外表魅惑妖娆,内里残忍血腥的冰山美人。如果你喜欢温柔善良的女主角,请绕道。
  • 海洋:海洋的深潜计划

    海洋:海洋的深潜计划

    我们看到海洋表面平平坦坦,那么海底是不是平的呢?其实海底并不是那么平坦的。长期以来,人们为了探测海洋到底有多深,花费了不少心思。在1920年以前,人们用绳子系上重锤探测海洋的深度。这种古老的方法用来探测浅海还可以,探测深海就不实用了。后来人们学会利用回声探测才对海底有了比较全面的了解。
  • 柒次后的你

    柒次后的你

    她,为了一次任务,冒充一个平凡的人,暗中完成组织安排的一切。