German Peasants Begin Drafting Twelve Articles (1525)

Fri Mar 06, 1525

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Image: The title page of the Twelve Articles [WikiCommons]

On this day in 1525, 50 representatives of various German peasant groups met to draft the Twelve Articles, what some historians consider the first draft of human rights and civil liberties in continental Europe after the Roman Empire.

The meeting took place during the German Peasants’ War, when 50 representatives of various Swabian peasant groups met in the town of Memmingen to adopt a joint platform against the aristocratic government of the Swabian League.

Among the concepts laid out in the Twelve Articles are giving the right to every town and village freely elect and dismiss pastors; egalitarian land, rent, and labor reform; the right of all to be free (as contrasted with serfdom); and the right of the poor to hunt.

The Articles were just one example among many similar programs developed and printed during the German Peasants’ War. The Twelve Articles were printed over 25,000 times within the next two months, a tremendous print run for the 16th century. Copies quickly spread throughout Germany.