On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we travel back in time and look at a little known cult slash political revolt known as the Münster Rebellion. Back in Castle Times, the German city of Munster became home to a group of three men (Bernhard Rothman, Jan Matthys, and John of Leiden) who staged a coup against royalty and the Roman Catholic Church in 1535. They threw out the Bishop and the city council, and they replaced the town with their own communist, pacifists, polygamist sect known as the Anabaptists. This devolved quickly, and involved orgies, a brutal siege that lead to a siege, starvation, cannibalism, torture and beheadings. So many beheadings.

The backdrop to this madness was a time in European history known as the Protestant Reformation. It was when the stranglehold of the Catholic church was broken by people like Henry VIII and Martin Luther. Once there were religious power vacuums, new ideas spread like wildfire. In fact, many historians liken the Anabaptist religion to a hydra with heads springing up everywhere.

The first head belonged to a guy named Melchior Hoffmann, who advocated communal living (a huge no-no to the landed aristocracy) and religious freedom (a huge no-no to the Catholic Church). He was arrested for his crazy thoughts, but his ideas had already taken root in the fertile soil of chaos that was Europe.

Cut to Münster. Here, the priest Bernhard Rothman basically took over the city by replacing everyone in power with a friendly Anabaptist. Even the Prince Bishop had to leave. In this power vacuum, a man named Jan Matthys took control. He moved to Münster because he had heard there were religious freedoms there. He quickly took over with his charisma. He banned private property, established a communal living situation, and wen tot war with the banished Bishop who put the city under siege.

Now, Matthys had himself a vision that on Easter Sunday, his Lord God would make everything right, so he and a couple dozen men stormed the army waiting outside of town. They were captured, and he was beheaded and had his testicles nailed to the city gate. In this new power void a man named John of Leiden took over. He went buck wild.

He forced all women to marry (which lead to polygamy since they outnumbered men three to one). He forced people to become Anabaptist or starve and get none of the communal pot. He cut heads off for laughing at him, not converting, and even killed one of his sixteen wives for telling him she didn’t want the stolen jewelry John gave her. The city starved while John and his boys partied, until eventually, the Bishop stormed the city and took it back.

What horrible fate did John meet (trust me, it was worse than genitals nailed to a door)? How long did this siege last? How did the Bishop afford an army and a lengthy siege? What happened to the Anabaptists after this Munster Rebellion? Why to people compare the Muster Rebellion to formation of the Islamic State today? Listen, laugh, learn.

 

Visit Our Sources:

https://www.thelocal.de/20180503/muenster-theocracy-history-anabaptists

https://www.thelocal.de/20140328/16th-century-mayhem-in-muenster-with-jan-van-leiden-expat-dispatches-the-local-germany

https://www.danceshistoricalmiscellany.com/munster-rebellion-creation-16th-century-theocracy/

https://medium.com/interesting-histories/interesting-histories-munster-rebellion-8551376...