Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 9,001
The first declaration of human and liberty rights!
The first declaration of human rights and freedoms known to history was not made in the United States of America in 1776...
...or the French Republic written in 1789...:
No, it is much older - and it was created in Swabia!
In February 16, 1525, 26 communities belonging to the district town of Memmingen rebelled against the oppressive social, economic, political and religious circumstances to which they were exposed.
On February 16, 1525, the peasants of the 26 communities formulated the so-called "12 Articles" to the authorities in the imperial city of Memmingen and Swabia, in which they demanded their freedom rights.
The 12 articles are...:
1. Every congregation shall have the right to elect its pastor and to remove (depose) him if he behaves improperly. The pastor should preach the gospel louder and clearer without any human additions, since it is written that we can come to God by true faith alone.
2. Pastors are to be paid from the large tithe. Any surplus should be used for the village poverty and the payment of the war tax. The small tithe is to be done away with (given up), since it was invented by man, for the Lord God created cattle free for man.
3. Has it been the custom hitherto that we were taken for our own people (serfs), which is pitiable, considering that Christ redeemed and bought us all with his costly bloodshed, the shepherds as well as the most high, except none. That is why Scripture invents that we are and want to be free.
4. Is it unbrotherly and not according to the Word of God that the poor man should not have power to catch game, fowl, and fish. For when the Lord God created man, he gave him authority over every animal, the bird in the air and the fish in the water.
5. Did the gentlemen appropriate the woods (forests) on their own. If the poor man needs something, he has to buy it for double the money. Therefore, all wood that has not been bought (meaning former community forests that many rulers had appropriated) should be given back to the community so that everyone can cover their need for construction and firewood from it.
6. Should one have some understanding (quite much reducing) of how our parents ministered, according to the Word of God alone, because of the ministries (corporate labor) which are increased and daily increased day by day.
7. Should the rulership not increase the services to the peasants beyond the level fixed at the award. (Increasing the drivage without agreement was quite common.)
8. Many estates cannot bear the rent tax. Respectable people should inspect these goods and reassess the value according to equity, so that the farmer does not do his work in vain, because every day worker is worthy of his wages.
9. New statutes are constantly being made because of the great sacrilege (court penalties). One does not punish according to the nature of the matter, but at will (increased penalties and arbitrariness in sentencing were common). Is our opinion to punish ourselves with old written punishment according to what the matter is done, and not according to favour.
10. Some have appropriated meadows and fields belonging to a community (community land originally available to all members). We want to take them back into our common hands.
11. Should the death (a kind of inheritance tax) be done away with entirely, and widows and orphans should never be robbed so shamefully against God and honor.
12. Is our resolution and final opinion, if any one or more of the articles here set forth are not in accordance with the Word of God... from which we will abstain when explained to us from Scripture. If a number of articles were permitted to us now and it later turned out that they were wrong, they should be dead and gone from that hour onwards. But we also want to reserve the right to do so if more articles are found in Scripture that are against God and a burden on our neighbors.
The peasants didn't get far with their demands!
None other than Martin Luther...
...shortly afterwards took a position against the 26 communities with a hate pamphlet!
In May 1525, Luther's writing "Against the murderous and repentant gangs of the peasants" was published...
...in which he sided with the authorities and called on them to destroy the peasants out of concern for the divine order.
And that's how it happened…
However, the farmers and their declaration of freedom and human rights have not been completely forgotten, as this commemorative painting on a Swabian house shows...:
The first declaration of human rights and freedoms known to history was not made in the United States of America in 1776...
...or the French Republic written in 1789...:
No, it is much older - and it was created in Swabia!
In February 16, 1525, 26 communities belonging to the district town of Memmingen rebelled against the oppressive social, economic, political and religious circumstances to which they were exposed.
On February 16, 1525, the peasants of the 26 communities formulated the so-called "12 Articles" to the authorities in the imperial city of Memmingen and Swabia, in which they demanded their freedom rights.
The 12 articles are...:
1. Every congregation shall have the right to elect its pastor and to remove (depose) him if he behaves improperly. The pastor should preach the gospel louder and clearer without any human additions, since it is written that we can come to God by true faith alone.
2. Pastors are to be paid from the large tithe. Any surplus should be used for the village poverty and the payment of the war tax. The small tithe is to be done away with (given up), since it was invented by man, for the Lord God created cattle free for man.
3. Has it been the custom hitherto that we were taken for our own people (serfs), which is pitiable, considering that Christ redeemed and bought us all with his costly bloodshed, the shepherds as well as the most high, except none. That is why Scripture invents that we are and want to be free.
4. Is it unbrotherly and not according to the Word of God that the poor man should not have power to catch game, fowl, and fish. For when the Lord God created man, he gave him authority over every animal, the bird in the air and the fish in the water.
5. Did the gentlemen appropriate the woods (forests) on their own. If the poor man needs something, he has to buy it for double the money. Therefore, all wood that has not been bought (meaning former community forests that many rulers had appropriated) should be given back to the community so that everyone can cover their need for construction and firewood from it.
6. Should one have some understanding (quite much reducing) of how our parents ministered, according to the Word of God alone, because of the ministries (corporate labor) which are increased and daily increased day by day.
7. Should the rulership not increase the services to the peasants beyond the level fixed at the award. (Increasing the drivage without agreement was quite common.)
8. Many estates cannot bear the rent tax. Respectable people should inspect these goods and reassess the value according to equity, so that the farmer does not do his work in vain, because every day worker is worthy of his wages.
9. New statutes are constantly being made because of the great sacrilege (court penalties). One does not punish according to the nature of the matter, but at will (increased penalties and arbitrariness in sentencing were common). Is our opinion to punish ourselves with old written punishment according to what the matter is done, and not according to favour.
10. Some have appropriated meadows and fields belonging to a community (community land originally available to all members). We want to take them back into our common hands.
11. Should the death (a kind of inheritance tax) be done away with entirely, and widows and orphans should never be robbed so shamefully against God and honor.
12. Is our resolution and final opinion, if any one or more of the articles here set forth are not in accordance with the Word of God... from which we will abstain when explained to us from Scripture. If a number of articles were permitted to us now and it later turned out that they were wrong, they should be dead and gone from that hour onwards. But we also want to reserve the right to do so if more articles are found in Scripture that are against God and a burden on our neighbors.
The peasants didn't get far with their demands!
None other than Martin Luther...
...shortly afterwards took a position against the 26 communities with a hate pamphlet!
In May 1525, Luther's writing "Against the murderous and repentant gangs of the peasants" was published...
...in which he sided with the authorities and called on them to destroy the peasants out of concern for the divine order.
And that's how it happened…
However, the farmers and their declaration of freedom and human rights have not been completely forgotten, as this commemorative painting on a Swabian house shows...:
