The Twelve Articles: A Sketch of the Relationship between Religion and Law in Lutheran Germany

​In the sixteenth century, a revolution was ignited in Germany that lasted several years, dubbed the Great Peasant Revolt. An initial plan for the peasants and the ruling authority to enter negotiations, called the Twelve Articles, was drawn up, consisting of twelve clauses. This document carried a new interpretation of divine truth and from it emerged the idea of reorganizing the laws between the Church and civil society. This study seeks to document and evaluate the proposition that this document drafted a modest preliminary constitution and a new horizon for human rights in a conservative society. The revolution failed to achieve its goals, but nascent revolutionary thinking based on the establishment of human rights provisions took root.

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​In the sixteenth century, a revolution was ignited in Germany that lasted several years, dubbed the Great Peasant Revolt. An initial plan for the peasants and the ruling authority to enter negotiations, called the Twelve Articles, was drawn up, consisting of twelve clauses. This document carried a new interpretation of divine truth and from it emerged the idea of reorganizing the laws between the Church and civil society. This study seeks to document and evaluate the proposition that this document drafted a modest preliminary constitution and a new horizon for human rights in a conservative society. The revolution failed to achieve its goals, but nascent revolutionary thinking based on the establishment of human rights provisions took root.

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