 thomas mÃ¼ntzer (ca. 1489 â 27 may 1525) was an early reformation-era german theologian, who became a rebel leader during the peasants' war. he thought that the questioning of authority promoted by the lutheran reformation should be applied to the economic sphere. under pressure, luther had to distance from him, stating that the reformation he supported was only spiritual. mÃ¼ntzer was eventually captured, tortured and decapitated.r. schenk, &ldquo;thomas mÃ¼ntzer&rdquo; in marianlexikon, eos st. ottilien, regensburg, 1992,  mÃ¼ntzer promoted a new egalitarian society which would practice the sharing of goods. mÃ¼ntzer's movement and the peasants' revolt formed an important topic in friedrich engels's book the peasant war in germany, a classic defense of historical materialism. engels described mÃ¼ntzer as a revolutionary socialist leader who chose to use religious language â the language the peasants would best understand. ==early life== mÃ¼ntzer was born in the small village of stolberg in the harz mountains (what is now saxony-anhalt), in about 1489. thomas mÃ¼ntzer initially studied at the university of leipzig and later the university of frankfurt, though it is unknown what academic degree he ultimately attained. he became versed in the greek, hebrew and latin languages. from the summer of 1516 to the fall of 1518, mÃ¼ntzer stayed in a monastery at frohse, though publication of martin luther's 95 theses on 31 october 1517 most likely motivated him to leave the monastery and travel to wittenberg. there he reputedly had a confrontation with luther, who despised mÃ¼ntzer for his politicization of luther's reformation. after brief stints at orlamÃ¼nde and jÃ¼terbog in 1519, mÃ¼ntzer may have traveled to leipzig to witness the famous debates between john eck and andreas karlstadt (27 june to 3 july), and between luther and eck (4 july to 14 july). mÃ¼ntzer continued to move frequently, accepting the position of father confessor at a nunnery in beuditz in december of 1519 before heading to zwickau in 1520. ==increasing radicalism== in may 1520, mÃ¼ntzer became a pastor in zwickau in saxony, and it was there that he had his first significant confrontation with church authorities. in 1521 and 1522, however, the growing divide between l
1480s_births 1525_deaths 15th-century_German_people 16th-century_German_people 16th-century_Protestants 16th-century_executions_by_Germany Apocalypticists Christian_mystics Christian_radicals German_Christian_religious_leaders German_Peasants\'_War German_people_executed_by_decapitation German_revolutionaries Leipzig_University_alumni People_executed_by_Germany_by_decapitation People_from_Stolberg,_Saxony-Anhalt Protestant_Reformation Viadrina_European_University_alumni