Twelve Articles of Memmingen

1525

Swabian peasants issued the Twelve Articles at Memmingen, the first declaration of human rights in Europe, demanding the election of pastors, the abolition of serfdom, and the restoration of common lands. Printed and circulated by the tens of thousands, it became the manifesto of the Peasants' War. Their demands for elected clergy and abolition of serfdom articulated grievances that resurfaced in European peasant movements for three centuries.