ThePalatine Peasants' War (German:pfälzische Bauernkrieg) was part of the generalGerman Peasants' War on the Middle and UpperRhine. The uprising in thePalatine Electorate and its surrounding area took place in April to June 1525.
The start of the German Peasants' War in West Rhenish Palatinate was marked by the gathering of a band of peasants, a so-calledHaufe, atNußdorf nearLandau on 23 April 1525. The Palatine peasant mobs plundered several surrounding monasteries (including theKnights Hospitallercommandry ofHeimbach nearZeiskam as well asHördt, where the provost was killed) and castles, before they tookNeustadt on 6 May without a fight. The peasants' programme was based on theTwelve Articles, which were drawn up atMemmingen and of which 25,000 copies were printed. A secondHaufe gathered nearBockenheim. As a result, the Palatineprince-elector,Louis V felt forced into negotiations with the Geilweiler and Bockenheim groups; these began on 10 May inForst. The complaints were to be handled by aLandtag. The Elector finally resorted to military force against the peasants on 23 May with the support of troops from the Archbishop ofTrier, after other princes had defeated the uprisings in Württemberg and in the Alsace. The Palatine peasants mobs were crushingly defeated at theBattle of Pfeddersheim on 23/24 June. Eight thousand peasants were reported to have been killed in the battle.