MUNTZER, THOMAS

born , sometime before 1490, Stolberg, Thuringia died May 27, 1525, Mhlhausen Mntzer also spelled Mnzer, or Monczer, Latin Thomas Monetarius leading German radical Reformer during the Protestant Reformation, and the leader of the abortive Peasants' Revolt in Thuringia in 152425. A controversial figure in life and in death, Mntzer is regarded as a significant force in the religious and social history of modern Europe. Marxists in the 20th century viewed him as a precursor in the struggle for a classless society. Additional reading Works on Mntzer in English include Eric W. Gritsch, Reformer Without a Church: The Life and Thought of Thomas Muentzer, 1488?1525 (1967), and a companion study, Thomas Mntzer: A Tragedy of Errors (1989); Tom Scott, Thomas Mntzer: Theology and Revolution in the German Reformation (1989); and Abraham Friesen, Thomas Muentzer, a Destroyer of the Godless (1990).