1525: Jakob Wehe, rebel priest
Add comment April 5th, 2018 Headsman
On this date in 1525 the radical priest Hans Jakob Wehe was beheaded.
Wehe led a muster of 3,000 Bavarian peasants which briefly seized the town of Lepheim, during Germany’s bloody Peasants War, ere it was routed by the Swabian League.
On the 5th of April towards evening, they [Wehe and some other captives] were taken to a flowery meadow lying between Leipheim and Budesheim to be executed. As Master Jakob was led forward to the block, Truchsess turned to him with the words: “Sir paster, it had been well for thee and us hadst thou preached God’s word, as it beseemeth, and not rebellion.” “Noble sir,” answered the preacher, “ye do me wrong. I have not preached rebellion, but God’s word.” “I am otherwise informed,” observed Truchsess, as his chaplain stepped forward to receive the confession of the condemned man. Wehe turned to those around, stating that he had already confessed to his Maker and commended his soul to Him. To his fellow-sufferers he observed: “Be of good cheer, brethren, we shall yet meet each other to-day in Paradise, for when our eyes seem to close, they are really first opening.” After having prayed aloud, concluding with the words: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” he laid himself on the block, and in another moment his head fell in the long grass.
The preacher of Günzburg, who had also taken part in the movement, and an old soldier of fortune, who had joined the rebels, were brought forward in their turn to submit to the same fate, when the old soldier, turning to Truchsess, observed: “Doth it not seem to thee a little late in the day, noble lord, for one to lose one’s head?” This humorous observation saved the lives of himself and the preacher. The latter was carried about with the troops in a cage, until he had bought his freedom with eighty gulden. He lost, however, the right of preaching and of riding on horseback!
On this day..
- 1923: Bernard Pomroy - 2020
- 1919: The Pinsk Massacre - 2019
- 1864: Jose Maria Chavez Alonso, governor of Aguascalientes - 2017
- 1356: Four friends of Charles the Bad - 2016
- 1766: William Whittle - 2015
- Themed Set: Lancaster's Golgotha - 2015
- 1901: Filipino insurgents on Luzon - 2014
- 2005: Glen James Ocha, poorly endowed - 2013
- 1916: Joseph Hani, abandoned - 2012
- 1918: Robert Prager lynched during war hysteria - 2011
- 1984: Elmo Patrick Sonnier, Dead Man Walking - 2010
- 1722: Arundel Cooke and John Woodburne, despite a novel defense - 2009
- 1794: Georges Danton and his followers - 2008
Entry Filed under: 16th Century,Beheaded,Capital Punishment,Death Penalty,Execution,Gallows Humor,Germany,History,Last Minute Reprieve,Not Executed,Pardons and Clemencies,Power,Religious Figures,Revolutionaries,Soldiers,Wartime Executions
Tags: 1520s, 1525, april 5, jakob wehe, leipheim, peasant uprising, peasants war, swabian league
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