Windischer Peasant War
The Windische Bauernkrieg is the name for a peasant uprising in Carniola , Styria and Carinthia in 1515. In terms of its size (approx. 25,000 km²), its duration (five months) and the number of participants (at its height 80,000) it was the largest peasant uprising in what is now Slovenia .
Name declaration
The word Windisch , which is misunderstood or used pejoratively today, was the predominant term for the Alpine Slavs and the Slovenes who emerged from them until the 19th century .
reasons
The most important reason for the Windische Peasant War was the economic hardship of the peasants. This was due to the attacks of the Turks and Hungarians : Between 1473 and 1483 Carinthia suffered from five and Krain from 1469 to 1499 from at least 22 Turkish invasions. Between 1480 and 1490 the Hungarians waged war against Carinthia and occupied large parts of the country. At the same time, the authorities drove higher and higher " Turkish taxes ". These burdens were justified with the expenses necessary for the Turkish defense (especially for fortification work). Admittedly, to the bitterness of the subjects , the nobility could only insufficiently fulfill its protective task.
prehistory
The Carinthian Peasant Uprising (1478) preceded the Windy Peasants' War in Carinthia . In March 1515, the Gottscheer farmers rose up against their landlord , Jörg von Thurn (Jurij Turn), who had been Count of Gottschee since 1507. They killed Thurn and his hated guardian Georg Stersen (Jurij Stržen). The uprising spread across Carniola, Carinthia and Styria. In 1515 the peasantry organized in the “Windischer Bundschuh ” (Windischer Bauernbund) rebelled against newly introduced legal principles in Lower Styria, Slovenia . The slogan of the insurgents was "za staro pravdo" ("for the old law").
course
The peasants managed to capture or destroy numerous castles. The nobility had to withdraw to some large cities ( Laibach , Stein , Marburg , Cilli ).
With the help of a mercenary army and support from the imperial army, the uprising was put down in August 1515. There were major skirmishes at Gonobitz and Cilli.
consequences
The leaders of the uprising were executed, 161 people in Graz alone . To repair the damage, additional taxes and labor obligations were imposed on the farmers.
The Windische Peasant War contributed to the development of the national feeling of the Slovenes .
literature
- Enciklopedija Slovenije, Volume 12, entry "Slovenski kmečki upor", p. 45. Mladinska Knjiga, Ljubljana 1998
Individual evidence
- ↑ Fran Ivanc, Štefan Tomšič: Kočevska Okrajno glavarstvo . Okrajna učiteljska knjižnica, Ljubljana / Laibach 1887 ( digital view ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ).
