the Swabian peasants demanded not only the abolition of
serfdom and the remission of certain taxes, but also the
freedom to elect their own pastors.
Disorganized rebellions began in the Black Forest area
in the summer of 1524 and spread through most of south
and east Germany during the following year. In April–May
1525 the rebels overthrew the civil and religious authori-
ties in Mühlhausen, Thuringia, where they found an un-
compromising leader in the radical preacher Thomas
Müntzer (c. 1490–1525). In Müntzer’s apocalyptic view,
the destructive fury of the rebels was the instrument of
God’s judgment on a corrupt world. Although the rebels
had originally found some support in the middle class and
lesser nobility, this evaporated as chaos and destruction
mounted. Luther, who had earlier shown some sympathy
with peasant grievances, denounced the rebellion in his
broadsheet Against the Murdering and Thieving Hordes of
Peasants (1525). His call for Protestant rulers to unite and
crush the rebels without mercy was answered when an al-
liance of princes defeated the poorly led peasant army at
Frankenhausen (May 1525). The reprisals were general
and bloody. Although a small force of rebels held out in
the Austrian mountains until 1526, this was effectively the
end of the revolt. Its main effect was to confirm the emerg-
ing power of the Protestant rulers of north and east Ger-
many.
Further reading: James M. Stayer, The German Peas-
ants’ War and Anabaptist Community of Goods (Montreal
and London: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1991).
Pecock, Reginald (c. 1393–1461) English churchman
He was born in Wales, became a fellow of Oriel College,
Oxford, and in 1431 was appointed master of Whittington
College, London. He was created bishop of St. Asaph, in
Wales (1444), and of Chichester (1450) and he was also
made a privy counsellor. He wrote extensively and
preached against the LOLLARDS; many of his works have
not survived. The Lancastrian dukes of Gloucester and
Suffolk were his patrons, and the hostility of the Yorkists
resulted in his expulsion from the privy council and cita-
tion before the archbishop of Canterbury for denying the
authority of the Apostles’ Creed (1457). Despite a public
recantation he had to resign his bishopric, and from 1459
he was confined in Thorney Abbey, near Cambridge,
where he probably died. His writings are remarkable for
their clarity, rationality, and critical power in presenting a
theological argument, but read oddly on account of his
having frequently to coin words or borrow foreign expres-
sions to make up for the limitations of the unsophisticated
vernacular in this period.
Peele, George (c. 1558–c. 1597) English poet and
dramatist
Little is known for certain of Peele’s life except that he was
at Oxford in the early 1570s and in 1579 was ejected from
his father’s house in Christ’s Hospital, London, for dis-
sipation. He wrote a number of plays and pageants in
the 1580s and 1590s; these are notable principally for
their highly accomplished lyrics. The Arraignment of Paris
(1584), a pastoral comedy, was his first play, performed
perhaps as early as 1581. It was followed by the chronicle
play Edward I (1593), The Battle of Alcazar (1594), The
Old Wives Tale (1595), and The Love of King David and fair
Bethsabe (1599).Peffenhauser, Anton (Anton Pfeffenhauser, c. 1525–
1603) German armorer
Peffenhauser came from an Augsburg family of armorers.
As plate ARMORwas by then solely for ceremonial parade
purposes rather than protection in battle, it was magnifi-
cently decorated; Peffenhauser’s work was both extremely
elaborate and beautifully crafted. His clients included Ger-
man princes and members of the court of Philip II of
Spain. The suit of armor made for King Sebastian of Por-
tugal is one of the most ornate ever made. Examples of his
work still survive, for instance in the Tower of London.Pellegrini, Pellegrino de See TIBALDI, PELLEGRINOPérez, Antonio (c. 1540–1611) Spanish courtier and
writer
Pérez was born in Madrid, the illegitimate son of an im-
perial secretary. Educated in Italy and Flanders, he himself
rose to become the favorite minister of PHILIP II; in 1573
he was appointed head of the bureau through which
Philip governed his domains. In 1578 Pérez engineered
the assassination of one of Philip’s enemies, an act that
eventually brought about his downfall, when the king, to
prevent his complicity in the murder becoming public
knowledge, arranged for Pérez’s imprisonment and torture
by the Inquisition (1589). Pérez escaped, leaving behind
in Spain a fine picture collection, which Philip promptly
confiscated.
Received first at the Navarrese court at Pau, Pérez
subsequently moved to Paris and then England. His Rela-
ciones (1598) and epigrammatic letters effectively black-
ened the character and conduct of Philip while
exonerating his own. Despite later efforts to win a pardon
from Philip III, Pérez died in exile in Paris.Peri, Jacopo (1561–1633) Italian composer and singer
Peri was probably born in Rome and moved to Florence
when he was young. He studied music with the organist
and composer Cristofano Malvezzi and was organist at the
Badia, Florence (1579–1606), singer at San Giovanni Bat-
tista (from 1586), and court musician to the Medicis
(from 1588). After 1600 he was also associated with the
court of Vicenzo Gonzaga at Mantua. Peri wrote a number
of madrigals and incidental music for plays and court en-
tertainments. However, he is best known, in collaborationPPeerrii,, JJaaccooppoo 3 36677