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While not adopted by all Bauernhaufen, the Twelve Articles of Memmingen were the closest thing to a political program:
1) Every town should have the right to elect its pastor and to remove him if he behaves improperly. The pastor should preach the gospel clearly and simply, without any human addition, since Scripture states that we can come to God only through true faith.
2) The large tithe is to be used to pay the priests. Any surplus is to be used to help the poor and to pay the war tax. The small tithe is to be abolished because it is a human invention and not based on the bible, for the Lord God created livestock freely for man.
3) Until now it has been practice that we have been treated like serfs, which is deplorable, since Christ redeemed all of us with his precious blood, both the shepherd and the nobleman, with no exceptions. Accordingly we hereby declare that we are free and want to remain free.
4) It is unbrotherly and not in accordance with the word of God that the poor man is not entitled to hunt game or fowl, or to fish. Since when God our Lord created man, he gave him power over all beasts, the birds in the air and the fish in the water.
5) The nobles have taken sole possession of the forest. When the poor man needs something, he must buy it for twice its price. Consequently, all the forests that were not bought by the nobles shall be returned to the village so that anybody can satisfy his needs therefrom for timber and firewood.
6) The excessive compulsory labour demanded of us, which grows from day to day, should be reduced to the amount that our parents used to perform, according to God's word.
7) The nobility shall not force us to perform more compulsory labour than was agreed upon.
8) Many estates cannot afford the rent. Honest people should inspect these estates and reassess the rent fairly, so that the farmer does not do his work in vain, for every laborer is worthy of his wages.
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