"The crowds were so large that he had to preach from a roof window overlooking the village square. How Hans could be heard by all is an interesting question, but one without an answer.
In the crowd were certain men who made a point to hear Hans. They were spies sent by the authorities of Würzburg and Mainz to note what the Drummer said, at least those statements that could be used against him." [p. 93]
This is how Richard Wunderli introduces the setting of a sort of sermon given in Niklashausen on the occasion of the Feast of the Visitation of Mary. The Feast itself, he explains, was a fairly new addition to the liturgical calendar. It celebrated the story of Mary visiting Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, when both the mothers were pregnant. John is said to have leapt for joy in the womb when Mary greeted Elizabeth. In 1444, the Council of Basel had assigned the date to celebrate this arrival, as the beginning of a new era. When the old era was over and the Holy Spirit, itself, informed the world, anew. This was a rather new Franciscan interpretation where, as Wunderli tells us, "... the old days of bondage in sin and misery would end and a new age of spiritual liberation would begin." [p.92]
The followers thought Hans was specially chosen to impart the wisdom of Mary. He might be able to depart some kind of divine care, to heal them, to bestow grace. But we know about this story because of the words gathered by the spies. These were people who were sent for the purpose of reporting back anything that might be heretical or spoke against the church, or blasphemed. And that is what was delivered. Witnesses reported these - not quite twenty - sentences to the authorities and these, then were notarized and sent out all over the whole south German region by those authorities, to other church and secular authorities. [p.113]
In his artful way, Wunderli takes these nineteen sentences which are both condemning and also, attributed to the Drummer and produces a sermon out of them. He uses typical forms of preaching addresses of the time, acknowledging this may not have been Behem's method, but organizes the sentences as topics that the Drummer may have expanded on in ways his audience would likely understand. And then, mostly, explains his choices for doing so. So, he constructs a possible oration based on and including words used to later condemn him. [pp. 93-101]
By the Fourth of July, the town council of nearby Nürnberg had prohibited its people from joining the pilgrimage. On the Fifth, an Elector Ludwig of Bavaria issued a 'form letter' recounting recent events and forbidding his subjects from joining in. It refers to "a report from a trustworthy person" saying that any claims to miracles were false. That the 'excellent doctors of church canon at Ingolstadt' had determined the 'pilgrimage was the product of the simpleminded and had no power or authority to preach'. But, it went on, 'if we don't stop and contain it, evil will sweep over the land'. Further prohibitions spread in cities and principalities over the next several weeks. [pp. 113-4]
Hans Behem continued to speak, though he seemed to know the authorities were closing in. On July 7, he told his followers they should return next time, on the Feast of Margaret without women and children and instead, to be armed. [p. 114]
Another witness, a clergyman, in another town, Eichstätt, to the south of Niklashausen, wrote a letter to an unknown recipient. His description included testimony of others, Dominican friars who called the hordes of people youths, mostly, but that no one could stop them. The story of thousands of people rushing through town, on their way to hear The Drummer. Groups of a hundred entering and singing their songs in the local cathedral. Standoffs with local officials. Tense days full of masses of people believing all goods should be held in common, singing, probably stealing and moving on. [pp. 107-113]
from Peasant Fires: The Drummer of Niklashausen by Richard Wunderli, Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis, 1992.
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