Rebellious peasants with a ‘Bundschuh’ banner, woodblock print from the *Trostspiegel*, 1539

The *Bundschuh*

1514

The Bundschuh, the usual laced footwear of the medieval peasant farmer, came to be the symbol of peasant uprisings. In the southern German area the Bundschuh movement started as early as 1493-1517. These loosely-linked localized uprisings were bloodily supressed. As a symbol of their common cause in revolt against their feudal overlords, they continued to bear banners displaying the Bundschuh in the ensuing Peasant Wars.

Rebellious peasants with a ‘Bundschuh’ banner, woodblock print from the *Trostspiegel*, 1539