In 1524, the Protestant teachings of Martin Luther were catching on. German peasants found them appealing. They declared they had “Christian freedom” to not be serfs anymore.
A lot of poorly armed peasants staged a revolt, while appealing to Luther for support. They didn’t know that Luther was a firm believer in slavery. He put out a call for their slaughter:
“They must be sliced, choked, stabbed, secretly and publicly, by those who can, like one must kill a rabid dog.”