Munster

Stimulus

Four hundred years ago, there was a town in Germany called Munster. In it, a new group of men were elected leaders. These men were very different from the ones who had governed the town before. They had been talking and planning amongst themselves and decided they would do things in a new way. One of the things they decided was that a man could have more than one wife. So some of the men started to marry more than one woman. Before long, the Mayor of the whole town had fifteen wives, all at the same time.

When people outside Munster heard what was going on they were shocked. To have more than one wife was not allowed in their religion. They told the people of Munster that the marriages were not real and that no-one could have more than one wife. But that message was ignored. Soon the town was surrounded by soldiers, demanding that the leaders give themselves up for punishment. The leaders refused. So there was a siege. No food could get into the town because there were soldiers all around it, stopping anyone from entering or leaving. This went on for several months until the townspeople gave up. The leaders were killed and their bones were kept in cages up on a tower. That was to remind everyone in the future what would happen to people who tried to change the ways of their religion.

 

Task Question

• Did the men who married more than one woman do wrong?
• Should we be able to stop people from choosing how many times they marry?
• Should they be able to marry anyone they want?

 

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