The Reformation pitted the Lutherans against the Catholic Church. But some reformers took a different path. Thomas Müntzer (1489-1525) was a radical German preacher and theologian who developed ideas that challenged church teachings and Luther’s positions. His radical teaching (he called the priests and clerics snakes and the secular lords and rulers eels) raised concerns and Luther expressed his disapproval. But Müntzer was popular with the people who elected him to various influential positions, despite the opposition of town councils and the nobles. In 1525 he joined the peasants’ army but his army was crashed at the battle of Frankenhausen and he was executed.