48 MUNZINGER turning to Thuringia, he was settled early in 1525 as curate at Muhlhausen. The city coun- cil, who had opposed his settlement there, were deposed, and a new council installed, who were entirely under the control of Munzer and his disciple Pfeiffer. At the outbreak of the peas- ants' war in southern Germany, Munzer sum- moned the people to rise and secure their lib- erty, threatening vengeance on all who resisted them. His pamphlets and letters were signed "Thomas Munzer, a servant of God against the ungodly," or " Thomas Munzer, with the sword of Gideon." Still he himself hesitated to take up arms, until Pfeiffer forced him to do so by alleged inspiration. Led by him, the peasantry of N. W. Thuringia destroyed clois- ters, chapels, and the castles of such nobles as refused to engage in the insurrection. For some time they encountered little resistance, until in May the elector John the Constant and Duke George, both of Saxony, the land- grave Philip of Hesse, and other princes rallied their forces against them. The peasants, in their fortified encampment near Frankenhau- sen, were assured by Munzer that God would give them the victory ; but they were quickly routed in the battle of May 15, and about 5,000 of them were killed. Munzer fled in disguise to Frankenhausen, but was captured, tortured, and removed to the castle of Heldrungen. From that place he addressed a letter to the people of Muhlhausen, recommending his wife and child to their care. After the capitulation of that city the leaders were sentenced to death, including Munzer and Pfeiffer. Munzer was beheaded in the market place. His numerous writings, all of which are still extant, indicate a more than ordinary power of mind and will, but a strange lack of clear and sound judg- ment. His language is often forcibly eloquent, but full of coarseness and vulgarity. As he was associated with persons opposed to infant baptism, Munzer has often been considered an Anabaptist, which he never was. See Me- lanchthon, Die Historic wn Thome Muntzer (1525); Strobel, Leben, Schriften und Lehren Thoma Muntzers (Nuremberg, 1795) ; Seide- mann, Thomas Munzer (Dresden and Leipsic, 1842) ; and Heinrich Leo's essay on him in the Evangelische Kirchenzeitung (Berlin, 1856). Theodor Mundt published a historical novel, Thomas Munzer (3 vols., Altona, 1841). MIXZINGER, Werner, a Swiss traveller, born at Olten in 1832. He studied at Bern, Munich, and Paris, and in 1852 established himself as a merchant in Egypt, in 1854-'5 resided at Mas- sowah, and for nearly six years explored the land of the Bogos and adjoining territories. He joined Heuglin's expedition in July, 1861 ; left it in November, in northern Abyssinia, and travelled with Kinzelbach over an unex- plored region, ascertaining the course of the river Gash, and returning to Khartoom March 1, 1862. Shortly after he succeeded Heuglin as chief of the German-African expedition. He penetrated to Kordofan, but was unable to MURAT reach Darf oor and Waday, and went to Europe. In 1864 he returned to Massowah, where he Became British consul, and rendered valuable services as a guide to the English army during the Abyssinian war. In 1868, after the de- parture of the English troops, he continued to i-eside at Massowah as French consul. In the following year, while he was exploring the N. boundary of Abyssinia, an attempt was made upon his life by an assassin, and he was se- verely wounded. In 1870 he was named governor of Massowah, and visited with Oapt. Miles the S. E. coast of Arabia. In 1871 he explored new territories N. of the land of the Bogos. His principal works are: Bitten und Becht tier Bogos (Winterthur, 1859) ; Ost- afrilcanische Studien (Schaffhausen, 1864); Die deutsche Expedition in Ostafrilca (Gotha, 1865); Vocalulaire de la langue Tigre ; and contributions to the journal of the London geographical society (187l-'2), and to Peter- mann's Mittheilungen (1872 et seq. Ml RAD. See AMUEATH. MURJENA. See EEL, vol. vi., p. 447. MURAT, Joachim, a French soldier, and king of Naples, born at La Bastide-Fortuniere, near Oahors, March 25, 1771, executed in Calabria, in the night of Oct. 13-14, 1815. He was the son of an innkeeper, was educated for the church at the college of Cahors, and afterward at Toulouse, and was ordained sub-deacon ; but being dismissed from the seminary on account of some youthful follies, he enlisted in a regi- ment of chasseurs. Cashiered for an outbreak of temper after he had risen through some of the lower grades, he became a waiter at a cafe in Paris. He soon entered the constitutional guard of Louis XVI., and on its dissolution re- ceived a sub-lieutenancy in a cavalry regiment. He was cashiered after Robespierre's over- throw, but was restored, served as .aide-de- camp to Bonaparte, and accompanied him to Italy. After Beaulieu's defeat he was sent to Paris with the 21 standards taken from the Austrians, and returned to his post to share in the following Italian campaigns, in which he rose to the rank of brigadier general. In 1798 he went with Bonaparte to Egypt. He was wounded at the taking of Alexandria and in the battle of the pyramids, and was conspicu- ous in the Syrian campaign, contributing to the victory of Mount Tabor, April 16, 1799, and leading the assault at Acre. In the battle of Aboukir, July 25, he was again wounded, and was rewarded with the rank of general of division. He left Africa with Bonaparte, who had conceived a strong liking for him, and in the coup d'etat of the 18th Brumaire was at the head of the grenadiers who expelled the council of 500 from their hall at St. Cloud. The chief command of the consular guard and the hand of Caroline Bonaparte were his rec- ompense. At Marengo he was at the head of the cavalry, and in 1801 he commanded the army which invaded the kingdom of Naples and took possession of Elba. He was then
