True about Luther's side in that. He wrote a pretty scathing put down of the revolt. I think it's worth noting that his siding was based on religious ideas and not economic or social. Luther had the view that all governments are instituted by God and civil laws should be followed. Roman's 13:1 sums his view, as does the "render unto Caesar..." passage. The plebs were surprised he sided with the powers though. All of his writings were about challenging the old powers and putting power (scripture) into the hands of the people. Really, it was decentralized religious power from the church to "priesthood of all believers." Hence the surprise. But to Luther, it was all religious freedom...he separated the religious and economic and said the political should be followed due to Biblical teachings.