The motive (found in the Frankenburger Würfelspiel of 1625) was an escalation of the Bavarian Electorate's attempt to press the country into the Catholic faith at the time of the Thirty Years' War.

Adam von Herberstorff, the Bavarian steward of Upper Austria, called all of the men from the region to the Haushamerfeld near Frankenburg to hold the assizes.

The steward had thought that the harsh sentence would frighten the peasants, but it only served to increase dissent and give sympathy to the rebels.

Over the next year, the peasants secretly prepared for war by recruiting a man from every farmer's house, supplying them with weapons, and teaching them tactics.

They intended to attack on the Pentecost, but war had broken out two weeks earlier, when Bavarian soldiers tried to steal a horse in Lembach im Mühlkreis.

The 5,000-strong peasant army went on to besiege Eferding, Wels, Kremsmünster, and Steyr, finally arriving at Linz, which did not surrender despite being defended by only 150 Bavarian soldiers.