Knight war
The war of knights , sometimes also known as the (Palatinate) knight revolt , is the revolt of part of the southwest German knight nobility against the sovereign rulers in 1522/23.
causes
The lower nobility of the Holy Roman Empire faced numerous economic problems at the end of the Middle Ages . The empire experienced an overall economic boom: advances in technology and production methods as well as the establishment of international trade led to a flourishing of cities; At the same time, agricultural production has grown steadily since the 15th century, which in turn promoted population growth. The land-owning knights, however, were largely cut off from these developments. The tax economy, which was still largely based on natural produce, was nowhere near enough to bring in enough profit to finance an appropriate aristocratic standard of living. In addition, numerous special revenues were lost in the course of the centralization of the sovereigns. For example, many nobles had to forego court fees because the sovereigns moved jurisdiction to their courts in the course of the consolidation of power. The profits from the military service fell because the rulers went over the one hand, in case of need mercenaries to promote their campaigns, on the other hand, the knights, the right to feud was denied.
Quite a few nobles tried to avoid these problems through court service, i.e. a career as bailiff in the service of a prince. But many did not want to put up with the fact that they had to submit to a prince in order to preserve their property.
The feared social decline may also have played a role. On the one hand, the knights faced an economically strong urban upper class and , on the other hand, they faced bourgeois climbers in the court offices with whom they had to compete. This resulted in the fear of the knighthood of a dissolution of the old class order, which amounted to a reversal of the authorities.
After all, the ideas of the Reformation helped to turn the knights against the supposed princely oppression. From the teachings of Martin Luther, they derived a right of resistance against unjust authorities. And last but not least, many knights speculated on the church property, the secularization of which was to go hand in hand with the Reformation.
course
The pent-up displeasure of the knighthood was repeatedly expressed in the state parliaments in the form of letters of complaint and complaints. They also organized themselves increasingly in knight associations in order to be able to represent common interests as one. Above all in the regions traditionally characterized by knighthood (Wetterau, Rheingau, Franconia, Swabia) the resistance against the attempts of the sovereigns to territorialize their dominions formed . Landgrave Philip the Magnanimous of Hesse and the Swabian Federation were the first to feel this opposition.
In August 1522 a gathering of 600 knights in Landau elected the famous knight and mercenary leader Franz von Sickingen as their federal captain. The Landau unification initially relied on peaceful protest and the effect of their demonstration of power.
Fueled by Ulrich von Hutten's aggressive polemics against princes and clergy, Sickingen finally took up arms. Hutten had postulated the Pfaffenkrieg since 1520 and called on the knighthood of the empire to do so several times.
In this context, Sickingen's first destination appeared to be wisely chosen: the Archdiocese of Trier . However, Sickingen apparently overestimated the solidarity of the knight nobility; Although he attracted numerous knights with his daring demeanor and the territorial power base on which he could rely, an empire-wide uprising did not materialize. Most of the aristocratic families tended to wait and see and apparently made their future participation dependent on the company's previous success.
However, this success did not materialize. A coalition of princes, consisting of the Archbishop of Trier, Elector Richard von Greiffenklau zu Vollrads , Count Palatine and Elector Ludwig V and Landgrave Philipp von Hessen, quickly formed, which stood in the way of Sickingen and his followers. The siege of Trier failed in September 1522, and Sickingen had to retreat to his Nanstein Castle near Landstuhl . The three allied princes pursued him, exerting massive pressure on the Frankish, but also on their own nobility, in order to prevent any assistance for the marginalized Sickingen. At the beginning of May 1523 Sickingen had to surrender to the princely superiority. He died shortly afterwards, on May 7th, as a result of an injury sustained when enemy artillery was bombarding Nanstein Castle. Deprived of the leader, the uprising collapsed in an instant. The spatially more limited Franconian War in June and July 1523 also ended with the defeat of the knights involved, who had to bow to the Swabian League.
aftermath
The war of knights aggravated the situation of the knights instead of improving them sustainably, as intended. Especially in the territories of the princes involved - Kurtrier , Kurpfalz and Hesse - the knights were forced to bow to the sovereign power. An example was set for those involved: Numerous knightly families lost their possessions, but at least had to accept losses in their self-administration.
The aftermath of the Knight's War revealed the princes' monopolized claim to power and their will to enforce this claim. The attitude of the emperor, who, contrary to the expectations of the knights, could not have any interest in overturning the imperial order and therefore had proclaimed the imperial ban against the rebellious knights, also confirmed the princely position.
The empire-wide estates solidarity had given way for the first time under the pressure of the sovereign violence; Another milestone was set on the way to the internal fragmentation of the empire.
literature
- Johann Heilmann : War history of Bavaria, Franconia, Palatinate and Swabia . tape 1 : War history and warfare from 1506–1598 . Cotta, Munich 1868, p. 22-28 .
- Manfred Meyer: The movements of the lower nobility in the age of the early bourgeois revolution from Sickingen to Grumbach . Dissertation. Masch, Leipzig 1965.
- Volker Press : Franz von Sickingen. Spokesman of the nobility, champion of the Reformation and friend of Hutten . Catalog for the exhibition of the state of Hessen on the occasion of the 500th birthday. In: Peter Laub (Ed.): Ulrich von Hutten. Ritter, humanist, publicist 1488–1523 . Hessischer Museumsverband, Kassel 1988, ISBN 3-9800508-7-4 , p. 293–305 (exhibition in Schlüchtern from July 3 to September 11, 1988).
- Georg Schmidt : Ulrich von Hutten, the nobility and the empire around 1500 . Schlüchterner lectures on his 500th birthday. In: Johannes Schilling, Ernst Giese (ed.): Ulrich von Hutten in his time (= Monographia Hassiae ). tape 12 . Evangelischer Presseverband, Kassel 1988, ISBN 3-920310-72-1 , p. 19-34 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Horst Carl : The Swabian Federation 1488–1534 . Leinfelden-Echterdingen 2000, p. 62 ff .
- ^ A b Volker Press : Franz von Sickingen. Spokesman of the nobility, champion of the Reformation and friend of Hutten . 1988, p. 293-305 .
- ^ Johann Heilmann : War history of Bavaria, Franconia, Palatinate and Swabia . 1868, p. 22-28 .
- ↑ Georg Schmidt : Ulrich von Hutten, the nobility and the empire around 1500 . 1988, p. 19-34 .