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196 The Margravate of Baden, the Tyrol, Switzerland 41 THE MARGRAVATE OF BADEN, THE TYROL, SWITZERLAND 145. IN THE margravate of Baden, the ruler was Jakob, a man whose reputation for justice and wisdom made him celebrated among the Germans. Because it pained him that the only thing he lacked for human happiness was a knowledge of letters, he compelled the children whom he had fathered with his lawful wife to study literature. When he had divided his inheritance among them and arranged for his firstborn son, Carl, a remarkably industrious youth, to marry the emperor’s sister, he passed away, without reluctance , in the fullness of his years.492 146. The Tyroleans, who inhabit the valleys of the Inn and Etsch, petitioned in vain for the return of their ruler Sigismund, who lived under the guardianship of Emperor Frederick and by now was quite grown-up. Resorting to arms, they threw out the local governors whom the emperor had installed. When the people of Trent remained loyal to the emperor at the bidding of the bishop to whose authority they were subject, the Tyroleans went there with an army, captured the terror-stricken city through treachery, and forced the surrender of the citadel after wearing it down by assault. Having come to terms with the emperor, they subsequently obtained their own ruler, though with a less fortunate outcome than they had imagined.493 147. The Swiss are a fierce mountain people. When the people 492. Jakob Margrave of Baden (r. 1432–53), nicknamed “Solomon.” He devoted himself to scholarly studies in his mature years and provided a secular education for his sons Carl and Bernard, and religious educations for the others. His son Carl married Katherina Habsburg; see Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, vol. 13: 532–34. 493. The Tyroleans rebelled in 1446, prompting Frederick to release his ward as their ruler. Aeneas had tried to shape the young man’s character through his letters, but Sigismund did not develop into an impressive ruler. See Piccolomini, Selected Letters , trans. Albert Baca (Northridge, Calif.: San Fernando Valley State College, 1969), 1–22. Alsace, the Vogtland, Savoy, Arles 197 of Zürich reneged on a pact that they had formed with them, they mustered an army and marched into their territory, destroying everything in their path.494 When the people of Zürich ventured to meet them in battle, they were massacred. Such was the brutality and savagery of the Swiss toward their defeated foes that they held a feast on the very spot where they had won the victory. They piled up the bodies of the slain to make tables and chairs, and, slitting open the corpses of the enemy, they drank their blood and tore out their hearts with their teeth.495 42 ALSACE, THE VOGTLAND, SAVOY, ARLES 148. IN ALSACE, which was once called Helvetia, a country formerly under French but now German rule, Louis, the dauphin of Vienne,496 led almost the whole French army into the territory of Basel and struck great fear into the people of that city. The Swiss, in accordance with a treaty of alliance, sent four thousand soldiers drawn from the pick of their young men to reinforce the city. When the dauphin observed them approaching, he positioned himself with his whole army midway between Basel and the Swiss. The Swiss did not shrink from battle, though they had to fight on foot and could see that a line of thirty thousand horsemen stood facing them. Both sides fought with all their strength. Finally, the Swiss, less vanquished than exhausted by victory, paid the penalty for taking on too audacious a task. Except for a handful who escaped by 494. A reference to the Old Zürich War (1436–50), which arose over claims to the Toggenburg territory between Zürich, an imperial free city, and members of the Swiss Confederation; see Scott, “Germany and Empire,” CMH, vol. 7. 495. The battle of St. Jakob an der Sihl, July 22, 1443. The burghers of Zürich were quickly routed by the Swiss confederates, who then proceeded to loot and burn the suburbs and countryside around the city. See E. Bonjour, et al., A Short History of Switzerland (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1952), 115–16. 496. Louis (1423–83), later King Louis XI of France (r. 1461–83). ...

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