SICKINGEN, FRANZ VON (1481-1523)

This article appears in Volume V25, Page 36 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: SHA-SIV

SICKINGEN, FRANZ VON (1481-1523) , German knight, one of the most notable figures of the first period of the Reformation, was born at Ebernburg near Worms. Having fought for the emperor Maximilian I. against Venice in 1508, he inherited large estates on the Rhine, and increased his wealth and reputation by numerous private feuds, in which he usually posed as the friend of the oppressed. In 1513 he took up the quarrel of Balthasar Schli r, a citizen who had been driven out of Worms, and attacked this city with 7000 men. In spite of the imperial ban, he devastated its lands, intercepted its commerce, and only desisted when his demands were granted. He made war upon Antony, duke of Lorraine, and compelled Philip, landgrave of Hesse, to pay him 35,000 gulden. In 1518 he interfered in a civil conflict in Metz, ostensibly siding with the citizens against the governing oligarchy. He led an army of 20,000 men against the city, compelled the magistrates to give him 20,000 gold gulden and a month's pay for his troops. In 1518 Maximilian released him from the ban, and he took part in the war carried on by the Swabian League against Ulrich I., duke of Wurttemberg. In the contest for the imperial throne upon the death of Maximilian in 1519, Sickingen accepted bribes from Francis I., king of France, but when the election took place he led his troops to Frankfort, where their presence assisted to secure the,election of Charles V. For this service he was made imperial chamberlain and councillor, and in 1521 he led an expedition into France, which ravaged Picardy, but was beaten back from Mezieres and forced to

retreat

RETREAT (O. Fr. retrete, mod. retraite, from Lat. retrahere, to draw back)

. About 1517 Sickingen became intimate with Ulrich von Hutten, and gave his support to Hutten's schemes. In 1519 a threat from him freed John Reuchlin from his enemies, the Dominicans, and his castles became in Hutten's words a

refuge

REFUGE

for righteousness. Here many of the reformers found shelter, and a

retreat

RETREAT (O. Fr. retrete, mod. retraite, from Lat. retrahere, to draw back)

was offered to Martin Luther. After the failure of the French expedition, Sickingen, aided by Hutten, formed, or revived, a large

scheme

SCHEME (Lat. schema, Gr. oxfjya, figure, form, from the root axe, seen in exeiv, to have, hold, to be of such shape, form, &c.)

to overthrow the spiritual princes and to elevate the order of

knighthood

KNIGHTHOOD

. He hoped to secure this by the help of the towns and peasants, and to make a great position for himself. A large army was soon collected, many nobles from the upper Rhineland joined the standard, and at Landau, in August 1522, Sickingen was formally named

commander

COMMANDER

. He declared war against his old enemy, Richard of Greiffenklau, archbishop of Trier, and marched against that city. Trier was loyal to the archbishop, and the landgrave of Hesse and Louis V., count palatine of the Rhine, hastened to his assistance. Sickingen, who had not obtained the help he wished for, was compelled to fall back on his castle of Landstuhl, near Kaiserslautern, collecting much booty on the way. On the 22nd of October 1522 the council of regency placed him under the ban, to which he replied, in the

spring

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

of 1523, by plundering Kaiserslautern. The rulers of Trier, Hesse and the Palatinate decided to press the campaign against him, and having obtained help from the Swabian League, marched on Landstuhl. Sickingen refused to treat, and during the siege was seriously wounded. This attack is notable as one of the first occasions on which artillery was used, and by its aid breaches were soon made in an otherwise impregnable fortress. On the 6th of May 1523 he was forced to capitulate, and on the following day he died. He was buried at Landstuhl, and in 1889 a splendid monument was raised at Ebernburg to his memory and to that of Hutten.
His son Franz

Conrad

was made a baron of the empire (Reichsfreiherr) by Maximilian II., and a descendant was raised in 1773 to the rank of count (Reichsgraf). A branch of the family still exists in Austria and Silesia.
See H. Ulmann, Franz von Sickingen (

Leipzig

LEIPZIG

, 1872); F. P. Bremer, Sickingens Fehde gegen Trier (Strassburg, 1885); H.

Prutz

PRUTZ, HANS (1843– )
PRUTZ, ROBERT EDUARD (1816-1872)

, " Franz von Sickingen " in Der neue Plutarch (

Leipzig

LEIPZIG

, 1880), and the " Flersheimer Chronik " in Hutten's Deutsche Schriften, edited by O. Waltz and Szamatolati (Strassburg, 1891).

End of Article: SICKINGEN, FRANZ VON (1481-1523)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/SHA_SIV/SICKINGEN_FRANZ_VON_1481_1523_.html">
SICKINGEN, FRANZ VON (1481-1523)
</a>

(Previous)
SICILY (Ital. Sicilia)

(Next)
SICKLES, DANIEL EDGAR (1825 )

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email