Klaus Schwanitz

The Banished: Lichtenstein Anno 1519 Klaus Schwanitz

Publisher Marketing: Ulrich, Duke of Wurttemberg was the son of Heinrich of Wurttemberg, and declared of age in 1503. Ulrich was badly reared, became independent too soon, was unhappily married to Sabine of Bavaria, compensated himself by living in splendor, fell into debt that required increased taxes, against which Poor Conrad in the Remstal revolted, and was compelled to accept the terms of the treaty of Tubingen. The murder of the knight Hans von Hutten (the husband of his mistress) in the forest in 1515, the flight of his wife, the violence with which he attached the imperial city of Reutlingen to Wurttemberg, stirred up the nobility, and the dukes of Bavariaagainst him. In 1519 he was driven from his domain by the Swabian League. After several attempts to regain his lands, completely impoverished, Ulrich fled to Phillip of Hesse, who in the victory of Lauffen, restored to him his hereditary lands. But Ulrich had to acknowledge Austria's sovereignty. In gratitude to God Ulrich introduced the Reformation. Following his defeat in the Smalkaldic War, Ulrich was compelled to humiliate himself before the emperor, pay a severe indemnity and to submit to the Interim, while Ferdinand threatened him with a court action on a charge of disloyalty as a subject; his death circumvented this misfortune. His difficulties and his return to Protestantism moderated the character of the prince and made him popular.