Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 9,001
Kidnapping in the Middle Ages...!
In the years 1446 to 1451 a real "fratricidal war" raged in Saxony between the Saxon Elector Frederick II "The Meek" on the one hand...
... and his brother Duke Wilhelm III. ("The Brave")...
...for power in the country. The war ultimately ended in a draw, Saxony was split into two states - an eastern part under Elector Friedrich "The Meek" and a western part of the country with the old Landgraviate of Thuringia and areas of the Osterland for Wilhelm "The Brave".
But that's not really what it's about today, it's about the knight Kunz von Kauffungen...
...who had fought in this war on his own initiative and voluntarily on the side of "The Meek".
Knight Kunz was unlucky, was soon captured by the hordes of "The Brave" and had to shell out the hefty ransom of 4,000 guilders from his own coffers in order to be allowed to go home again.
After the war, however, not much was left of it: his estates in Thuringia were devastated and his ancestral seat, Schwaikersheim Castle (near Mittweida) was expropriated by the enemy.
Instead of war glory, the ambitious knight now had complete impoverishment in mind!
But the "fully comprehensive mentality" that is so often lamented today was already known in the 15th century, so Kunz von Kauffungen sat down at any desk that he found undamaged - and wrote to the "gentle" Elector of Saxony, for whom he was originally went into the field, a salty calculation:
Frederick II was not only to reimburse him for the ransom of 4,000 guilders, but also to indemnify him for his property losses!
But when it came to money matters, "The Meek" was by no means "meek", but tough as nails!
He answered, in well-chosen words, but negatively, that Herr Ritter had entered the war as a free man and at his own risk - and he, the elector, was not thinking of handing over even a rusty tin penny for something, which was quite and even as an "entrepreneurial risk" of Kunz von Kauffungen!
Now the impoverished knight turned to litigation.
Kunz von Kauffungen won the first two instances in Magdeburg and Friedberg, but lost the crucial third trial in Leipzig, Saxony, where the "meek" elector was able to celebrate a home victory, so to speak.
End of the story? No - now it really starts!
Knight Kunz von Kauffungen thought of ways to squeeze money out of the elector - and soon found one.
Rather, he found two colleagues, the knights Wilhelm von Mosen and Wilhelm von Schönfels, who had fared similarly to himself, namely just as badly! These, too, were of the opinion that the "juicy" elector still owed them money.
First of all, the three knights turned their bags inside out and counted the collection they had collected: it was just enough to hire 30 horsemen.
On the night of July 8, 1455, the three knights galloped to the Elector's castle with 30 horsemen...
... today's Altenburg Castle...
...and kidnapped Friedrich II's two sons, Princes Ernst and Albrecht, from their beds - classic kidnapping!
The "meek" elector prince was away on a trip, the rest of the court was at a wedding party, so things went like clockwork!
The three kidnappers had previously - as a knight one was "of honor"! - so-called "feud letters" sent to the "Meek" which at the time were considered formal declarations of war.
It's just stupid: The post office in Saxony at that time wasn't the fastest either, and the "feud letters" only arrived after the deed was done.
After the kidnapping, the perpetrators separated - Wilhelm von Mosen and Wilhelm von Schönfels wanted to storm with Prince Ernst via the Vogtland to Bohemia, Kunz von Kauffungen - with Prince Albrecht - wanted to take a more easterly route via Stollberg and Thalheim. So he hoped to reach his goods in safe Bohemia.
They then wanted to make ransom demands from Bohemia.
But the nightly kidnapping did not remain undiscovered for long - suddenly the whole region was wide awake, everything was buzzing around like a swarm of bees and the storm bells rang from every church tower - except in Zwickau and Chemnitz, whose mayors the now quite nervous knight Kunz "asked" to do to stop!
The kidnappers didn't get far:
On the same day, summoned men caught and overpowered Kunz von Kauffungen and his riders near Waschleithe near the monastery of Grünhain in the Ore Mountains...:
The knights Moses and Schönfels acted wiser:
When they found out about the capture of their friend, they hid "their" kidnapped prince in a cave and then negotiated "free withdrawal into exile" (to Bohemia) with their pursuers in return for the revealing of the prince's hiding place...:
In addition to the "kidnapping" (§ 239 b StGB) there was now "taking hostages" or "extortionate abduction" (§ 239 a StGB) - but with success!
We can guess what's to come: Knight Kunz von Kauffungen had once again dug deep into the toilet and now - literally - had to take the blame for the kidnapping!
Put on trial at Freiberg)...
... he referred to the "feud letters" - but they were received too late and were not recognized by the court. If they had been delivered on time, they would have overridden the state peace - and Knight Kunz might have escaped with his life.
But as...?
The verdict - death penalty for breach of the peace already on July 13th - was followed only one day later by the public beheading on the Obermarkt in Freiberg, together with some of his helpers...:
The place where the severed knight's head is said to have rolled is still marked with a blue cobblestone...:
The eyes of the stone head on the town hall bay window, which is supposed to show Knight Kunz, are directed at this point...:
And the moral of the story? Sometimes it works - and sometimes it doesn't!
In the years 1446 to 1451 a real "fratricidal war" raged in Saxony between the Saxon Elector Frederick II "The Meek" on the one hand...
... and his brother Duke Wilhelm III. ("The Brave")...
...for power in the country. The war ultimately ended in a draw, Saxony was split into two states - an eastern part under Elector Friedrich "The Meek" and a western part of the country with the old Landgraviate of Thuringia and areas of the Osterland for Wilhelm "The Brave".
But that's not really what it's about today, it's about the knight Kunz von Kauffungen...
...who had fought in this war on his own initiative and voluntarily on the side of "The Meek".
Knight Kunz was unlucky, was soon captured by the hordes of "The Brave" and had to shell out the hefty ransom of 4,000 guilders from his own coffers in order to be allowed to go home again.
After the war, however, not much was left of it: his estates in Thuringia were devastated and his ancestral seat, Schwaikersheim Castle (near Mittweida) was expropriated by the enemy.
Instead of war glory, the ambitious knight now had complete impoverishment in mind!
But the "fully comprehensive mentality" that is so often lamented today was already known in the 15th century, so Kunz von Kauffungen sat down at any desk that he found undamaged - and wrote to the "gentle" Elector of Saxony, for whom he was originally went into the field, a salty calculation:
Frederick II was not only to reimburse him for the ransom of 4,000 guilders, but also to indemnify him for his property losses!
But when it came to money matters, "The Meek" was by no means "meek", but tough as nails!
He answered, in well-chosen words, but negatively, that Herr Ritter had entered the war as a free man and at his own risk - and he, the elector, was not thinking of handing over even a rusty tin penny for something, which was quite and even as an "entrepreneurial risk" of Kunz von Kauffungen!
Now the impoverished knight turned to litigation.
Kunz von Kauffungen won the first two instances in Magdeburg and Friedberg, but lost the crucial third trial in Leipzig, Saxony, where the "meek" elector was able to celebrate a home victory, so to speak.
End of the story? No - now it really starts!
Knight Kunz von Kauffungen thought of ways to squeeze money out of the elector - and soon found one.
Rather, he found two colleagues, the knights Wilhelm von Mosen and Wilhelm von Schönfels, who had fared similarly to himself, namely just as badly! These, too, were of the opinion that the "juicy" elector still owed them money.
First of all, the three knights turned their bags inside out and counted the collection they had collected: it was just enough to hire 30 horsemen.
On the night of July 8, 1455, the three knights galloped to the Elector's castle with 30 horsemen...
... today's Altenburg Castle...
...and kidnapped Friedrich II's two sons, Princes Ernst and Albrecht, from their beds - classic kidnapping!
The "meek" elector prince was away on a trip, the rest of the court was at a wedding party, so things went like clockwork!
The three kidnappers had previously - as a knight one was "of honor"! - so-called "feud letters" sent to the "Meek" which at the time were considered formal declarations of war.
It's just stupid: The post office in Saxony at that time wasn't the fastest either, and the "feud letters" only arrived after the deed was done.
After the kidnapping, the perpetrators separated - Wilhelm von Mosen and Wilhelm von Schönfels wanted to storm with Prince Ernst via the Vogtland to Bohemia, Kunz von Kauffungen - with Prince Albrecht - wanted to take a more easterly route via Stollberg and Thalheim. So he hoped to reach his goods in safe Bohemia.
They then wanted to make ransom demands from Bohemia.
But the nightly kidnapping did not remain undiscovered for long - suddenly the whole region was wide awake, everything was buzzing around like a swarm of bees and the storm bells rang from every church tower - except in Zwickau and Chemnitz, whose mayors the now quite nervous knight Kunz "asked" to do to stop!
The kidnappers didn't get far:
On the same day, summoned men caught and overpowered Kunz von Kauffungen and his riders near Waschleithe near the monastery of Grünhain in the Ore Mountains...:
The knights Moses and Schönfels acted wiser:
When they found out about the capture of their friend, they hid "their" kidnapped prince in a cave and then negotiated "free withdrawal into exile" (to Bohemia) with their pursuers in return for the revealing of the prince's hiding place...:
In addition to the "kidnapping" (§ 239 b StGB) there was now "taking hostages" or "extortionate abduction" (§ 239 a StGB) - but with success!
We can guess what's to come: Knight Kunz von Kauffungen had once again dug deep into the toilet and now - literally - had to take the blame for the kidnapping!
Put on trial at Freiberg)...
... he referred to the "feud letters" - but they were received too late and were not recognized by the court. If they had been delivered on time, they would have overridden the state peace - and Knight Kunz might have escaped with his life.
But as...?
The verdict - death penalty for breach of the peace already on July 13th - was followed only one day later by the public beheading on the Obermarkt in Freiberg, together with some of his helpers...:
The place where the severed knight's head is said to have rolled is still marked with a blue cobblestone...:
The eyes of the stone head on the town hall bay window, which is supposed to show Knight Kunz, are directed at this point...:
And the moral of the story? Sometimes it works - and sometimes it doesn't!
