Götz von Berlichingen
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Götz von Berlichingen (Also Gottfried von Berlichingen) was a German knight (Deutscher Ritter), Soldier of Fortune and robber baron. He was born around 1480 to a noble family at the Schloss Jagsthausen (Castle of Jagsthausen) in Württemberg. He owned several other castles, including the Schloss Hornberg, located near the Neckar River in what is now Baden-Württemberg. Berlichingen was made famous by writer and poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) who wrote a play based on his life.
Life
In 1497, Berlichingen entered the service of Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach. In 1498, he fought in the armies of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, seeing action in Burgundy, Lorraine and the Brabant, and in the Swabian War the following year. By 1500, Berlichingen had left the service of Frederick, and formed a company of mercenaries, hiring his services out to various Dukes, Margraves and Barons for a fee.
In 1508, Berlichingen and his company fought for Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria. During the siege of the city of Landshut, he lost his right arm to an enemy cannon fire. He had a prosthetic iron replacement made, which is still on display at the Schloss Jagsthausen today. In spite of this, Berlichingen continued his private wars, the main motive being money. Most of his battles were raids on rich towns or merchant caravans, and the occasional kidnapping for ransom of minor nobles.
In 1512, near the town of Forchheim, he attacked a group of merchants returning from the great fair at Leipzig. On hearing this, Emperor Maximilian placed Berlichingen under an Imperial ban. He was only released from this in 1514, when he paid the large sum of 14,000 gulden. In 1516, Berlichingen and his company mounted a raid into Hesse, capturing Phillip IV, count of Waldeck in the process. A ransom of 8,400 gulden was paid for the safe return of the count. For this action, he was again placed under the ban in 1518.
In 1519, he signed up in the service of Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg, who was at war with the Swabian League. He fought in the defence of Möckmühl, but eventually was forced to surrender the town, owing to a lack of food and ammunition. In violation of the terms of surrender, he was held prisoner and handed over to the citizens of Heilbronn, a town he had raided several times. His fellow knights Georg von Frundsberg and Franz von Sickingen successfully argued for his release in 1522, but only after he paid a ransom of 2,000 gulden and swore not to take vengeance on the League.
In 1525, with the outbreak of the Peasants' War, Berlichingen led the rebels in the district of Odenwald against the Ecclesiastical Princes of the Holy Roman Empire. Despite this, he was (according to his own account) not a fervent supporter of their cause. He agreed to lead the rebels partly because he had no other option, and partly in an effort to curb the excesses of the rebellion. Despite his wishes to stop wanton violence, Berlichingen found himself powerless to control the rebels and after a month of nominal leadership he deserted his command and returned to the Schloss Jagsthausen to sit out the rest of the rebellion.
After the Imperial victory, he was called before the diet of Speyer to account for his actions. On 17 October 1526, he was acquitted by the Imperial chamber. Despite this, in November 1528 he was lured to Augsburg by the Swabian League, who were eager to settle old scores. After reaching Augsburg under promise of safe conduct, and while preparing to clear himself of the old charges against him made by the league, he was seized and made prisoner until 1530 when he was liberated, but only after repeating his oath of 1522 and agreeing to return to his Schloss Hornberg and remaining in that area.
Berlichingen agreed to this, and remained near the Hornberg until Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor released him from his oath in 1540. He served under Charles in the 1542 campaign against the Ottoman Empire of Suleiman the Magnificent in Hungary, and in 1544 in the Imperial invasion of France under Francis I of France.
After the French campaign, Berlichingen returned to the Hornberg and lived out the rest of his life in relative peace. He died on 23 July 1562. During his long life, Berlichingen had been twice married and left three daughters and seven sons to carry on his family name.
Quotes, Historical and Cultural references
- Er kann mich im Arsche lecken!''
- (He can lick my ass!) Berlichingen's reply to the Bishop of Bamberg's demand for his surrender - from Memoirs. This is the first recorded instance of a phrase which has since passed into common use, and is commonly referred to as the "Götz-Zitat" (Götz quote).
- The 1773 drama by Goethe titled Götz von Berlichingen was based on Berlichingen's memoirs and was very successful.
- In the Japanese heroic fantasy Manga Berserk, the character Guts resembles Berlichingen in both name and in the fact that he has an iron prosthetic hand.
- In Sam Raimi's medieval horror-comedy Army of Darkness, the lead character creates an iron prosthetic hand.
- During World War II, the Waffen SS's 17th Panzergrenadier Division was given the honorific title Götz von Berlichingen. The divisional symbol was an iron fist in a shield.
- Götz's iron hand inspired the creation of the modern prosthetic limb in the early 20th century. His hand was ahead of its time, being capable of holding objects from a sword to a feather pen.
- Jean-Paul Sartre's play "Le Diable et le Bon Dieu" features Gotz as an existentialist character.
References
- Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von - Götz von Berlichingen (1773).
- R. Pallmann - Der historische Götz von Berlichingen (Berlin, 1894).
- F. W. G. Graf von Berlichingen-Rossach - Geschichte des Ritters Götz von Berlichingen und seiner Familie (Leipzig, 1861).
- Götz's Autobiography, published Halle (1886).
External links
- [Title page] of the 1731 edition of the memoirs of Götz von Berlichingen.
- [Further information about Götz's prosthetic arm]
- [Götz von Berchlingen in the Literary Encyclopedia.]
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