Franz von Sickingen was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 knight

Knight

A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

, one of the most notable figures of the first period of the Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

.

Biography

He was born at Ebernburg (now Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg

Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg

Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg is a municipality in Germany in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, district of Bad Kreuznach. The town has about 4000 inhabitants as of 2004 and covers an area of 9.53 square km and lies on the Nahe....

) near Bad Kreuznach

Bad Kreuznach

Bad Kreuznach is the capital of the district of Bad Kreuznach, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is located on the Nahe river, a tributary of the Rhine...

. Having fought for the emperor Maximilian I

Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor

Maximilian I , the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Portugal, was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never in fact crowned by the Pope, the journey to Rome always being too risky...

 against Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

 in 1508, he inherited large estates on the Rhine, and increased his wealth and reputation by devious methods. In 1513 he took up the quarrel of Balthasar Schlör, a citizen who had been driven out of Worms

Worms, Germany

Worms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts, who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over the title of "Oldest City in Germany." Worms is the only...

, and attacked this city with 7000 men. In spite of the imperial ban, he devastated its lands, intercepted its commerce, and desisted only when his demands were granted. He made war on Antoine, Duke of Lorraine

Antoine, Duke of Lorraine

Antoine , known as the Good, was Duke of Lorraine from 1508 until his death in 1544.-Biography:Antoine was born at Bar-le-Duc, the son of René II, Duke of Lorraine and Philippa of Guelders...

, and compelled Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse

Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse

Philip I of Hesse, , nicknamed der Großmütige was a leading champion of the Protestant Reformation and one of the most important of the early Protestant rulers in Germany....

, to pay him 35,000 gulden. In 1518 he interfered in a civil conflict in Metz

Metz

Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...

, ostensibly siding with the citizens against the governing oligarchy

Oligarchy

Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy...

. He led an army of 20,000 against the city, compelled the magistrates to give him 20,000 gold gulden

Rhenish guilder

Rhenish guilder is the name of the golden, base currency coin of the Rhineland in the 14th and 15th centuries.- Formation :...

 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

Swabian League

The Swabian League was an association of Imperial States - cities, prelates, principalities and knights - principally in the territory of the Early medieval stem duchy of Swabia, established in 1488 at the behest of Emperor Frederick III of Habsburg and supported as well by Bertold von...

 against Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg

Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg

Herzog Ulrich von Württemberg succeeded his kinsman Eberhard II as Duke of Württemberg in 1498, being declared of age in 1503.-Early life:...

.

In the contest for the imperial throne upon the death of Maximilian in 1519, Sickingen accepted bribes from King Francis I of France

Francis I of France

Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...

, but when the election took place he led his troops to Frankfurt

Frankfurt

Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...

, where their presence assisted to secure the election of Charles V

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...

. For this service he was made imperial chamberlain and councillor, and in 1521 he led an expedition into France, which ravaged Picardy

Picardy

This article is about the historical French province. For other uses, see Picardy .Picardy is a historical province of France, in the north of France...

, but was beaten back from Mézières

Charleville-Mézières

Charleville-Mézières is a commune in northern France, capital of the Ardennes department in the Champagne-Ardenne region. Charleville-Mézières is located on the banks of the Meuse River.-History:...

 and forced to retreat.

In about 1517 Sickingen became intimate with Ulrich von Hutten

Ulrich von Hutten

Ulrich von Hutten was a German scholar, poet and reformer. He was an outspoken critic of the Roman Catholic Church and a bridge between the humanists and the Lutheran Reformation...

, and gave his support to Hutten's schemes. In 1519 a threat from him freed Johann Reuchlin

Johann Reuchlin

Johann Reuchlin was a German humanist and a scholar of Greek and Hebrew. For much of his life, he was the real centre of all Greek and Hebrew teaching in Germany.-Early life:...

 from his enemies, the Dominican

Dominican Order

The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...

s, and his castles became (in Hutten's words) a refuge for righteousness. Here many of the reformers found shelter, and a retreat was offered to Martin Luther

Martin Luther

Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...

.

After the failure of the French expedition, Sickingen, aided by Hutten, formed, or revived, a large scheme to overthrow the spiritual princes and to elevate the order of knighthood, the Knights' Revolt

Knights' Revolt

The Knights' Revolt of 1522 was a revolt by a number of Protestant and humanist German knights led by Franz von Sickingen, against the Roman Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Emperor...

. He hoped to secure this by the help of the towns and peasantry. 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. He declared war against his old enemy, Richard Greiffenklau of Vollraths, archbishop of Trier, and marched against that city. Trier

Trier

Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....

 was loyal to the archbishop, and the landgrave of Hesse and Louis V, count palatine of the Rhine, hastened to his assistance. Sickingen, without the help he needed, was compelled to fall back on his castle, Burg Nanstein

Burg Nanstein

Burg Nanstein is a castle in Landstuhl, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.It was built around the year 1162 after Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I demanded its construction as additional defense for the Palatinate....

 at Landstuhl, collecting much booty on the way.

On October 22, 1522 the council of regency placed him under the ban, to which he replied, in the spring of 1523, by plundering Kaiserslautern. The Archbishop Richard of Trier, Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse

Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse

Philip I of Hesse, , nicknamed der Großmütige was a leading champion of the Protestant Reformation and one of the most important of the early Protestant rulers in Germany....

, and Louis V, Elector Palatine

Louis V, Elector Palatine

Louis V, Count Palatine of the Rhine ; a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty was prince elector of the Palatinate....

 decided to move against him, and having obtained help from the Swabian League, marched on Burg Nanstein. Sickingen refused to negotiate, and during the siege was seriously wounded. This attack was one of the first occasions on which artillery was used, and breaches were soon made in an otherwise impregnable fortress. On May 6 1523 Sickingen 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 by Maximilian II

Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor

Maximilian II was king of Bohemia and king of the Romans from 1562, king of Hungary and Croatia from 1563, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation from 1564 until his death...

, and a descendant was raised in 1773 to the rank of Imperial count . The last surviving branch of the family resides in Austria.