Württemberg

Armies marched across the territory for decades, and the family's own ancestral home wasn't spared.

In 1634, Hohenzollern Castle itself was besieged and devastated by Swedish and Württemberg forces.

the seat of the dynasty's oldest line lay in ruins recaptured only the following year by imperial troops by the time the war ended with the peace of westphalia in sixteen forty eight much of brandenburg prussia had been ravaged the population had been decimated And the territory had to be rebuilt from almost nothing.

It was rebuilt by one man more than any other, Frederick William, who came into power as Elector in 1640 at just 20 years old, and who history would come to know as the Great Elector.

And 6.

Württemberg, which was made a duchy in 1495.

The chief power was in the hands of the electors, seven princes, three spiritual and four temporal, who had the right of electing a new emperor.

These were the archbishops of Mainz, Trier, and Cologne, the Elector Palatine of the Rhine, the King of Bohemia, the Elector of Saxony, and the Margrave of Brandenburg.

For the next twelve years, other complications prevented the Emperor from dealing with the Protestants.

Meanwhile, the movement advanced in Germany.

In 1534, the League of Schmalkalde restored Duke Ulrich of Württemberg to his dominions.

He had been driven out by the Schwabian League in 1519, and his lands incorporated with the Habsburg dominions.

7.

Once upon a time, a gentleman of rank was driving with four horses along the highway which runs between the towns of Tübingen and Hershaw in Württemberg, and when opposite a roadside chapel, he scoffed at a picture of the Madonna which adorned it.

Immediately, his horses came to a standstill, nor could he make them proceed, in spite of vigorous urging.

At length, in this dilemma, a priest was called, who imposed as a penance the removal of a shoe from the right forefoot of each horse, and after this had been done, the gentleman was enabled to continue his journey.

Under a bridge near the town of Paderborn in Prussia, there lives a poor soul who does nothing but sneeze at frequent intervals.

If a wagon happens to pass over the bridge at the moment when a sneeze is heard, and the driver fails to say, "God help thee," the vehicle will surely be overturned, and the driver will become poor and break his leg.

Tradition says that a godless fellow who died long ago of incessant sneezing during an epidemic of the plague at Wermlingen in Württemberg was condemned on account of his sins to wander about the neighborhood still sneezing at intervals.

One day, while one of the villagers was crossing a bridge over some meadows near the town, he heard someone underneath sneeze twice, and each time he piously responded, "God help thee." When, however, he heard a third sneeze, the villager thought to himself, "That fellow may keep on sneezing for a long time and make a fool of me." So he cried out angrily, "May the devil help you!"

It consisted of a collection of states, including the seven electorates, namely the three Rhenish archbishoprics of Mainz, Mayence, Trier, Treves, and Köln, Cologne, and the four states of Bohemia, Saxony, Brandenburg, and the Palatinate.

Other important members of the empire were the group of the Austrian dominions, including Austria proper, Tyrol, East Schwabia, Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, then divided between three branches of the Habsburg family, and the duchies of Bavaria and Württemberg.

These territories, which were already almost independent states, had all sprung from the larger feudal fiefs.

Their growth to complete independence is one of the chief features of German history of this period, for in face of their opposition, it seemed impossible to provide the empire with a strong government, and the Habsburgs in their family dominions themselves became the worst offenders against national unity.

Nevertheless, the political and social disorders of the reign became more marked at its end.

The Swabian League of Nobles, Knights, and Cities, which had done useful work in South Germany for the past twenty years, split up.

A counter-league under the Duke of Württemberg sprang into being and fell to blows with the League itself.

The Knights, wolves to commerce, were once more prominent in the person of the famous Sickingen, waging private war against the city of Worms.

And 6.

Württemberg, which was made a duchy in 1495.

The chief power was in the hands of the electors, seven princes, three spiritual and four temporal, who had the right of electing a new emperor.

These were the Archbishops of Mainz, Trier, and Cologne, the Elector Palatine of the Rhine, the King of Bohemia, the Elector of Saxony, and the Margrave of Brandenburg.

For the next twelve years other complications prevented the Emperor from dealing with the Protestants.

Meanwhile, the movement advanced in Germany.

In 1534 the League of Schmalkalde restored Duke Ulrich of Württemberg to his dominions.

He had been driven out by the Schwabian League in 1519, and his lands incorporated with the Habsburg dominions.