Topic: Franz von Sickingen

Franz von Sickingen , 1481-1523, German knight. Placed under the ban of the Holy Roman Empire because of his profitable forays along the Rhine, he served King Francis I of France and then made peace with Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, whose service he entered. His presence with an army near Frankfurt helped insure the election (1519) of Maximilian's grandson, Charles V, as Holy Roman emperor. Influenced by Ulrich von Hutten , Sickingen aided persecuted reformers like Johann Reuchlin and Martin Luther . He led (1522) the knights of SW Germany in a war, sometimes called the Knights'... Read more