1550 Munster Leaf Knight Execution Burgundian Wars

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1550 Description of the Burgundian Wars from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster
Siege of Neuss , Peter von Hagenbach, The First War Crimes Tribunal
France, Germany, Switzerland
One Woodcut Picture: Execution of a Knight

Single authentic woodcut leaf from "Cosmographia" by Sebastian Münster. German edition; Basel printing house of Sebastian Heinrich-Petri 1550. Book III ("Von dem Deutschen land"), pages dxi-dxii (511-2).

Sebastian Münster (1488-1552) was a German cartographer, cosmographer, and Hebrew scholar whose Cosmographia (1544; "Cosmography") was the earliest German description of the world and a major work - after the Nuremberg Chronicle of 1493 - in the revival of geographic thought in 16th-century Europe. Altogether, about 40 editions of the Cosmographia appeared during 1544-1628. Although other cosmographies predate Münster's, he is given first place in historical discussions of this sort of publication, and was a major influence on his subject for over 200 years. Cosmographia contained not only the latest maps and views of many well-known cities, but included an encyclopaedic amount of detail about the known - and unknown - world and undoubtedly must have been one of the most widely read books of its time. Aside from the well-known maps and views present in the Cosmographia (including the first separate printed map of the Western Hemisphere), the text is thickly sprinkled with vigorous woodcuts: portraits of kings and princes, costumes and occupations, habits and customs, flora and fauna, monsters and horrors. Of about 20 German editions of the Cosmographia, the 1550 edition is the most valued. Click here for the title page of the 1550 German edition (not included).

Click here for more information about Münster and Cosmographia, including the content and list of editions and artists

This most interesting authentic woodcut leaf from the 1550 German edition of Cosmographia is devoted to Peter von Hagenbach and the Burgundian Wars. The Burgundian Wars were a conflict between the Dukes of Burgundy and the Kings of France, later involving the Old Swiss Confederacy, which would play a decisive role. Initially in 1469, Duke Sigismund of Habsburg of Austria assigned his possessions in the Alsace as a fiefdom to the Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, to have them protected better against the expansion of the Eidgenossen. Charles' involvement west of the Rhine gave him no reason to attack the confederates as Sigismund had wanted, but his embargo politics against the cities of Basel, Strasbourg, and Mulhouse, directed by his reeve Peter von Hagenbach, prompted these to turn to Bern for help. Charles' expansionist strategy suffered a first setback in his politics when his attack on the Archbishopric of Cologne failed after the unsuccessful Siege of Neuss (1473-1474).

Von Hagenbach's instructions were to keep order and these he executed with savage zealousness. Murder, rape, illegal taxation and the wanton confiscation of private property were carried out by his soldiers and officials to terrify the local population into submission. The coalition (Austria, France, Bern and the towns and knights of the Upper Rhine) began by laying siege to Breisach. Von Hagenbach's mercenaries revolted and he was captured. Rather than despatch him summarily or send him before a local court, the archduke of Austria, as the new sovereign of Breisach, decided to set up a special tribunal, with 28 judges chosen from the ranks of each member of the coalition. The archduke himself named the chief judge and the chief prosecutor. Von Hagenbach was charged with "trampling the laws of God and man," specifically with ordering murder, rape and mutilation of citizens of the Upper Rhine. He was also accused of ordering his non-German mercenaries to kill the men in the houses where they were quartered so that the women and children would be completely at their mercy.

Hagenbach's defence was that, as chief peacekeeper in Breisach for the Duke of Burgundy, he was simply following orders. "Is it not known that soldiers owe absolute obedience to their superiors?" his counsel asked. And then this second line of defence: "Peter von Hagenbach does not recognise any other judge and master but the Duke of Burgundy." It didn't work. Sir Peter was found guilty, stripped of his knighthood and then of his head on May 9, 1474 in Breisach. The leaf contains one woodcut picture (3.2 x 2.7 inches) of the execution of Von Hagenbach. See pictures for more details; click image to view larger version.

Page measures 8.4 x 12.8 inches. Wide margins suitable for framing. Printed on quality laid paper. The leaf is in very good condition. Imperfections: minor browning and handling in margins. This is a rare and exceptionally interesting historical document which will look great with a mat and frame.

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