"The House of Hohenstaufen" Topic

"UPON the death of Lothair, his old foe, Conrad of Staufen, Duke of Franconia, was elected King of Germany as Conrad III. Now Henry the Proud, Duke of Bavaria and Saxony, had hoped to follow Lothair, whose daughter he had married. War broke out between Conrad III and Henry the Proud, and after Henry's death the war was carried on by his son, Henry the Lion, a famous warrior about whose name a great store of romantic legend has gathered. This conflict split the kingdom in two: on the one side were the Welfs, who followed Henry, the Welf Duke of Bavaria, on the other the Waiblings, who fought for the House of Hohenstaufen. The battle cries were "Hie, Welf " "Hie, Waibling " that is, [27] "Here, Welf!" "Here, Waibling!" The name Waibling was taken from that of a small town in Suabia, a stronghold of Hohenstaufen. These names were carried into Italy, and upon Italian lips became changed to Guelf and Ghibelline, and applied to the parties who fought for the Emperor and the Pope.

Conrad III was victor in the struggle, and crushed the Welfs at the town of Weinsberg. The place was held firmly by the Welfs, and Conrad could only gain it by a long, hard siege. Angry at the resistance offered, the Emperor vowed that every man of the garrison should be put to death, but that the women might go free, each taking with her what most she prized of her belongings. But when the gates were opened a very strange procession marched forth, for every woman came out, bearing her husband on her back. Thus the lives of the men of Weinsberg were saved, and the spot which the women crossed with their precious burdens is known to this day as "Weibertreu," or "Woman's Fidelity."

In 1147 Conrad joined Louis VII of France in leading the Second Crusade. A vast army of knights and men-at-arms and pilgrims followed the two monarchs to Asia Minor, but they did not reach Jerusalem. Disease and famine thinned out their ranks more terribly than battle, and a mere handful returned to Europe, to mourn the utter failure of the expedition…."
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Armand

The women of those days must have been tough cookies. My wife would never be able to save me that way.

The Second Crusade lost before the walls of Damascus, not so much from disease. And I haven't heard of famine taking any large toll of the Christian armies of those times, not among the troops. Camp followers, maybe. They always suffered first when food ran short. My recollection of the rout at Damascus is that the Christian armies were persuaded by bad counsel to move from the sheltered, watered side of the city to the arid side. When food and water ran short, they retreated.

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand