Chapter I: Front Matter

_Life Stories for Young People_

ARNOLD OF WINKELRIED
THE HERO OF SEMPACH

_Translated from the German of
Gustav Höcker_

BY
GEORGE P. UPTON
_Translator of “Memories,” etc._

WITH THREE ILLUSTRATIONS

CHICAGO
A. C. McCLURG & CO.
1908

Copyright

A. C. McClurg & Co.
1908
Published August 22, 1908

THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.

Translator’s Preface

The story of Arnold of Winkelried, the famous hero of Switzerland, and of his heroic death in the battle of Sempach, will never lose its interest. The learned iconoclasts, having the advantage of the obscurity of fourteenth-century history, may continue to declare that he is only a legendary hero, as they have asserted of William Tell, but Winkelried, like Tell, still lives in the hearts of the Swiss people as the actual embodiment of patriotic devotion, love of freedom, and love of humanity, and thus he will remain in the hearts of men for all time. The narrative in this little volume might be called a collection of short sketches illustrating the great events of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, with Winkelried as their dominant figure and connecting link. The author tells us the legends which cluster around Pilatus, and good father Vincentius’s thrilling story of the battle of Morgarten. He shows us how a mystery play was performed. The ravages of the Black Death are vividly set forth. Then he tells us of the robber knights and Duke Leopold’s tournament at Basle. He describes in detail the curious methods employed in storming a castle, introduces Winkelried in his daring adventure as a beggar monk, and closes the graphic story with a thrilling account of the famous Sempach battle and the way in which Winkelried gave himself to death by making a passage for the Confederates through the forest of Austrian spears. There is no nobler example of patriotic devotion and sublime courage in history.

G. P. U.

Chicago, May 1, 1908.

Contents

Chapter Page
I Knight Schrutan and the Pilatus 11
II The Battle of Morgarten 31
III The Mystery Play at Engelberg 50
IV The Black Death 58
V The Robber Knights 72
VI The Tournament at Little Basle 94
VII Storming of a Lithuanian Castle 108
VIII The Beggar Monk 119
IX Winkelried’s Heroic Death 131
Appendix 140

Illustrations

The Winkelried statue _Frontispiece_
Monument commemorating the Battle of Sempach 54
Winkelried’s heroic death at the Battle of Sempach 122

Arnold of Winkelried