Chapter I: Front Matter

_Life Stories for Young People_

SWISS HEROES

AN HISTORICAL ROMANCE OF THE TIME
OF CHARLES THE BOLD

_Translated from the German of
A. A. Willys_

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

WITH THREE ILLUSTRATIONS

CHICAGO
A. C. McCLURG & CO.
1907

Copyright
A. C. McClurg & Co.
1907
Published September 21, 1907

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

Translator’s Preface

The period of the “Swiss Heroes” romance is in the days of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy; and the sentiment of its title is to be found in the careers of the three heroes, Hans Vögeli, his brother Heinrich Vögeli, who gave his life to establish his Swiss citizenship, and Walter Irmy. A short sketch of the relations of Charles the Bold to the Swiss is all that is needful as a preface to the stirring story which the German author has told so well and so accurately.

Charles the Bold, son of Philip the Good, of Burgundy, and Isabella of Portugal, one of the most conspicuous figures at the close of the Middle Ages, was born in 1433. He became Duke of Burgundy in 1467 and shortly afterwards took as his second wife Margaret, the sister of Edward IV of England. After years of war with Louis of France, which eventually ended in his success, and urged on by his inordinate ambition, he determined to erect an independent kingdom under his own sovereignty. With this end in view he entered into negotiations with Emperor Frederick, offering to marry his daughter to the Emperor’s son, in case he himself were elected king of the Romans. The Emperor proposed, however, to make him king of Burgundy at Treves, but the scheme was thwarted by the Electors, who persuaded the former to leave the city secretly. Four years previously (1469), Sigismund, Duke of Austria, had sold Alsace to Charles, and the latter appointed Peter von Hagenbach its governor. His career of cruel oppression and the vengeance which the people wreaked upon him are vividly described in this little romance. Charles was so enraged that he gave up the country to waste and slaughter. But meanwhile powerful allies were united against him. Louis of France had secured the alliance of the Swiss; and Sigismund, who was anxious to get Alsace back, joined the French. The English deserted him and signed a treaty of peace with Louis. Battle after battle was fought, in which the Swiss were victorious; and at last the troops of René, the dispossessed duke of Lorraine, aided by the Swiss troops, won a great victory under the walls of Nancy, January 5, 1477. The Burgundians were routed and Charles was killed. The heroism of the Swiss stands out conspicuously in this romance; but among all the characters in the stirring drama none is more alluring, more pathetic, more glorious, than Heinrich Vögeli, who won his restoration to citizenship by his heroic death.

G. P. U.

Chicago, June, 1907.

Contents

Chapter Page
I Saint Jacob’s Day 13
II At The Bears 31
III The Entry of the Princes 47
IV The Lost Found 59
V The Emperor’s Flight 69
VI The Rising at Brisach 76
VII Death of the Governor 98
VIII The Battle of Granson 105
IX The Hero of Murten 112
X Faithful unto Death 123
XI Death of Charles the Bold 130
Appendix 139

Illustrations

Page
After the Capture of Castle Granson _Frontispiece_
The Battle of Saint Jacob 28
Hagenbach’s Execution 100