whole of Alsace from Huningue to Landau.[1338] The insurgents display
placards, signed Louis, stating that for a certain lapse of time they
shall be permitted to exercise justice themselves, and, in Sundgau, a
well-dressed weaver, decorated with a blue belt, passes for a prince,
the King's second son. They begin by falling on the Jews, their
hereditary leeches; they sack their dwellings, divide their money among
themselves, and hunt them down like so many fallow-deer. At Bâle alone,
it is said that twelve hundred of these unfortunate fugitives arrived
with their families.--The distance between the Jew creditor and the
Christian proprietor is not great, and this is soon cleared. Remiremont
is only saved by a detachment of dragoons. Eight hundred men attack
the chateau of Uberbrünn. The abbey of Neubourg is taken by storm. At
Guebwiller, on the 31st of July, five hundred peasants, subjects of the
abbey of Murbach, make a descent on the abbot's palace and on the house
of the canons. Cupboards, chests, beds, windows, mirrors, frames, even
the tiles of the roof and the hinges of the casements are hacked
to pieces: "They kindle fires on the beautiful inlaid floors of the
apartments, and there burn up the library and the title-deeds." The
abbot's superb carriage is so broken up that not a wheel remains entire.
"Wine streams through the cellars. One cask of sixteen hundred measures
is half lost; the plate and the linen are carried off."--Society is
evidently being overthrown, while with the power, property is changing
hands.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account