[2]Aarau, the capital of the canton of Aargau, in Switzerland, is twenty-four miles southeast of Basle. Although a small town, it is of considerable manufacturing importance.
[3]“Arme Gecken” is evidently a play upon the word Armagnac. These Armagnacs were mercenaries from the county of Armagnac in France. Charles VII, wishing to get rid of them, sent them to aid Frederick III in enforcing his claims against the Swiss, at the time of this story.
[4]Maximilian, son of Frederick III, was born in 1459 and died in 1519. He married Maria, daughter of Charles the Bold, in 1477, and was elected King of the Romans in 1486, and Emperor in 1493. In 1499 he waged an ineffectual war with the Swiss Confederation which resulted in its practical independence.
[5]“Bärenhäuter, he of the bear’s hide, a nickname for a German private soldier.” Scott, “Anne of Geierstein.”
[6]Albert, Elector of Brandenburg, third son of Frederick I, was born November 9, 1414, and died March 11, 1486. He was the author of the ordinance providing for the separation of Brandenburg and Ansbach-Baireuth, and establishing primogeniture in each, which, according to the historians, is the first instance of the legal establishment of the custom of primogeniture. He was surnamed Achilles, and Ulysses, because of his valor and sagacity.
[7]Sundgau is a name given to the southern part of Alsace.
[8]Granson is a village in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland, on the Lake of Lucerne, not far from Lausanne.
LIFE STORIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCES
TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY
GEORGE P. UPTON