Georg III Truchsess von

Waldburg-Zeil Waldburg-Zeil was a County and later Principality within Holy Roman Empire, ruled by the House of Waldburg, located in southeastern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located around :de:Schloss Zeil, Schloss Zeil, near Leutkirch im Allgäu. History ...

( Waldsee, 25 January 1488 – Bad Waldsee, 29 May 1531), also known as Bauernjörg, was a

Swabian League The Swabian League () was a military alliance of Imperial State, imperial estates – Free imperial city, imperial cities, prelates, principalities and knights – principally in the territory of the early Middle Ages, medieval stem duchy of S ...

Army Commander in the

German Peasants' War The German Peasants' War, Great Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt () was a widespread popular revolt in some German-speaking areas in Central Europe from 1524 to 1525. It was Europe's largest and most widespread popular uprising befor ...

Life

He was a member of the

House of Waldburg The House of Waldburg is a princely family of Upper Swabia, founded some time previous to the 12th century; some cadet lineages are comital families. As one of a small number of mediatized houses, the family belongs to the '' High nobility'' (anc ...

, which received through him in 1525 the hereditary title of '' Truchsess'' (''

Seneschal The word ''seneschal'' () can have several different meanings, all of which reflect certain types of supervising or administering in a historic context. Most commonly, a seneschal was a senior position filled by a court appointment within a royal, ...

'', or ''Steward'', in English) of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

and the right to put it in their family name. He served since 1508 Duke

Ulrich von Württemberg Ulrich () is a Germanic given name derived from Old High German ''Uodalrich'', ''Odalric''. It is composed of the elements ''Othala rune, uodal-'' meaning "heritage" and ''-rih'' meaning "king, ruler". Attested from the 8th century as the name of Al ...

and helped him crush the Poor Conrad rebellion. In 1516 he fought for Bavaria alongside

Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (22 March 1459 – 12 January 1519) was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death in 1519. He was never crowned by the Pope, as the journey to Rome was blocked by the Venetians. He proclaimed hi ...

in Italy against France and their allies. In the next years he was in the service of the

and chased his former employer, Ulrich von Württemberg out of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

. In 1525 he succeeded his cousin Wilhelm as governor of Württemberg. Both received the hereditary title of Imperial Steward (''Reichserbtruchsess'') from the hands of

Emperor Charles V Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) fr ...

on 27 July 1526 in Toledo.

''Bauernjörg''

Georg became famous as ''Bauernjörg'' for his harsh and pitiless actions against the rebellious peasants in the

. When the German peasants revolted in 1525, most Imperial troops were fighting in Italy. Georg von Waldburg could only recruit 4,000 unreliable

Landsknecht The (singular: , ), also rendered as Landsknechts or Lansquenets, were German mercenaries used in pike and shot formations during the early modern period. Consisting predominantly of pikemen and supporting foot soldiers, their front line was ...

s and could do nothing more than to negotiate with the peasants. But after the victory against France in the

Battle of Pavia The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–1526 between the Kingdom of France and the Habsburg Empire of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, Holy Roman Empero ...

, many war veterans returned to Southern Germany and were enlisted by Waldburg. Under his command, army after army of peasants was defeated and pursued into their villages to be tortured and executed. Sources speak of between 70,000 and 130,000 peasants killed. After the rebellion was crushed, Georg Truchsess von Waldburg-Zeil ruled large parts of the territories he had conquered, and collected ransoms from the remaining population.Peter Blickle: Der Bauernjörg. Feldherr im Bauernkrieg. München 2015. (in german)

In literature

The Truchsess von Waldburg-Zeil is a character in the historical novel '' Lichtenstein'' by Wilhelm Hauff. He is also a character in the historical novel The Adventurer, AKA Michael The Finn (Mikael Karvajalka) by

Mika Waltari Mika Toimi Waltari (; 19 September 1908 – 26 August 1979) was a Finnish writer, best known for his best-selling novel ''The Egyptian'' (). He was extremely productive. Besides his novels he also wrote poetry, short stories, crime novels, plays, ...

References

{{Authority control 1488 births 1531 deaths People from Bad Waldsee House of Waldburg German Peasants' War