The Castle of the Faithful Wives
THIS STORY GOES BACK A THOUSAND YEARS to the land of Germany. One day at the German royal palace, the Duke of Welf bowed before King Conrad III when something unexpected happened. The Duke had came to the castle as to pay his taxes (in those days called "tribute"). As the Duke bowed low before the King, he accidentally brushed the foot of the Queen. The King was utterly appalled. Enraged, he leaped to his feet.
"How dare you!" yelled the King, pointing a bejeweled finger at the Duke. "You have the manners of a donkey! Clod!" Embarrassed and offended to be upbraided in such a manner in front of all of his servants, the Duke declared that he would never again pay one single coin of tribute to the royal crown. He spun around, furiously storming out of the palace. And the Duke's servants followed behind.
As bad as it was to insult the Queen, for the Duke to announce that he would longer pay tribute to the crown was a grievous offense. Such an affront ,the King could not allow to stand. To punish this act of disloyalty, the King sent his royal army to surround the Duke's castle. For in those days, it wasn't only the Kings and Queens who lived in castles. Dukes and other powerful leaders also lived in their own castles, along with with their families, servants and followers. That's why there are so many castles all over the Europe countryside, if you ever wondered why that was.
Such an affront, the King could not allow to stand.
King Conrad III knew that if he surrounded the castle of the Duke of Welf, it was only a matter of time before the people trapped inside would run out of food and water. And they would have no choice but to surrender.
So the King and his troops soon surrounded the Duke's castle and waited impatiently. Meanwhile inside the castle, the Duke was making ready for a long siege. Fortunately the castle was well supplied with food and other provisions. And a fortune of gold and silver was stored inside the castle walls.
It was the Duke's plans that at night, he would send scouts through secret tunnels to the city of Weinsberg to buy whatever provisions they needed. The Duke hoped his friends in Weinsberg would send word of his plight to opponents of the King and they would muster a force of soldiers, come to his aid and rescue them, one and all.
After a few weeks passed with no surrender in sight, the King sent a messenger to the Duke with a demand for everyone in the castle to surrender. All of the Duke's men would have to die by the sword, but the women and children would be free to go. The Duke of Welf flatly refused these terms. Furious, the King ordered all roads and pathways surrounding the castle to be barricaded. He sent soldiers to search for tunnel entrances and when they were discovered, he filled them, blocked them, and stationed soldiers by each one.
All the Duke's men would have to die by the sword.
Inside the castle, food and other provisions were running out. The spies the Duke had sent to the city of Weinsberg to buy provisions were unable to return with their packages because the tunnels were blocked and guarded. From the top of the castle the Duke could see that soldiers guarded all the pathways. A quick inventory revealed the once-ample stores were nearly depleted. In fact, all that remained were two barrels of beans. The outlook was grim. The people inside the castle knew they faced starvation.
King Conrad III, furious that the Duke still hadn't surrendered, sent another message. If everyone in the castle did not surrender that very night, he would set the entire city of Weinsberg on fire and subject all its inhabitants to the sword. Now the people inside the castle were truly desperate! Not only was their own doom sealed, but the innocent residents of Weinsberg would share the same horrendous fate.
In the hastily gathered meeting that took place next, Lady Uta, the wife of the Duke of Welf, came up with a certain plan. Before sundown, a messenger emerged from the castle with a letter addressed to King Conrad III. The letter read:
We, the women of the castle, humbly realize that our fate
is in your hands. We ask only that you allow us to leave
at sunrise tomorrow with our children and whatever we
can carry on our backs. For this we entreat you and submit
our lives to your mercy.
King Conrad III considered the proposal. After all, he already said that he'd let the women and children leave in peace. If they took a few pocketfuls of valuables, what was that to him? They could rebuild their lives and he'd be forever hailed as a wonderful and merciful king. Besides, the vast fortune of Duke Welf would be abandoned inside the castle and he could add it to his own royal treasury. Not to mention, the whole affair would be over. The King sent the messenger back with his royal approval.
The King sent the messenger back with his royal approval.
The next morning at sunrise, the castle gates creaked open. Out stepped the women with their children behind. But that's not all that emerged from the castle. Carried on the backs of the women were their own husbands, while on the backs of unmarried women were their own brothers or fathers. Each woman staggered under the weight of her burden while the men, sputtering with embarrassment on the backs of their womenfolk, struggled to keep from slipping to the ground.
Astonished at the very sight, the King laughed. His soldiers, outraged at the gall of these women, demanded that all the traitors be executed at once. The King refused, declaring that he had already given his royal word they could take whatever they could carry on their backs, and "a King always keeps his word." Thus the women of the castle were allowed safe passage and to rescue their beloved menfolk as well.
According to legend, the Duke and his men were so grateful that they renewed their loyalty to the King. King Conrad III renamed the Duke's castle "The Castle of the Faithful Wives," the name by which the castle is still known today. Should you ever visit the city of Weinsberg in Germany, you will be able to see it for yourself.
