He  was  immediately  put  under  ban.  His  answer  to  this  was,  instantly
to  appear  before  the  walls  of  that  city,  to  fire  upon  it  with  carronades  and
culverins,  lay  waste  the  fields,  tear  up  the  vineyards,  and  prevent  all
access  to  the  town.  The  Whitsuntide  fair  could  not  be  held  either  in  1 5 1 5
or  1 5 16.  The  States  of  the  circle  of  the  Rhine  assembled,  but  dared  not
come  to  any  resolution  ;  they  thought  that  could  only  be  done  at  an  im-
perial diet.3  It  is  indisputable  that  some  princes,  out  of  opposition  either
to  the  emperor  or  to  the  Swabian  league,  favoured,  or  at  least  connived  at,
these  acts  of  violence.  The  knights  were  connected  with  the  party
among  the  princes  which  was  inclined  neither  to  the  emperor  nor  to  the
league.        '

III.  The  cities  were  exposed  to  annoyance  and  injury  from  all  sides  ;  j
from  the  imperial  government,  which  continually  imposed  fresh  burthens  J
upon  them  ;  from  these  lawless  knights,  and  from  the  princes,  who  in !
1 5 1 2  agitated  the  old  question  of  the  Pf ahlbiirger.4  But  they  made  a
most  gallant  defence.  How  many  a  robber  noble  did  Lubeck  drag  from
his  stronghold  !  Towards  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  that  city  con-
cluded a  treaty  with  neighbouring  mediate  cities,  the  express  object  of
which  was  to  prevent  the  landed  aristocracy  from  exceeding  the  powers
they  had  hitherto  exercised.  It  availed  nothing  to  King  John  of  Denmark
that  the  Emperor  Maximilian  for  a  time  favoured  his  attempts.  In  the
year  1 509,  the  Hanse  towns  or  rather  a  part  of  them,  attacked  his  islands,
beat  his  ships  at  Helsingor,  carried  away  his  bells  for  their  chapels,  and  re-
mained absolute  masters  on  the  open  sea.  A  Lubeck  vessel  boarded  by
three  Danish  ones  near  Bornholm  beat  off  two  of  them  and  captured  the
third  :  in  the  year  1 5 1 1  the  Lubeck  fleet  returned  to  the  Trave  with
eighteen  Dutch  ships  as  prizes.6

1  Anonymi  Carmen  de  Obsidione  et  Expugnatione  Arcis  Hohenkrayen,  15 12.
