Ulrich von Hutten

HUTTEN, Ulrich von. b. Burd Steckelberg, near Fulda, 21 April 1488; d. Ufnau, near Zürich, Switzerland, 29 August 1523. Born of a noble put poor family, von Hutten was sent to the Benedictine monastery at Fulda, with a view to his becoming a monk. He left the monastery in 1505, and after many wanderings, entered the University of Greifswald in 1509. He became involved in wars between the German princes following the murder of his kinsman Hans von Hutten by the Duke of Württemberg in 1515: with the help of his friend Franz von Sickingen, the leader of an Order of Knights (the ‘Ritterband’), Ulrich defeated the Duke in 1519. At this time, he became aware of the work of Luther*, which he...