The siege of Weinsberg took place in 1140 in

Weinsberg Weinsberg (South Franconian: ''Weischberg'') is a town in the north of the state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It was founded around 1200 and is situated in the Heilbronn district. The town has about 13,000 inhabitants. It is noted for its win ...

, in the modern state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, which was then part 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 ...

. The siege was a decisive battle between two dynasties, the Welfs and the

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...

. The Welfs for the first time changed their war cry from "

Kyrie Eleison ', a transliteration of Greek , vocative case of ('' Kyrios''), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the ( ; ). In the Bible The prayer, , "Lord, have mercy" derives from a Biblical phrase. Greek , ...

" to their party cries. The Hohenstaufen used the 'Strike for Gibbelins' war cry. On the death of the Holy Roman Emperor Lothair III (or II) in 1137, Henry the Proud was the Welf heir of the patrimony of his deceased father-in-law, and possessor of the crown jewels. He stood as a candidate for emperor, but the local princes opposed him and elected Conrad III, a Hohenstaufen, in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

on 2 February 1138. When Conrad gave the

Duchy of Saxony The Duchy of Saxony () was originally the area settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages, when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 CE and incorporated into the Carolingian Empire (Francia) by 804. Upon the 84 ...

to Count

Albert the Bear Albert the Bear (; 1100 – 18 November 1170) was the first margrave of Brandenburg from 1157 to his death and was briefly duke of Saxony between 1138 and 1142. Life Albert was the only son of Otto, Count of Ballenstedt, and Eilika of Sa ...

, the Saxons rose in defence of their young prince, and Count Welf of Altorf, the brother of Henry the Proud, began the war. Exasperated at the heroic defence of Welfs, Conrad III had resolved to destroy Weinsberg and imprison its defenders. However he suspended the final assault after a surrender was negotiated. According to the Latin chronicle ''

Chronica regia Coloniensis The ''Chronica regia Coloniensis'' ("Royal Chronicle of Cologne", German: ''Kölner Königschronik''), also called the ''Annales Colonienses maximi'', is an anonymous medieval Latin chronicle that covers the years 576 to 1202. The original chronic ...

,'' first compiled in the 1170s, these terms granted the women of the city the right to leave with whatever they could carry:

The year of our Lord 1140. The king onradbesieged the city of the duke Welf of Bavaria, which was called Weinsberg, and accepted its surrender, having granted with royal magnanimity permission to the wives and other women found there that they might take with them whatever they could carry on their shoulders. Taking thought both for their loyalty for their husbands and the safety of the others, they disregarded their household goods and came down carrying the men on their shoulders. When Duke Friedrich said that such things should not happen, the king, showing favour to the women's cunning, said that it would not be fitting to change his royal word.
Chronica regia Coloniensis
'' MGH ''Scriptores rerum Germanicarum'' 18 (1880), p. 77.

Burg Weibertreu von Hans Baldung Grien 1515

This story of wifely loyalty and cunning saving their husbands became known as the "Loyal Wives of Weinsberg" (''Treue Weiber von Weinsberg''). The castle ruins are today known as ("wifely loyalty") in commemoration of the event. The women's unique interpretation of the king's orders was used as a

plot device A plot device or plot mechanism is any technique in a narrative used to move the plot forward. A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may confuse the reader, causing a loss of the suspension of disbelief ...

in the modern film adaptation of the

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

story ''

Ever After ''Ever After'' (known in promotional material as ''Ever After: A Cinderella Story'') is a 1998 American romantic period drama film inspired by the Charles Perrault fairy tale "Cinderella". It is directed by Andy Tennant and stars Drew Barry ...

'' (1998).

Notes

{{coord, 49.1550, N, 9.2830, E, source:wikidata, display=title 1140 in Europe

Women in 12th-century warfare Women in European warfare