Shortly after 1400 the citizens of St. Gall joined with the peasants
against their abbot, who ruled them with a hand of iron. The Swabian
cities were asked to decide the dispute, and decided that cities could
only confederate with cities, not with peasants, thus leaving the
Appenzellers to their fate. At this decision the herdsmen rose in arms,
defeated abbot and citizens both, and set their country free, all the
neighboring peasantry joining their band of liberty. A few years later
the people of this region joined the confederation, which now included
nearly the whole of the Alpine country, and was strong enough to
maintain its liberty for centuries thereafter. It was not again subdued
until the legions of Napoleon trod over its mountain paths.
_ZISKA, THE BLIND WARRIOR._
Sigismund, Emperor of Germany, had sworn to put an end to the Hussite
rebellion in Bohemia, and to punish the rebels in a way that would make
all future rebels tremble. But Sigismund was pursuing the old policy of
cooking the hare before it was caught. He forgot that the indomitable
John Ziska and the iron-flailed peasantry stood between him and his vow.
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