The History of Peter Hagenbach and the Burgundian Wars

This rhyming chronicle narrating the Burgundian Wars and the story of Peter von Hagenbach in particular was written by Konrad Pfettisheim and printed in Strasbourg by Heinrich Knoblochtzer in 1477. The work is illustrated by eight full-page colored woodcuts, seven of which were borrowed from the Burgundische Historie by Hans Erhart Tüsch, which was published in Strasbourg in the same year, probably by the same printer. At the center of the chronicle is the story of Peter von Hagenbach, an Alsatian knight, military captain, and bailiff in the service of Duke Charles the Bold of Burgundy, a great enemy of the Swiss who tried to carve out a new kingdom between France and the Holy Roman Empire. Hagenbach is also credited with coining the term Landsknecht to differentiate between Swiss mercenaries and infantry soldiers from the Holy Roman Empire who used similar tactics. He was executed in 1474 for atrocities he and his troops committed during his occupation of Breisach including murder, rape, and perjury, making him the first commander held responsible for war crimes that "he as a knight was deemed to have a duty to prevent."