asants of Valais defeated
the Earl of Savoy at Visp, putting four thousand of his men to the
sword. The citizens of St. Gall, infuriated by the tyranny of the
governor of the province of Schwendi, broke into insurrection, attacked
the castle of Schwendi, and burnt it to the ground. The governor
escaped. All the castles in the vicinity were similarly dealt with, and
the whole district set free.

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.
He had first to conquer the reformers before he could punish them, and
this was to prove no easy task.

The dreadful work of religious war began with the burning of Hussite
preachers who had ventured from Bohemia into Germany. This was an
argument which Ziska thoroughly understood, and he retorted by
destroying the Bohemian monasteries, and burning the priests alive in
barrels of pitch. "They are singing my sister's wedding song," exclaimed
the grim barbarian, on hearing their cries of torture. Queen Sophia,
widow of Wenceslas, the late king, who had garrisoned all the royal
castles, now sent a strong body of troops against the reformers. The
army came up with the multitude, which was largely made up of women and
children, on the open plain near Pilsen. The cavalry charged upon the
seemingly helpless mob. But Ziska was equal to the occasion. He ordered
the women to strew the ground with their gown