ng directly with the margrave through his burgraves and
bailiffs, or _vogts_, the village communities came to be represented by
the nobles who had obtained possession of their lands. Many of the towns
were forced into the same position. Others were able to maintain their
independence, and to make use of the pecuniary needs of the margraves to
become practically municipal republics. Their strength, however, was
perhaps more usefully shown in their ability to resist the nobles, a
proceeding which saved industry and commerce from extinction at a time
of unbridled lawlessness. In the pecuniary embarrassments of the
margraves also originated the power of the _Stande_, or estates,
consisting of the nobles, the clergy and the towns. The first recorded
instance of the _Stande_ co-operating with the rulers occurred in 1170;
but it was not till 1280 that the margrave solemnly bound himself not to
raise a _bede_ or special voluntary contribution without the consent of
the estates. In 1355 the _Stande_ secured the appointment of a permanent
councillor, without whose concurrence the decrees of the margraves were
invalid. In the century which followed the extinction of the Ascanian
house, liberty degenerated into licence, and the country was given over
to anarchy. Only the most powerful towns were able to maintain their
independence; others, together with the clergy, regularly paid blackmail
to the neighbouring nobles. Under these conditions it is no wonder that
the electorate not only completely lost its political importance, but
also suffered a considerable diminution of territory. Upper and lower
Lusatia, the new mark of Brandenburg, and other outlying districts had
been shorn away, and the electorate now consisted of the old mark, the
middle mark with Priegnitz, Uckermark and Sternberg, a total area of not
more than 10,000 sq.m.

Frederick of Hohenzollern, 1412.

Such was the condition and extent of Brandenburg in 1411 when Frederick
of Hohenzollern became the representative of King Sigismund therein.
Entering the electorate with a strong force in June 1412, his authority
was quickly recognized in the middle mark, but the nobles of the old
mark and of Priegnitz refused to follow this example. The two succeeding
years were skilfully used by Frederick to make peace with the
neighbouring princes, and having thus isolated his domestic enemies, he
turned his arms against them early in 1414. Their strongholds were
stormed, and in