4/1/2024 0 Comments Medieval wineskinThe stakes were high: Tilly threatened death to anyone who failed, right on the spot. Holding close to a gallon of wine, the tankard was offered in hopes it might change his spirit.Īs tyrants are wont to do, Tilly turned the offer on the townspeople, challenging them to instead drink the entire draught in one go, promising to spare them if one of their own succeeded. In either a desperate attempt to bribe Tilly, or a cunning plan to get him really, really drunk, the townsfolk offered Tilly a tankard of their best Franconian wine. That year, Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly and commander of the Catholic League in Germany, occupied the Protestant town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, threatening to burn the village to the ground. The story begins in 1631, in the middle of the Thirty Years’ War, a religious conflict in central Europe that was one of the longest and most brutal in history. But could any of these debaucherous tyrants actually claim their lushed-up treachery did any good? According to the “Legend of the Master Draught,” a religious tyrant’s refusal of the drink and another ruler’s impressive guzzling skills eventually saved an entire German town. History is rife with tales of drunken emperors and inebriated kings, whose lust for power was equaled only by their passion for booze.
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