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 THE BIG PICTURE
GROSS ANATOMY,
MEDICAL COURSE AND STEP 1 REVIEW
SECOND EDITION

David A. Morton, PhD

Professor
Anatomy Director
Vice-Chair of Medical and Dental Education
Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy
University of Utah School of Medicine
Salt Lake City, Utah

K. Bo Foreman, PhD, PT
Associate Professor
Anatomy Director
Department of Physical Therapy and Athletic Training
University of Utah College of Health
Associate Editor, The Anatomical Record
Salt Lake City, Utah

Kurt H. Albertine, PhD, FAAAS, FAAA

Professor of Pediatrics, Medicine (Adjunct}, and Neurobiology and Anatomy (Adjunct)
Edward B. Clark Endowed Chair N of Pediatrics
Editor-In-Chief, The Anatomical Record
University of Utah School of Medicine
Salt Lake City, Utah

II
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 DEDICATION

To my wife Celine and our children Jared, Ireland, Gabriel, Max, and Jack; and their cousins Lia, Sophia, Joshua,
Cayden, Ethan, Nathan, Kelsey, Robert, Stefani, Ella, Reid, Roman, Marcus, Jared, Hannah, Tanner, Liam, Maia, Riley,
Sydney, Luke, Cole, Desiree, Celeste, Connlan, Isabelle, Nathan, Simon, Thomas, James, Alexandre, Lyla, Logan,
William, Lincoln, Emmett, Andilynn, Greyson, Kennedy, Davis, Caleb, Charlotte, Adeline, and Penny.
I could not ask for a better family.
-David A. Morton

To my devoted family: my wife, Cindy, and our two daughters Hannah and Kaia. I would also like to posthumously dedicate
this second edition to Dr. Carolee Moncur, without her mentorship and inspiration this book would not have been possible.
-K. Bo Foreman

To David and Bo, co-authoring this book (both editions) with you completes a mentoring circle for me. I am proud to have
you as my colleagues and friends. To my wife, Laura Lake, and our adult children Erik and Kristin. Thank you for your
patience with and understanding of my efforts to contribute to biomedical education and research. A delight for me is that the topic
of human anatomy is enjoyed by our four grandchildren Brenee, Marlee, Callan, and Emery, each of whom leafs through the first
edition of the Big Picture Gross Anatomy book. Hopefully, they will do the same with this, the second, edition.
-Kurt H. Albertine
This page intentionally left blank
 CONTENTS

Preface . . . . . . xi Heart Valves 58

Cardiac Cycle 58
Acknowledgments. xii Innervation of the Heart 60

About the Authors. xiv CHAPTER 5 Superior and Posterior

Mediastinum ...................... 63
Divisions of the Mediastinum 64
SECTION 1: BACK Sympathetic Trunk and Associated
Branches 66
CHAPTER 1 Back Anatomy ...................... 3 Azygos Veins, Thoracic Duct,
Superficial Back Muscles 4 and Thoracic Aorta 68
Deep Back Muscles 6 Posterior and Superior Mediastinum 70
Vertebral Column 8 Study Questions 72
Vertebrae 10 Answers 74
Spinal Meninges 12
Spinal Cord 14
Spinal Nerves 16 SECTION 3: ABDOMEN, PELVIS, AND PERINEUM
Study Questions 22
Answers 23
CHAPTER 6 Overview of the Abdomen,
Pelvis, and Perineum ............... 77
Osteologic Overview 78

SECTION 2: THORAX GutTube 80

CHAPTER 2 Anterior Thoracic Wall ......... . ... 27 CHAPTER 7 Anterior Abdominal Wall ........... 83
The Breast 28 Partitioning of the Abdominal Region 84

Thoracic Muscles 30 Superficial Layers of the Anterior

Abdominal Wall 84
Thoracic Skeleton 32
Anterior Abdominal Wall Muscles 86
Nerves of the Thoracic Wall 34
Vascular Supply and Innervation
Vasculature of the Thoracic Wall 36 of the Anterior Abdominal Wall 88
Diaphragm 38
Inguinal Canal 90
CHAPTER 3 Lungs ............................. 41 Scrotum and Spermatic Cord 92

Pleura 42
CHAPTER 8 Serous Membranes of the
Anatomy of the Lung 44
Abdominal Cavity ............ . .... 95
Hilum of the Lung 46
The Peritoneum 96
Ventilation 48

CHAPTER 4 Heart ............................. 51 CHAPTER 9 Foregut ........................... 99

Pericardium 52 GI Portion of the Foregut 100
Overview of the Heart 52 Liver and Gallbladder 102

Coronary Circulation 54 Pancreas and Spleen 104

Chambers of the Heart 56 Vascular Supply of the Foregut 106

To access your complimentary online lecture videos, visit http://mhprofessional.com/usmle-anatomy-review.

viii Contents

CHAPTER 10 Midgut, Hindgut, and GI Vascular CN I: Olfactory Nerve 188

Supply and Innervation ............ 109 CN II: Optic Nerve 188
Midgut 110 CN III: Oculomotor Nerve 190
ffindgut 112 CN IV: Trochlear Nerve 190
Innervation of the GI Tract 114 CN VI: Abducens Nerve 190
Hepatic Portal System 116 CN V: Trigeminal Nerve 192
CN VII: Facial Nerve 194
CHAPTER 11 Posterior Abdominal Wall . .. .... .. 119 CN VIII: Vestibulocochlear Nerve 194
Posterior Abdominal Wall Muscles CN IX: Glossopharyngeal Nerve 196
and Nerves 120 198
CN X: Vagus Nerve
Posterior Abdominal Wall Vessels 122 CN XI: Spinal Accessory Nerve 200
Posterior Abdominal Wall Autonomies 124 CN XII: Hypoglossal Nerve 200
Adrenal Glands, Kidneys, and Ureters 126 202
Autonomic Innervation of the Head

CHAPTER 12 Perineum and Pelvis . .. . . ......... 129 CHAPTER 18 Orbit ............ . ........... .. . .. 207
Perineum 130 Orbital Region 208
Pelvic Floor 132 The Eye 210
Pelvic Vasculature 134 Extraocular Muscle Movement 212
Pelvic Innervation 136 Innervation of the Orbit 216
Rectum and Anal Canal 138
Ureters and Urinary Bladder 140 CHAPTER 19 Ear .... .. .... .. . . .. .. ............ 219
The Ear 220
CHAPTER 13 Male Reproductive System ..... .. .. 143
Male Reproductive System 144 CHAPTER 20 Superficial Face . . ......... .. . .... . 225
The Male Sexual Responses 148 Cutaneous Innervation and
Vasculature of the Face 226
CHAPTER 14 Female Reproductive System ...... 151 Muscles and Innervation of the
Female Reproductive System 152 Face 228
The Female Sexual Responses 156
Study Questions 157 CHAPTER 21 Infratemporal Fossa ............ .. . 231
Answers 160 Overview of the Infratemporal Fossa 232
Innervation and Vascular Supply of the
Infratemporal Fossa 234
SECTION 4: HEAD
CHAPTER 22 Pterygopalatine Fossa . . .. ..... ... . 237
CHAPTER 15 Scalp, Skull, and Meninges ........ 165 Overview of the Pterygopalatine Fossa 238
Anatomy of the Scalp 166
Skull 168 CHAPTER 23 Nasal Cavity ..... ..... . ........... 241
Cranial Fossae 170 Overview of the Nasal Cavity 242
Meninges 172 Paranasal Sinuses 246

CHAPTER 16 Brain . . ........ .. .. . ............ . 177 CHAPTER 24 Oral Cavity ................. . ..... 249
Anatomy of the Brain 178 Palate 250
Ventricular System of the Brain 180 Tongue 252
Blood Supply to the Brain 182 Salivation 252
Teeth and Gingivae 254
CHAPTER 17 Cranial Nerves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 Study Questions 256
Overview of the Cranial Nerves 186 Answers 260
 Contents

SECTION 5: NECK Terminal Branches of the Brachial

Plexus in the Arm 334
CHAPTER 25 Overview of the Neck ............. 265 Vascularization of the Arm 334
Fascia of the Neck 266 Joints Connecting the Arm and Forearm 336
Muscles of the Neck 268
Vessels of the Neck 272
CHAPTER 32 Forearm ......................... 339
Muscles of the Forearm 340
Innervation of the Neck 274
Terminal Branches of the Brachial
Plexus in the Forearm 344
CHAPTER 2& Viscera of the Neck................ 277
Vascularization of the Forearm 346
Visceral Layers of the Neck 278
Joints Connecting the Forearm and Hand 348
CHAPTER 27 Pharynx ......................... 281
Overview of the Pharynx 282
CHAPTER 33 Hand ............................ 353
Organization of the Fascia of the Hand 354
FunctionsofthePharynx 284
Actions of the Fingers and Thumb 356
Neurovascular Supply of the
Pharynx 286 Muscles of the Hand 358
Terminal Branches of the Brachial
CHAPTER 28 Larynx ........................... 289 Plexus in the Hand 360
Laryngeal Framework 290 Vascularization of the Hand 362
Function of the Larynx 292 Joints of the Hand 364
Vascular Supply and Innervation Study Questions 367
of the Larynx 294 Answers 370
Study Questions 296
Answers 298
SECTION 7: LOWER LIMB

SECTION &: UPPER LIMB CHAPTER 34 Overview of the Lower Limb ..... . . 375
Bones of the Pelvic Region and Thigh 376
CHAPTER 29 Overview of the Upper Limb . .. ... 301 Bones of the Leg and Foot 378
Bones of the Shoulder and Arm 302 Fascial Planes and Muscles 380
Bones of the Forearm and Hand 304 Innervation of the Lower Limb 382
Fascial Planes and Muscles 306 Sensation of the Lower Limb 384
Innervation of the Upper Limb by Vascularization of the Lower Limb 386
the Brachial Plexus 308
Sensation of the Upper Limb 310 CHAPTER 35 Gluteal Region and Hip ...... ...... 389
Vascularization of the Upper Limb 312 Gluteal Region 390
Muscles of the Gluteal Region 390
CHAPTER 30 Shoulder and Axilla ....... . ... . ... 315 Sacral Plexus 392
Shoulder Complex 316 Vascularization of the Gluteal Region 394
Muscles of the Shoulder Complex 318 Joints of the Gluteal Region 394
Brachial Plexus of the Shoulder 322
Vascularization of the Shoulder CHAPTER 36 Thigh .. . .... .. ...... . ..... . ...... 397
and Axilla 324 Thigh 398
Glenohumeral Joint 326 Muscles of the Thigh 398
Femoral Triangle 402
CHAPTER 31 Arm. . .... .. ...... . .... ... ..... . .. 331 Lumbar Plexus 402
Arm 332 Vascularization of the Thigh 404
Muscles of the Arm 332 Knee Complex 406
 Contents

CHAPTER 37 Leg .......... ........ ............ 411 Study Questions 431

Muscles of the Leg 412 Answers 434

Innervation of the Leg 418

Vascularization of the Leg 418
Joints of the Leg and Ankle 420
SECTION 8: FINAL EXAMINATION - - - - - -

CHAPTER 38 Foot. .... ...................... ... 423 CHAPTER 39 Study Questions and Answers ...... 439
Joints of the Digits and Fascia of the Foot 424
Directions 439
Muscles of the Foot 426
Answers 451
Innervation of the Foot 428
Vascularization of the Foot 428 Index 457
 PREFACE
If you were asked to give a friend directions from your office
to a restaurant down the street, your instructions may sound
something like this-turn right at the office door, walk to the
exit at the end ofthe hall, walk to the bottom of the stairs, take a
left, exit out of the front of the building, walk across the bridge,
continue straight for two blocks passing the post office and
library, and you will see the restaurant on your right. If you pass
the gas station, you have gone too far. The task is to get to the
restaurant. The landmarks guide your friend along the way to
complete the task.
Now, imagine if an anatomist were to give directions from the
office to the restaurant in the same way most anatomy textbooks
are written. Details would be relayed on the dimensions of the
office, paint color, carpet thread count, position and dimensions
of the desk in relation to the book shelf along the wall, includ-
ing the number, types, and sizes of books lining the shelves, and
door dimensions and office door material in relation to the other
doors in the same building. This would occur over the course of
10 pages-and the friend still would not have left the office. The
difference between you giving a friend directions to a restaurant
and the anatomist giving directions to the same restaurant may
be compared with the difference between many anatomy text-
books and this Big Picture textbook-taking a long time to get to
the restaurant or possibly not finding it, versus succinct relevant
directions that take you directly to the restaurant, respectively.
The purpose ofthis textbook, therefore, is to provide students
with the necessary landmarks to accomplish their task-to
understand the big picture of human anatomy in the context of
health care-while bypassing the minutia. The landmarks used
to accomplish this task are text and illustrations. They are com-
plete, yet concise and both figuratively and literally provide the
"Big Picture" of human anatomy.
The format of the book is simple. Each page-spread consists
of text on the left-hand page and associated illustrations on the
right-hand page. In this way, students are able to grasp the big
picture of individual anatomy principles in bite-sized pieces,
a concept at a time.
Key structures are highlighted in bold when first mentioned.
Bullets and numbers are used to break down important
concepts.
Approximately 450 full-color figures illustrate the essential
anatomy.
High-yield clinically relevant concepts throughout the text
are indicated by an icon.
Study questions and answers follow each section.
A final examination is provided at the end of the text.
We hope you enjoy this text as much as we enjoyed writing it.
-David A. Morton
-K. Bo Foreman
-Kurt H. Albertine
xii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Early in his life my father, Gordon Morton, went to an art
school. He purchased a copy of Gray~ Anatomy to help him
draw the human form. That book sat on our family's bookshelf
all throughout my life and I would continually look through its
pages in wonder of the complexity and miracle of the human
body. After I completed high school my father gave me that
book which I have kept in my office ever since. I acknowledge
and thank my father and my mother (Gabriella) for their influ-
ence in my life. Thank you to my co-authors, Dr. Foreman and
Dr. Albertine-they are a joy to work with and I look forward to
many years of collaborating with them.
I express a warm thank you to Michael Weitz. His dedication,
help, encouragement, vision, leadership, and friendship were
key to the successful completion of this title. I also express great
thanks to Susan Kelly. She was a joy to work with through rain,
shine, snow, tennis competitions, and life in general-I thank
her for her eagle eye and encouraging telephone conversations
and e-mails. Thank you to Karen Davis, Armen Ovsepyan, Brian
Kearns, John Williams, and to the folks at Dragonfly Media
Group for the care and attention they provided in creating the
images for this title. Finally, a warm thank you to my wife and
best friend Celine. Her unyielding support and encouragement
through long nights of writing were always there to cheer me
on. I adore her.
-David A. Morton
I thank my parents, Ken Foreman and Lynn Christensen, as well
as my mentor and friend, Dr. Albertine. A special thank you to
Cyndi Schluender and my students for their contributions to
my educational endeavors. I also express a great thanks to Dr.
Morton for his continued encouragement and support in writ-
ing this textbook.
-K. Bo Foreman
Many medical educators and biomedical scientists contrib-
uted to my training that helped lead to writing medical edu-
cation textbooks such as this one. Notable mentors are C.C.C.
O'Morchoe, S. Zitzlsperger, and N.C. Staub. For this textbook,
however, I offer my thanks to my co-authors Dr. Morton and
Dr. Foreman. Co-authoring this textbook with them has been
and continues to be a thrill because now my once doctoral degree
students are my colleagues in original educational scholarship.
What better emblem of success could a mentor ask for? So, to
David and Bo, thank you! I enjoy watching your academic suc-
cess as your careers flourish as medical educators and scholars.
-Kurt H. Albertine
 xiii

Aerial view of University of Utah campus, Salt Lake City, Utah. Photo taken by Kurt
Albertine, educator and author.
xiv
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
David A. Morton completed his undergraduate degree at
Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, and his graduate degrees
at the University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City. He
currently serves as Vice-Chair of Medical and Dental Education
and is a member of the Curriculum Committee at the University
of Utah School of Medicine. Dr. Morton has been awarded the
Early Career Teaching Award. Preclinical Teaching Awards,
Leonard W. Jarcho, M.D. Distinguished Teaching Award. and the
University of Utah Distinguished Teaching Award. Dr. Morton
is an adjunct professor in the Physical Therapy Department and
the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine. He also
serves as a visiting professor at Kwame Nkrumah University of
Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, West Africa.
K. Bo Foreman completed his undergraduate degree in physi-
cal therapy at the University of Utah and his graduate degree
at the University of Utah School of Medicine. Currently, he
is an Associate Professor at the University of Utah in the
Department of Physical Therapy and Athletic Training where
he teaches gross anatomy and neuroanatomy. In addition to
his teaching responsibilities, Dr. Foreman also serves as the
Director of the Motion Analysis Core Facility and has an active
research program in biomechanics. Furthermore, he is an
adjunct Associate Professor in the Departments of Mechanical
Engineering, Neurobiology and Anatomy; Orthopaedics, and
Plastic Surgery. Dr. Foreman has been awarded the Early Career
Teaching Award from the University of Utah and the Basmajian
Award from the American Association of Anatomists.
Kurt H. Albertine completed his undergraduate studies in biol-
ogy at Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin, and his grad-
uate studies in human anatomy at Loyola University of Chicago,
Stritch School of Medicine. He completed postdoctoral training
at the University of California, San Francisco, Cardiovascular
Research Institute. He has taught human gross anatomy for
40years. Dr. Albertine established the Human Anatomy Teacher-
Scholar Training Program in the Department ofNeurobiology &
Anatomy at the University of Utah School of Medicine. The
goal of this training program is to develop teacher-scholars of
human anatomy to become leaders of anatomy teachers on a
national level, contribute teaching innovations, and design and
perform teaching outcomes research for upcoming generations
of medical students. Graduates of this training program include
Dr. Morton and Dr. Foreman.
This page intentionally left blank
 BACK ANATOMY

Superficial Back Muscles .. ..... . .... . ..... .. . . . . 4

Deep Back Muscles . ..................... .. ... . 6
Vertebral Column ..... . .. ................ .. . . .. 8
Vertebrae .... . ... .. . .. .. . . . . .. . . . .. . . . .... . . 10
Spinal Meninges . ... . . .. . . .... . ... .. ... . . .. . . . 12
Spinal Cord ...... . .......... . ........... .. ... 14
Spinal Nerves ........ .. ................. .. . . . 16
Study Questions . .. ... . . ..... . ................ 22
Answers ........ . ... . . ................. .. ... 23

3
4 SECTION 1
SUPERFICIAL BACK MUSCLES
BIG PICTURE
The superficial back muscles consist of the trapezius, levator
scapulae, rhomboid major, rhomboid minor, and latissimus
dorsi muscles (Figure 1-1A; Table 1-1}. Although these mus-
cles are located in the back, they are considered to be muscles
of the upper limbs because they connect the upper limbs to
the trunk and assist in upper limb movements via the scapula
and humerus. Because these are upper limb muscles, they are
innervated by the ventral rami of spinal nerves (brachial plexus
branches), with the exception of the trapezius muscle (which is
innervated by CN XI). These muscles are discussed in greater
detail in Section VI, Upper Limb, but are included here because
these muscles overly the deep back muscles.
TRAPEZIUS MUSCLE
Topography. The most superficial back muscle; has a triangu-
lar shape, with three unique fiber orientations giving rise to
multiple actions.
Proximal attachment(s). Occipital bone, nuchal ligament,
spinous processes of C7-T12.
Distal attachment(s). Scapular spine, acromion, and clavicle.
Action(s). Scapular elevation (superior fibers); scapular
retraction (middle fibers), and scapular depression (lower
fibers); upward rotation (all fibers working together).
Innervation. Spinal accessory nerve (CN XI), which arises
from the spinal cord, ascends through the foramen magnum
into the skull and descends through the jugular foramen
along the deep surface of the trapezius.
LEVATOR SCAPULAE MUSCLE
Topography. Located deep to the trapezius muscle and supe-
rior to the rhomboids.
Proximalattachment(s). Transverse processes of upper cervi-
cal vertebrae.
Distal attachmant(s). Superior angle of the scapula.
Back
Action(s). Elevation and downward rotation of the scapula.
Innervation. Dorsal scapular nerve (CS); branches from
C4-C5 ventral rami.
RHOMBOID MAJOR AND MINOR MUSCLES
Topography. Located deep to the trapezius and inferior to the
levator scapulae muscles.
Proximal attachment(s). Spinous processes ofC7-Tl (minor)
and T2-TS (major).
Distal attachment(s). Medial border of the scapula.
Action(s). Retraction of the scapula.
Innervation. Dorsal scapular nerve (CS).
LATISSIMUS DORSI MUSCLE
Topography. A broad, flat muscle in the lower region of the
back.
Proximal attachment(&). Spinous processes of T7 to the
sacrum via the thoracolumbar fascia.
Distal attachment(s). Intertubercular groove of the humerus.
Action(s). Adduction, extension, and medial rotation of the
humerus at the glenohumeral joint.
Innervation. Thoracodorsal nerve (C6-C8).
SCAPULAR MOVEMENTS
Muscles move the scapula in the following directions
(Figure l-IB):
Elevation. Scapula moves superiorly (as in shrugging the
shoulders).
Depression. Scapula moves inferiorly.
Protraction (abduction). Scapula moves away from the
midline.
Retraction (adduction). Scapula moves away toward the
midline.
Rotation. Rotation of the scapula is defined by the direction
that the glenoid fossa faces (glenoid fossa faces superiorly for
upward rotation and inferiorly for downward rotation).
 Back Anatomy CHAPTER1 5

Rhomboid minor m.
Trapezius m.
Levator scapulae m.
Spinal accessory n.
Supraspinatus m.
Transverse cervical a.
(superficial branch)
(deep branch)
Rhomboid major m.

Infraspinatus m.

Teres minor m.

Teres major m.

Thoracodorsal n.

----Serratus anterior m.
Latissimus dorsi m. --L--~
(cut)

Figure 1-1: A. Superficial muscles of the back. B. Movements of the scapula.

6 SECTION 1 Back

Attachme~s). Muscle fibers arise from a transverse process

.--------DEEP BACK MUSCLES
BIG PICTURE
The deep back muscles are the true back muscles because they
primarily act on the vertebral column. They are also referred
to as intrinsic back muscles, epaxial muscles, and paraspinal
muscles. The deep back muscles consist of the splenius capitis
and cervicis, erector spinae, transversospinalis, and suboccipital
~uscles (Table 1-2). These deep back muscles are segmentally
mnervated by the dorsal rami of spinal nerves at each verte-
bral level where they attach. It is not important to know every
detailed attachment for the deep back muscles; however, you
should realize that these muscles are responsible for maintain-
ing posture and are in constant use during body movements.
SPLENIUS CAPITIS AND CERVI CIS MUSCLES
Topography. Located deep to levator scapulae and rhom-
boid muscles, and superficial to erector spinae muscles
(Figure 1-2A and B).
Action(s). Bilateral contraction: extension of head and neck;
unilateral contraction: lateral flexion and rotation of head
and neck.
Innervation. Segmentally innervated by dorsal rami.
ERECTOR SPINAE MUSCLES
Topography. The erector spinae muscles consist of three
separate muscles (from lateral to medial): iliocostalis, longis-
simus, and spinalis (Figure 1-2A and B).
Attachment(s). The erector spinae muscles ascend through-
out the length of the back as rope-like series of fascicles, with
various bundles arising as others are inserting; each fascicle
spans from 6 to 10 segments between bony attachments.
Action(s). Bilateral contraction: extension of the vertebral
column and control of posture; unilateral contraction: lateral
flexion of vertebral column.
Innervation. Segmentally innervated by dorsal rami.
and ascend between one to six vertebral levels to attach to the
spinous process of neighboring vertebrae.
Action(s). Bilateral contraction: extension of the vertebral
column; unilateral contraction: rotation of vertebral column
to the contralateral side of the contracting transversospinalis
muscle.
Innervation. Segmentally innervated by dorsal rami.
SUBOCCIPITAL MUSCLES
Topography. Located inferior to the occipital bone and deep
to the semispinalis capitis muscle {Figure 1-2C). The suboc-
cipital muscle group consists of the rectus capitis posterior
major and minor and obliquus capitis superior and inferior.
Attachme~s). Occipital bone, Cl and C2 vertebrae.
Action(s). Mainly postural muscles, but may contribute to
extension and rotation of the head.
Innervation. Dorsal ramus of C1 spinal nerve (also known as
the suboccipital nerve).
SUBOCCIPITAL TRIANGLE
Borders. A triangle formed by the rectus capitis posterior
major, obliquus capitis superior, and obliquus capitis inferior
muscles.
Contents. Structures associated with the suboccipital triangle
are the following:
• Vertebral artery. Exits the transverse foramen of the Cl
vertebra, courses across the floor of the suboccipital trian-
gle, ascends through the foramen magnum, and supplies
the posterior region of the brain.
• Suboccipital nerve (dorsal ramus ofC1). Emerges between
the occipital bone and C1 vertebra; innervates the suboc-
cipital muscles.
• Greater occipital nerve (dorsal ramus of C2). Emerges
below the obliquus capitis inferior muscle; supplies sensory
innervation to the back of the scalp.

TRANSVERSOSPINALIS MUSCLES
Topography. Located deep to the erector spinae muscles. From
superficial to deep, the transversospinalis muscles include
the semispinalis, multifidus, and rotatores (Figure 1-2A
and B).
 Back Anatomy CHAPTER 1 7

Dorsal root Ventral root

Ventral
ramus
Dorsal
ramus
Motor nerve
to deep back
muscle

Iliocostalis m. -----,!'-:T='-1""'==='\9!
longissimus m.---¥~~~~iiiiill

Spinalis m. -----TIV~==;;..---;r===\-'i=l

Erector spinae mm.

Rectus capitis posterior

minor and major mm.

w
A

Occipital a.~ ~

Goeata,occlp;tal "·

r
Vertebral a.
Occipitalis m. [ 1 Obliquus capitis superior m.

am Ooastl """'•""' "· l Suboccipital n. (C1)

Splenius capitis m. ~
C1 vertebra
~~
L
Greater auricular n.

""'"' ooclpltal "·

Stemod~domostold m. ~

Posterior cutaneous branches '\

c of dorsal rami of C4, 5, 6 spinal nn.
piercing the Trapezius m.
Suboccipital triangle

Figure 1-2: A. Deep back muscles with erector spinae muscles on the left and deeper transversospinalis muscles on the right. B. Axial
section of the back showing the dorsal rami. C. Suboccipital region on the right side.
8 SECTION 1
~---VERTEBRAL COLUMN
BIG PICTURE
The vertebral column is approximately 75 em in length and con-
sists of 33 vertebrae (7 cervical, 12 thoracic, 5 lumbar, 5 sacral,
and 3-4 coccygeal). These vertebrae, along with their ligaments
and intervertebral discs, form the flexible, protective, and sup-
portive vertebral column that maintains posture, supports the
body and head, and protects the spinal cord. The vertebral
column is versatile in that it is rigid to provide protection and
stability and yet flexible to enable movement.
VERTEBRAL COLUMN OVERVIEW
The vertebral column consists of cervical (C), thoracic (T),lum-
bar (L), sacral (S), and coccygeal (Co) vertebrae (Figure 1-3A;
Table 1-3). To simplify their descriptions, the first letter of its
region refers to each vertebra. For example, the "fourth cervical
vertebra" is simply referred to as the "C4 vertebra."
Cervical vertebrae. Located in the neck (cervical region); the
ligamentum nuchae, a large ligament that courses down the
back of the neck, connects the skull to the spinous processes
of C1-C6. The first spinous process that is palpable deep to
the skin is C7 and is called the vertebral prominens.
Thoracic vertebrae. Located in the thoracic region and artic-
ulate with the 12 pairs of ribs.
Lumbar vertebrae. Located in the lower back and are distin-
guished by their massive vertebral bodies.
Sacral vertebrae. There are five fused sacral vertebrae
(S1-SS), which form a single bone (sacrum).
Back
Coccygeal vertebrae. There are three to four fused coc-
cygeal vertebrae (Co1-Co4), which form the coccyx bone
("tail bone").
VERTEBRAL CURVATURES
The adult spine is curved in four parts due to fetal and postnatal
devdopment of the vertebral column (Figure 1-3B and C).
Primary (kyphotic) curvatures. Devdop during the fetal
period in relation to the flexed fetal position.
• Primary curvatures are concave anteriorly and are located
in the thoracic regions (optimize space for heart and lungs)
and sacral regions (optimize space in pdvic cavity for a
devdoping fetus).
Secondary (lordotic) curvatures. Devdop during the postna-
tal period.
• Secondary curvatures are concave posteriorly and are
located in the cervical region (devdops when the infant
holds its head upright while sitting) and lumbar region
(develops when the infant begins to stand and walk).
Abnormal primary curvatures are referred to as kyphosis
V (excessive kyphosis}, whereas abnormal secondary cur-
vatures are referred to as lordosis (excessive lordosis). Patients
may present with abnormal lateral curvatures (sea liosis), which
may be due to muscular dominance ofone side over the other or
to poor posture or congenital problems. To diagnose scoliosis,
the physician may ask the patient to bend forward to determine
if one side of the thorax is higher than the other due to asym-
metry of the spine. 'Y
 Back Anatomy CHAPTER1 9

Cervical
External occipital ------... "'<..::2'i!=i?,.-- - - vertebrae
protuberance (yellow)

Primary (kyphotic) -----'n-- ---T'-----i

curvature

Cervical
Lumbar
A.,+,f - - - - vertebrae
(blue)
c:::::~"------ Sacral and
coccygeal
B vertebrae
Spine of -----,ry-!;._....,~oE( (purple)
scapula

Thoracic
vertebrae -\-i--!---\-J'-Y-~~~==-~~~r-:-~
(green)

Cervical
~~.----vertebrae
(yellow)

Lumbar Primary (kyphotic) - f - - - - - - 1

vertebrae ------+---------"~'- 'ff curvature
(blue) (green)

Sacral
Secondary (lordotic)-t------1
vertebrae ------;------>;'"""=-~=f==<u
(purple) curvature

A c

Figure 1-3: A. Posterior view of the vertebral column. B. Primary curvature of newborn. C. Normal curvatures of an adult.
10 SECTION 1
VERTEBRAE- - - - -
BIG PICTURE
The 33 vertebrae from each region of the vertebral column have
some common vertebral structures. Additionally, each vertebral
region has unique modifications and characteristics.
COMMON VERTEBRAL STRUCTURES
The 33 vertebrae have the following common structures
(Figure 1-4A and C):
Body. Anterior vertebral region; primary weight-bearing
component of the vertebra.
Vertebral arcb. Posterior vertebral region; formed by the
pedicles and laminae.
Pediclas. Join the vertebral body to the transverse processes.
Transverse processes. Lateral bony processes arising from
the vertebral arch.
Superior and inferior articular facets. Bony projections that
form synovial zygapophyseal (facet) joints with the vertebrae
above and below.
Zygapophyseal ffacet) joints. Synovial joints located between
adjacent superior and inferior articular facets; they enable
vertebral flexion and extension and limit rotation.
Laminae. Connect transverse and spinous processes.
Spinous process. Posteriorly projecting tip of the vertebral
arch; easily palpated beneath the skin.
Vertebral foramea. Hole in the vertebra that contains the spi-
nal cord; the series of vertebral foramina form the vertebral
canal.
Intervertebral (neuraU foramina. Bilateral foramina that
form the space between pedicles of adjacent vertebrae fur the
passage of spinal nerves.
Pars interarticalaris (pars). Region of the vertebra between
the superior and inferior articular facets and the pedicle and
lamina.
Intervertebral (IV) discs. Located between adjacent vertebral
bodies; composed of an anulus fibrosus (tough fibrocarti-
laginous rim}, and a nucleus pulposus (softer fibrocarti-
laginous core} (Figure 1-4C). The IV discs absorb shock and
bear weight because the spread of the nucleus pulposus is
constrained by the anulus fibrosus. Approximately 25% of the
height of the vertebral column is from the IV discs.
Herniated disc. Damage to the anulus fibrosus may allow
V the softer nucleus pulposus to bulge or herniate postero-
laterally (referred to as a "slipped disc"). The herniated disc
may compress and irritate adjacent nerve roots, giving rise to
symptoms typically associated with radicular pain (nerve root
compression). Symptoms may include sensory disruptions
along the associated dermatomallevel (i.e., numbness, pares-
thesia, and pain from the neck down the arm or lower back
down the leg). Occasionally motor disruptions, such as muscle
weakness and hyporefl.exia, may also be present. T
Back
VERTEBRAL MODIFICATIONS
Each class of vertebrae has its own unique modifications:
Cervical vertebrae.
• C1 (atlas} vertebra. Articulates with the skull (occipital
condyles), enabling the skull to nod up and down.
• C2 (axis} vertebra. Has the odontoid process (dens), which
through its articulation with Cl provides rotational move-
ment (i.e., head movement indicating "no").
• Transverse foramen. The transverse processes on Cl-C6
have a foramen for the transmission of the vertebral arteries
(branch from the subclavian arteries) to supply the brain.
• Bifid spinous process. Short, forked spinous process.
Thoracic vertebrae.
• Costal facets. Twelve pairs of ribs articulate with 12 tho-
racic vertebrae at the costal facets.
• Spinous processes. Project inferiorly to the level of the
infra-adjacent vertebral body.
Lumbar vertebrae. Massive vertebral bodies that support the
pressure on the lower back.
• Mammillary processes. Posteriorly located on superior
articular facets; attachment site for multifidus muscle.
Sacral vertebrae. Five fused vertebrae that are called the
sacrum.
• Sacral foramina. On the ventral and dorsal surface for the
exit of ventral and dorsal rami; homologous with interver-
tebral foramina.
Coccygeal vertebrae. Three to four fused vertebrae are called
the coccyx or "tailbone..
VERTEBRAL LIGAMENTS
The vertebral column is stabilized by the following ligaments
(Figure 1-4B):
Ligamentum ftavum. Connects paired laminae of adjacent
vertebrae.
Supraspinous ligament Connects the apices of the spinous
processes.
Interspinous ligament Connects adjoining spinous
processes.
Nuchal ligament Extends from the external occipital protu-
berance along the spinous processes of Cl-C7.
Posterior longitudiaal ligament Courses longitudinally,
down the posterior surface of the vertebral bodies within
the vertebral canal This ligament supports the intervertebral
disc posteriorly, thus reducing the incidence of herniations
that may compress the spinal cord and cauda equina.
Anterior longitudinal ligament. Courses longitudinally along
the anterior surface of the vertebral bodies limiting vertebral
extension.
 Back Anatomy CHAPTER 1 11

Vertebral body

Superior
articular
process

1
Pedicle
Vertebral
arch Lamina

Anterior
longitudinal ligament

1- - Posterior

./>: : : '=;: : :;: t~"·"""""' :::ffie

A

articular
process
Ligamentum--~
flavum

--..Y'Anulus }
..--4"1 fibrosus
~ Inter-
~--- I} Nucleus vertebral
/ pulposus disc

process

Spinal nerve
Vertebral body
-------~

Posterior
longitudinal ligament
r Anterior
longitudinal
ligament

c
Figure 1-4: A. Posterolateral view of a typical vertebra. B. Vertebrae ligaments. C. Lateral view of two vertebrae and intervertebral (IV)
discs; observe the IV discs and facet joints during vertebral flexion and extension.
12 SECTION 1
SPINAL MENINGES
BIG PICTURE
The brain and spinal cord are surrounded and protected by
three layers of connective tissue meninges called the dura mater,
arachnoid mater, and pia mater (Figure 1-SA and B).
DURA MATER
Forms the superficial meningeal layer and defines the epidural
and subdural spaces.
Consists of dense fibrous connective tissue and surrounds
the brain and spinal cord.
The dura mater evaginates into each intervertebral foramen,
becoming continuous with the epineurium around each spi-
nal nerve; nerve roots in the subarachnoid space lack dura
mater and are therefore more fragile than spinal nerves.
Spinal cord dura mater receives general sensory innervation
from recurrent meningeal 1erves from each spinal nerve
segment.
Epidaralspace. The epidural space is the region between
V the dura mater and vertebral canal. An anesthetic agent
injected into the epidural space anesthetizes the spinal nerve
roots exiting the vertebral canal in that region. Epidural blocks
are particularly useful for procedures involving the pdvis and
perineum, such as during childbirth. T
Meningitis. The sensory neurons in the dura mater may
V be involved in referred pain characteristics of spinal dis-
orders and become irritated when the meninges are inflamed as
in meningitis. For example, if a patient with meningitis tries to
touch her chin to her chest, she may experience pain due to the
stretching of the meninges surrounding the cervical spinal
cord. T
Back
ARACHNOID MATER
Forms the intermediate meningeal layer and attaches to the
underlying pia mater via arachnoid trabeculae.
Sl.barachnoid space. The space between the arachnoid and
pial layers, which contains cerebrospi1al fluid (CSF) (sus-
pends and protects the spinal cord. brain, nerve roots, and
large vessds); the inferior portion of the subarachnoid space
between the conus medullaris and S2 vertebral level contains
only spinal roots and the filum terminale (Figure 1-SC).
Lumbar puncture. The spinal cord terminates in an adult
V at the Ll-L2 vertebrallevd, whereas the subarachnoid
space containing CSF extends to the S2 vertebrallevd. Therefore,
CSF can be obtained inferior to the L2 vertebrallevd without
danger of injuring the spinal cord. To perform a lumbar punc-
ture, the patient typically is asked to lie on his/her side or is
placed in a sitting position so that the spine is fully flexed to
open up the intervertebral spaces. T
PIA MATER
Forms the deepest meningeal layer, is inseparably attached
to the spinal cord, and contains a small plexus of small blood
vessds.
Denticulate ligaments. Located in the coronal plane as a
series of sawtooth projections of the pia mater that separate
ventral and dorsal rootlets; the ligaments anchor the spinal
cord laterally to the dura mater maintaining the centralized
location of the spinal cord.
Filum terminal e. An inferior extension of pia mater beyond
the conus medullaris that anchors the spinal cord to the
coccyx.
 Back Anatomy CHAPTER 1 13

Subarachnoid space

root
ganglion

Dorsal root--____::;-~ J
ganglion

.,.
1st sacral------.1--- ---=ff''o/
spinal n.

l==iii--- - Coccygeal
ligament

A c

Figure 1-5: A. Coronal section of the vertebral column through the pedicles from a posterior view revealing the dura mater surrounding
the spinal cord. B. T1 segment of the spinal cord showing step dissection of the spinal meninges. C. Caudal spinal cord (filum terminale
is difficult to see).
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apprentice warrior was so full of grace, his steed so full of fire, and
both so eminently beautiful, that James was lost in admiration. But
suddenly, as the youth bent forward to present his master’s device,
his spur pricked the flank of his charger, and the latter, with a bound
and a plunge, threw his rider out of the saddle, and flung young Carr
of Fernyhurst, at the feet of his ex-master, the King. The latter
recognised his old page, and made amends for the broken leg got in
the fall, by nursing the lad, and making him Viscount Rochester, as
soon as he was well. James created him knight of the Garter, and
taught him grammar. Rochester gave lessons to the King in foreign
history. The ill-favored King walked about the court with his arms
round the neck of the well-favored knight. He was for ever either
gazing at him or kissing him; trussing his points, settling his curls, or
smoothing his hose. When Rochester was out of the King’s sight
James was mindful of him, and confiscated the estates of honest
men in order to enrich his own new favorite. He took Sherborne from
the widow and children of Raleigh, with the cold-blooded remark to
the kneeling lady, “I maun have it for Carr!”
Rochester was a knight who ruled the King, but there was another
knight who ruled Rochester. This was the well-born, hot-headed,
able and vicious Sir Thomas Overbury. Overbury polished and
polluted the mind of Rochester; read all documents which passed
through the hands of the latter, preparatory to reaching those of the
King, and not only penned Rochester’s own despatches, but
composed his love-letters for him. How pointedly Sir Thomas could
write may be seen in his “Characters;” and as a poet, the knight was
of no indifferent reputation in his day.
Rochester, Sir Thomas, and the King, were at the very height of their
too-warm friendship, when James gave Frances Howard, the
daughter of the Earl of Suffolk, in marriage to young Devereux, Earl
of Essex. The bride was just in her teens. The bridegroom was a day
older. The Bishop of Bath and Wells blessed them in the presence of
the King, and Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones constructed a masque in
honor of the occasion. When the curtain fell, bride and bridegroom
went their separate ways; the first to her mother; the second to
school. Four years elapsed ere they again met; and then Frances,
who had been ill-trained by her mother, seduced by Prince Henry,
and wooed by Rochester, looked upon Essex with infinite scorn.
Essex turned from her with disgust.
Rochester then resolved to marry Frances, and Frances employed
the poisoner of Paternoster-row, Mrs. Turner, and a certain Dr.
Forman, to prepare philters that should make more ardent the flame
of the lover, and excite increased aversion in the breast of the
husband. Overbury, with intense energy, opposed the idea of the
guilty pair, that a divorce from Essex was likely to be procured. He
even spoke of the infamy of the lady, to her lover. Frances,
thereupon, offered a thousand pounds to a needy knight, Sir John
Ward, to slay Overbury in a duel. Sir John declined the offer. A more
successful method was adopted. Sir Thomas Overbury was
appointed embassador to Russia, and on his refusing to accept the
sentence of banishment, he was clapped into the tower as guilty of
contempt toward the king. In that prison, the literary knight was duly
despatched by slow poison. The guilt was brought home less to
Rochester than to Frances, but the King himself appears to have
been very well content at the issue.
James united with Rochester and the lady to procure a divorce
between the latter and Essex. The King was bribed by a sum of
£25,000. Essex himself did not appear. Every ecclesiastical judge
was recompensed who pronounced for the divorce—carried by
seven against five, and even the son of one of them was knighted.
This was the heir of Dr. Bilson, Bishop of Winchester, and he was
ever afterward known by the name of Sir Nullity Bilson.
Sir Nullity danced at the wedding of the famous or infamous pair;
and never was wedding more splendid. King, peers, and illustrious
commoners graced it with their presence. The diocesan of Bath and
Wells pronounced the benediction. The Dean of St. Paul’s wrote for
the occasion an epithalamic eclogue. The Dean of Westminster
supplied the sermon. The great Bacon composed, in honor of the
event, the “Masque of Flowers;” and the City made itself bankrupt by
the extravagant splendor of its fêtes. One gentleman horsed the
bride’s carriage, a bishop’s lady made the bride’s cake, and one
humorous sycophant offered the married pair the equivocal gift of a
gold warming-pan.
The King, not to be behindhand in distributing honors, conferred one
which cost him nothing. He created Rochester Earl of Somerset.
Two years after this joyous wedding, the gentleman who had made a
present to the bride, of four horses to draw her in a gilded chariot to
the nuptial altar, had become a knight and secretary of state. Sir
Richard (or, as some call him, Sir Robert) Winwood was a
worshipper of the now rising favorite, Villiers; and none knew better
than this newly-made knight that the King was utterly weary of his
old favorite, Somerset.
Winwood waited on the King and informed him that a garrulous
young apothecary at Flushing, who had studied the use of drugs
under Dr. Franklin of London, was making that melancholy town
quite lively, by his stories of the abuses of drugs, and the method in
which they had been employed by Lord and Lady Somerset, Mrs.
Turner (a pretty woman, who invented yellow starched ruffs) and
their accomplices, in bringing about the death of Overbury. The food
conveyed to the latter was poisoned by Frances and her lover,
outside the tower, and was administered to the imprisoned knight by
officials within the walls, who were bribed for the purpose.
There is inextricable confusion in the details of the extraordinary trial
which ensued. It is impossible to read them without the conviction
that some one higher in rank than the Somersets was interested, if
not actually concerned, in the death of Overbury. The smaller
personages were hanged, and Mrs. Turner put yellow ruffs out of
fashion by wearing them at the gallows.
Lady Somerset pleaded guilty, evidently under the influence of a
promise of pardon, if she did so, and of fear lest Bacon’s already
prepared speech, had she pleaded not guilty, might send her to an
ignominious death. She was confined in the Tower, and she implored
with frantic energy, that she might not be shut up in the room which
had been occupied by Overbury.
Somerset appeared before his judges in a solemn suit, and wearing
the insignia of the Garter. He pleaded not guilty, but despite
insufficiency of legal evidence he was convicted, and formally
condemned to be hanged, like any common malefactor. But the ex-
page won his life by his taciturnity. Had he, in his defence, or
afterward, revealed anything that could have displeased or disturbed
the King, his life would have paid the forfeit. As it was, the King at
once ordered that the Earl’s heraldic arms as knight of the Garter
should not be taken down. For the short period of the imprisonment
of the guilty pair, both guilty of many crimes, although in the matter of
Overbury there is some doubt as to the extent of the Earl’s
complicity, they separately enjoyed the “Liberty of the Tower.” The
fallen favorite was wont to pace the melancholy ramparts with the
George and collar round his neck and the Garter of knighthood
below his knee. He was often seen in grave converse with the Earl of
Northumberland. Sometimes, the guilty wife of Somerset, impelled
by curiosity or affection, would venture to gaze at him for a minute or
two from her lattice, and then, if the Earl saw her, he would turn,
gravely salute her, and straightway pass on in silence.
When liberated from the Tower, the knight of the Garter, convicted of
murder, and his wife, confessedly guilty, went forth together under
protection of a royal pardon. Down to the time of the death of Lady
Somerset, in 1632, the wretched pair are said never to have opened
their lips but to express, each hatred and execration of the other. The
earl lived on till 1645—long enough to see the first husband of his
wife carry his banner triumphantly against the son of James, at
Edgehill. The two husbands of one wife died within a few months of
each other.
Such was the career of one who began life as a page. Let us
contrast therewith the early career of one whose name is still more
familiar to the general reader.
Toward the middle of the sixteenth century there was established at
York a respectable and influential Protestant family of the name of
Fawkes. Some of the members were in the legal profession, others
were merchants. One was registrar and advocate of the Consistory
Court of the cathedral church of York. Another was notary and
proctor. A third is spoken of as a merchant-stapler. All were well to-
do; but not one of them dreamed that the name of Fawkes was to be
in the least degree famous.
The Christian name of the ecclesiastical lawyer was Edward. He was
the third son of William and Ellen Fawkes, and was the favorite child
of his mother. She bequeathed trinkets, small sums, and odd bits of
furniture to her other children, but to Edward she left her wedding
suit, and the residue of her estate. Edward Fawkes was married
when his mother made her will. While the document was preparing,
his wife Edith held in her arms an infant boy. To this boy she left her
“best whistle, and one old angel of gold.”
The will itself is a curious document. It is devotional, according to the
good custom of the days in which it was made. The worthy old
testator made some singular bequests; to her son Thomas, amid a
miscellaneous lot, she specifies, “my second petticoat, my worsted
gowne, gardit with velvet, and a damask kirtle.” The “best kirtle and
best petticoat” are bequeathed to her daughter-in-law Edith Fawkes.
Among the legatees is a certain John (who surely must have been a
Joan) Sheerecrofte, to whom, says Mistress Fawkes, “I leave my
petticoat fringed about, my woorse grogram kirtle, one of my lynn
smockes, and a damask upper bodie.” The sex, however, of the
legatee is not to be doubted, for another gentleman in Mrs. Fawkes’s
will comes in for one of her bonnets!
The amount of linen bequeathed, speaks well for the lady’s
housewifery; while the hats, kirtles, and rings, lead us to fear that the
wife of Master Edward Fawkes must have occasionally startled her
husband with the amount of little accounts presented to him by
importunate dressmakers, milliners, and jewellers. Such, however,
was the will of a lady of York three centuries ago, and the child in
arms who was to have the silver whistle and a gold angel was none
other than our old acquaintance, known to us as Guy Faux.
Guy was christened on the sixteenth of April, 1570, in the still
existing church of St. Michael le Belfry; and when the gossips and
sponsors met round the hospitable table of the paternal lawyer to
celebrate the christening of his son, the health of Master Guy
followed hard upon that of her gracious highness the queen.
Master Guy had the misfortune to lose his father in his ninth year.
“He left me but small living,” said Guy, many years afterward, “and I
spent it.” After his sire’s decease, Guy was for some years a pupil at
the free foundation grammar-school in “the Horse Fayre,” adjacent to
York. There he accomplished his humanities under the Reverend
Edward Pulleyne. Among his schoolfellows were Bishop Morton,
subsequently Bishop of Durham, and a quiet little boy, named
Cheke, who came to be a knight and baronet, and who, very
probably went, in after-days, to see his old comrade in the hands of
the hangman.
Some seventeen miles from York stands the pleasant town of
Knaresborough, and not far from Knaresborough is the village of
Scotten. When Guy was yet a boy, there lived in this village a very
gay, seductive wooer, named Dennis Baynbridge. This wooer was
wont to visit the widowed Edith, and the result of his visits was that
the widowed Edith rather hastily put away her weeds, assumed a
bridal attire, married the irresistible Dennis, and, with her two
daughters, Anne and Elizabeth, and her only son Guy, accompanied
her new husband to his residence at Scotten.
Baynbridge was a Roman Catholic, as also were the Pullens,
Percies, Winters, Wrights, and others who lived in Scotten or its
neighborhood, and whose names figure in the story of the
Gunpowder Plot.
At Scotten, then, and probably soon after his mother’s marriage, in
1582, Guy, it may be safely said, left the faith in which he had been
baptized, for that of the Romish Church. Had he declined to adopt
the creed of his step-sire, he perhaps would have been allowed but
few opportunities of angling in the Nidd, rabbiting by Bilton Banks,
nutting in Goldsborough Wood, or of passing idle holydays on
Grimbald Craig.
On the wedding-day of Edith Fawkes and Dennis Baynbridge, the
paternal uncle of Guy made his will. He exhibited his sense of the
step taken by the lady, by omitting her name from the will, and by
bequeathing the bulk of his property to the two sisters of Guy. To
Guy himself, Uncle Thomas left only “a gold ring,” and a “bed and
one pair of sheets, with the appurtenances.”
When Guy became of age, he found himself in possession of his
patrimony—some land and a farm-house. The latter, with two or
three acres of land, he let to a tailor, named Lumley, for the term of
twenty-one years, at the annual rent of forty-two shillings. The
remainder he sold at once for a trifle less than thirty pounds. Shortly
after, he made over to a purchaser all that was left of his property.
He bethought himself for a while as to what course he should take,
and finally he chose the profession of arms, and went out to Spain,
to break crowns and to win spurs.
In Spain, he fell into evil company and evil manners. He saw enough
of hard fighting, and indulged, more than enough, in hard drinking.
He was wild, almost savage of temper, and he never rose to a
command which gave him any chance of gaining admission on the
roll of chivalry. There was a knight, however, named Catesby, who
was a comrade of Guy, and the latter clung to him as a means
whereby to become as great as that to which he clung.
Guy bore himself gallantly in Spain; and, subsequently, in Flanders,
he fought with such distinguished valor, that when Catesby and his
associates in England were considering where they might find the
particular champion whom they needed for their particular purpose in
the Gunpowder Plot, the thought of the reckless soldier flashed
across the mind of Catesby, and Guy was at once looked after as the
“very properest man” for a very improper service.
The messenger who was despatched to Flanders to sound Guy,
found the latter eager to undertake the perilous mission of destroying
king and parliament, and thereby helping Rome to lord it again in
England. The English soldier in Flanders came over to London, put
up at an inn, which occupied a site not very distant from that of the
once well-known “Angel” in St. Clement’s Danes, and made a gay
figure in the open Strand, till he was prepared to consummate a work
which he thought would help himself to greatness.
Into the matter of the plot I will not enter. It must be observed,
however, that knight never went more coolly to look death in the face
than Guy went to blow up the Protestant king and the parliament. At
the same time it must be added, that Guy had not the slightest
intention of hoisting himself with his own petard. He ran a very great
risk, it is true, and he did it fearlessly; but the fact that both a carriage
and a boat were in waiting to facilitate his escape, shows that self-
sacrifice was not the object of the son of the York proctor. His great
ambition was to rank among knights and nobles. He took but an ill-
method to arrive at such an object; but his reverence for nobility was
seen even when he was very near to his violent end. If he was ever
a hero, it was when certain death by process of law was before him.
But even then it was his boast and solace, that throughout the affair
there was not a man employed, even to handle a spade, in
furtherance of the end in view, who was not a gentleman. Guy died
under the perfect conviction that he had done nothing derogatory to
his quality!
Considering how dramatic are the respective stories of the page and
squire, briefly noticed above, it is remarkable that so little use has
been made of them by dramatists. Savage is the only one who has
dramatized the story of the two knights, Somerset and Overbury. In
this tragedy bearing the latter knight’s name, and produced at the
Haymarket, in June, 1723, he himself played the hero, Sir Thomas.
His attempt to be an actor, and thus gain an honest livelihood by his
industry, was the only act of his life of which Savage was ever
ashamed. In this piece the only guilty persons are the countess and
her uncle, the Earl of Northampton. This is in accordance with the
once-prevailing idea that Northampton planned the murder of Sir
Thomas, in his residence, which occupied the site of the present
Northumberland house. The play was not successful, and the same
may be said of it when revived, with alterations, at Covent Garden, in
1777. Sheridan, the actor, furnished the prologue. In this production
he expressed his belief that the public generally felt little interest in
the fate of knights and kings. The reason he assigns is hardly logical.

“Too great for pity, they inspire respect,

Their deeds astonish rather than affect.
 Proving how rare the heart that we can move,
Which reason tells us we can never prove.”

Guy Faux, who, when in Spain, was the ’squire of the higher-born
Catesby, has inspired but few dramatic writers. I only know of two. In
Mrs. Crouch’s memoirs, notice is made of an afterpiece, brought out
on the 5th of November, 1793, at the Haymarket. A far more
creditable attempt to dramatize the story of Guy Fawkes was made
with great success at the Coburg (Victoria) theatre, in September,
1822. This piece still keeps possession of the minor stage, and
deservedly; but it has never been played with such effect as by its
first “cast.” O. Smith was the Guy, and since he had played the
famous Obi, so well as to cause Charles Kemble’s impersonation at
the Haymarket to be forgotten, he had never been fitted with a
character which suited him so admirably. It was one of the most
truthful personations which the stage had ever seen. Indeed the
piece was played by such a troop of actors as can not now be found
in theatres of more pretensions than the transpontine houses. The
chivalric Huntley, very like the chivalric Leigh Murray, in more
respects than one, enacted Tresham with a rare ability, and judicious
Chapman played Catesby with a good taste, which is not to be found
now in the same locality. Dashing Stanley was the Monteagle, and
graceful Howell the Percy, Beverly and Sloman gave rough portraits
of the king and the facetious knight, Sir Tristam Collywobble—coarse
but effective. Smith, however, was the soul of the piece, and Mr.
Fawkes, of Farnley, might have witnessed the representation, and
have been proud of his descent from the dignified hero that O. Smith
made of his ancestor.
I have given samples of knights of various qualities, but I have yet to
mention the scholar and poet knights. There are many personages
who would serve to illustrate the knight so qualified, but I know of
none so suitable as Ulrich Von Hutten.
 ULRICH VON HUTTEN.
“Jacta est alea.”—Ulrich’s Device.

Ulrich von Hutten was born on the 21st of April, 1488, in the
castle of Stackelberg, near Fulda, in Franconia. He was of a noble
family—all the men of which were brave, and all the women virtuous.
He had three brothers and two sisters. His tender mother loved him
the most, because he was the weakest of her offspring. His father
loved him the least for the same reason. For a like cause, however,
both parents agreed that a spiritual education best accorded with the
frame of Ulrich. The latter, at eleven years old, was accordingly sent
to learn his humanities in the abbey school at Fulda.
His progress in all knowledge, religious and secular, made him the
delight of the stern abbot and of his parents. Every effort possible
was resorted to, to induce him to devote himself for ever to the life of
the cloister. In his zealous opposition to this he was ably seconded
by a strong-handed and high-minded knight, a friend of his father’s
named Eitelwolf von Stein. This opposition so far succeeded, that in
1504, when Ulrich was sixteen years of age he fled from the cloister-
academy of Fulda, and betook himself to the noted high-school at
Erfurt.
Among his dearest fellow Alumni here were Rubianus and Hoff, both
of whom subsequently achieved great renown. In the Augustine
convent, near the school, there was residing a poor young monk,
who also subsequently became somewhat famous. Nobody,
however, took much account of him just then, and few even cared to
know his name—Martin Luther. The plague breaking out at Erfurt,
Rubianus was accompanied by Ulrich to Cologne, there to pursue
their studies. The heart and purse of Ulrich’s father were closed
against the son, because of his flight from Fulda; but his kinsman
Eitelwolf, provided for the necessities of the rather imprudent young
scholar.
The sages who trained the young idea at Cologne were of the old
high and dry quality—hating progress and laboriously learned in
trifles. At the head of them were Hogstraten and Ortuin. Ulrich
learned enough of their manner to be able to crush them afterward
with ridicule, by imitating their style, and reproducing their gigantic
nonsense, in the famous “Epistolæ Obscurorum Virorum.” In the
meantime he knit close friendship with Sebastian Brandt, and
Œcolampadius—both young men of progress. The latter was
expelled from Cologne for being so, but the University of Frankfort
on the Oder offered him an asylum. Thither Ulrich repaired also, to
be near his friend, and to sharpen his weapons for the coming
struggle between light and darkness—Germany against Rome, and
the German language against the Latin.
At Frankfort he won golden opinions from all sorts of people. The
Elector, Joachim of Brandenburg; his brother, the priestly Margrave
Albert; and Bishop Dietrich von Beilow were proud of the youth who
did honor to the university. He here first became a poet, and took the
brothers Von Osthen for his friends. He labored earnestly, and
acquired much glory; but he was a very free liver to boot, though he
was by no means particularly so, for the times in which he lived. His
excesses, however, brought on a dangerous disease, which, it is
sometimes supposed, had not hitherto been known in Europe. Be
this as it may, he was never wholly free from the malady as long as
he lived, nor ever thought that it much mattered whether he suffered
or not.
He was still ill when he took up for a season the life of a wandering
scholar. He endured all its miserable vicissitudes, suffered famine
and shipwreck, and was glad at last to find a haven, as a poor
student, in the Pomeranian University of Griefswalde. The Professor
Lötz and his father the Burgomaster, were glad to patronize so
renowned a youth, but they did it with such insulting condescension
that the spirit of Ulrich revolted; and in 1509, the wayward scholar
was again a wanderer, with the world before him where to choose.
The Lötzes, who had lent him clothes, despatched men after him to
strip him; and the poor, half-frozen wretch, reached Rostock half
starved, more than half naked, with wounds gaping for vengeance,
and with as little sense about him as could be possessed by a man
so ill-conditioned.
He lived by his wits at Rostock. He was unknown and perfectly
destitute; but he penned so spirited a metrical narrative of his life and
sufferings, addressed to the heads of the university there, that these
at once received him under their protection. In a short time he was
installed in comparative comfort, teaching the classics to young
pupils, and experiencing as much enjoyment as he could,
considering that the Lötzes of Griefswalde were continually assuring
his patrons that their protégé was a worthless impostor.
He took a poet’s revenge, and scourged them in rhymes, the very
ruggedness of which was tantamount to flaying.
Having gained his fill of honor at Rostock, his restless spirit urged
him once again into the world. After much wandering, he settled for a
season at Wittenburg, where he was the delight of the learned men.
By their eleemosynary aid, and that of various friends, save his
father, who rejoiced in his renown but would not help him to live, he
existed after the fashion of many pauper students of his day. At
Wittenburg he wrote his famous “Art of Poetry;” and he had no
sooner raised universal admiration by its production, than forth he
rushed once more into the world.
He wandered through Bohemia and Moravia, thankfully accepting
bread from peasants, and diamond rings from princes. He had not a
maravedi in his purse, nor clean linen on his back; but he made
himself welcome everywhere. One night he slept, thankfully, on the
straw of a barn; and the next sank, well-fed, into the eider-down of a
bishop’s bed. He entered Olmutz ragged, shoeless, and exhausted.
He left it, after enjoying the rich hospitality he had laughingly
extracted from Bishop Turso, on horseback, with a heavy purse in
his belt, a mantle on his shoulder, and a golden ring, with a jewel set
in it, upon his finger. Such were a student’s vicissitudes, in the days
of German wandering, a long time ago.
The boy, for he was not yet twenty years of age, betook himself to
Vienna, where he kept a wide circle in continual rapture by the
excellence of his poetical productions. These productions were not
“all for love,” nor were they all didactic. He poured out war-ballads to
encourage the popular feeling in favor of the Emperor Maximilian,
against his enemies in Germany and Italy. Ulrich was, for the
moment, the Tyrtæus of his native country. Then, suddenly
recollecting that his angry sire had said that if his son would not take
the monk’s cowl, his father would be content to see him assume the
lawyer’s coif, our volatile hero hastened to Pavia, opened the law
books on an ominous 1st of April, 1512, and read them steadily, yet
wearied of them heartily, during just three months.
At this time Francis the first of France, who had seized on Pavia,
was besieged therein by the German and Swiss cavalry. Ulrich was
dangerously ill during the siege, but he occupied the weary time by
writing sharp epitaphs upon himself. The allies entered the city; and
Ulrich straightway departed from it, a charge having been laid
against him of too much partiality for the French. The indignant
German hurried to Bologna, where he once more addressed himself
to the Pandects and the Juris Codices Gentium.
This light reading so worked on his constitution that fever laid him
low, and after illness came destitution. He wrote exquisite verses to
Cardinal Gurk, the imperial embassador in Bologna, where the pope
for the moment resided; but he failed in his object of being raised to
some office in the cardinal’s household. Poor Ulrich took the course
often followed by men of his impulses and condition; he entered the
army as a private soldier, and began the ladder which leads to
knighthood at the lowest round.
Unutterable miseries he endured in this character; but he went
through the siege of Pavia with honor, and he wrote such sparkling
rhymes in celebration of German triumphs and in ridicule of
Germany’s foes, that, when a weakness in the ankles compelled him
to retire from the army, he collected his songs and dedicated them to
the Emperor.
The dedication, however, was so very independent of tone, that
Maximilian took no notice of the limping knight who had exchanged
the sword for the lyre. Indeed, at this juncture, the man who could
wield a sledge-hammer, was in more esteem with the constituted
authorities than he who skilfully used his pen. The young poet could
scarcely win a smile, even from Albert of Brandenburg, to whom he
had dedicated a poem. Sick at heart, his health gave way, and a
heavy fever sent him to recover it at the healing springs in the valley
of Ems.
A short time previous to his entering the army, the young Duke Ulrich
of Wurtemburg had begun to achieve for himself a most unenviable
reputation. He had entered on his government; and he governed his
people ill, and himself worse. He allowed nothing to stand between
his own illustrious purpose and the object aimed at. He had for wife
the gentle Bavarian princess, Sabina, and for friend, young Johan
von Hutten, a cousin of our hero Ulrich.
Now, Johan von Hutten had recently married a fair-haired girl, with
the not very euphonious appellation of Von Thumb. She was,
however, of noble birth, and, we must add, of light principles. The
duke fell in love with her, and she with the duke, and when his friend
Johan remonstrated with him, the ducal sovereign gravely proposed
to the outraged husband an exchange of consorts!
Johan resolved to withdraw from the ducal court; and this resolution
alarmed both his wife and the duke, for Johan had no intention of
leaving his lightsome Von Thumb behind him. Therefore, the duke
invited Johan one fine May morning in the year 1515, to take a
friendly ride with him through a wood. The invitation was accepted,
and as Johan was riding along a narrow path, in front of the duke,
the latter passed his sword through the body of his friend, slaying
him on the spot.
Having thus murdered his friend, the duke hung him up by the neck
in his own girdle to a neighboring tree, and he defended the deed, by
giving out that ducal justice had only been inflicted on a traitor who
had endeavored to seduce the Duchess of Wurtemburg! The lady,
however, immediately fled to her father, denouncing the
faithlessness of her unworthy husband, on whose bosom the young
widow of the murdered Johan now reclined for consolation.
On this compound deed becoming known, all Germany uttered a
unanimous cry of horror. The noblest of the duke’s subjects flung off
their allegiance. His very servants quitted him in disgust. His fellow-
princes invoked justice against him and Ulrich von Hutten, from his
sick couch at Ems, penned eloquent appeals to the German nation,
to rise and crush the ruthless wretch who had quenched in blood, the
life, the light, the hope, the very flower of Teutonic chivalry.
The “Philippics” of Ulrich were mainly instrumental in raising a
terrible Nemesis to take vengeance upon his ducal namesake; and
he afterward wrote his “Phalarismus” to show that the tyrant excited
horror, even in the infernal regions. The opening sentence—“Jacta
est alea!” became his motto; and his family took for its apt device
—“Exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultor!” From this time forward,
Ulrich von Hutten was a public man, and became one of the
foremost heroes of his heroic age. He was now scholar, poet, and
knight.
His fame would have been a pleasant thing to him, but the pleasure
was temporarily diminished by the death of his old benefactor,
Eitelwolf von Stein. The latter was the first German statesman who
was also a great scholar; and his example first shook the prejudice,
that for a knight or nobleman to be book-learned was derogatory to
his chivalry and nobility. Into the area of public warfare Ulrich now
descended, and the enemies of light trembled before the doughty
champion. The collegiate teachers at Cologne, with Hogstraten, the
Inquisitor, Pfefierkorn, a converted Jew, and Ortuin—at their head,
had directed all the powers of the scholastic prejudices against
Reuchlin and his followers, who had declared, that not only Greek,
but Hebrew should form a portion of the course of study for those
destined to enter the Church. The ancient party pronounced this
Heathenism; Reuchlin and his party called it Reason, and Germany,
was split in two, upon the question.
At the very height of the contest, a lad with a sling and a stone
entered the lists, and so dexterously worked his missiles, that the
enemy of learning was soon overcome. The lad was Von Hutten,
who, as chief author of those amusing satires, “Epistolae
Obscurorum Virorum,” ruined Monkery and paralyzed Rome, by
making all the world laugh at the follies, vices, crimes, and selfish
ignorance of both.
Leo X. was so enraged, that he excommunicated the authors, and
devoted them to damnation. “I care no more,” said Von Hutten, “for
the bull of excommunication than I do for a soap-bubble.” The
reputation he had acquired, helped him to a reconciliation with his
family; but the members thereof had only small respect for a mere
learned knight. They urged him to qualify himself for a chancellor,
and to repair to Rome, and study the law accordingly.
Something loath, he turned his face toward the Tyber, in 1515. The
first news received of the law-student was to the effect, that having
been attacked, dagger in hand, at a pic-nic, near Viterbo, by five
French noblemen, whom he had reproved for speaking ill of
Germany and the Emperor Maximilian, he had slain one and put the
other four to flight. From this fray he himself escaped with a slash on
the cheek. He recounted his victory in a song of triumph, and when
the law-student sat down to his books, every one in Rome
acknowledged that his sword and his pen were equally pointed.
His French adversaries threatened vengeance for their humiliating
defeat; and he accordingly avoided it, by withdrawing to Bologne,
where he again, with hearty disgust, applied himself to the severe
study of a law which was never applied for justice sake. He found
compensation in penning such stirring poetry as his satirical “Nemo,”
and in noting the vices of the priesthood with the intention of turning
his observation to subsequent profit. A feud between the German
and Italian students at Bologna soon drove our scholar from the
latter place. He took himself to Ferrara and Venice; was welcomed
everywhere by the learned and liberal, and, as he wrote to Erasmus,
was loaded by them with solid pudding as well as empty praise.
From this journey he returned to his native country. He repaired to
Augsburg, where Maximilian was holding court, and so well was he
commended to the emperor, that on the 15th of June, 1517, that
monarch dubbed him Imperial Knight, placed a gold ring, symbolic of
chivalrous dignity, on his finger, and crowned him a poet, with a
laurel wreath, woven by the fairest flower of Augsburg, Constance
Peutinger.
After such honors, his father received him with joy at his hearth; and
while Von Hutten went from his native Stackelberg to the library at
Fulda, yet hesitating whether to take service under the Emperor or
under the Elector of Mayence, he bethought himself of the irrefutable
work of Laurentius Valla against the temporal authority and
possessions of the Popedom. He studied the work well, published an
improved edition, and dedicated it, in a letter of fire and ability, to Leo
X.;—a proof of his hope in, or of his defiance of, that accomplished
infidel.
Luther and Von Hutten were thus, each unconscious of the other,
attacking Popery on two points, about the same moment. Luther
employed fearful weapons in his cause, and wielded them manfully.
Von Hutten only employed, as yet, a wit which made all wither where
it fell; and an irony which consumed where it dropped. In the
handling of these appliances, there was no man in Germany who
was his equal. Leo could admire and enjoy both the wit and the
irony; and he was not disinclined to agree with the arguments of
which they were made the supports; but what he relished as a
philosopher, he condemned as a Pontiff. The Florentine, Lorenzo de’
Medici, could have kissed the German on either cheek, but the
Pope, Leo X., solemnly devoted him to Gehenna.
As a protection against papal wrath, Von Hutten entered the service
of Albert, Elector-Archbishop of Mayence. Albert was a liberal
Romanist, but nothing in the least of an Ultra-Montanist. He loved
learning and learned men, and he recollected that he was a German
before he was a Romanist. In the suite of the elector, Von Hutten
visited Paris, in 1518. He returned to Mayence only to carry on more
vigorously his onslaught against the begging monks. He accounted
them as greater enemies to Germany than the Turks. “We fight with
the latter, beyond our frontier for power; but the former are the
corrupters of science, of religion, of morals—and they are in the very
midst of us.” So does he write, in a letter to Graf Nuenar, at Cologne.
The building of St. Peter’s cost Rome what the building of Versailles
cost France—a revolution. In each case, an absolute monarchy was
overthrown never again to rise. To provide for the expenses of St.
Peter’s, the Dominican Tetzel traversed Germany, selling his
indulgences. Luther confronted him, and denounced his mission, as
well as those who sent him on it. Von Hutten, in his hatred of monks,
looked upon this as a mere monkish squabble; and he was glad to
see two of the vocation holding one another by the throat.
At this precise moment, Germany was excited at the idea of a
projected European expedition against the Turks. The Imperial
Knight saw clearly the perils that threatened Christendom from that
question, and was ready to rush, sword in hand, to meet them. He
declared, however, that Europe groaned under a more insupportable
yoke, laid on by Rome, and he deprecated the idea of helping Rome
with funds against the Moslem. What a change was here from the
Imperial crusading knights of a few centuries earlier. “If Rome,” he
said, “be serious on the subject of such a crusade, we are ready to
fight, but she must pay us for our services. She shall not have both
our money and our blood.” He spoke, wrote, and published boldly
against Rome being permitted to levy taxes in Germany, on pretence
of going to war with the unbelieving Ottomans. At the same moment,
Luther was denouncing the monks who thought to enrich the coffers
of Rome by the sale of indulgences. One was the political, the other
the religious enemy of the power which sought to rule men and their
consciences from under the shadow of the Colosseum.
There was little hope of aid from the emperor, but Von Hutten looked
for all the help the cause needed in a union of the citizen classes
(whom he had been wont to satirize) with the nobility. To further the
end in view, he wrote his masterly dialogue of “The Robbers.” In this
piece, the speakers are knights and citizens. Each side blames the
other, but each is made acquainted with the other’s virtues, by the
interposition of a Deus ex machinâ in the presence of the knight,
Franz von Sickingen. The whole partakes of the spirit and raciness
of Bunyan and Cobbett. Throughout the dialogue, the vices of no
party in the state find mercy, while the necessity of the mutual
exercise of virtue and aid is ably expounded.
The knight, Franz von Sickingen, was author of a part of this
dialogue. His adjurations to Von Hutten not to be over-hasty and his
reason why, are no doubt his own. By the production of such papers,
Germany was made eager for the fray. This particular and powerful
dialogue was dedicated to John, Pfalzgraf of the Rhine, Duke of
Bavaria, and Count of Spanheim. This illustrious personage had
requested Ulrich that whenever he published any particularly bold
book, in support of national liberty, he would dedicate it to him, the
duke. The author obeyed, in this instance, on good grounds and with
right good will. There is in the dialogue an audible call to war, and
this pleased Luther himself, who was now convinced that with the
pen alone, the Reformation could not be an established fact.
Ulrich longed for the contact, whereby to make his country and his
church free of Romanist tyranny. But he considers the possibility of a
failure. He adjured his family to keep aloof from the strife, that they
might not bring ruin on their heads, in the event of destruction falling
on his own. The parents of Ulrich were now no more; Ulrich as head
of his house was possessed of its modest estates. Of his own
possessions he got rid, as of an encumbrance to his daring and his
gigantic activity. He formally made over nearly all to his next brother,
in order that his enemies, should they ultimately triumph, might have
no ground for seizing them.
At the same time, he warned his brother to send him neither letters
nor money, as either would be considered in the light of aid offered
to an enemy, and might be visited with terrible penalties.
Having rid himself of what few would so easily have parted from, he
drew his sword joyously and independently for the sake of liberty
alone, and with a determination of never sheathing it until he had
accomplished that at which he aimed, or that the accomplishment of
such end had been placed beyond his power.
“Jacta est alea,” cried he, viewing his bright sword, “the die is
thrown, Ulrich has risked it.”
In the meantime Von Hutten remained in the service of the Elector-
Archbishop of Mayence. The courtiers laughed at him as a rude
knight. The knights ridiculed him as a poor philosopher. Both were
mistaken; he was neither poor nor rude, albeit a Ritter and a sage.
What he most cared for, was opportunity to be useful in his
generation, and leisure enough to cultivate learning during the hours
he might call his own. His satirical poems, coarsely enough worded
against a courtier’s life, are admirable for strength and coloring. Not
less admirable for taste and power are his letters of this period. In
them he denounces that nobility which is composed solely of family
pride; and he denounces, with equally good foundation, the life of
“Robber Knights,” as he calls them, who reside in their castles, amid
every sort of discomfort, and a world of dirt, of hideous noises, and
unsavory smells; and who only leave them to plunder or to be
plundered. He pronounces the true knights of the period to be those
alone who love religion and education. With the aid of these, applied
wisely and widely, and with the help of great men whom he names,
and who share his opinions, he hopes, as he fervently declares, to
see intellect gain more victories than force—to be able to bid the old
barbarous spirit which still influenced too many “to gird up its loins
and be off.” Health came to him with this determination to devote
himself to the service and improvement of his fellow-men. It came
partly by the use of simple remedies, the chief of which was
moderation in all things. Pen and sword were now alike actively
employed. He put aside the former, for a moment, only to assume
the latter, in order to strike in for vengeance against the aggressive
Duke of Wurtemburg.
The crimes of this potentate had at length aroused the emperor
against him. Maximilian had intrusted the leadership of his army to
the famous knight-errant of his day, Franz von Sickingen. This
cavalier had often been in open rebellion against the emperor
himself; and Hutten now enrolled himself among the followers of
Franz. His patron not only gave him the necessary permission but
continued to him his liberal stipend; when the two knights met, and
made their armor clash with their boisterous embrace, they swore
not to stop short of vengeance on the guilty duke, but to fight to the
death for liberty and Christendom. They slept together in the same
bed in token of brotherly knighthood, and they rose to carry their
banner triumphantly against the duke—ending the campaign by the
capture of the metropolis, Stutgardt.
Reuchlin resided in the capital, and the good man was full of fear; for
murder and rapine reigned around him. His fear was groundless, for
Von Hutten had urged Sickingen to give out that in the sack of