1066 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. 
to have as retainers only such as could ride and fight 1 , and 
Helmbrecht candidly states, when he takes leave of the family, 
that he expects to gain his livelihood by violence 2 . While 
these robbers were severely punished 3 , their vocation was gen¬ 
erally recognized as a regular means of earning a living. The 
honest old peasant fitted his son out with a horse and other 
necessaries of the robber 4 , and it was a lady at the castle who 
gave Helmbrecht’s companions their fanciful names, which 
characterized them as expert robbers 5 . 
The knights still retained a little of their old feeling of 
honor, for Helmbrecht says that he would not be worthy of a 
lady’s love if he did not avenge a breach of good manners 6 . 
But they were far below their ancestors in morality, for the 
old peasant remembers how courteous and honest they were in 
former times 7 . Then they amused themselves with tourna¬ 
ments 8 ; they danced 9 , and listened to the minstrel’s music 10 . 
iS r ow they spend their time in drinking and flirting with the 
waitresses 11 . 
2. Brutality. 
These robber knights persecuted not only their enemies, but 
everyone who had anything that was worth stealing, not even 
sparing their own relatives 12 . The servants of the church were 
not safe from their depredations 13 . From the peasants they 
stole the stock 14 , and took even the clothing from the women 15 , at 
times stripping their victims, of every shred oif clothing 16 ; they 
1 LI. 656 ff. 
2 LI. 366, 3T9. 
3 LI. 1669 ff. 
4 LI. 390 ff. 
5 L. 1218. 
6 L 1169. 
7 LI. 921 ff.; 1. 966. 
8 L. 927. 
9 L. 940'. 
10 L. ’943. 
11 LI. 986 ff. 
12 LI. 1196. 
13 L. 1070. 
14 L. 670. 
15 LI. 677, 1200, 1839. 
16 LI. 1201, 1869. 
