Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg, had served the German king, Maximilian I, in the war over the succession to the duchy of Bavaria-Landshut in 1504, receiving some additions to Württemberg as a reward; he had accompanied Maximilian on his unfinished journey to Rome in 1508; and he had marched with the imperial army into France in 1513.

Ulrich had meanwhile become very unpopular in Württemberg.

His extravagance had led to a large accumulation of debt, and his subjects are irritated by his oppressive methods of raising money.

An uprising under the name of Poor Conrad had broken out in 1514 and had been suppressed only after Ulrich had made important concessions to the estates in return for financial aid.

The duke's relations with the Swabian League, moreover, are very bad, and trouble soon comes from another quarter also.

Ulrich in 151l had married Sabina, a daughter of Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria, and niece of the emperor Maximilian.

The marriage is a very unhappy one, and the duke, having formed an affection for the wife of a knight named Hans von Hutten, a kinsman of Ulrich von Hutten, had killed Hans in 1515 during an altercation.

Hutten's friends now joined the other elements of discontent.

Sabina, fleeing from her husband, had won the support of the emperor and of her brother William IV, Duke of Bavaria, and Ulrich has twice been placed under the imperial ban.