GOETZ VON BERLICHINGEN

GOETZ VON BERLICHINGEN, surnamed "The Iron Hand," was a brave but turbulent noble of Germany, of the 15th and 16th centuries.

This German knight was involved in turbulent movements, and lost his right hand at the siege of Landshut, which he replaced by one of his own invention made of steel. He spent his life in feuds.

He left an autobiography which interested Goethe. The story of his life was dramatised by Goethe, "to save," as he said, "the memory of a brave man from darkness," and which was translated from the German by Sir Walter Scott.