er if Austria had her
own again, while the uneasiness in the cities that stood alone had
greatly increased.

Within Hagenbach's immediate jurisdiction, the opposition to his
measures took a definite form long before the duke's arrival there.
The various commissioners sent by Charles to inspect the quality of
his bargain had all agreed in an urgent recommendation to the duke to
redeem, at the earliest possible moment, all the troublesome mortgages
honeycombing his authority. Hagenbach, too, was fully convinced of the
necessity for this measure, but he was not provided with sufficient
money to accomplish it.

In the spring of 1473, therefore, he resolved to lay a new tax on
wine. This impost, called the "Bad Penny," was bitterly resented for
two reasons. The burden was oppressive to the vintners and it was an
illegal measure, as no sanction had been given by the local estates.
Three towns, Thann, Ensisheim, and Brisac, declared that they were
determined to refuse payment.

Hagenbach marched a force into the Engelburg, a stronghold dominating
Thann, bombarded the town, and took it easily. Thirty citizens were
condemned to death as leaders in an iniquitous rebellion against the
just orders of their lawful governor. Some of these, indeed, were
pardoned, though their estates were confiscated, but five or six
were publicly executed, and their bodies hung exposed to view on the
market-place, as a hideous object-lesson of the cost of resisting
Burgundian orders.

One execution sufficed to render Ensisheim submissive, but Brisac
proved more obstinate. The magistrates there did not resort to force.
They declared there was no need, for they were fully protected by the
article in the treaty of St. Omer, which forbade arbitrary imposition
of any tax on the part of the suzerain. Their determined refusal made
the lieutenant consent to refer the question to the Duke of Burgundy,
and messengers were despatched to Treves to represent the respective
grievances of governor and governed. The collection of the tax was
postponed until Charles could examine the situation.

A determined effort to bring the independent town of Mulhouse under
Burgundian sway was another act of 1473, fanning opposition to a white
heat that forged organised resistance to any extension of Burgundian
authority. For three years, Hagenbach had endeavoured to convince the
burghers of that imperial city that they would be wise to accept the
duke's protection and ha