In the immediate neighbourhood of Nuernberg, which was _bien entendu_ one of the chief seats of the Imperial power, a robber-knight leader, named Hans Thomas von Absberg, was a standing menace.

It was the custom of this ruffian, who had a large following, to plunder even the poorest who came from the city, and, not content with this, to mutilate his victims.

In June 1522 he fell upon a wretched craftsman, and with his own sword hacked off the poor fellow's right hand, notwithstanding that the man begged him upon his knees to take the left, and not destroy his means of earning his livelihood.

The following August he, with his band, attacked a Nuernberg tanner, whose hand was similarly treated, one of his associates remarking that he was glad to set to work again, as it was "a long time since they had done any business in hands." On the same occasion a cutler was dealt with after a similar fashion.

The hands in these cases were collected and sent to the Buergermeister of Nuernberg, with some such phrase as that the sender (Hans Thomas) would treat all so who came from the city.
The princes themselves, when it suited their purpose, did not hesitate to offer an asylum to these knightly robbers.