The subject is taken from a minor incident in medieval history which was later celebrated in literature. The village of Weinsberg in Bavaria, near Munich was the victim of a siege by the Holy Roman Emperor, Conrad III (reigned 1138-1152) in 1140 as part of his dispute with Henry the Proud, Duke of Bavaria. The brave villagers were defeated and while the women and children were to be spared the threatened slaughter, the women pleaded with the Emperor that they should be allowed to carry away their most treasured possessions. As a result they put all their men folk on their backs and carried them out of the village.  The Emperor could not go back on his word and the story became a symbol of female devotion. The story itself was revived as a play in the early seventeenth century.

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