With Sickingen's death one of the most salient and picturesque elements in the mediaeval life of Central Europe received its death-blow.

The knighthood as a distinct factor in the polity of Europe henceforth existed no more.
Spalatin relates that on the death of Sickingen the princely party anticipated as easy a victory over the religious revolt as they had achieved over the knighthood.

"The mock Emperor is dead," so the phrase went, "and the mock Pope will soon be dead also." Hutten, already an exile in Switzerland, did not many months survive his patron and leader, Sickingen.

The role which Erasmus played in this miserable tragedy was only what was to be expected from the moral cowardice which seemed ingrained in the character of the great Humanist leader.

Erasmus had already begun to fight shy of the Reformation movement, from which he was about to separate himself definitely.