Let woman be subject to man. Even as a little girl, the Bavarian prince's daughter Sabina is promised to the ruler of Wirtemberg. She doesn't want to, but who cares when it comes to big politics? Years later, when the wedding is celebrated with enormous pomp, the young woman suspects that a terrible marriage awaits her. For Duke Ulrich is notorious for his violent moods and his jealousy. When he murders his closest friend in a blind rage, Sabina is also in grave danger. She has to flee - without her children. Ulrich, meanwhile, takes the peasant girl Maria as his lover by force. The terrible duke also threatens to be her undoing ...