CRISTORAUL.ORGLa Batalla Final |
 |
EL VENCEDOR EDICIONESinfo@cristoraul.org |
SALA DE LECTURA BIBLIOTECA TERCER MILENIO |
READING HALL DOORS OF WISDOM |
BIBLIOTHÈQUE FRANÇAISE |
JOHN S. C. ABBOTT
|
PREFACE
The studies of the author of this work, for the last
ten years, in writing the History of Napoleon Bonaparte, and
The French Revolution of 1789, have necessarily made him quite
familiar with the monarchies of Europe. He has met with so much that was strange
and romantic in their career, that he has been interested to undertake, as it
were, a biography of the Monarchies of Continental Europe— their
birth, education, exploits, progress and present condition. He has commenced
with Austria.
There are abundant materials for this work. The Life
of Austria embraces all that is wild and wonderful in history; her early
struggles for aggrandizement—the fierce strife with the Turks, as wave after
wave of Moslem invasion rolled up the Danube—the long conflicts and bloody
persecutions of the Reformation—the thirty years' religious war—the meteoric
career of Gustavus Adolphus and Charles XII shooting athwart the
lurid storms of battle—the intrigues of Popes—the enormous pride, power and
encroachments of Louis XIV—the warfare of the Spanish succession and the Polish
dismemberment—all these events combine in a sublime tragedy which fiction may
in vain attempt to parallel.
It is affecting to observe in the history of Germany,
through what woes humanity has passed in attaining even its present position of
civilization. It is to be hoped that the human family may never again suffer
what it has already endured. We shall be indeed insane if we do not gain some
wisdom from the struggles and the calamities of those who have gone before us.
The narrative of the career of the Austrian Empire, must, by contrast, excite
emotions of gratitude in every American bosom. Our lines have fallen to us in
pleasant places; we have a goodly heritage.
It is the author's intention soon to issue, as the
second of this series, the History of the Empire of Russia.
JOHN S. C. ABBOTT.
Brunswick, Maine, 1859.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.-RHODOLPH OF HAPSBURG. From 1232 to 1291
Hawk's Castle.— Albert, Count of Hapsburg.—
Rhodolph of Hapsburg.— His Marriage and Estates.— Excommunication and its
Results.— His Principles of Honor.— A Confederacy of Barons.—
Their Route.— Rhodolph's Election as
Emperor of Germany.— The Bishop's Warning.— Dissatisfaction at the Result of
the Election.— Advantages accruing from the Possession of an
interesting Family.— Conquest.— Ottocar acknowledges the Emperor; yet
breaks his Oath of Allegiance.— Gathering Clouds.— Wonderful Escape.— Victory
of Rhodolph.— His Reforms.
CHAPTER II.-REIGNS OF ALBERT I, FREDERIC, ALBERT AND
OTHO. From1291 to 1347.
Anecdotes of Rhodolph.— His Desire for the
Election of his Son.— His Death.— Albert.— His Unpopularity.— Conspiracy of the
Nobles.— Their Defeat.— Adolphus of Nassau chosen Emperor.— Albert's
Conspiracy.— Deposition of Adolphus and Election of Albert.— Death
of Adolphus.— The Pope Defied.— Annexation of Bohemia.— Assassination of
Albert.— Avenging Fury.— The Hermit's Direction.— Frederic the Handsome.—
Election of Henry, Count of Luxemburg.— His Death.— Election of Louis of Bavaria.—
Capture of Frederic.— Remarkable Confidence toward a Prisoner.— Death of
Frederic.— An early Engagement.— Death of Louis.— Accession of Albert.
CHAPTER III.-RHODOLPH II, ALBERT IV AND ALBERT V. From
1389 to 1437
Rhodolph II.— Marriage of John to Margaret.—
Intriguing for the Tyrol.— Death of Rhodolph.— Accession of Power to
Austria.— Dividing the Empire.— Delight of the Emperor Charles.— Leopold.— His
Ambition and successes.— Hedwige, Queen of
Poland.— "The Course of true Love never did run smooth."— Unhappy
Marriage of Hedwige.— Heroism of Arnold of Winkelreid.— Death of Leopold.— Death of Albert IV.—
Accession Of Albert V.— Attempts of Sigismond to
bequeath to Albert V Hungary and Bohemia.
CHAPTER IV.-ALBERT, LADISLAUS AND FREDERIC. From 1440
to 1489
Increasing Honors of Albert V.— Encroachments of the
Turks.— The Christians Routed.— Terror of the Hungarians.— Death of Albert.—
Magnanimous Conduct of Albert of Bavaria.— Internal Troubles.— Precocity
of Ladislaus.— Fortifications Raised by the Turks.— John Capistrun.— Rescue of Belgrade.— The Turks Dispersed.—
Exultation over the Victory.— Death of Hunniades.—
Jealousy of Ladislaus.— His Death.— Brotherly Quarrels.— Devastations by
the Turks.— Invasion of Austria.— Repeal of the Compromise.— The Emperor a
Fugitive.
CHAPTER V.-THE EMPERORS FREDERIC II AND MAXIMILIAN I.
From 1477 to 1500
Wanderings of the Emperor Frederic.— Proposed Alliance
with the Duke of Burgundy.— Mutual Distrust.— Marriage of Mary.— The Age of
Chivalry.— The Motive inducing the Lord of Praunstein to
Declare War.— Death of Frederic II.— The Emperor's Secret.— Designs of the
Turks.— Death of Mahomet II.— First Establishment of Standing Armies.— Use of
Gunpowder.— Energy of Maximilian.— French Aggressions.— The League to Expel the
French.— Disappointments of Maximilian.— Bribing the Pope.— Invasion of Italy.—
Capture and Recapture.— The Chevalier de Bayard.
CHAPTER VI.-MAXIMILIAN I. From 1500 to 1519.
Base Treachery of the Swiss Soldiers.— Perfidy of
Ferdinand of Arragon.— Appeals by Superstition.—
Coalition with Spain.— The League of Cambray.—
Infamy of the Pope.— The King's Apology.— Failure of the Plot.— Germany
Aroused.— Confidence of Maximilian.— Longings for the Pontifical Chair.—
Maximilian Bribed.— Leo X.— Dawning Prosperity.— Matrimonial Projects.—
Commencement of the War of Reformation.— Sickness of Maximilian.— His Last
Directions.— His Death.— The Standard by which his Character is to be Judged.
CHAPTER VII.-CHARLES V AND THE REFORMATION. From 1519
to 1581
Charles V of Spain.— His Election as Emperor of
Germany.— His Coronation.— The First Constitution.— Progress of the
Reformation.— The Pope's Bull against Luther.— His Contempt for his Holiness.—
The Diet at Worms.— Frederic's Objection to the Condemnation of Luther by the
Diet.— He obtains for Luther the Right of Defense.— Luther's triumphal March to
the Tribunal.— Charles urged to Violate his Safe Conduct.— Luther's Patmos.—
Marriage of Sister Catharine Bora to Luther.— Terrible Insurrection.— The Holy
League.— The Protest of Spires.— Confession of Augsburg.— The Two Confessions.—
Compulsory Measures.
CHAPTER VIII.-CHARLES V AND THE REFORMATION. From 1531
to 1552
Determination to crush Protestantism.— Incursion of
the Turks.— Valor of the Protestants.— Preparations for renewed Hostilities.—
Augmentation of the Protestant Forces.— The Council of Trent.— Mutual
Consternation.— Defeat of the Protestant Army.— Unlooked-for Succor.— Revolt in
the Emperor's Army.— The Fluctuations of Fortune.— Ignoble Revenge.— Capture
of Wittemberg.— Protestantism apparently
crushed.— Plot against Charles.— Maurice of Saxony.— A Change of Scene.— The
Biter Bit— The Emperor humbled.— His Flight.— His determined Will.
CHAPTER IX.-CHARLES V AND THE TURKISH WARS. From 1552
to 1555
The Treaty of Passau.— The Emperor yields.— His
continued Reverses.— The Toleration Compromise.— Mutual Dissatisfaction.—
Remarkable Despondency of the Emperor Charles.— His Address to the Convention
at Brussels.— The Convent of St. Justus.— Charles returns to Spain.— His
Convent Life.— The Mock Burial.— His Death.— His Traits of Character.— The
King's Compliment to Titian.— The Condition of Austria.— Rapid Advance of the
Turks.— Reasons for the Inaction of the Christians.— The Sultan's Method of
Overcoming Difficulties.— The little Fortress of Guntz.—
What it accomplished.
CHAPTER X.-FERDINAND I, HIS WARS AND INTRIGUES. From
1555 to 1562
John of Tapoli.— The
Instability of Compacts.— The Sultan's Demands.— A Reign of War.— Powers and
Duties of the Monarchs of Bohemia.— The Diet.—The King's Desire to crush
Protestantism.— The Entrance to Prague.— Terror of the Inhabitants.— The King's
Conditions.— The Bloody Diet.— Disciplinary Measures.— The establishment of the
Order of Jesuits.— Abdication of Charles V in Favor of Ferdinand.— Power of the
Pope.— Paul IV.— A quiet but powerful Blow.— The Progress of the Reformers.—
Attempts to reconcile the Protestants.— The unsuccessful Assembly.
CHAPTER XI.-DEATH OF FERDINAND I AND ACCESSION OF
MAXIMILIAN II. From 1562 to 1576
The Council of Trent.— Spread of the Reformation.—
Ferdinand's Attempt to influence the Pope.— His Arguments against Celibacy.—
Stubbornness of the Pope.— Maximilian II.— Displeasure of Ferdinand.— Motives
for not abjuring the Catholic Faith.— Religious Strife in Europe.— Maximilian's
Address to Charles IX.— Mutual Toleration.— Romantic Pastime of War.— Heroism
of Nicholas, Count of Zeini.— Accession of Power to Austria.— Accession
of Rhodolph III.— Death of Maximilian.
CHAPTER XII.-CHARACTER OF MAXIMILIAN. SUCCESSION OF
RHODOLPH III. From 1576 to 1604
Character of Maximilian.— His Accomplishments.— His
Wife.— Fate of his Children.— Rhodolph III.— The Liberty of Worship.—
Means of Emancipation.— Rhodolph's Attempts
against Protestantism.— Declaration of a higher Law.— Theological Differences.—
The Confederacy at Heilbrun.— The Gregorian
Calendar.— Intolerance in Bohemia.— The Trap of the Monks.— Invasion of the
Turks.— Their Defeat.— Coalition with Sigismond.—
Sale of Transylvania.— Rule of Basta.— The Empire captured and
recaptured.— Devastation of the Country.— Treatment of Stephen Botskoi.
CHAPTER XIII.-RHODOLPH III AND MATTHIAS. From 1604 to
1609
Botskoi's Manifesto.— Horrible Suffering in Transylvania.— Character
of Botskoi.— Confidence of the Protestants.—
Superstition of Rholdoph.— His Mystic Studies.—
Acquirements of Matthias.— Schemes of Matthias.— His increasing power.— Treaty
with the Turks.— Demands on Rhodolph.— The Compromise.— Perfidy of
Matthias.— The Margravite.— Fillisbustering.— The People's Diet.— A Hint to Royalty.—
The Bloodless Triumph.— Demands of the Germans.—Address of the Prince
of Anhalt to the King.
CHAPTER XIV.-RHODOLPH III AND MATTHIAS. From 1609 to
1612
Difficulties as to the Succession.— Hostility of Henry
IV to the House of Austria.— Assassination of Henry IV.— Similarity in Sully's
and Napoleon's Plans.— Exultation of the Catholics.— The Brother's Compact.—
How Rhodolph kept it.— Seizure of Prague.— Rhodolph a
Prisoner.— The King's Abdication.— Conditions Attached to the Crown.— Rage
of Rhodolph.— Matthias Elected King.— The Emperor's Residence.— Rejoicings
of The Protestants.— Reply of the Ambassadors.— The Nuremberg Diet.— The
Unkindest cut of all.— Rhodolph's Humiliation
and Death.
CHAPTER XV.-MATTHIAS. From 1612 to 1619
Matthias Elected Emperor of Germany.— His Despotic
Character.— His Plans Thwarted.— Mulheim.— Gathering Clouds.— Family Intrigue.—
Coronation of Ferdinand.— His Bigotry.— Henry, Count of Thurn.— Convention
at Prague.— The King's Reply.— The Die Cast.— Amusing Defense of an Outrage.—
Ferdinand's Manifesto.— Seizure of Cardinal Klesis.—
The King's Rage.— Retreat of the King's Troops.— Humiliation of Ferdinand.— The
Difficulties Deferred.— Death of Matthias.
CHAPTER XVI.-FERDINAND II. From 1619 to 1621
Possessions of the Emperor.— Power of the Protestants
of Bohemia.— General Spirit of Insurrection.— Anxiety of Ferdinand.—
Insurrection led by Count Thurn.— Unpopularity of the Emperor.— Affecting
Declaration of the Emperor.— Insurrection in Vienna.— The Arrival of Succor.—
Ferdinand Seeks the Imperial Throne.— Repudiated by Bohemia.— The Palatinate.—
Frederic Offered the Crown of Bohemia.— Frederic Crowned.— Revolt in Hungary.—
Desperate Condition of the Emperor.— Catholic League.— The Calvinists and the
Puritans.— Duplicity of the Emperor.— Foreign Combinations.— Truce between the
Catholics and the Protestants.— The Attack upon Bohemia.— Battle of the White
Mountain.
CHAPTER XVII.-FERDINAND II. From 1621 to 1629
Pusillanimity of Frederic.— Intreaties of
the Citizens of Prague.— Shameful Flight of Frederic.— Vengeance Inflicted upon
Bohemia.— Protestantism and Civil Freedom.— Vast Power of the Emperor.— Alarm
of Europe.— James I.— Treaty of Marriage for the Prince of Wales.— Cardinal
Richelieu.— New League of the Protestants.— Desolating War.— Defeat of the King
of Denmark.— Energy of Wallenstein.— Triumph of Ferdinand.— New Acts of
Intolerance.— Severities in Bohemia.— Desolation of the Kingdom.—
Dissatisfaction of the Duke of Bavaria.— Meeting of the Catholic Princes.— The
Emperor Humbled.
CHAPTER XVIII.-FERDINAND II AND GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS.
From 1629 to 1632
Vexation of Ferdinand.— Gustavus Adolphus.—
Address to the Nobles of Sweden.— March of Gustavus.— Appeal to the
Protestants.— Magdeburg joins Gustavus.— Destruction of the City.—
Consternation of the Protestants.— Exultation of the Catholics.— The Elector of
Saxony Driven from His Domains.— Battle of Leipsic.— The Swedes penetrate
Bohemia.— Freedom of Conscience Established.— Death of Tilly.— The
Retirement of Wallenstein.— The Command Resumed by Wallenstein.— Capture of
Prague.— Encounter between Wallenstein and Gustavus.— Battle of Lutzen.—Death of Gustavus.
CHAPTER XIX.-FERDINAND II, FERDINAND III AND LEOPOLD
I. From 1632 to 1662
Character of Gustavus Adolphus.— Exultation
of the Imperialists.— Disgrace of Wallenstein.— He offers to Surrender to the
Swedish General.— His Assassination.— Ferdinand's son Elected as his
Successor.— Death of Ferdinand.— Close of the War.— Abdication of Christina.—
Charles Gustavus.— Preparations for War.— Death of Ferdinand III.— Leopold
Elected Emperor.—Hostilities Renewed.— Death of Charles Gustavus.— Diet
Convened.— Invasion of the Turks.
CHAPTER XX.-LEOPOLD I. From 1662 to 1697
Invasion of the Turks.—A Treaty Concluded.—Possessions
of Leopold.—Invasion of the French.—League of Augsburg.—Devastation of the
Palatinate.—Invasion of Hungary.—Emerio Tekeli.—Union of Emerio Tekeli with the Turks.—Leopold Applies
to Sobieski.—He Immediately Marches to his Aid.—The
Turks Conquered.—Sobieski's Triumphal Receptions.—Meanness of
Leopold.—Revenge upon Hungary.—Peace Concluded.—Contest for Spain.
CHAPTER XXI.-LEOPOLD I AND THE SPANISH SUCCESSION From
1697 to 1710
The Spanish Succession.—The Impotence of Charles
II.—Appeal to the Pope.—His Decision.—Death of Charles II.—Accession of Philip
V.—Indignation of Austria.—The Outbreak of War.—Charles III.
Crowned.—Insurrection in Hungary.—Defection of Bavaria.—The Battle of
Blenheim.—Death of Leopold I.—Eleonora.—Accession of Joseph I.—Charles XII. of
Sweden.—Charles III. of Spain.—Battle of Malplaquet.—Charles
at Barcelona.—Charles at Madrid.
CHAPTER XXII.-JOSEPH I AND CHARLES VI. From 1710 to
1717
Perplexities in Madrid.—Flight of Charles.—Retreat of
the Austrian Army.—Stanhope's Division cut off.—Capture of Stanhope.—Staremberg assailed.—Retreat to Barcelona.—Attempt to
pacify Hungary.—The Hungarian Diet.—Baronial crowning of Ragotsky.—Renewal of the Hungarian War.—Enterprise of Herbeville.—The Hungarians crushed.—Lenity of Joseph.—Death
of Joseph.—Accession of Charles VI.—His career in Spain.—Capture of
Barcelona.—The Siege.—The Rescue.—Character of Charles.—Cloisters of
Montserrat.—Increased Efforts for the Spanish Crown.—Charles Crowned Emperor of
Austria and Hungary.—Bohemia.—Deplorable Condition of Louis XIV. Page 845
CHAPTER XXIII.-CHARLES VI. From 1716 to 1727
Heroic Decision of Eugene.—Battle of Belgrade.—Utter
Rout of the Turks.—Possessions of Charles VI.—The Elector of Hanover succeeds
to the English Throne.—Preparations for War.—State of Italy.—Philip V. of
Spain.—Diplomatic Agitations.—Palace of St. Ildefonso.—Order of the Golden
Fleece.—Rejection of Maria Anne.—Contest for the Rock of Gibraltar.—Dismissal
of Rippeeda.—Treaty of Vienna.—Peace Concluded.
CHAPTER XXIV.-CHARLES VI AND THE POLISH WAR. From 1727
to 1735
Cardinal Fleury.—The Emperor of Austria urges the
Pragmatic Sanction.—He promises his two Daughters to the two Sons of the Queen
of Spain.—France, England and Spain unite against Austria.—Charles VI. issues
Orders to Prepare for War.—His Perplexities.—Secret Overtures to England.—The
Crown of Poland.—Meeting of the Polish Congress.—Stanislaus goes to
Poland.—Augustus III. crowned.—War.—Charles sends an Army to
Lombardy.—Difficulties of Prince Eugene.—Charles's Displeasure with
England.—Letter to Count Kinsky.—Hostilities
Renewed.
CHAPTER XXV.-CHARLES VI AND THE TURKISH WAR RENEWED.
From 1735 to 1739
Anxiety of Austrian Office-holders.—Maria Theresa.—The
Duke of Lorraine.—Distraction of the Emperor.—Tuscany assigned to the Duke of
Lorraine.—Death of Eugene.—Rising Greatness of Russia.—New War with the Turks.—Condition
of the Army.—Commencement of Hostilities—Capture of Nissa.—Inefficient
Campaign.—Disgrace of Seckendorf.—The Duke of
Lorraine placed in Command.—Siege of Orsova.—Belgrade
besieged by the Turks.—The third Campaign.—Battle of Crotzka.—Defeat
of the Austrians.—Consternation in Vienna.—Barbarism of the Turks.—The
Surrender of Belgrade.
CHAPTER XXVI.-MARIA THERESA. From 1739 to 1741
Anguish of the King.—Letter to the Queen of
Russia.—The Imperial Circular.—Deplorable Condition of Austria.—Death of
Charles VI.—Accession of Maria Theresa.—Vigorous Measures of the Queen.—Claim
of the Duke of Bavaria.—Responses from the Courts.—Coldness of the French
Court.—Frederic of Prussia.—His Invasion of Silesia.—March of the
Austrians.—Battle of Molnitz.—Firmness of Maria
Theresa.—Proposed Division of Plunder.—Villainy of Frederic.—Interview with the
King.—Character of Frederic.—Commencement of the General Invasion.
CHAPTER XXVII.-MARIA THERESA. From 1741 to 1743
Character of Francis, Duke of Lorraine.—Policy of
European Courts.—Plan of the Allies.—Siege of Prague.—Desperate Condition of
the Queen—Her Coronation in Hungary.—Enthusiasm of the Barons.—Speech of Maria
Theresa.—Peace with Frederic of Prussia.—His Duplicity.—Military Movement of
the Duke of Lorraine.—Battle of Chazleau.—Second
Treaty with Frederic.—Despondency of the Duke of Bavaria.—March of Mallebois.—Extraordinary Retreat of Belleisle.—Recovery of Prague by the Queen.
CHAPTER XXVIII.-MARIA THERESA. From 1743 to 1748
Prosperous Aspect of Austrian Affairs.—Capture
of Egea.—Vast Extent of Austria.—Dispute with
Sardinia.—Marriage of Charles of Lorraine with the Queen's Sister.—Invasion of
Alsace.—Frederic overruns Bohemia.—Bohemia recovered by Prince Charles.—Death
of the Emperor Charles VII.—Venality of the old Monarchies.—Battle of Hohenfriedberg.—Sir Thomas Robinson's Interview with Maria
Theresa.—Hungarian Enthusiasm.—The Duke of Lorraine Elected
Emperor.—Continuation of the War.—Treaty of Peace.—Indignation of Maria
Theresa.
CHAPTER XXIX.-MARIA THERESA. From 1748 to 1759
Treaty of Peace.—Dissatisfaction of Maria
Theresa.—Preparation for War.—Rupture between England and Austria.—Maria
Theresa.—Alliance with France.—Influence of Marchioness of Pompadour.—Bitter
Reproaches between Austria And England.—Commencement of the Seven Years'
War.—Energy of Frederic of Prussia.—Sanguinary Battles.—Vicissitudes of
War.—Desperate Situation of Frederic.—Elation of Maria Theresa.—Her Ambitious
Plans.—Awful Defeat of the Prussians at Berlin.
CHAPTER XXX.-MARIA THERESA. From 1759 to 1780
Desolations of War.—Disasters of Prussia.—Despondency
of Frederic.—Death of the Empress Elizabeth.—Accession of Paul
III.—Assassination of Paul III.—Accession Of Catharine.—Discomfiture of the
Austrians.—Treaty of Peace.—Election of Joseph to the Throne of the
Empire.—Death of Francis.—Character of Francis.—Anecdotes.—Energy of Maria
Theresa.—Poniatowski.—Partition of Poland.—Maria
Theresa as a Mother.—War with Bavaria.—Peace.—Death of Maria Theresa.—Family of
the Empress.—Accession of Joseph II.—His Character.
CHAPTER XXXI.-JOSEPH II AND LEOPOLD II. From 1780 to
1792
Accession of Joseph II.—His Plans of Reform.—Pius
VI.—Emancipation of the Serfs.—Joseph's Visit to his Sister, Maria
Antoinette.—Ambitious Designs.—The Imperial Sleigh Ride.—Barges on the Dneister.—Excursion to the Crimea.—War with Turkey.—Defeat
of the Austrians.—Great Successes.—Death of Joseph.—His Character.—Accession of
Leopold II.—His Efforts to confirm Despotism.—The French Revolution.—European
Coalition.—Death of Leopold.—His Profligacy.—Accession of Francis II.—Present
Extent and Power of Austria.—Its Army.—Policy of the Government.
 |
 |
 |
The house of Hohenzollern and the Hapsburg monarchy |
 |
History Of The House Of Austria Vol. 1History Of The House Of Austria Vol. 2History Of The House Of Austria Vol. 3History Of The House Of Austria Vol. 4 |
List of Holy Roman
Emperors
CAROLINGIAN
Charles I the
Great................................800-814
Louis I the Pious................................. .814-833 d. 840
Lothar I.................................................833-834 d. 855
Louis I the Pious (restored)...................834-840
Lothar I (restored).............................. ..840-855
Louis II..................................................855-875
Charles II the Bald................................875-877
Charles III the Fat.................................881-888
ITALIAN
Guido....................................................891-894
Lambert................................................894-896
Arnulf...................................................896 d. 899
Lambert (restored)................................896-898
Louis III the Blind................................901-905
Berengar...............................................911-924
SAXON
Otto I the
Great.....................................962-973
Otto II...................................................973-983
Otto III..................................................996-1002
Henry I the Saint.................................1014-1024
SALIAN
Conrad..................................................1027-1039
Henry II................................................1046-1056
Henry III...............................................1084-1106
Henry IV...............................................1106-1125
SUPPLINBURG
Lothar
II.................................................1133-1137
HOHENSTAUFEN
Frederick I
Barbarossa...........................1155-1190
Henry V..................................................1191-1197
WELF
Otto
IV....................................................1209-1218
HOHENSTAUFEN
Frederick II the Marvellous...................,..1220-1250
Conrad IV.................................................1250-1254
Conradin...................................................1254-1266
(interregnum.............................................1266-1271)
HAPSBURG
Rudolph I....................................................1271-1291
NASSAU
Adolph.........................................................1291-1298
HAPSBURG
Albert
I.........................................................1298-1308
LUXEMBOURG
Henry VII......................................................1308-1314
WITTELSBACH
Louis IV........................................................
..1314-1347
LUXEMBOURG
Charles
IV.........................................................1346-1378
Wenceslaus.......................................................1378-1400 d.
1419
WITTELSBACH
Rupert...............................................................1400-1410
LUXEMBOURG
Jobst..................................................................1410-1411
Sigismund.........................................................1411-1438
HAPSBURG
Albert II...........................................................1438-1439
Frederick III.....................................................1440-1493
Maximilian I....................................................1493-1519
Charles V.........................................................1519-1558
Ferdinand I.......................................................1558-1564
Maximilian II...................................................1564-1578
Rudolph II........................................................1578-1612
Matthias...........................................................1612-1619
Ferdinand II.....................................................1619-1637
Ferdinand III....................................................1637-1657
Leopold I..........................................................1658-1705
Joseph I............................................................1705-1711
Charles VI........................................................1711-1740
(interregnum.....................................................1740-1743)
WITTELSBACH
Charles VII Albert.............................................1743-1745
HAPSBURG-LORRAINE
Francis I
Stephen..............................................1745-1765
Joseph II...........................................................
1765-1790
Leopold II..........................................................1790-1792
Francis II............................................................1792-1806
d. 1835
CHAPTER I
RHODOLPH OF HAPSBURG.
From 1232 to 1291
In the small canton of Aargau, in Switzerland, on a
rocky bluff of the Wulpelsberg, there still remains
an old baronial castle, called Hapsburg, or Hawk's Castle. It was reared in the
eleventh century, and was occupied by a succession of warlike barons, who have
left nothing to distinguish themselves from the feudal lords whose castles, at
that period, frowned upon almost every eminence of Europe. In the year 1232
this castle was occupied by Albert, fourth Count of Hapsburg. He had acquired
some little reputation for military prowess, the only reputation any one could
acquire in that Dark Age, and became ambitious of winning new laurels in the
war with the infidels in the holy land. Religious fanaticism and military
ambition were then the two great powers which ruled the human soul.
With the usual display of semi-barbaric pomp, Albert
made arrangements to leave his castle to engage in the perilous holy war
against the Saracens, from which few ever returned. A few years were employed
in the necessary preparations. At the sound of the bugle the portcullis was
raised, the drawbridge spanned the moat, and Albert, at the head of thirty
steel-clad warriors, with nodding plumes, and banners unfurled, emerged from
the castle, and proceeded to the neighboring convent of Mari. His wife, Hedwige, and their three sons, Rhodolp,
Albert and Hartman, accompanied him to the chapel where the ecclesiastics
awaited his arrival. A multitude of vassals crowded around to witness the
imposing ceremonies of the church, as the banners were blessed, and the
knights, after having received the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, were
commended to the protection of God. Albert felt the solemnity of
the hour, and in solemn tones gave his farewell address to his
children.
“My sons,” said the steel-clad warrior, “cultivate
truth and piety; give no ear to evil counselors, never engage in unnecessary
war, but when you are involved in war be strong and brave. Love peace even
better than your own personal interests. Remember that the counts of Hapsburg
did not attain their heights of reputation and glory by fraud, insolence or
selfishness, but by courage and devotion to the public weal. As long as you
follow their footsteps, you will not only retain, but augment, the possessions
and dignities of your illustrious ancestors.”
The tears and sobs of his wife and family interrupted
him while he uttered these parting words. The bugles then sounded. The knights
mounted their horses; the clatter of hoofs was heard, and the glittering
cavalcade soon disappeared in the forest. Albert had left his ancestral castle,
never to return. He had but just arrived in Palestine, when he was taken sick
at Askalon, and died in the year 1240.
Rhodolph, his eldest son, was twenty-two years of age
at the time of his father's death. Frederic II, one of the most renowned
monarchs of the middle ages, was then Emperor of that conglomeration of
heterogeneous States called Germany. Each of these States had its own independent
ruler and laws, but they were all held together by a common bond for mutual
protection, and someone illustrious sovereign was chosen as Emperor of Germany,
to preside over their common affairs. The Emperor of Germany, having influence
over all these States, was consequently, in position, the great man of the age.
Albert, Count of Hapsburg, had been one of the
favorite captains of Frederic II in the numerous wars which desolated Europe in
that dark age. He was often at court, and the emperor even condescended to
present his son Rhodolph at the font for baptism. As the child grew, he was
trained to all athletic feats, riding ungovernable horses, throwing the
javelin, wrestling, running, and fencing. He early gave indications of surprising
mental and bodily vigor, and, at an age when most lads are considered merely
children, he accompanied his father to the camp and to the court. Upon the
death of his father, Rhodolph inherited the ancestral castle, and the moderate
possessions of a Swiss baron. He was surrounded by barons of far greater wealth
and power than himself, and his proud spirit was roused, in disregard of his
father's counsels, to aggrandize his fortunes by force of arms, the only way
then by which wealth and power could be attained. He exhausted his revenues by
maintaining a princely establishment, organized a well-selected band of his
vassals into a military corps, which he drilled to a state of perfect
discipline, and then commenced a series of incursions upon his neighbors. From
some feeble barons he won territory, thus extending his domains; from others he
extorted money, thus enabling him to reward his troops, and to add to their
number by engaging fearless spirits in his service wherever he could find them.
In the year 1245, Rhodolph strengthened himself still
more by an advantageous marriage with Gertrude, the beautiful daughter of the
Count of Hohenberg. With his bride he received as her dowry the castle of Oeltingen, and very considerable territorial possessions.
Thus in five years Rhodolph, by that species of robbery which was then called
heroic adventure, and by a fortunate marriage, had more than doubled his
hereditary inheritance. The charms of his bride, and the care of his
estates seem for a few years to have arrested the progress of his ambition; for
we can find no further notice of him among the ancient chronicles for eight
years. But, with almost all men, love is an ephemeral passion, which is
eventually vanquished by other powers of the soul. Ambition slumbered for a
little time, but was soon roused anew, invigorated by repose.
In 1253 we find Rhodolph heading a foray of steel-clad
knights, with their banded followers, in a midnight attack upon the city of
Basle. They break over all the defenses, sweep all opposition before them, and
in the fury of the fight, either by accident or as a necessity of war,
sacrilegiously set fire to a nunnery. For this crime Rhodolph was
excommunicated by the pope. Excommunication was then no farce. There were few
who dared to serve a prince upon whom the denunciations of the Church had
fallen. It was a stunning blow, from which few men could recover. Rhodolph,
instead of sinking in despair, endeavored, by new acts of obedience and
devotion to the Church, to obtain the revocation of the sentence.
In the region now called Prussia, there was then a
barbaric pagan race, against whom the pope had published a crusade.
Into this war the excommunicated Rhodolph plunged with all the impetuosity of
his nature; he resolved to work out absolution, by converting, with all the
potency of fire and sword, the barbarians to the Church. His penitence and zeal
seem to have been accepted, for we soon find him on good terms again with the
pope. He now sought to have a hand in every quarrel, far and near. Wherever the
sounds of war are raised, the shout of Rhodolph is heard urging to the strife.
In every hot and fiery foray, the steed of Rhodolph is rearing and plunging,
and his saber strokes fall in ringing blows upon cuirass and helmet. He
efficiently aided the city of Strasbourg in their war against their bishop, and
received from them in gratitude extensive territories, while at the same time
they reared a monument to his name, portions of which still exist. His younger
brother died, leaving an only daughter, Anne, with a large inheritance.
Rhodolph, as her guardian, came into possession of the counties of Kyburg, Lentzburg and Baden, and
other scattered domains.
This rapidly-increasing wealth
and power, did but increase his energy and his spirit of
encroachment. And yet he adopted principles of honor which were far from common
in that age of barbaric violence. He would never stoop to ordinary robbery, or
harass peasants and helpless travelers, as was constantly done by the turbulent
barons around him. His warfare was against the castle, never against the
cottage. He met in arms the panoplied knight, never the timid and crouching
peasant. He swept the roads of the banditti by which they were infested, and
often espoused the cause of citizens and freemen against the turbulent barons
and haughty prelates. He thus gained a wide-spread reputation for justice, as
well as for prowess, and the name of Rhodolph of Hapsburg was ascending fast
into renown. Every post of authority then required the agency of a military
arm. The feeble cantons would seek the protection of a powerful chief; the
citizens of a wealthy town, ever liable to be robbed by bishop or baron, looked
around for some warrior who had invincible troops at his command for their
protection. Thus Rhodolph of Hapsburg was chosen chief of the mountaineers of
Uri, Schweitz and Underwalden; and all their trained bands were ready, when his
bugle note echoed through their defiles, to follow him unquestioning, and to do
his bidding. The citizens of Zurich chose Rhodolph of Hapsburg as their prefect
or mayor; and whenever his banner was unfurled in their streets, all the troops
of the city were at his command.
The neighboring barons, alarmed at this rapid
aggrandizement of Rhodolph, formed an alliance to crush him. The mountaineers
heard his bugle call, and rushed to his aid. Zurich opened her gates, and her
marshaled troops hastened to his banner. From Hapsburg, and Rheinfelden,
and Suabia, and Brisgau,
and we know not how many other of the territorial possessions of the count, the
vassals rushed to the aid of their lord. They met in one of the valleys of
Zurich. The battle was short, and the confederated barons were put to utter
flight. Some took refuge in the strong castle of Balder, upon a rocky cliff
washed by the Albis. Rhodolph selected thirty
horsemen and thirty footmen.
“Will you follow me”, said he, “in an enterprise where
the honor will be equal to the peril?
A universal shout of assent was the response.
Concealing the footmen in a thicket, he, at the head of thirty horsemen, rode
boldly to the gates of the castle, bidding defiance, with all the utterances
and gesticulations of contempt, to the whole garrison. Those on the ramparts,
stung by the insult, rushed out to chastise so impudent a challenge. The
footmen rose from their ambush, and assailants and assailed rushed pell mell in at the open gates of
the castle. The garrison were cut down or taken captive, and the fortress
demolished. Another party had fled to the castle of Uttleberg.
By an ingenious stratagem, this castle was also taken. Success succeeded
success with such rapidity, that the confederate barons, struck with
consternation, exclaimed:
“All opposition is fruitless. Rhodolph of Hapsburg is
invincible.”
They consequently dissolved the alliance, and sought
peace on terms which vastly augmented the power of the conqueror.
Basle now incurred the displeasure of Rhodolph. He led
his armies to the gates of the city, and extorted satisfaction. The Bishop of
Basle, a haughty prelate of great military power, and who could summon many
barons to his aid, ventured to make arrogant demands of this warrior flushed
with victory. The palace and vast possessions of the bishop were upon the other
side of the unbridged Rhine, and the bishop imagined that he could easily
prevent the passage of the river. But Rhodolph speedily constructed a bridge
of boats, put to flight the troops which
opposed his passage, drove the peasants of the bishop everywhere before him,
and burned their cottages and their fields of grain. The bishop, appalled, sued
for a truce, that they might negotiate terms of peace. Rhodolph consented,
and encamped his followers.
He was asleep in his tent, when a messenger entered at
midnight, awoke him, and informed him that he was elected Emperor of Germany.
The previous emperor, Richard, had died two years before, and after an
interregnum of two years of almost unparalleled anarchy, the electors had just
met, and, almost to their own surprise, through the fluctuations and
combinations of political intrigue, had chosen Rhodolph of Hapsburg as his
successor. Rhodolph himself was so much astonished at the announcement, that
for some time he could not be persuaded that the intelligence was correct.
To wage war against the Emperor of Germany, who could
lead almost countless thousands into the field, was a very different affair
from measuring strength with the comparatively feeble Count of Hapsburg. The
news of his election flew rapidly. Basle threw open her gates, and the
citizens, with illuminations, shouts, and the ringing of bells, greeted the new
emperor. The bishop was so chagrined at the elevation of his foe, that he smote
his forehead, and, looking to heaven, profanely said:
“Great God, take care of your throne, or Rhodolph of
Hapsburg will take it from you!”
Rhodolph was now fifty-five years of age. Alphonso,
King of Castile, and Ottocar, King of Bohemia, had both been candidates for the
imperial crown. Exasperated by the unexpected election of Rhodolph, they both
refused to acknowledge his election, and sent ambassadors with rich presents to
the pope to win him also to their side. Rhodolph, justly appreciating the power
of the pope, sent him a letter couched in those terms which would be most
palatable to the pontiff.
“Turning all my thoughts to Him,” he wrote, “under
whose authority we live, and placing all my expectations on you alone, I fall
down before the feet of your Holiness, beseeching you, with the most earnest
supplication, to favor me with your accustomed kindness in my present
undertaking; and that you will deign, by your
mediation with the Most High, to support my cause. That I may be enabled to
perform what is most acceptable to God and to His holy Church, may it
graciously please your Holiness to crown me with the imperial diadem;
for I trust I am both able and willing to undertake and accomplish whatever you
and the holy Church shall think proper to impose upon me.”
Gregory X was a humane and sagacious man, influenced
by a profound zeal for the peace of Europe and the propagation of the Christian
faith. Gregory received the ambassadors of Rhodolph graciously, extorted from
them whatever concessions he desired on the part of the emperor, and pledged
his support.
Ottocar, King of Bohemia, still remained firm, and
even malignant, in his hostility, utterly refusing to recognize the emperor, or
to perform any of those acts of fealty which were his due. He declared the
electoral diet to have been illegally convened, and the election to have been
the result of fraud, and that a man who had been excommunicated for burning a
convent, was totally unfit to wear the imperial crown. The diet met at
Augsburg, and irritated by the contumacy of Ottocar, sent a command to him to
recognize the authority of the emperor, pronouncing upon him the ban of the
empire should he refuse. Ottocar dismissed the ambassadors with defiance and
contempt from his palace at Prague, saying:
“Tell Rhodolph that he may rule over the territories
of the empire, but he shall have no dominion over mine. It is a disgrace to
Germany, that a petty count of Hapsburg should have been preferred to so many
powerful sovereigns.”
War, and a fearful one, was now inevitable. Ottocar
was a veteran soldier, a man of great intrepidity and energy, and his pride was
thoroughly roused. By a long series of aggressions he had become the most
powerful prince in Europe, and he could lead the most powerful armies into the
field. His dominions extended from the confines of Bavaria to Raab in Hungary,
and from the Adriatic to the shores of the Baltic. The hereditary domains of
the Count of Hapsburg were comparatively insignificant, and were remotely
situated at the foot of the Alps, spreading through the defiles of Alsace and Suabia. As emperor, Rhodolph could call the armies of the
Germanic princes into the field; but these princes moved reluctantly, unless
roused by some question of great moment to them all. And when these
heterogeneous troops of the empire were assembled, there was but a slender bond
of union between them.
But Rhodolph possessed mental resources equal to the
emergence. As cautious as he was bold, as sagacious in council as he was
impetuous in action, he calmly, and with great foresight and deliberation,
prepared for the strife. To a monarch in such a time of need, a family of brave
sons and beautiful daughters, is an inestimable blessing. Rhodolph secured
the Duke of Sclavonia by making him the happy husband
of one of his daughters. His son Albert married Elizabeth, daughter of the
Count of Tyrol, and thus that powerful and noble family was secured. Henry of
Bavaria he intimidated, and by force of arms compelled him to lead his troops
to the standard of the emperor; and then, to secure his fidelity, gave his
daughter Hedwige to Henry’s son Otho, in marriage,
promising to his daughter as a dowry a portion of Austria, which was then a
feeble duchy upon the Danube, but little larger than the State of
Massachusetts.
Ottocar was but little aware of the tremendous
energies of the foe he had aroused. Regarding Rhodolph almost with contempt, he
had by no means made the arrangements which his peril demanded, and was in
consternation when he heard that Rhodolph, in alliance with Henry of Bavaria,
had already entered Austria, taken possession of several fortresses, and, at
the head of a force of a thousand horsemen, was carrying all before him, and
was triumphantly marching upon Vienna. Rhodolph had so admirably matured his
plans, that his advance seemed rather a festive journey than a contested
conquest. With the utmost haste Ottocar urged his troops down through the
defiles of the Bohemian mountains, hoping to save the capital. But Rhodolph was
at Vienna before him, where he was joined by others of his allies, who were to
meet him at that rendezvous. Vienna, the capital, was a fortress of great
strength. Upon this frontier post Charlemagne had established a strong body of
troops under a commander who was called a margrave; and for some centuries this
city, commanding the Danube, had been deemed one of the strongest defenses of
the empire against Mohammedan invasion. Vienna, unable to resist, capitulated.
The army of Ottocar had been so driven in their long and difficult march, that,
exhausted and perishing for want of provisions, they began to mutiny. The pope
had excommunicated Ottocar, and the terrors of the curse of the pope, were
driving captains and nobles from his service. The proud spirit of Ottocar,
after a terrible struggle, was utterly crushed, and he humbly sued for peace.
The terms were hard for a haughty spirit to bear. The conquered king was
compelled to renounce all claim to Austria and several other adjoining
provinces, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola and Windischmark; to take the oath of
allegiance to the emperor, and publicly to do him homage as his vassal lord. To
cement this compulsory friendship, Rhodolph, who was rich in daughters, having
six to proffer as bribes, gave one, with an abundant dowry in silver, to a son
of Ottocar.
The day was appointed for the king, in the presence of
the whole army, to do homage to the emperor as his liege lord. It was the 25th
of November, 1276. With a large escort of Bohemian nobles, Ottocar crossed the
Danube, and was received by the emperor in the presence of many of the leading
princes of the empire. The whole army was drawn up to witness the spectacle.
With a dejected countenance, and with indications, which he could not conceal,
of a crushed and broken spirit, Ottocar renounced these valuable provinces, and
kneeling before the emperor, performed the humiliating ceremony of feudal
homage. The pope in consequence withdrew his sentence of excommunication, and
Ottocar returned to his mutilated kingdom, a humbler and a wiser man.
Rhodolph now took possession of the adjacent provinces
which had been ceded to him, and, uniting them, placed them under the
government of Louis of Bavaria, son of his firm ally Henry, the King of
Bavaria. Bavaria bounded Austria on the west, and thus the father and the son
would be in easy cooperation. He then established his three Sons, Albert,
Hartmann, and Rhodolph, in different parts of these provinces, and, with his
queen, fixed his residence at Vienna.
Such was the nucleus of the Austrian empire, and such
the commencement of the powerful monarchy which for so many generations has
exerted so important a control over the affairs of Europe. Ottocar, however,
though he left Rhodolph with the strongest protestations of friendship,
returned to Prague consumed by the most torturing fires of humiliation and
chagrin. His wife, a haughty woman, who was incapable of listening to the voice
of judgment when her passions were inflamed, could not conceive it possible
that a petty count of Hapsburg could vanquish her renowned husband in the
field. And when she heard that Ottocar had actually done fealty to Rhodolph,
and had surrendered to him valuable provinces of the kingdom, no bridle could
be put upon her woman’s tongue. She almost stung her husband to madness with
taunts and reproaches.
Thus influenced by the pride of his queen, Cunegunda, Ottocar violated his oath, refused to execute
the treaty, imprisoned in a convent the daughter whom Rhodolph had given to his
son, and sent a defiant and insulting letter to the emperor. Rhodolph returned
a dignified answer and prepared for war. Ottocar, now better understanding the
power of his foe, made the most formidable preparations for the strife, and
soon took the field with an army which he supposed would certainly triumph over
any force which Rhodolph could raise. He even succeeded in drawing Henry of
Bavaria into an alliance; and many of the German princes, whom he could not win
to his standard, he bribed to neutrality. Numerous chieftains, lured to his
camp by confidence of victory, crowded around him with their followers, from
Poland, Bulgaria, Pomerania, Magdeburg, and from the barbaric shores of the
Baltic. Many of the fierce nobles of Hungary had also joined the standard of
Ottocar.
Thus suddenly clouds gathered around Rhodolph, and
many of his friends despaired of his cause. He appealed to the princes of the
German empire, and but few responded to his call. His sons-in-law, the Electors
of Palatine and of Saxony, ventured not to aid him in an emergence when defeat
seemed almost certain, and where all who shared in the defeat would be utterly
ruined. In June, 1275, Ottocar marched from Prague, met his allies at the
appointed rendezvous, and threading the defiles of the Bohemian mountains,
approached the frontiers of Austria. Rhodolph was seriously alarmed, for it was
evident that the chances of war were against him. He could not conceal the
restlessness and agitation of his spirit as he impatiently awaited the arrival
of troops whom he summoned, but who disappointed his hopes.
“I have not one,” he sadly exclaimed, “in whom I can
confide, or on whose advice I can depend.”
The citizens of Vienna perceiving that Rhodolph was
abandoned by his German allies, and that they could present no effectual
resistance to so powerful an army as was approaching, and terrified in view of
a siege, and the capture of the city by storm, urged a capitulation, and even
begged permission to choose a new sovereign, that they might not be involved in
the ruin impending over Rhodolph. This address roused Rhodolph from his
despondency, and inspired him with the energies of despair. He had succeeded in
obtaining a few troops from his provinces in Switzerland. The Bishop of Basle,
who had now become his confessor, came to his aid, at the head of a hundred
horsemen, and a body of expert slingers. Rhodolph, though earnestly advised not
to undertake a battle with such desperate odds, marched from Vienna to meet the
foe.
Rapidly traversing the southern banks of the Danube to
Hamburg, he crossed the river and advanced to Marcheck,
on the banks of the Morava. He was joined by some troops from Styria and
Carinthia, and by a strong force led by the King of Hungary. Emboldened by
these accessions, though still far inferior in strength to Ottocar, he pressed
on till the two armies faced each other on the plains of Murchfield.
It was the 26th of August, 1278.
At this moment some traitors deserting the camp of
Ottocar, repaired to the camp of Rhodolph and proposed to assassinate the
Bohemian king. Rhodolph spurned the infamous offer, and embraced the
opportunity of seeking terms of reconciliation by apprising Ottocar of his
danger. But the king, confident in his own strength, and despising the weakness
of Rhodolph, deemed the story a fabrication and refused to listen to any
overtures. Without delay he drew up his army in the form of a crescent, so as
almost to envelop the feeble band before him, and made a simultaneous attack
upon the center and upon both flanks. A terrific battle ensued, in which one
party fought, animated by undoubting confidence, and the other impelled by
despair. The strife was long and bloody. The tide of victory repeatedly ebbed
and flowed. Ottocar had offered a large reward to any of his followers who
would bring to him Rhodolph, dead or alive.
A number of knights of great strength and bravery,
confederated to achieve this feat. It was a point of honor to be effected at
every hazard. Disregarding all the other perils of the battle, they watched
their opportunity, and then in a united swoop, on their steel-clad chargers,
fell upon the emperor. His feeble guard was instantly cut down. Rhodolph was a
man of herculean power, and he fought like a lion at bay. One after another of
his assailants he struck from his horse, when a Thuringian knight, of almost
fabulous stature and strength, thrust his spear through the horse of the
emperor, and both steed and rider fell to the ground. Rhodolph, encumbered by
his heavy coat of mail, and entangled in the housings of his saddle, was unable
to rise. He crouched upon the ground, holding his helmet over him, while saber
strokes and pike thrusts rang upon cuirass and buckler like blows upon an
anvil. A corps of reserve spurred to his aid, and the emperor was rescued, and
the bold assailants who had penetrated the very center of his army were slain.
The tide of victory now set strongly in favor of
Rhodolph, for “the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to
the strong.” The troops of Bohemia were soon everywhere put to rout. The ground
was covered with the dead. Ottocar, astounded at his discomfiture, and perhaps
fearing the tongue of his wife more than the sabers of his foes, turned his
back upon his flying army, and spurred his horse into the thickest of his
pursuers. He was soon dismounted and slain. Fourteen thousand of his troops perished on that disastrous day. The body of Ottocar, mutilated
with seventeen wounds, was carried to Vienna, and, after being exposed to the
people, was buried with regal honors.
Rhodolph, vastly enriched by the plunder of the camp,
and having no enemy to encounter, took possession of Moravia, and triumphantly
marched into Bohemia. All was consternation there. The queen Cunegunda, who had brought these disasters upon the
kingdom, had no influence. Her only son was but eight years of age. The
turbulent nobles, jealous of each other, had no recognized leader. The queen,
humiliated and despairing, implored the clemency of the conqueror, and offered
to place her infant son and the kingdom of Bohemia under his protection.
Rhodolph was generous in this hour of victory. As the result of arbitration, it
was agreed that he should hold Moravia for five years, that its revenues might indemnify
him for the expenses of the war. The young prince, Wenceslaus, was acknowledged
king, and during his minority the regency was assigned to Otho, margrave or
military commander of Brundenburg.
Then ensued some politic matrimonial alliances. Wenceslaus, the boy
king, was affianced to Judith, one of the daughters of Rhodolph. The princess
Agnes, daughter of Cunegunda, was to become the bride
of Rhodolph’s second son. These matters being all
satisfactorily settled, Rhodolph returned in triumph to Vienna.
The emperor now devoted his energies to the
consolidation of these Austrian provinces. They were four in number, Austria,
Styria, Carinthia and Carniola. All united, they made but a feeble kingdom, for
they did not equal, in extent of territory, several of the States of the
American Union. Each of these provinces had its independent government, and its
local laws and customs. They were held together by the simple bond of an
arbitrary monarch, who claimed, and exercised as he could, supreme control over
them all. Under his wise and energetic administration, the affairs of the
widespread empire were prosperous, and his own Austria advanced rapidly in
order, civilization and power.
The numerous nobles, turbulent, unprincipled and
essentially robbers, had been in the habit of issuing from their
castles at the head of banditti bands, and ravaging the country with incessant
incursions. It required great boldness in Rhodolph to brave the wrath of these
united nobles. He did it fearlessly, issuing the decree that there should be no
fortresses in his States which were not necessary for the public defense. The
whole country was spotted with castles, apparently impregnable in all the
strength of stone and iron, the secure refuge of high-born nobles. In one year
seventy of these turreted bulwarks of oppression were torn down; and
twenty-nine of the highest nobles, who had ventured upon insurrection, were put
to death. An earnest petition was presented to him in behalf of the condemned
insurgents.
“Do not”, said the king, “interfere in favor of
robbers; they are not nobles, but accursed robbers, who oppress the poor, and
break the public peace. True nobility is faithful and just, offends no one, and
commits no injury”.
CHAPTER II
REIGNS OF ALBERT I, FREDERIC, ALBERT AND OTHO
FROM 1291 TO 1347.
Rhodolph of Hapsburg was one of the most remarkable
men of his own or of any age, and many anecdotes illustrative of his character,
and of the rude times in which he lived, have been transmitted to us. The
Thuringian knight who speared the emperor's horse in the bloody fight
of Murchfield, was rescued by Rhodolph from those who
would cut him down.
“I have witnessed,” said the emperor, “his
intrepidity, and never could forgive myself if so courageous a knight should be
put to death.”
During the war with Ottocar, on one occasion
the army were nearly perishing of thirst. A flagon of water was
brought to him. He declined it, saying, “I cannot drink alone, nor can I divide
so small a quantity among all. I do not thirst for myself, but for the whole
army.” By earnest endeavor he obtained the perfect control of his passions,
naturally very violent. “I have often,” said he, “repented of being passionate,
but never of being mild and humane.”
One of his captains expressed dissatisfaction at a
rich gift the emperor made to a literary man who presented him a manuscript
describing the wars of the Romans. “My good friend,” Rhodolph replied, “be contented
that men of learning praise our actions, and thereby inspire us with additional
courage in war. I wish I could employ more time in reading, and could expend
some of that money on learned men which I must throw away on so many illiterate
knights.”
One cold morning at Metz, in the year 1288, he walked
out dressed as usual in the plainest garb. He strolled into a baker’s shop, as
if to warm himself. The baker’s termagant wife said to him, all unconscious who
he was: “Soldiers have no business to come into poor women's houses”. “True”,
the emperor replied, “but do not be angry, my good woman; I am an old soldier
who have spent all my fortune in the service of that rascal Rhodolph, and he
suffers me to want, notwithstanding all his fine promises”. “Good enough for
you,” said the woman; “a man who will serve such a fellow, who
is laying waste the whole earth, deserves nothing better.” She then,
in her spite, threw a pail of water on the fire, which, filling the room with
smoke and ashes, drove the emperor into the street.
Rhodolph, having returned to his lodgings, sent a rich
present to the old woman, from the emperor who had warmed himself at her fire
that morning, and at the dinner-table told the story with great glee to his
companions. The woman, terrified, hastened to the emperor to implore mercy. He
ordered her to be admitted to the dining-room, and promised to forgive her if
she would repeat to the company all her abusive epithets, not omitting one. She
did it faithfully, to the infinite merriment of the festive group.
So far as we can now judge, and making due allowance
for the darkness of the age in which he lived, Rhodolph appears to have been,
in the latter part of his life, a sincere, if not an enlightened Christian. He
was devout in prayer, and punctual in attending the services of the Church. The
humble and faithful ministers of religion he esteemed and protected, while he
was ever ready to chastise the insolence of those haughty prelates who
disgraced their religious professions by arrogance and splendor.
At last the infirmities of age pressed heavily upon
him. When seventy-three years old, knowing that he could not have much
longer to live, he assembled the congress of electors at Frankfort, and urged
them to choose his then only surviving son Albert as his successor on the
imperial throne. The diet, however, refused to choose a successor until after
the death of the emperor. Rhodolph was bitterly disappointed, for he understood
this postponement as a positive refusal to gratify him in this respect.
Saddened in spirit, and feeble in body, he undertook a journey, by slow stages,
to his hereditary dominions in Switzerland. He then returned to Austria, where
he died on the 15th of July, 1291, in the seventy-third year of his age.
Albert, who resided at Vienna, succeeded his father in
authority over the Austrian and Swiss provinces. But he was a man stern,
unconciliating and domineering. The nobles hated him, and hoped to drive him
back to the Swiss cantons from which his father had come. One great occasion of
discontent was, that he employed about his person, and in important posts,
Swiss instead of Austrian nobles. They demanded the dismission of these foreign
favorites, which so exasperated Albert that he clung to them still more
tenaciously and exclusively.
The nobles now organized a very formidable conspiracy,
and offered to neighboring powers, as bribes for their aid, portions of
Austria. Austria proper was divided by the river Ens into two parts
called Upper and Lower Austria. Lower Austria was offered to Bohemia; Styria to
the Duke of Bavaria; Upper Austria to the Archbishop of Saltzburg;
Carniola to the Counts of Guntz; and thus all the
provinces were portioned out to the conquerors. At the same time the citizens
of Vienna, provoked by the haughtiness of Albert, rose in insurrection. With
the energy which characterized his father, Albert met these emergencies.
Summoning immediately an army from Switzerland, he shut up all the avenues to
the city, which was not in the slightest degree prepared for a siege, and
speedily starved the inhabitants into submission. Punishing severely the insurgents,
he strengthened his post at Vienna, and confirmed his power. Then, marching
rapidly upon the nobles, before they had time to receive that foreign aid which
had been secretly promised them, and securing all the important fortresses,
which were now not many in number, he so overawed them, and so vigilantly
watched every movement, that there was no opportunity to rise and combine. The
Styrian nobles, being remote, made an effort at insurrection. Albert, though it
was in the depth of winter, plowed through the snows of the mountains, and
plunging unexpectedly among them, routed them with great slaughter.
While he was thus conquering discontent by the sword,
and silencing murmurs beneath the tramp of iron hoofs, the diet was assembling
at Frankfort to choose a new chief for the Germanic empire. Albert was
confident of being raised to the vacant dignity. The splendor of his talents
all admitted. Four of the electors were closely allied to him by marriage, and
he arrogantly felt that he was almost entitled to the office as the son of his
renowned father. But the electors feared his ambitious and despotic
disposition, and chose Adolphus of Nassau to succeed to the imperial throne.
Albert was mortified and enraged by this
disappointment, and expressed his determination to oppose the election; but the
troubles in his own domains prevented him from putting this threat into
immediate execution. His better judgment soon taught him the policy of
acquiescing in the election, and he sullenly received the investiture of his
fiefs from the hands of the Emperor Adolphus. Still Albert, struggling against
unpopularity and continued insurrection, kept his eye fixed eagerly upon the
imperial crown. With great tact he conspired to form a confederacy for the
deposition of Adolphus.
Wenceslaus, the young King of Bohemia, was now of age,
and preparations were made for his coronation with great splendor at Prague.
Four of the electors were present on this occasion, which was in June, 1297.
Albert conferred with them respecting his plans, and secured their cooperation.
The electors more willingly lent their aid since they were exceedingly
displeased with some of the measures of Adolphus for the aggrandizement of his
own family. Albert with secrecy and vigor pushed his plans, and when the diet
met the same year at Metz, a long list of grievances was drawn up against
Adolphus. He was summoned to answer to these charges. The proud emperor refused
to appear before the bar of the diet as a culprit. The diet then deposed
Adolphus and elected Albert II to the imperial throne, on the 23d of June,
1298.
The two rival emperors made vigorous preparations to
settle the dispute with the sword, and the German States arrayed themselves,
some on one side and some on the other. The two armies met at Gelheim on the 2d of July, led by the rival sovereigns. In
the thickest of the fight Adolphus spurred his horse through the opposing
ranks, bearing down all opposition, till he faced Albert, who was issuing
orders and animating his troops by voice and gesture.
“Yield,” shouted Adolphus, aiming a saber stroke at
the head of his foe, “your life and your crown.”
“Let God decide,” Albert replied, as he parried the
blow, and thrust his lance into the unprotected face of Adolphus. At that
moment the horse of Adolphus fell, and he himself was instantly slain. Albert
remained the decisive victor on this bloody field. The diet of electors was
again summoned, and he was now chosen unanimously emperor. He was soon crowned
with great splendor at Aix-la-Chapelle.
Still Albert sat on an uneasy throne. The pope,
indignant that the electors should presume to depose one emperor and choose
another without his consent, refused to confirm the election of Albert, and
loudly inveighed him as the murderer of Adolphus. Albert, with
characteristic impulsiveness, declared that he was emperor by choice of the
electors and not by ratification of the pope, and defiantly spurned the
opposition of the pontiff. Considering himself firmly seated on the throne, he
refused to pay the bribes of tolls, privileges, territories, etc., which he had
so freely offered to the electors. Thus exasperated, the electors, the pope,
and the King of Bohemia, conspired to drive Albert from the throne. Their
secret plans were so well laid, and they were so secure of success, that the
Elector of Mentz tauntingly and boastingly said to Albert, “I need only sound
my hunting-horn and a new emperor will appear.”
Albert, however, succeeded by sagacity and energy, in
dispelling this storm which for a time threatened his entire destruction. By
making concessions to the pope, he finally won him to cordial friendship, and
by the sword vanquishing some and intimidating others, he broke up the league.
His most formidable foe was his brother-in-law, Wenceslaus, King of Bohemia.
Albert’s sister, Judith, the wife of Wenceslaus, had for some years prevented a
rupture between them, but she now being dead, both monarchs decided to refer
their difficulties to the arbitration of the sword. While their armies were
marching, Wenceslaus was suddenly taken sick and died, in June, 1305. His son,
but seventeen years of age, weak in body and in mind, at once yielded to all
the demands of his imperial uncle. Hardly a year, however, had elapsed ere this
young prince, Wenceslaus III, was assassinated, leaving no issue.
Albert immediately resolved to transfer the crown of
Bohemia to his own family, and thus to annex the powerful kingdom of Bohemia to
his own limited Austrian territories. Bohemia added to the Austrian provinces,
would constitute quite a noble kingdom. The crown was considered elective,
though in fact the eldest son was almost always chosen during the lifetime of
his father. The death of Wenceslaus, childless, opened the throne to other
claimants. No one could more imperiously demand the scepter than Albert. He did
demand it for his son Rhodolph in tones which were heard and obeyed. The States
assembled at Prague on the 1st of April, 1306. Albert, surrounded by a
magnificent retinue, conducted his son to Prague, and to confirm his authority
married him to the widow of Wenceslaus, a second wife. Rhodolph also, about a
year before, had buried Blanche, his first wife. Albert was exceedingly elated,
for the acquisition of Bohemia was an accession to the power of his family
which doubled their territory, and more than doubled their wealth and resources
A mild government would have conciliated the
Bohemians, but such a course was not consonant with the character of the
imperious and despotic Albert. He urged his son to measures of arbitrary power
which exasperated the nobles, and led to a speedy revolt against his authority.
Rhodolph and the nobles were soon in the field with their contending armies,
when Rhodolph suddenly died from the fatigues of the camp, aged but twenty-two
years, having held the throne of Bohemia less than a year.
Albert, grievously disappointed, now demanded that his
second son, Frederic, should receive the crown. As soon as his name was
mentioned to the States, the assembly with great unanimity exclaimed, “We will
not again have an Austrian king.” This led to a tumult. Swords were drawn, and
two of the partisans of Albert were slain. Henry, Duke of Carinthia, was then
almost unanimously chosen king. But the haughty Albert was not to be thus
easily thwarted in his plans. He declared that his son Frederic was King of
Bohemia, and raising an army, he exerted all the influence and military power which
his position as emperor gave him, to enforce his claim.
But affairs in Switzerland for a season arrested the
attention of Albert, and diverted his armies from the invasion of Bohemia.
Switzerland was then divided into small sovereignties, of various names, there
being no less than fifty counts, one hundred and fifty barons, and one thousand
noble families. Both Rhodolph and Albert had greatly increased, by annexation,
the territory and the power of the house of Hapsburg. By purchase,
intimidation, war, and diplomacy, Albert had for some time been making such
rapid encroachments, that a general insurrection was secretly planned to resist
his power. All Switzerland seemed to unite as with one accord. Albert was
rejoiced at this insurrection, for, confident of superior power, he doubted not
his ability speedily to quell it, and it would afford him the most favorable
pretext for still greater aggrandizement. Albert hastened to his domain at
Hapsburg, where he was assassinated by conspirators led by his own nephew, whom
he was defrauding of his estates.
Frederic and Leopold, the two oldest surviving sons of
Albert, avenged their father's death by pursuing the conspirators until they
all suffered the penalty of their crimes. With ferocity characteristic of the
age, they punished mercilessly the families and adherents of the assassins.
Their castles were demolished, their estates confiscated, their domestics and
men at arms massacred, and their wives and children driven out into the world
to beg or to starve. Sixty-three of the retainers of Lord Balne,
one of the conspirators, though entirely innocent of the crime, and solemnly
protesting their unconsciousness of any plot, were beheaded in one day. Though
but four persons took part in the assassination, and it was not known that any
others were implicated in the deed, it is estimated that more than a thousand
persons suffered death through the fury of the avengers. Agnes, one of the
daughters of Albert, endeavored with her own hands to strangle the infant child
of the Lord of Eschenback, when the soldiers, moved
by its piteous cries, with difficulty rescued it from her hands.
Elizabeth, the widow of Albert, with her implacable
fanatic daughter Agnes, erected a magnificent convent on the spot at Konigsburg, where the emperor was assassinated, and there
in cloistered gloom they passed the remainder of their lives. It was an age of
superstition, and yet there were some who comprehended and appreciated the pure
morality of the gospel of Christ.
“Woman,” said an aged hermit to Agnes, “God is not
served by shedding innocent blood, and by rearing convents from the plunder of
families. He is served by compassion only, and by the forgiveness of injuries.”
Frederic, Albert’s oldest son, now assumed the
government of the Austrian provinces. From his uncommon personal attractions he
was called Frederic the Handsome. His character was in conformity with his
person, for to the most chivalrous bravery he added the most feminine
amiability and mildness. He was a candidate for the imperial throne, and would
probably have been elected but for the unpopularity of his despotic father. The
diet met, and on the 27th of November, 1308, the choice fell unanimously upon
Henry, Count of Luxemburg.
This election deprived Frederic of his hopes of
uniting Bohemia to Austria, for the new emperor placed his son John upon the
Bohemian throne, and was prepared to maintain him there by all the power of the
empire. In accomplishing this, there was a short conflict with Henry of
Carinthia, but he was speedily driven out of the kingdom.
Frederic, however, found a little solace in his
disappointment, by attaching to Austria the dominions he had wrested from the
lords he had beheaded as assassins of his father. In the midst of these scenes
of ambition, intrigue and violence, the Emperor Henry fell sick and died, in
the fifty-second year of his age. This unexpected event opened again to
Frederic the prospect of the imperial crown, and all his friends, in the now
very numerous branches of the family, spared neither money nor the arts of
diplomacy in the endeavor to secure the coveted dignity for him. A year elapsed
after the death of Henry before the diet was assembled. During that time all
the German States were in intense agitation canvassing the claims of the
several candidates. The prize of an imperial crown was one which many grasped
at, and every little court was agitated by the question. The day of election,
October 9th, 1314, arrived. There were two hostile parties in the field, one in
favor of Frederic of Austria, the other in favor of Louis of Bavaria. The two
parties met in different cities, the Austrians at Saxenhausen,
and the Bavarians at Frankfort. There were, however, but four electors at Saxenhausen, while there were five at Frankfort, the
ancient place of election. Each party unanimously chose its candidate. Louis of
Bavaria receiving five votes, while Frederic received but four, was
unquestionably the legitimate emperor. Most of the imperial cities acknowledged
him. Frankfort sung his triumph, and he was crowned with all the ancient
ceremonials of pomp at Aix-la-Chapelle.
But Frederic and his party were not ready to yield,
and all over Germany there was the mustering of armies. For two years the
hostile forces were marching and countermarching with the usual vicissitudes of
war. The tide of devastation and blood swept now over one State, and
now over another, until at length the two armies met, in all their concentrated
strength, at Muhldorf, near Munich, for a decisive
battle. Louis of Bavaria rode proudly at the head of thirty thousand foot, and
fifteen hundred steel-clad horsemen. Frederic of Austria, the handsomest man of
his age, towering above all his retinue, was ostentatiously arrayed in the most
splendid armor art could furnish, emblazoned with the Austrian eagle, and his
helmet was surmounted by a crown of gold.
As he thus led the ranks of twenty-two thousand
footmen, and seven thousand horse, all eyes followed him, and all hearts
throbbed with confidence of victory. From early dawn, till night darkened the
field, the horrid strife raged. In those days gunpowder was unknown, and the
ringing of battle-axes on helmet and cuirass, the strokes of sabers and the
clash of spears, shouts of onset, and the shrieks of the wounded, as sixty
thousand men fought hand to hand on one small field, rose like the clamor from
battling demons in the infernal world. Hour after hour of carnage passed, and
still no one could tell on whose banners victory would alight. The gloom of
night was darkening over the exhausted combatants, when the winding of the
bugle was heard in the rear of the Austrians, and a band of four hundred
Bavarian horsemen came plunging down an eminence into the disordered ranks of
Frederic. The hour of dismay, which decides a battle, had come. A scene of
awful carnage ensued as the routed Austrians, fleeing in every direction, were
pursued and massacred. Frederic himself was struck from his horse, and as he
fell, stunned by the blow, he was captured, disarmed and carried to the
presence of his rival Louis. The spirit of Frederic was crushed by the awful,
the irretrievable defeat, and he appeared before his conqueror speechless in
the extremity of his woe. Louis had the pride of magnanimity and endeavored to
console his captive. “The battle is not lost by your fault,”said he. “The Bavarians have experienced to their cost that you are a valiant
prince; but Providence has decided the battle. Though I am happy to see you as
my guest, I sympathize with you in your sorrow, and will do what I can to
alleviate it.”
For three years the unhappy Frederic remained a
prisoner of Louis of Bavaria, held in close confinement in the castle at Trausnitz. At the end of that time the emperor, alarmed at
the efforts which the friends of Frederic were making to combine several Powers
to take up arms for his relief, visited his prisoner, and in a personal
interview proposed terms of reconciliation. The terms, under the circumstances,
were considered generous, but a proud spirit needed the discipline of three
years' imprisonment before it could yield to such demands.
It was the 13th of March, 1325, when this singular
interview between Louis the emperor, and Frederic his captive, took place at Trausnitz. Frederic promised upon oath that in exchange for
his freedom he would renounce all claim to the imperial throne; restore all the
districts and castles he had wrested from the empire; give up all the documents
relative to his election as emperor; join with all his family influence to
support Louis against any and every adversary, and give his daughter in
marriage to Stephen the son of Louis. He also promised that in case he should
fail in the fulfillment of any one of these stipulations, he would return to
his captivity.
Frederic fully intended a faithful compliance with these
requisitions. But no sooner was he liberated than his fiery brother Leopold,
who presided over the Swiss estates, and who was a man of great capacity and
military energy, refused peremptorily to fulfill the articles which related to
him, and made vigorous preparations to urge the war which he had already, with
many allies, commenced against the Emperor Louis. The pope also, who had become
inimical to Louis, declared that Frederic was absolved from the agreement at Trausnitz, as it was extorted by force, and, with all the
authority of the head of the Church, exhorted Frederic to reassert his claim to
the imperial crown.
Amidst such scenes of fraud and violence, it is
refreshing to record an act of real honor. Frederic, notwithstanding the
entreaties of the pope and the remonstrances of his friends, declared that, be
the consequences what they might, he never would violate his pledge; and
finding that he could not fulfill the articles of the agreement, he returned to
Bavaria and surrendered himself a prisoner to the emperor. It is seldom that
history has the privilege of recording so noble an act. Louis of Bavaria
fortunately had a soul capable of appreciating the magnanimity of his captive.
He received him with courtesy and with almost fraternal kindness. In the words
of a contemporary historian, “They ate at the same table and slept in the same
bed”; and, most extraordinary of all, when Louis was subsequently called to a
distant part of his dominions to quell an insurrection, he entrusted the
government of Bavaria, during his absence, to Frederic.
Frederic’s impetuous and ungovernable brother Leopold,
was unwearied in his endeavors to combine armies against the emperor, and war
raged without cessation. At length Louis, harassed by these endless
insurrections and coalitions against him, and admiring the magnanimity of
Frederic, entered into a new alliance, offering terms exceedingly honorable on
his part. He agreed that he and Frederic should rule conjointly as emperors of
Germany, in perfect equality of power and dignity, alternately taking the precedence.
With this arrangement Leopold was satisfied, but
unfortunately, just at that time, his impetuous spirit, exhausted by
disappointment and chagrin, yielded to death. He died at Strasbourg on the 28th
of February, 1326. The pope and several of the electors refused to accede to
this arrangement, and thus the hopes of the unhappy Frederic were again
blighted, for Louis, who had consented to this accommodation for the sake of
peace, was not willing to enforce it through the tumult of war. Frederic was, however,
liberated from captivity, and he returned to Austria a dejected, broken-hearted
man. He pined away for a few months in languor, being
rarely known to smile, and died at the castle of Gullenstein on the 13th of January, 1330. His widow, Isabella, the daughter of the King of Arragon, became blind from excessive grief, and soon
followed her husband to the tomb.
As Frederic left no son, the Austrian dominions fell
to his two brothers, Albert III and Otho. Albert, by marriage, added the
valuable county of Ferret in Alsace to the dominions of the house of Austria.
The two brothers reigned with such wonderful harmony, that no indications can
be seen of separate administrations. They renounced all claim to the imperial
throne, notwithstanding the efforts of the pope to the contrary, and thus
secured friendship with the Emperor Louis. There were now three prominent
families dominant in Germany. Around these great families, who had gradually,
by marriage and military encroachments, attained their supremacy, the others of
all degrees rallied as vassals, seeking protection and contributing strength.
The house of Bavaria, reigning over that powerful kingdom and in possession of
the imperial throne, ranked first. Then came the house of Luxembourg,
possessing the wide-spread and opulent realms of Bohemia. The house of Austria
had now vast possessions, but these were widely scattered; some provinces on
the banks of the Danube and others in Switzerland, spreading through the
defiles of the Alps.
John of Bohemia was an overbearing man, and feeling
quite impregnable in his northern realms beyond the mountains, assumed such a
dictatorial air as to rouse the ire of the princes of Austria and Bavaria.
These two houses consequently entered into an intimate alliance for mutual
security. The Duke of Carinthia, who was uncle to Albert and Otho, died,
leaving only a daughter, Margaret. This dukedom, about the size of the State of
Massachusetts, a wild and mountainous region, was deemed very important as the
key to Italy. John of Bohemia, anxious to obtain it, had engaged the hand of
Margaret for his son, then but eight years of age. It was a question in dispute
whether the dukedom could descend to a female, and Albert and Otho claimed it
as the heirs of their uncle. Louis, the emperor, supported the claims of
Austria, and thus Carinthia became attached to this growing power.
John, enraged, formed a confederacy with the kings of
Hungary and Poland, and some minor princes, and invaded Austria. For some time
they swept all opposition before them. But the Austrian troops and those of the
empire checked them at Landau. Here they entered into an agreement without a
battle, by which Austria was permitted to retain Carinthia, she making
important concessions to Bohemia. In February, 1339, Otho died, and Albert was
invested with the sole administration of affairs. The old King of Bohemia
possessed vehemence of character which neither age nor the total blindness with
which he had become afflicted could repress. He traversed the empire, and even
went to France, organizing a powerful confederacy against the emperor. The
pope, Clement VI, who had always been inimical to Louis of Bavaria, influenced
by John of Bohemia, deposed and excommunicated Louis, and ordered a new meeting
of the diet of electors, which chose Charles, eldest son of the Bohemian
monarch, and heir to that crown, emperor.
The deposed Louis fought bravely for the crown thus
torn from his brow. Albert of Austria aided him with all his energies. Their
united armies, threading the defiles of the Bohemian mountains, penetrated the
very heart of the kingdom, when, in the midst of success, the deposed Emperor
Louis fell dead from a stroke of apoplexy, in the year 1347. This event left
Charles of Bohemia in undisputed possession of the imperial crown. Albert
immediately recognized his claim, effected reconciliation, and becoming the
friend and the ally of the emperor, pressed on cautiously but securely, year
after year, in his policy of annexation. But storms of war incessantly howled
around his domains until he died, a crippled paralytic, on the 16th of August,
1358.
John the Blind ( 1296 – 1346) was the Count
of Luxembourg from 1309 and King of Bohemia from 1310 and titular King of
Poland. The eldest son of Henry VII and Margaret of Brabant. He is
known for having died while actively fighting in a military battle at age 50,
after having been blind for a decade.
CHAPTER III
RHODOLPH II, ALBERT IV AND ALBERT V
From 1339 to 1437.
Rhodolph II, the eldest son of Albert III, when but
nineteen years of age succeeded his father in the government of the Austrian
States. He had been very thoroughly educated in all the civil and military
knowledge of the times. He was closely allied with the Emperor Charles IV of
Bohemia, having married his daughter Catherine. His character and manhood had
been very early developed. When he was in his seventeenth year his father had
found it necessary to visit his Swiss estates, then embroiled in the fiercest
war, and had left him in charge of the Austrian provinces. He soon after was
entrusted with the whole care of the Hapsburg dominions in Switzerland. In this
responsible post he developed wonderful administrative skill, encouraging
industry, repressing disorder, and by constructing roads and bridges, opening
facilities for intercourse and trade.
Upon the death of his father, Rhodolph removed to
Vienna, and being now the monarch of powerful realms on the Danube and among
the Alps, he established a court rivaling the most magnificent establishments
of the age.
Just west of Austria and south of Bavaria was the
magnificent dukedom of Tyrol, containing some sixteen thousand square miles, or
about twice the size of the State of Massachusetts. It was a country almost
unrivaled in the grandeur of its scenery, and contained nearly a million of
inhabitants. This State, lying equally convenient to both Austria and Bavaria,
by both of these kingdoms had for many years been regarded with a wistful eye.
The manner in which Austria secured the prize is a story well worth telling, as
illustrative of the intrigues of those times.
It will be remembered that John, the arrogant King of
Bohemia, engaged for his son the hand of Margaret, the only daughter of the
Duke of Carinthia. Tyrol also was one of the possessions of this powerful duke.
Henry, having no son, had obtained from the emperor a decree that these
possessions should descend, in default of male issue, to his daughter. But for
this decision the sovereignty of these States would descend to the male heirs,
Albert and Otho of Austria, nephews of Henry. They of course disputed the
legality of the decree, and, aided by the Emperor Louis of Bavaria, obtained
Carinthia, relinquishing for a time their claim to Tyrol. The emperor hoped to
secure that golden prize for his hereditary estates of Bavaria.
When John, the son of the King of Bohemia, was but
seventeen years of age, and a puny, weakly child, he was hurriedly married to
Margaret, then twenty-two. Margaret, a sanguine, energetic woman, despised her
baby husband, and he, very naturally, impotently hated her. She at length fled
from him, and escaping from Bohemia, threw herself under the protection of
Louis. The emperor joyfully welcomed her to his court, and promised to grant
her a divorce, by virtue of his imperial power, if she would marry his son
Louis. The compliant princess readily acceded to this plan, and the divorce was
announced and the nuptials solemnized in February, 1342.
The King of Bohemia was as much exasperated as the
King of Bavaria was elated by this event, for the one felt that he had lost the
Tyrol, and the other that he had gained it. It was this successful intrigue
which cost Louis of Bavaria his imperial crown; for the blood of the King of
Bohemia was roused. Burning with vengeance, he traversed Europe almost with the
zeal and eloquence of Peter the Hermit, to organize a coalition against the
emperor, and succeeded in inducing the pope, always hostile to Louis, to depose
and excommunicate him. This marriage was also declared by the pope unlawful,
and the son, Meinhard, eventually born to them, was branded as illegitimate.
While matters were in this state, as years glided on,
Rhodolph succeeded in winning the favor of the pontiff, and induced him to legitimate
Meinhard, that this young heir of Tyrol might marry the Austrian princess
Margaret, sister of Rhodolph. Meinhard and his wife Margaret ere long died,
leaving Margaret of Tyrol, a widow in advancing years, with no direct heirs. By
the marriage contract of her son Meinhard with Margaret of Austria, she
promised that should there be failure of issue, Tyrol should revert to Austria.
On the other hand, Bavaria claimed the territory in virtue of the marriage of
Margaret with Louis of Bavaria.
Rhodolph was so apprehensive that Bavaria might make
an immediate move to obtain the coveted territory by force of arms, that he
hastened across the mountains, though in the depth of winter, obtained from
Margaret an immediate possession of Tyrol, and persuaded her to accompany him,
an honored guest, to his capital, which he had embellished with unusual
splendor for her entertainment.
Rhodolph had married the daughter of Charles, King of
Bohemia, the emperor, but unfortunately at this juncture, Rhodolph, united with
the kings of Hungary and Poland, was at war with the Bavarian king. Catherine
his wife, however, undertook to effect a reconciliation between her
husband and her father. She secured an interview between them, and the emperor,
the hereditary rival of his powerful neighbor the King of Bavaria, confirmed
Margaret's gift, invested Rhodolph with the Tyrol, and pledged the arm of the
empire to maintain this settlement. Thus Austria gained Tyrol, the country of
romance and of song, interesting, perhaps, above all other portions of Europe
in its natural scenery, and invaluable from its location as the gateway of
Italy. Bavaria made a show of armed opposition to this magnificent accession to
the power of Austria, but soon found it in vain to assail Rhodolph sustained by
Margaret of Tyrol, and by the energies of the empire.
Rhodolph was an antiquarian of eccentric character,
ever poring over musty records and hunting up decayed titles. He was fond of
attaching to his signature the names of all the innumerable offices he held
over the conglomerated States of his realm. He was Rhodolph, Margrave of Baden,
Vicar of Upper Bavaria, Lord of Hapsburg, Arch Huntsman of the Empire, Archduke
Palatine, etc., etc. His ostentation provoked even the jealousy of his father,
the emperor, and he was ordered to lay aside these numerous titles and the
arrogant armorial bearings he was attaching to his seals. His desire to
aggrandize his family burned with a quenchless flame. Hoping to extend his
influence in Italy, he negotiated a matrimonial alliance for his brother with
an Italian princess. As he crossed the Alps to attend the nuptials, he was
seized with an inflammatory fever, and died the 27th of July, 1365, but
twenty-six years of age, and leaving no issue.
His brother Albert, a young man but seventeen years of
age, succeeded Rhodolph. Just as he assumed the government, Margaret of Tyrol
died, and the King of Bavaria, thinking this a favorable moment to renew his
claims for the Tyrol, vigorously invaded the country with a strong army. Albert
immediately applied to the emperor for assistance. Three years were employed in fightings and diplomacy, when Bavaria, in
consideration of a large sum of money and sundry other concessions, renounced
all pretensions to Tyrol, and left the rich prize henceforth undisputed in the
hands of Austria. Thus the diminutive margrave of Austria, which was at first
but a mere military post on the Danube, had grown by rapid accretions in one
century to be almost equal in extent of territory to the kingdoms of Bavaria
and of Bohemia. This grandeur, instead of satisfying the Austrian princes, did
but increase their ambition.
The Austrian territories, though widely scattered,
were declared, both by family compact and by imperial decree, to be
indivisible. Albert had a brother, Leopold, two years younger than himself, of
exceedingly restless and ambitious spirit, while Albert was inactive, and a
lover of ease and repose. Leopold was sent to Switzerland, and entrusted with
the administration of those provinces. But his imperious spirit so dominated
over his elder but pliant brother, that he extorted from him a compact, by
which the realm was divided, Albert remaining in possession of the Austrian
provinces of the Danube, and Leopold having exclusive dominion over those in
Switzerland; while the magnificent new acquisition, the Tyrol, lying between
the two countries, bounding Switzerland on the east, and Austria on the west,
was shared between them.
Nothing can more clearly show the moderate qualities
of Albert than that he should have assented to such a plan. He did, however,
with easy good nature, assent to it, and the two brothers applied to the
Emperor Charles to ratify the division by his imperial sanction. Charles, who
for some time had been very jealous of the rapid encroachments of Austria,
rubbed his hands with delight.
“We have long,” said he, “labored in vain to humble
the house of Austria, and now the dukes of Austria have humbled themselves.”
Leopold the First inherited all the ambition and
energy of the house of Hapsburg, and was ever watching with an eagle eye to
extend his dominions, and to magnify his power. By money, war, and diplomacy,
in a few years he obtained Friburg and the little town
of Basle; attached to his dominions the counties of Feldkirch, Pludenz, Surgans and the Rienthal, which he wrested from the feeble counts who held
them, and obtained the baillages of Upper and Lower Suabia, and the towns of Augsburg and Gingen.
But a bitter disappointment was now encountered by this ambitious prince.
Louis, the renowned King of Hungary and Poland, had
two daughters, Maria and Hedwige, but no sons. To
Maria he promised the crown of Hungary as her portion, and among the many
claimants for her hand, and the glittering crown she held in it, Sigismond, son of the Emperor Charles, King of Bohemia,
received the prize. Leopold, whose heart throbbed in view of so splendid an
alliance, was overjoyed when he secured the pledge of the hand of Hedwige, with the crown of Poland, for William, his eldest
son. Hedwige was one of the most beautiful and
accomplished princesses of the age. William was also a young man of great
elegance of person, and of such rare fascination of character, that he had
acquired the epithet of William the Delightful. His chivalrous bearing had been
trained and polished amidst the splendors of his uncle's court of Vienna. Hedwige, as the affianced bride of William, was invited
from the more barbaric pomp of the Hungarian court, to improve her education by
the aid of the refinements of Vienna. William and Hedwige no sooner met than they loved one another, as young hearts, even in the palace,
will sometimes love, as well as in the cottage. In brilliant festivities and
moonlight excursions the young lovers passed a few happy months, when Hedwige was called home by the final sickness of her
father. Louis died, and Hedwige was immediately
crowned Queen of Poland, receiving the most enthusiastic greetings of her
subjects.
Bordering on Poland there was a grand duchy of immense
extent, Lithuania, embracing sixty thousand square miles. The Grand Duke Jaghellon was a burly Northman, not more than half
civilized, whose character was as jagged as his name. This pagan proposed to
the Polish nobles that he should marry Hedwige, and
thus unite the grand duchy of Lithuania with the kingdom of Poland; promising
in that event to renounce paganism, and embrace Christianity. The beautiful and
accomplished Hedwige was horror-struck at the
proposal, and declared that never would she marry any one but William.
But the Polish nobles, dazzled by the prospect of this
magnificent accession to the kingdom of Poland, and the bishops, even more
powerful than the nobles, elated with the vision of such an acquisition for the
Church, resolved that the young and fatherless maiden, who had no one to defend
her cause, should yield, and that she should become the bride of Jaghellon. They declared that it was ridiculous to think
that the interests of a mighty kingdom, and the enlargement of the Church, were
to yield to the caprices of a love-sick girl.
In the meantime William, all unconscious of the
disappointment which awaited him, was hastening to Cracow, with a splendid
retinue, and the richest presents Austrian art could fabricate, to receive his
bride. The nobles, however, a semi-barbaric set of men, surrounded him upon
his arrival, refused to allow him any interview with Hedwige, threatened him with personal violence, and drove
him out of the kingdom. Poor Hedwige was in anguish.
She wept, vowed deathless fidelity to William, and expressed utter detestation
of the pagan duke, until, at last, worn out and broken-hearted, she, in
despair, surrendered herself into the arms of Jaghellon. Jaghellon was baptized by the name of Ladislaus, and
Lithuania was annexed to Poland.
The loss of the crown of Poland was to Leopold a
grievous affliction; at the same time his armies, engaged in sundry measures of
aggrandizement, encountered serious reverses. Leopold, the father of William,
by these events was plunged into the deepest dejection. No effort of his
friends could lift the weight of his gloom. In a retired apartment of one of
his castles he sat silent and woeful, apparently incapacitated for any exertion
whatever, either bodily or mental. The affairs of his realm were neglected, and
his bailiffs and feudal chiefs, left with irresponsible power, were guilty of
such acts of extortion and tyranny, that, in the province of Suabia the barons combined, and a fierce insurrection broke
out. Forty important towns united in the confederacy, and secured the
co-operation of Strasburg, Metz and other large cities on the Rhine. Other of
the Swiss provinces were on the eve of joining this alarming
confederacy against Leopold, their Austrian ruler. As Vienna for some
generations had been the seat of the Hapsburg family, from whence governors
were sent to these provinces of Helvetia, as Switzerland was then called, the
Swiss began to regard their rulers as foreigners, and even Leopold found it necessary
to strengthen himself with Austrian troops.
This formidable league roused Leopold from his torpor,
and he awoke like the waking of the lion. He was immediately on the march with
four thousand horsemen, and fourteen hundred foot, while all through the
defiles of the Alps bugle blasts echoed, summoning detachments from various
cantons under their bold barons, to hasten to the aid of the insurgents. On the
evening of the 9th of July, 1396, the glittering host of Leopold appeared on an
eminence overlooking the city of Sempach and the
beautiful lake on whose border it stands. The horses were fatigued by their
long and hurried march, and the crags and ravines, covered with forest, were
impracticable for the evolutions of cavalry. The impetuous Leopold, impatient
of delay, resolved upon an immediate attack, notwithstanding the exhaustion of
his troops, and though a few hours of delay would bring strong reinforcements
to his camp. He dismounted his horsemen, and formed his whole force in solid
phalanx. It was an imposing spectacle, as six thousand men, covered from head
to foot with blazing armor, presenting a front of shields like a wall of
burnished steel, bristling with innumerable pikes and spears, moved with slow,
majestic tread down upon the city.
The confederate Swiss, conscious that the hour of
vengeance had come, in which they must conquer or be miserably slain, marched
forth to meet the foe, emboldened only by despair. But few of the confederates
were in armor. They were furnished with such weapons as men grasp when
despotism rouses them to insurrection, rusty battle-axes, pikes and halberts, and two-handed swords, which their ancestors, in
descending into the grave, had left behind them. They drew up in the form of a
solid wedge, to pierce the thick concentric wall of steel, apparently as
impenetrable as the cliffs of the mountains. Thus the two bodies silently and
sternly approached each other. It was a terrific hour; for every man knew that
one or the other of those hosts must perish utterly. For some time the battle
raged, while the confederates could make no impression whatever upon their
steel-clad foes, and sixty of them fell pierced by spears before one of their
assailants had been even wounded.
Despair was fast settling upon their hearts, when
Arnold of Winkelreid, a knight of Underwalden, rushed
from the ranks of the confederates, exclaiming—"I will open a passage into
the line; protect, dear countrymen, my wife and children.” He threw
himself upon the bristling spears. A score pierced his body; grasping them with
the tenacity of death, he bore them to the earth as he fell. His comrades,
emulating his spirit of self-sacrifice, rushed over his bleeding body, and
forced their way through the gate thus opened into the line. The whole unwieldy
mass was thrown into confusion. The steel-clad warriors exhausted before the
battle commenced and encumbered with their heavy armor, could but feebly resist
their nimble assailants, who outnumbering them and over-powering them, cut them
down in fearful havoc. It soon became a general slaughter, and not less than
two thousand of the followers of Leopold were stretched lifeless upon the
ground. Many were taken prisoners, and a few, mounting their
horses effected an escape among the wild glens of the Alps.
In this awful hour Leopold developed magnanimity and
heroism worthy of his name. Before the battle commenced, his friends urged him
to take care of his own person. “God forbid,” said he, “that I should endeavor
to save my own life and leave you to die! I will share your fate, and, with
you, will either conquer or perish.”
When all was in confusion, and his followers were
falling like autumn leaves around him, he was urged to put spurs to his horse,
and, accompanied by his body-guard, to escape. “I would rather die honorably,”
said Leopold, "than live with dishonor.”
Just at this moment his standard-bearer was struck
down by a rush of the confederates. As he fell he cried out, “Help, Austria,
help!” Leopold frantically sprang to his aid, grasped the banner from his dying
hand, and waving it, plunged into the midst of the foe, with saber strokes
hewing a path before him. He was soon lost in the tumult and the carnage of the
battle. His body was afterward found, covered with wounds, in the midst of
heaps of the dead.
Thus perished the ambitious and turbulent Leopold the 1st
after a stormy and unhappy life of thirty-six years and a reign of constant
encroachment and war of twenty years. Life to him was a dark and somber
tempest. Ever dissatisfied with what he had attained, and grasping at more, he
could never enjoy the present, and he finally died that death of violence to
which his ambition had consigned so many thousands. Leopold, the second son of
the duke, who was but fifteen years of age, succeeded his father, in the
dominion of the Swiss estates; and after a desultory warfare of a few months,
was successful in negotiating a peace, or rather an armed truce, with the
successful insurgents.
In the meantime, Albert, at Vienna, apparently happy
in being relieved of all care of the Swiss provinces, was devoting himself to the
arts of peace. He reared new buildings, encouraged learning, repressed all
disorders, and cultivated friendly relations with the neighboring powers. His
life was as a summer's day—serene and bright. He and his family were happy, and
his realms in prosperity. He died at his rural residence at Laxendorf,
two miles out from Vienna, on the 29th of August, 1395. All Austria mourned his
death. Thousands gathered at his burial, exclaiming, “We have lost our friend,
our father!”. He was a studious, peace-loving, warm-hearted man, devoted to his
family and his friends, fond of books and the society of the learned, and
enjoying the cultivation of his garden with his own hands. He left, at his
death, an only son, Albert, sixteen years of age.
William, the eldest son of Leopold, had been brought
up in the court of Vienna. He was a young man of fascinating character and
easily won all hearts. After his bitter disappointment in Poland he returned to
Vienna, and now, upon the death of his uncle Albert, he claimed the reins of
government as the oldest member of the family. His cousin Albert, of course,
resisted this claim, demanding that he himself should enter upon the post which
his father had occupied. A violent dissension ensued which resulted in an
agreement that they should administer the government of the Austrian States,
jointly, during their lives, and that then the government should be vested in
the eldest surviving member of the family.
Having effected this arrangement, quite to
the satisfaction of both parties, Albert, who inherited much of the studious
thoughtful turn of mind of his father, set out on a pilgrimage to the holy
land, leaving the government during his absence in the hands of William. After
wanderings and adventures so full of romance as to entitle him to the
appellation of the "Wonder of the World," he returned to Vienna. He
married a daughter of the Duke of Holland, and settled down to a monkish life.
He entered a monastery of Carthusian monks, and took an active part in all
their discipline and devotions. No one was more punctual than he at matins and
vespers, or more devout in confessions, prayers, genuflexions and the divine service in the choir. Regarding himself as one of the
fraternity, he called himself Brother Albert, and left William untrammeled in
the cares of state. His life was short, for he died the 14th of September,
1404, in the twenty-seventh year of his age, leaving a son Albert, seven years
old. William, who married a daughter of the King of Naples, survived him but
two years, when he died childless.
A boy nine years old now claimed the inheritance of
the Austrian estates; but the haughty dukes of the Swiss branch of the house
were not disposed to yield to his claims. Leopold II, who after the battle of Sempach succeeded his father in the Swiss estates, assumed
the guardianship of Albert, and the administration of Austria, till the young
duke should be of age. But Leopold had two brothers who also inherited their
father’s energy and ambition. Ernest ruled over Styria, Carinthia and Carniola.
Frederic governed the Tyrol.
Leopold II repaired to Vienna to assume the
administration; his two brothers claimed the right of sharing it with him.
Confusion, strife and anarchy ensued. Ernest, a very determined and violent
man, succeeded in compelling his brother to give him a share of the government,
and in the midst of incessant quarrels, which often led to bloody conflicts,
each of the two brothers strove to wrest as much as possible from Austria
before young Albert should be of age. The nobles availed themselves of this
anarchy to renew their expeditions of plunder. Unhappy Austria for several
years was a scene of devastation and misery. In the year 1411 Leopold II died
without issue. The young Albert had now attained is fifteenth year.
The emperor declared Albert of age, and he assumed the
government as Albert V. His subjects, weary of disorder and of the strife of
the nobles, welcomed him with enthusiasm. With sagacity and self-denial above
his years, the young prince devoted himself to business, relinquishing all
pursuits of pleasure. Fortunately, during his minority he had honorable and
able teachers who stored his mind with useful knowledge, and fortified him with
principles of integrity. The change from the most desolating anarchy to prosperity
and peace was almost instantaneous. Albert had the judgment to surround himself
with able advisers. Salutary laws were enacted; justice impartially
administered; the country was swept of the banditti which infested it, and
while all the States around were involved in the miseries of war, the song of
the contented husbandman, and the music of the artisan's tools were heard
through the fields and in the towns of happy Austria.
Sigismond, second son of the Emperor Charles IV, King of Bohemia, was now emperor.
It will be remembered that by marrying Mary, the eldest daughter of Louis, King
of Hungary and Poland, he received Hungary as the dower of his bride. By
intrigue he also succeeded in deposing his effeminate and dissolute brother,
Wenceslaus, from the throne of Bohemia, and succeeded, by a new election, in
placing the crown upon his own brow. Thus Sigismond wielded a three-fold scepter. He was Emperor of Germany, and King of Hungary
and of Bohemia.
Albert married the only daughter of Sigismond, and a very strong affection sprung up between
the imperial father and his son-in-law. They often visited each other, and
cooperated very cordially in measures of state. The wife of Sigismond was a worthless woman, described by an Austrian historian as “one who
believed in neither God, angel nor devil; neither in heaven nor hell.” Sigismond had set his heart upon bequeathing to Albert the
crowns of both Hungary and Bohemia, which magnificent accessions to the
Austrian domains would elevate that power to be one of the first in Europe. But
Barbara, his queen, wished to convey these crowns to the son of the pagan Jaghellon, who had received the crown of Poland as the
dowry of his reluctant bride, Hedwige. Sigismond, provoked by her intrigues for the accomplishment
of this object, and detesting her for her licentiousness, put her under arrest. Sigismond was sixty-three years of age, in very
feeble health, and daily expecting to die.
He summoned a general convention of the nobles of
Hungary and Bohemia to meet him at Znaim in Moravia,
near the frontiers of Austria, and sent for Albert and his daughter to hasten
to that place. The infirm emperor, traveling by slow stages, succeeded in
reaching Znaim. He immediately summoned the nobles to
his presence, and introducing to them Albert and Elizabeth, thus affectingly
addressed them:
“Loving friends, you know that since the commencement
of my reign I have employed my utmost exertions to maintain public tranquillity. Now, as I am about to die, my last act must
be consistent with my former actions. At this moment my only anxiety arises
from a desire to prevent dissension and bloodshed after my decease. It is
praiseworthy in a prince to govern well; but it is not less praiseworthy to
provide a successor who shall govern better than himself. This fame I now seek,
not from ambition, but from love to my subjects. You all know Albert, Duke of
Austria, to whom in preference to all other princes I gave my daughter in
marriage, and whom I adopted as my son. You know that he possesses experience
and every virtue becoming a prince. He found Austria in a state of disorder,
and he has restored it to tranquillity. He is now of
an age in which judgment and experience attain their perfection, and he is
sovereign of Austria, which, lying between Hungary and Bohemia, forms a
connecting link between the two kingdoms. I recommend him to you as my
successor. I leave you a king, pious, honorable, wise and brave. I give him my
kingdom, or rather I give him to my kingdoms, to whom I can give or
wish nothing better. Truly you belong to him in consideration of his wife, the
hereditary princess of Hungary and Bohemia. Again I repeat that I do not act
thus solely from love to Albert and my daughter, but from a desire in my last
moments to promote the true welfare of my people. Happy are those who are
subject to Albert. I am confident he is no less beloved by you than by me, and
that even without my exhortations you would unanimously give him your votes.
But I beseech you by these tears, comfort my soul, which is departing
to God, by confirming my choice and fulfilling my will.”
The emperor was so overcome with emotion that he could
with difficulty pronounce these last words. All were deeply moved; some wept
aloud; others, seizing the hand of the emperor and bathing it in tears, vowed
allegiance to Albert, and declared that while he lived they would recognize no
other sovereign.
The very next day, November, 1437, Sigismond died. Albert and Elizabeth accompanied his remains to Hungary. The Hungarian
diet of barons unanimously ratified the wishes of the late king in accepting
Albert as his successor. He then hastened to Bohemia, and, notwithstanding a
few outbursts of disaffection, was received with great demonstrations of joy by
the citizens of Prague, and was crowned in the cathedral.
CHAPTER IV
ALBERT, LADISLAUS AND FREDERIC
From 1440 to 1489.
The kingdom of Bohemia thus attached to the duchies of
Austria contained a population of some three millions, and embraced twenty
thousand square miles of territory, being about three times as large as the
State of Massachusetts. Hungary was a still more magnificent realm in extent of
territory, being nearly five times as large as Bohemia, but inhabited by about
the same number of people, widely dispersed. In addition to this sudden and
vast accession of power, Albert was chosen Emperor of Germany. This
distinguished sovereign displayed as much wisdom and address in administering
the affairs of the empire, as in governing his own kingdoms.
The Turks were at this time becoming the terror of
Christendom. Originating in a small tribe between the Caspian Sea and the
Euxine, they had with bloody swords overrun all Asia Minor, and, crossing the
Hellespont, had entrenched themselves firmly on the shores of Europe. Crowding
on in victorious hosts, armed with the most terrible fanaticism, they had
already obtained possession of Bulgaria, Serbia, and Bosnia, eastern
dependencies of Hungary, and all Europe was trembling in view of their prowess,
their ferocity and their apparently exhaustless legions.
Sigismond, beholding the crescent of the Moslem floating over the castles of
eastern Hungary, became alarmed for the kingdom, and sent ambassadors from
court to court to form a crusade against the invaders. He was eminently
successful, and an army of one hundred thousand men was soon collected,
composed of the flower of the European nobility. The republics of Venice and
Genoa united to supply a fleet. With this powerful armament Sigismond,
in person, commenced his march to Constantinople, which city the Turks were
besieging, to meet the fleet there. The Turkish sultan himself gathered his
troops and advanced to meet Sigismond. The Christian
troops were utterly routed, and nearly all put to the sword. The emperor with
difficulty escaped. In the confusion of the awful scene of carnage he threw
himself unperceived into a small boat, and paddling down the Danube, as its
flood swept through an almost uninhabited wilderness, he reached the Black Sea,
where he was so fortunate as to find a portion of the fleet, and thus, by a
long circuit, he eventually reached his home.
Bajazet,
the sultan, returned exultant from this great victory, and resumed the siege of
Constantinople, which ere long fell into the hands of
the Turks. Amurath, who was sultan at the time of the
death of Sigismond, thought the moment propitious for
extending his conquests. He immediately, with his legions, overran Serbia, a
principality nearly the size of the State of Virginia, and containing a million
of inhabitants. George, Prince of Serbia, retreating before the merciless
followers of the false prophet, threw himself with a strong garrison into the
fortress of Semendria, and sent an imploring message
to Albert for assistance. Serbia was separated from Hungary only by the Danube,
and it was a matter of infinite moment to Albert that the Turk should not get
possession of that province, from which he could make constant forays into
Hungary.
Albert hastily collected an army and marched to the
banks of the Danube just in time to witness the capture of Semendria and the massacre of its garrison. All Hungary was now in terror. The Turks in
overwhelming numbers were firmly intrenched upon the banks of the Danube, and
were preparing to cross the river and to supplant the cross with the crescent
on all the plains of Hungary. The Hungarian nobles, in crowds, flocked to the
standard of Albert, who made herculean exertions to meet and roll back the
threatened tide of invasion. Exhausted by unremitting toil, he was taken sick
and suddenly died, on a small island of the Danube, on the 17th of October,
1439, in the forty-third year of his age. The death of such a prince, heroic
and magnanimous, loving the arts of peace, and yet capable of wielding the
energies of war, was an apparent calamity to Europe.
Albert left two daughters, but his queen Elizabeth was
expecting, in a few months, to give birth to another child. Everything was thus
involved in confusion and for a time intrigue and violence ran riot. There were
many diverse parties, the rush of armed bands, skirmishes and battles, and all
the great matters of state were involved in an inextricable labyrinth of confusion.
The queen gave birth to a son, who was baptized by the name of Ladislaus.
Elizabeth, anxious to secure the crown of Hungary for her infant, had him
solemnly crowned at Alba Regia, by the Archbishop of Gran when the child was
but four months old.
But a powerful party arose, opposed to the claims of
the infant, and strove by force of arms to place upon the throne Uladislaus, King of Poland and Lithuania, and son of the
pagan Jaghellon and the unhappy Hedwige.
For two years war between the rival parties desolated the kingdom, when
Elizabeth died. Uladislaus now redoubled his
endeavors, and finally succeeded in driving the unconscious infant from his
hereditary domain, and established himself firmly on the throne of Hungary.
The infant prince was taken to Bohemia. There also he
encountered violent opposition. “A child,” said his opponents, “cannot
govern. It will be long before Ladislaus will be capable of assuming the reins
of government. Let us choose another sovereign, and when Ladislaus has attained
the age of twenty-four we shall see whether he deserves the crown.”
This very sensible advice was adopted, and thirteen
electors were appointed to choose a sovereign. Their choice fell upon Albert of
Bavaria. But he, with a spirit of magnanimity very rare in that age, declared
that the crown, of right, belonged to Ladislaus, and that he would not take it
from him. They then chose Frederic, Duke of Styria, who, upon the death of
Albert, had been chosen emperor. Frederic, incited by the example of Albert,
also declined, saying, “I will not rob my relation of his right.” But anxious
for the peace of the empire, he recommended that they should choose some
illustrious Bohemian, to whom they should intrust the
regency until Ladislaus became of age, offering himself to assume the
guardianship of the young prince.
This judicious advice was accepted, and the Bohemian
nobles chose the infant Ladislaus their king. They, however, appointed two
regents instead of one. The regents quarreled and headed two hostile parties.
Anarchy and civil war desolated the kingdom, with fluctuations of success and
discomfiture attending the movements of either party. Thus several years of
violence and blood passed on. One of the regents, George Podiebrad, drove his
opponent from the realm and assumed regal authority. To legitimate its usurped
power he summoned a diet at Pilgram, in 1447, and
submitted the following question:
“Is it advantageous to the kingdom that Ladislaus
should retain the crown, or would it not be more beneficial to choose a monarch
acquainted with our language and customs, and inspired with love of our
country?”
Warm opposition to this measure arose, and the nobles
voted themselves loyal to Ladislaus. While these events were passing in
Bohemia, scenes of similar violence were transpiring in Hungary. After a long
series of convulsions, and Uladislaus, the Polish
king, who had attained the crown of Hungary, having been slain in a battle with
the Turks, a diet of Hungarian nobles was assembled and they also declared the
young Ladislaus to be their king. They consequently wrote to the Emperor
Frederic, Duke of Styria, who had assumed the guardianship of the prince,
requesting that he might be sent to Hungary. Ladislaus Posthumous,
so-called in consequence of his birth after the death of his father, was then
but six years of age.
The Austrian States were also in a condition of
similar confusion, rival aspirants grasping at power, feuds agitating every
province, and all moderate men anxious for that repose which could only be
found by uniting in the claims of Ladislaus for the crown. Thus Austria,
Bohemia and Hungary, so singularly and harmoniously united under Albert V., so
suddenly dissevered and scattered by the death of Albert, were now, after years
of turmoil, all reuniting under the child Ladislaus.
Frederic, however, the faithful guardian of the young
prince, was devoting the utmost care to his education, and refused to accede to
the urgent and reiterated requests to send the young monarch to his realms.
When Ladislaus was about ten years of age the Emperor Frederic visited the pope
at Rome, and took Ladislaus in his glittering suite. The precocious child here
astonished the learned men of the court, by delivering an oration in Latin
before the consistory, and by giving many other indications of originality and
vigor of mind far above his years. The pope became much attached to the
youthful sovereign of three such important realms, and as Frederic was about to
visit Naples, Ladislaus remained a guest in the imperial palace.
Deputies from the three nations repaired to Rome to
urge the pope to restore to them their young sovereign. Failing in this, they
endeavored to induce Ladislaus to escape with them. This plan also was
discovered and foiled. The nobles were much irritated by these disappointments,
and they resolved to rescue him by force of arms. All over Hungary, Bohemia and
Austria there was a general rising of the nobles, nationalities being merged in
the common cause, and all hearts united and throbbing with a common desire. An
army of sixteen thousand men was raised. Frederic, alarmed by these formidable
preparations for war, surrendered Ladislaus and he was conveyed in triumph to
Vienna. A numerous assemblage of the nobles of the three nations was convened,
and it was settled that the young king, during his minority, should remain at
Vienna, under the care of his maternal uncle, Count Cilli,
who, in the meantime, was to administer the government of Austria. George
Podiebrad was intrusted with the regency of Bohemia;
and John Hunniades was appointed regent of Hungary.
Ladislaus was now thirteen years of age. The most
learned men of the age were appointed as his teachers, and he pursued his
studies with great vigor. Count Cilli, however, an
ambitious and able man, soon gained almost unlimited control over the mind of his
young ward, and became so arrogant and dictatorial, filling every important
office with his own especial friends, and removing those who displeased him,
that general discontent was excited and conspiracy was formed against him. Cilli was driven from Vienna with insults and threats, and
the conspirators placed the regency in the hands of a select number of their
adherents.
While affairs were in this condition, John Hunniades, as regent, was administering the government of
Hungary with great vigor and sagacity. He was acquiring so
much renown that Count Cilli regarded him
with a very jealous eye, and excited the suspicions of the young king that Hunniades was seeking for himself the sovereignty of
Hungary. Cilli endeavored to lure Hunniades to Vienna, that he might seize his person, but the sagacious warrior
was too wily to be thus entrapped.
The Turks were now in the full tide of victory. They
had conquered Constantinople, fortified both sides of the Bosporus and the
Hellespont, overrun Greece and planted themselves firmly and impregnably on the
shores of Europe. Mahomet II. was sultan, succeeding his father Amurath. He raised an army of two hundred thousand men, who
were all inspired with that intense fanatic ferocity with which the Moslem then
regarded the Christian. Marching resistlessly through Bulgaria and Servia, he
contemplated the immediate conquest of Hungary, the bulwark of Europe. He
advanced to the banks of the Danube and laid siege to Belgrade, a very
important and strongly fortified town at the point where the Save enters the
great central river of eastern Europe.
Such an army flushed with victory and inspired with
all the energies of fanaticism, appalled the European powers. Ladislaus was but
a boy, studious and scholarly in his tastes, having developed but little
physical energy and no executive vigor. He was very handsome, very refined in
his tastes and courteous in his address, and he cultivated with great care the
golden ringlets which clustered around his shoulders. At the time of this fearful
invasion Ladislaus was on a visit to Buda, one of the capitals of Hungary, on
the Danube, but about three hundred miles above Belgrade. The young monarch,
with his favorite, Cilli, fled ingloriously to
Vienna, leaving Hunniades to breast as he could the
Turkish hosts. But Hunniades was, fortunately, equal
to the emergence.
A Franciscan monk, John Capistrun,
endowed with the eloquence of Peter the Hermit, traversed Germany, displaying
the cross and rousing Christians to defend Europe from the infidels. He soon
collected a motley mass of forty thousand men, rustics, priests, students,
soldiers, unarmed, undisciplined, a rabble rout, who followed him to the
rendezvous where Hunniades had succeeded in
collecting a large force of the bold barons and steel-clad warriors of Hungary.
The experienced chief gladly received this heterogeneous mass, and soon armed
them, brought them into the ranks and subjected them to the severe discipline
of military drill.
At the head of this band, which was inspired with zeal
equal to that of the Turk, the brave Hunniades, in a
fleet of boats, descended the Danube. The river in front of Belgrade was
covered with the flotilla of the Turks. The wall in many places was broken
down, and at other points in the wall they had obtained a foothold, and the
crescent was proudly unfurled to the breeze. The feeble garrison worn out with
toil and perishing with famine was in the last stages of despair. Hunniades came down upon the Turkish flotilla like an
inundation; both parties fought with almost unprecedented ferocity, but the
Christians drove everything before them, sinking, dispersing, and capturing the
boats, which were by no means prepared for so sudden and terrible an assault.
The immense reinforcement, with arms and provisions, thus entered the city, and
securing the navigation of the Danube and the Save, opened the way for
continued supplies. The immense hosts of the Mohammedans now girdled the city
in a semicircle on the land side. Their tents, gorgeously embellished and
surmounted with the crescent, glittered in the rays of the sun as far as the
eye could extend. Squadrons of steel-clad horsemen swept the field, while bands
of the besiegers pressed the city without intermission, night and day.
Mohammed, irritated by this unexpected accession of
strength to the besieged, in his passion ordered an immediate and simultaneous
attack upon the town by his whole force. The battle was long and bloody, both
parties struggling with utter desperation. The Turks were repulsed. After one
of the longest continuous conflicts recorded in history, lasting all one night,
and all the following day until the going down of the sun, the Turks, leaving
thirty thousand of their dead beneath the ramparts of the city, and taking with
them the sultan desperately wounded, struck their tents in the darkness of the
night and retreated.
Great was the exultation in Hungary, in Germany and
all over Europe. But this joy was speedily clouded by the intelligence that Hunniades, the deliverer of Europe from Moslem invasion,
exhausted with toil, had been seized by a fever and had died. It is said that
the young King Ladislaus rejoiced in his death, for he was greatly annoyed in
having a subject attain such a degree of splendor as to cast his own name into
insignificance. Hunniades left two sons, Ladislaus
and Matthias. The king and Cilli manifested the
meanest jealousy in reference to these young men, and fearful that the renown
of their father, which had inspired pride and gratitude in every Hungarian
heart, might give them power, they did everything they could to humiliate and
depress them. The king lured them both to Buda, where he perfidiously beheaded
the eldest, Ladislaus, for wounding Cilli, in
defending himself from an attack which the implacable count had made upon him,
and he also threw the younger son, Matthias, into a prison.
The widow of Hunniades, the
heroic mother of these children, with a spirit worthy of the wife of her
renowned husband, called the nobles to her aid. They rallied in great numbers,
roused to indignation. The inglorious king, terrified by the storm he had raised,
released Matthias, and fled from Buda to Vienna, pursued by the execrations and
menaces of the Hungarians.
He soon after repaired to Prague, in Bohemia, to
solemnize his marriage with Magdalen, daughter of Charles VII, King of France.
He had just reached the city, and was making preparations for his marriage in
unusual splendor, when he was attacked by a malignant disease, supposed to be
the plague, and died after a sickness of but thirty-six hours. The unhappy
king, who, through the stormy scenes of his short life, had developed no
grandeur of soul, was oppressed with the awfulness of passing to the final
judgment. In the ordinances of the Church he sought to find solace for a sinful
and a troubled spirit. Having received the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, with
dying lips he commenced repeating the Lord's prayer. He had just uttered
the words “deliver us from evil,” when his spirit took its flight to the
judgment seat of Christ.
Frederic, the emperor, Duke of Styria, was now the
oldest lineal descendant of Rhodolph of Hapsburg, founder of the house of
Austria. The imperial dignity had now degenerated into almost an empty title.
The Germanic empire consisted of a few large sovereignties and a conglomeration
of petty dukedoms, principalities, and States of various names, very loosely
held together, in their heterogeneous and independent rulers and governments,
by one nominal sovereign upon whom the jealous States were willing to confer
but little real power. A writer at that time, Æneas Sylvius, addressing the Germans, says:
“Although you acknowledge the emperor for your king
and master, he possesses but a precarious sovereignty; he has no power; you
only obey him when you choose; and you are seldom inclined to obey. You are all
desirous to be free; neither the princes nor the States render to him what is
due. He has no revenue, no treasure. Hence you are involved in endless contests
and daily wars. Hence also rapine, murder, conflagrations, and a thousand evils
which arise from divided authority.”
Upon the death of Ladislaus there was a great rush and
grasping for the vacant thrones of Bohemia and Hungary, and for possession of
the rich dukedoms of Austria. After a long conflict the Austrian estates were
divided into three portions. Frederic, the emperor, took Upper Austria; his
brother Albert, who had succeeded to the Swiss estates, took Lower Austria; Sigismond, Albert's nephew, a man of great energy of
character, took Carinthia. The three occupied the palace in Vienna in joint
residence.
The energetic regent, George Podiebrad, by adroit
diplomacy succeeded, after an arduous contest, in obtaining the election by the
Bohemian nobles to the throne of Bohemia. The very day he was chosen he was
inaugurated at Prague, and though rival candidates united with the pope to
depose him, he maintained his position against them all.
Frederic, the emperor, had been quite sanguine in the
hopes of obtaining the crown of Bohemia. Bitterly disappointed there, he at
first made a show of hostile resistance; but thinking better of the matter, he
concluded to acquiesce in the elevation of Podiebrad, to secure amicable
relations with him, and to seek his aid in promotion of his efforts to obtain
the crown of Hungary. Here again the emperor failed. The nobles assembled in great
strength at Buda, and elected unanimously Matthias, the only surviving son of
the heroic Hunniades, whose memory was embalmed in
the hearts of all the Hungarians. The boy then, for he was but a boy, and was
styled contemptuously by the disappointed Frederic the boy king, entered into
an alliance with Podiebrad for mutual protection, and engaged the hand of his
daughter in marriage. Thus was the great kingdom of Austria, but recently so
powerful in the union of all the Austrian States with Bohemia and Hungary,
again divided and disintegrated. The emperor, in his vexation, foolishly sent
an army of five thousand men into Hungary, insanely hoping to take the crown by
force of arms, but he was soon compelled to relinquish the hopeless enterprise.
And now Frederic and Albert began to quarrel at
Vienna. The emperor was arrogant and domineering. Albert was irritable and
jealous. First came angry words; then the enlisting of partisans, and then all
the miseries of fierce and determined civil war. The capital was divided into
hostile factions, and the whole country was ravaged by the sweep of armies. The
populace of Vienna, espousing the cause of Albert, rose in insurrection,
pillaged the houses of the adherents of Frederic, drove Frederic, with his wife
and infant child, into the citadel, and invested the fortress. Albert placed
himself at the head of the insurgents and conducted the siege. The emperor,
though he had but two hundred men in the garrison, held out valiantly. But
famine would soon have compelled him to capitulate, had not the King of
Bohemia, with a force of thirteen thousand men, marched to his aid. Podiebrad
relieved the emperor, and secured a verbal reconciliation between the two angry
brothers, which lasted until the Bohemian forces had returned to their country,
when the feud burst out anew and with increased violence. The emperor procured
the ban of the empire against his brother, and the pope excommunicated him.
Still Albert fought fiercely, and the strife raged without intermission until
Albert suddenly died on the 4th of December, 1463.
The Turks, who, during all these years, had been
making predatory excursions along the frontiers of Hungary, now, in three
strong bands of ten thousand each, overran Serbia and Bosnia, and spread their
devastations even into the heart of Illyria, as far as the metropolitan city of Laybach. The ravages of fire and sword marked their
progress. They burnt every village, every solitary cottage, and the inhabitants
were indiscriminately slain. Frederic, the emperor, a man of but little energy,
was at his country residence at Lintz, apparently
more anxious, writes a contemporary, “to shield his plants from frost, than to
defend his domains against these barbarians.”
The bold barons of Carniola, however, rallied their vassals,
raised an army of twenty thousand men, and drove the Turks back to the
Bosphorus. But the invaders, during their unimpeded march, had slain six
thousand Christians, and they carried back with them eight thousand captives.
Again, a few years after, the Turks with a still
larger army rushed through the defiles of the Illyrian mountains upon the
plains of Carinthia. Their march was like the flow of volcanic fire. They left
behind them utter desolation, smouldering hearth-stones and fields crimsoned with blood. At length they retired of their
own accord, dragging after them twenty thousand captives. During a period of
twenty-seven years, under the imbecile reign of Frederic, the very heart of
Europe was twelve times scourged by the inroads of these savages. No tongue can
tell the woes which were inflicted upon humanity. Existence, to the masses of
the people, in that day, must indeed have been a curse. Ground to the very
lowest depths of poverty by the exactions of ecclesiastics and nobles, in rags,
starving, with no social or intellectual joys, they might indeed have envied
the beasts of the field.
The conduct of Frederic seems to be marked with
increasing treachery and perfidy. Jealous of the growing power of George
Podiebrad, he instigated Matthias, King of Hungary, to make war upon Bohemia,
promising Matthias the Bohemian crown. Infamously the King of Hungary accepted
the bribe, and raising a powerful army, invaded Bohemia, to wrest the crown
from his father-in-law. His armies were pressing on so victoriously, in
conjunction with those of Frederic, that the emperor was now alarmed lest
Matthias, uniting the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, should become too
powerful. He therefore not only abandoned him, but stirred up an insurrection
among the Hungarian nobles, which compelled Matthias to abandon Bohemia and
return home.
Matthias, having quelled the insurrection, was so
enraged with the emperor, that he declared war against him, and immediately
invaded Austria. The emperor was now so distrusted that he could not find a
single ally. Austria alone was no match for Hungary. Matthias overran all Lower
Austria, took all the fortresses upon the Danube, and invested Vienna. The
emperor fled in dismay to Lintz, and was obliged to
purchase an ignominious peace by an immense sum of money, all of which was of
course to be extorted by taxes on the miserable and starving peasantry.
Poland, Bohemia and the Turks, now all pounced upon
Hungary, and Frederic, deeming this a providential indication that Hungary
could not enforce the fulfillment of the treaty, refused to pay the money.
Matthias, greatly exasperated, made the best terms he could with Poland, and
again led his armies in Austria. For four years the warfare raged fiercely,
when all Lower Austria, including the capital, was in the hands of Matthias,
and the emperor was driven from his hereditary domains; and, accompanied by a
few followers, he wandered a fugitive from city to city, from convent to
convent, seeking aid from all, but finding none.
CHAPTER V.
THE EMPERORS FREDERIC II AND MAXIMILIAN I.
From 1477 to 1500.
Adversity only developed more fully the weak and
ignoble character of Frederic. He wandered about, recognized Emperor of
Germany, but a fugitive from his own Austrian estates, occasionally
encountering pity, but never sympathy or respect. Matthias professed his
readiness to surrender Austria back to Frederic so soon as he would
fulfill the treaty by paying the stipulated money. Frederic was accompanied in
his wanderings by his son Maximilian, a remarkably elegant
lad, fourteen years of age. They came to the court of the powerful
Duke of Burgundy. The dukedom extended over wide realms, populous and opulent,
and the duke had the power of a sovereign but not the regal title. He was
ambitious of elevating his dukedom into a kingdom and of being crowned king;
and he agreed to give his only daughter and heiress, Mary, a beautiful and
accomplished girl, to the emperor's son Maximilian, if Frederic would confer
upon his estates the regal dignity and crown him king. The bargain was made,
and Maximilian and Mary both were delighted, for they regarded each other with
all the warmth of young lovers. Mary, heiress to the dukedom of Burgundy, was a
prize which any monarch might covet; and half the princes of Europe were
striving for her hand.
But now came a new difficulty. Neither the
emperor nor duke had the slightest confidence in each other. The King of
France, who had hoped to obtain the hand of Mary for his son the dauphin,
caused the suspicion to be whispered into the ear of Frederic that the Duke of
Burgundy sought the kingly crown only as the first step to the imperial crown;
and that so soon as the dukedom was elevated into a kingdom, Charles, the Duke
of Burgundy, would avail himself of his increased power, to dethrone Frederic
and grasp the crown of Germany. This was probably all true. Charles, fully
understanding the perfidious nature of Frederic, did not dare to solemnize the
marriage until he first should be crowned. Frederic, on the other hand, did not
dare to crown the duke until the marriage was solemnized, for he had no
confidence that the duke, after having attained the regal dignity, would
fulfill his pledge.
Charles was for hurrying the coronation, Frederic for
pushing the marriage. A magnificent throne was erected in the cathedral at
Treves, and preparations were making on the grandest scale for the coronation
solemnities, when Frederic, who did not like to tell the duke plumply to his
face that he was fearful of being cheated, extricated himself from his
embarrassment by feigning important business which called him suddenly to
Cologne. A scene of petty and disgraceful intrigues ensued between the
exasperated duke and emperor, and there were the marching and the countermarching
of hostile bands and the usual miseries of war, until the death of Duke Charles
at the battle of Nancy on the 5th of January, 1477.
The King of France now made a desperate endeavor to
obtain the hand of Mary for his son. One of the novel acts of this imperial
courtship was to send an army into Burgundy, which wrested a large portion of
Mary's dominions from her, which the king, Louis XI., refused to surrender
unless Mary would marry his son. Many of her nobles urged the claims of France.
But love in the heart of Mary was stronger than political expediency, and more
persuasive than the entreaties of her nobles. To relieve herself from
importunity, she was hurriedly married, three months after the death of her
father, by proxy to Maximilian.
In August the young prince, but eighteen years of age,
with a splendid retinue, made his public entry into Ghent. His commanding
person and the elegance of his manners attracted universal admiration. His
subjects rallied with enthusiasm around him, and, guided by his prowess, in a
continued warfare of five years, drove the invading French from their
territories. But death, the goal to which everyone tends, was suddenly and
unexpectedly reached by Mary. She died the 7th of August, 1479, leaving two
infant children, Philip and Margaret.
The Emperor Frederic also succeeded, by diplomatic
cunning, in convening the diet of electors and choosing Maximilian as his
successor to the imperial throne. Frederic and Maximilian now united in the
endeavor to recover Austria from the King of Hungary. The German princes,
however, notwithstanding the summons of the emperor, refused to take any part
in the private quarrels of Austria, and thus the battle would have to be fought
between the troops of Maximilian and of Matthias. Maximilian prudently decided
that it would be better to purchase the redemption of the territory with money
than with blood. The affair was in negotiation when Matthias was taken sick and
died the 15th of July, 1490. He left no heir, and the Hungarian nobles chose Ladislaus,
King of Bohemia, to succeed him. Maximilian had been confident of obtaining the
crown of Hungary. Exasperated by the disappointment, he relinquished all idea
of purchasing his patrimonial estates, but making a sudden rush with his troops
upon the Hungarians he drove them out of Austria, and pursued them far over the
frontiers of Hungary. Ladislaus, the new King of Hungary, now listened to terms
of peace. A singular treaty was made. The Bohemian king was to retain the crown
of Hungary, officiating as reigning monarch, while Maximilian was to have the
title of King of Hungary. Ladislaus relinquished all claim to the Austrian
territories, and paid a large sum of money as indemnity for the war.
Thus Austria again comes into independent existence,
to watch amidst the tumult and strife of Europe for opportunities to enlarge
her territories and increase her power. Maximilian was a prince, energetic and
brave, who would not allow any opportunity to escape him. In those dark days of
violence and of blood, every petty quarrel was settled by the sword. All over
Germany the clash of steel against steel was ever resounding. Not only kings
and dukes engaged in wars, but the most insignificant baron would gather his
few retainers around him and declare formal war against the occupant of the
adjacent castle. The spirit of chivalry, so called, was so rampant that private
individuals would send a challenge to the emperor. Contemporary writers record
many curious specimens of these declarations of war. The Lord of Praunstein declared war against the city of Frankfort,
because a young lady of that city refused to dance with his uncle at a ball.
Frederic was now suffering from the infirmities of
age. Surrendering the administration of affairs, both in Austria and over the
estates of the empire, to Maximilian, he retired, with his wife and three young
daughters, to Linz, where he devoted himself, at the close of his long and
turbulent reign, to the peaceful pursuits of rural life. A cancerous affection
of the leg rendered it necessary for him to submit to the amputation of the
limb. He submitted to the painful operation with the greatest fortitude, and
taking up his severed limb, with his accustomed phlegm remarked to those
standing by, “What difference is there between an emperor and a peasant? Or
rather, is not a sound peasant better than a sick emperor? Yet I hope to enjoy
the greatest good which can happen to man—a happy exit from this transitory
life.”
The shock of a second amputation, which from the
vitiated state of his blood seemed necessary, was too great for his enfeebled
frame to bear. He died August 19th, 1493, seventy-eight years of age, and after
a reign of fifty-three years. He was what would be called, in these days, an
ultra-temperance man, never drinking even wine, and expressing ever the
strongest abhorrence of alcoholic drinks, calling them the parent of all vices.
He seems to have anticipated the future greatness of Austria; for he had
imprinted upon all his books, engraved upon his plate and carved into the walls
of his palace a mysterious species of anagram composed of the five vowels, A,
E, I, O, U.
The significance of this great secret no one could
obtain from him. It of course excited great curiosity, as it everywhere met the
eye of the public. After his death the riddle was solved by finding among his
papers the following interpretation—
Austri Est Imperare Orbi Universo.
Austria Is To govern The world Universal.
Maximilian, in the prime of manhood, energetic,
ambitious, and invested with the imperial dignity, now assumed the government
of the Austrian States. The prospect of greatness was brilliant before
Maximilian. The crowns of Bohemia and Hungary were united in the person of
Ladislaus, who was without children. As Maximilian already enjoyed the title of
King of Hungary, no one enjoyed so good a chance as he of securing both of
those crowns so soon as they should fall from the brow of Ladislaus.
Europe was still trembling before the threatening sword
of the Turk. Mahomet II, having annihilated the Greek empire, and consolidated
his vast power, and checked in his career by the warlike barons of Hungary, now
cast a lustful eye across the Adriatic to the shores of Italy. He crossed the
sea, landed a powerful army and established twenty thousand men, strongly
garrisoned, at Otranto, and supplied with provisions for a year. All Italy was
in consternation, for a passage was now open directly from Turkey to Naples and
Rome. Mahomet boasted that he would soon feed his horse on the altar of St.
Peter's. The pope, Sextus IV, in dismay, was about abandoning Rome, and as
there was no hope of uniting the discordant States of Italy in any effectual
resistance, it seemed inevitable that Italy, like Greece, would soon become a
Turkish province. And where then could it be hoped that the ravages of the
Turks would be arrested?
In this crisis, so alarming, Providence interposed,
and the sudden death of Mahomet, in the vigor of his pride and ambition, averted
the danger. Bajazet II succeeded to the Moslem
throne, an indolent and imbecile sultan. Insurrection in his own dominions
exhausted all his feeble energies. The Neapolitans, encouraged, raised an army,
recovered Otranto, and drove the Turks out of Italy. Troubles in the Turkish
dominions now gave Christendom a short respite, as all the strength of the
sultan was required to subjugate insurgent Circassia and Egypt.
Though the Emperor of Germany was esteemed the first
sovereign in Europe, and, on state occasions, was served by kings and electors,
he had in reality but little power. The kings who formed his retinue
on occasions of ceremonial pomp, were often vastly his superiors in wealth and
power. Frequently he possessed no territory of his own, not even a
castle, but depended upon the uncertain aids reluctantly granted by the diet.
Gunpowder was now coming into use as one of the most
efficient engines of destruction, and was working great changes in the science
of war. It became necessary to have troops drilled to the use of cannon and
muskets. The baron could no longer summon his vassals, at the moment, to
abandon the plow, and seize pike and saber for battle, where the strong arm
only was needed. Disciplined troops were needed, who could sweep the field with
well-aimed bullets, and crumble walls with shot and shells. This led to the
establishment of standing armies, and gave the great powers an immense
advantage over their weaker neighbors. The invention of printing, also, which
began to be operative about the middle of the fifteenth century, rapidly
changed, by the diffusion of intelligence, the state of society, hitherto so
barbarous. The learned men of Greece, driven from their country by the Turkish
invasion, were scattered over Europe, and contributed not a little to the
extension of the love of letters. The discovery of the mariner's compass and
improvements in nautical astronomy, also opened new sources of knowledge and of
wealth, and the human mind all over Europe commenced a new start in the career
of civilization. Men of letters began to share in those honors which heretofore
had belonged exclusively to men of war; and the arts of peace began to claim
consideration with those who had been accustomed to respect only the science of
destruction.
Maximilian was at Innsbruck when he received
intelligence of the death of his father. He commenced his reign with an act of
rigor which was characteristic of his whole career. A horde of Turks had
penetrated Styria and Carniola, laying everything waste before them
as far as Carniola. Maximilian, sounding the alarm, inspired his countrymen
with the same energy which animated his own breast. Fifteen thousand men
rallied at the blast of his bugles. Instead of entrusting the command of them
to his generals, he placed himself at their head, and made so fierce an onset
upon the invaders, that they precipitately fled. Maximilian returned at the
head of his troops triumphant to Vienna, where he was received with
acclamations such as had seldom resounded in the metropolis. He was hailed as
the deliverer of his country, and at once rose to the highest position in the
esteem and affection of the Austrians.
Maximilian had encountered innumerable difficulties in
Burgundy, and was not unwilling to escape from the vexations and cares of that
distant dukedom, by surrendering its government to his son Philip, who was now
sixteen years of age, and whom the Burgundians claimed to be their ruler as the
heir of Mary. The Swiss estates were also sundered from Austrian dominion, and,
uniting with the Swiss confederacy, were no longer subject to the house of
Hapsburg. Thus Maximilian had the Austrian estates upon the Danube only, as the
nucleus of the empire he was ambitious of establishing.
Conscious of his power, and rejoicing in the imperial
title, he had no idea of playing an obscure part on the conspicuous stage of
European affairs. With an eagle eye he watched the condition of the empire, and
no less eagerly did he fix his eye upon the movements of those great southern
powers, now becoming consolidated into kingdoms and empires, and marshaling
armies which threatened again to bring all Europe under a dominion as wide and
despotic as that of Rome.
Charles VIII, King of France, crossed the Alps with an
army of twenty-two thousand men, in the highest state of discipline, and armed
with all the modern enginery of war. With ease he subjugated Tuscany, and in a
triumphant march through Pisa and Siena, entered Rome as a conqueror. It was
the 31st of December, 1394, when Charles, by torchlight, at the head of his
exultant troops, entered the eternal city. The pope threw himself into the
castle of St. Angelo, but was soon compelled to capitulate and to resign all
his fortresses to the conqueror. Charles then continued his march to Naples,
which he reached on the 22d of February. He overran and subjugated the
whole kingdom, and, having consolidated his conquest, entered Naples
on a white steed, beneath imperial banners, and arrogantly assumed the title of
King of Naples, Sicily and Jerusalem. Alphonso, King of Naples, in despair,
abdicated in favor of his son, Ferdinand; and Ferdinand, unable to oppose any
effectual resistance, abandoned his kingdom to the conqueror, and fled to the
island of Ischia.
These alarming aggressions on the part of France,
already very powerful, excited general consternation throughout Europe.
Maximilian, as emperor, was highly incensed, and roused all his energies to
check the progress of so dangerous a rival. The Austrian States alone could by
no means cope with the kingdom of France. Maximilian sent agents to the pope,
to the Dukes of Milan and Florence, and to the King of Arragon,
and formed a secret league to expel the French from Italy, and restore
Ferdinand to Naples. It was understood that the strength of France was such,
that this enterprise could only be achieved through a long war, and that the
allies must continue united to prevent France, when once expelled from Italy,
from renewing her aggressions. The league was to continue twenty-two years. The
pope was to furnish six thousand men, and the other Italian States twelve
thousand. Maximilian promised to furnish nine thousand. Venice granted the
troops of the emperor a free passage through her dominions.
These important first steps being thus taken secretly
and securely, the emperor summoned a diet of Germany to enlist the States of
the empire in the enterprise. This was the most difficult task, and yet nothing
could be accomplished without the cooperation of Germany. But the Germanic
States, loosely held together, jealous of each other, each grasping solely at
its own aggrandizement, reluctantly delegating any power to the emperor, were
slow to promise cooperation in any general enterprise, and having promised,
were still slower to perform. The emperor had no power to enforce the
fulfillment of agreements, and could only supplicate. During the long reign of
Frederic the imperial dignity had lapsed more and more into an empty title; and
Maximilian had an arduous task before him in securing even respectful attention
to his demands. He was fully aware of the difficulties, and made arrangements
accordingly.
The memorable diet was summoned at Worms, on the 26th
of May, 1496. The emperor had succeeded, by great exertion, in assembling a
more numerous concourse of the princes and nobles of the empire than had ever
met on a similar occasion. He presided in person, and in a long and earnest
address endeavored to rouse the empire to a sense of its own dignity and its
own high mission as the regulator of the affairs of Europe. He spoke earnestly
of their duty to combine and chastise the insolence of the Turks; but waiving
that for the present moment, he unfolded to them the danger to which Europe was
immediately and imminently exposed by the encroachments of France. To add to
the force of his words, he introduced ambassadors from the King of Naples, who
informed the assembly of the conquests of the French, of their haughty bearing,
and implored the aid of the diet to repel the invaders. The Duke of Milan was
then presented, and, as a member of the empire, he implored as a favor and
claimed as a right, the armies of the empire for the salvation of his duchy.
And then the legate of the pope, in the robes of the Church, and speaking in
the name of the Holy Father to his children, pathetically described the
indignities to which the pope had been exposed, driven from his palace,
bombarded in the fortress to which he had retreated, compelled to capitulate
and leave his kingdom in the hands of the enemy; he expatiated upon the impiety
of the French troops, the sacrilegious horrors of which they had been guilty,
and in tones of eloquence hardly surpassed by Peter the Hermit, strove to rouse
them to a crusade for the rescue of the pope and his sacred possessions.
Maximilian had now exhausted all his powers of
persuasion. He had done apparently enough to rouse every heart to intensest action. But the diet listened coldly to all these
appeals, and then in substance replied, “We admit the necessity of checking the
incursions of the Turks; we admit that it is important to check the progress of
the French. But our first duty is to secure peace in Germany. The States of the
empire are embroiled in incessant wars with each other. All attempts to prevent
these private wars between the States of the empire have hitherto failed.
Before we can vote money and men for any foreign enterprise whatever, we must
secure internal tranquillity. This can only be done
by establishing a supreme tribunal, supported by a power which can enforce its
decisions.”
These views were so manifestly judicious, that
Maximilian assented to them, and, anxious to lose no time in raising troops to
expel the French from Italy, he set immediately about the organization of an
imperial tribunal to regulate the internal affairs of the empire. A court was
created called the Imperial Chamber. It was composed of a president and sixteen
judges, half of whom were taken from the army, and half from the class of
scholars. To secure impartiality, the judges held their office for life. A
majority of suffrages decided a question and in case of a tie, the president
gave a casting vote. The emperor reserved the right of deciding certain
questions himself. This court gradually became one of the most important and
salutary institutions of the German empire.
By the 7th of August these important measures were
arranged. Maximilian had made great concessions of his imperial dignity in
transferring so much of his nominal power to the Imperial Chamber, and he was
now sanguine that the States would vote him the supplies which were needed to
expel the French from Italy, or, in more honest words, to win for the empire in
Italy that ascendency which France had attained. But bitter indeed was his
disappointment. After long deliberation and vexatious delays, the diet voted a
ridiculous sum, less than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, to raise an
army "sufficient to check the progress of the French." One third of
this sum Maximilian was to raise from his Austrian States; the
remaining two thirds he was permitted to obtain by a loan. Four years were to
be allowed for raising the money, and the emperor, as a condition for the
reception of even this miserable boon, was required to pledge his word of honor
that at the expiration of the four years he would raise no more. And even these
hundred and fifty thousand dollars were to be entrusted to seven treasurers, to
be administered according to their discretion. One only of these treasurers was
to be chosen by the emperor, and the other six by the diet.
Deeply chagrined by this result, Maximilian was able
to raise only three thousand men, instead of the nine thousand which he had
promised the league. Charles VIII., informed of the formidable coalition
combining against him, and not aware of the feeble resources of the emperor,
apprehensive that the armies of Germany, marching down and uniting with the
roused States of Italy, might cut off his retreat and overwhelm him, decided that
the "better part of courage is discretion;" and he accordingly
abandoned his conquests, recrossed the Apennines, fought his backward path
through Italy, and returned to France. He, however, left behind him six
thousand men strongly entrenched, to await his return with a new and more
powerful armament.
Maximilian now resolved chivalrously to throw himself
into Italy, and endeavor to rouse the Italians themselves to resist the
threatened invasion, trusting that the diet of Germany, when they should see
him struggling against the hosts of France, would send troops to his aid. With
five hundred horse, and about a thousand foot soldiers, he crossed the
Alps. Here he learned that for some unknown reason Charles had postponed his
expedition. Recoiling from the ridicule attending a quixotic and useless
adventure, he hunted around for some time to find some heroic achievement which
would redeem his name from reproach, when, thwarted in every
thing, he returned to Austria, chagrined and humiliated.
Thus frustrated in all his attempts to gain ascendency
in Italy, Maximilian turned his eyes to the Swiss estates of the house of
Hapsburg, now sundered from the Austrian territories. He made a vigorous
effort, first by diplomacy, then by force of arms, to regain them. Here again
he was frustrated, and was compelled to enter into a capitulation by which he
acknowledged the independence of the Helvetic States, and their permanent
severance from Austrian jurisdiction.
In April, 1498, Charles VIII died, and Louis XII
succeeded him on the throne of France. Louis immediately made preparations for
a new invasion of Italy. In those miserable days of violence and blood, almost
any prince was ready to embark in war under anybody's banner, where there was
the least prospect of personal aggrandizement. The question of right
or wrong, seemed seldom to enter any one's mind. Louis fixed his eyes
upon the duchy of Milan as the richest and most available prize within his
grasp. Conscious that he would meet with much opposition, he looked around for
allies.
“If you will aid me,” he said to Pope Alexander VI, “I
will assist you in your war against the Duke of Romagna. I will give your son,
Caesar Borgia, a pension of two thousand dollars a year, will confer upon him
an important command in my army, and will procure for him a marriage with a
princess of the royal house of Navarre.”
The holy father could not resist this bribe,
and eagerly joined the robber king in his foray. To Venice Louis said—
“If you will unite with me, I will assist you in
annexing to your domains the city of Cremona, and the Ghiaradadda.”
Lured by such hopes of plunder, Venice was as eager as the pope to take a share
in the piratic expedition. Louis then sent to the court of Turin, and offered
them large sums of money and increased territory, if they would allow him a
free passage across the Alps. Turin bowed obsequiously, and grasped at the easy
bargain. To Florence he said, “If you raise a hand to assist the Duke of Milan,
I will crush you. If you remain quiet, I will leave you unharmed.” Florence,
overawed, remained as meek as a lamb. The diplomacy being thus successfully
closed, an army of twenty-two thousand men was put in vigorous motion in July,
1499. They crossed the Alps, fought a few battles, in which, with overpowering
numbers, they easily conquered their opposers, and in twenty days were in
possession of Milan. The Duke Ludovico with difficulty escaped. With a few
followers he threaded the defiles of the Tyrolese mountains, and hastened
to Innsbruck, the capital of Tyrol, where Maximilian then was, to whom he
conveyed the first tidings of his disaster. Louis XII followed after his
triumphant army, and on the 6th of October made a triumphal entry into the
captured city, and was inaugurated Duke of Milan.
Maximilian promised assistance, but could raise
neither money nor men. Ludovico, however, succeeded in hiring fifteen hundred
Burgundian horsemen, and eight thousand Swiss mercenaries—for in those ages of
ignorance and crime all men were ready, for pay, to fight in any cause—and
emerging from the mountains upon the plains of Milan, found all his former
subjects disgusted with the French, and eager to rally under his banners. His
army increased at every step. He fell fiercely upon the invaders, routed them
everywhere, drove them from the duchy, and recovered his country and his
capital as rapidly as he had lost them. One fortress only the French
maintained. The intrepid Chevalier De Bayard, the knight without fear and without
reproach, threw himself into the citadel of Novarra,
and held out against all the efforts of Ludovico, awaiting the succor which he
was sure would come from his powerful sovereign the King of France.
CHAPTER VI
MAXIMILIAN I.
From 1500 to 1519.
Louis XII, stung by the disgrace of his speedy
expulsion from Milan, immediately raised another army of five thousand horse
and fifteen thousand foot to recover his lost plunder. He also sent to
Switzerland to hire troops, and without difficulty engaged ten thousand men to
meet, on the plains of Milan, the six thousand of their brethren whom Ludovico
had hired, to hew each other to pieces for the miserable pittance of a few
pennies a day. But Louis XII was as great in diplomacy as in war. He sent
secret emissaries to the Swiss in the camp of Ludovico, offering them larger
wages if they would abandon the service of Ludovico and return home. They
promptly closed the bargain, unfurled the banner of mutiny, and informed the
Duke of Milan that they could not, in conscience, fight against their own
brethren. The duke was in despair. He plead even with tears that they would not
abandon him. All was in vain. They not only commenced
their march home, but basely betrayed the duke to the French. He was
taken prisoner by Louis, carried to France and for five years was kept in
rigorous confinement in the strong fortresses of the kingdom. Afterward,
through the intercession of Maximilian, he was allowed a little more freedom.
He was, however, kept in captivity until he died in the year 1510. Ludovico
merits no commiseration. He was as perfidious and unprincipled as any of his
assailants could be.
The reconquest of Milan by Louis, and the capture of
Ludovico, alarmed Maximilian and roused him to new efforts. He again summoned
the States of the empire and implored their cooperation to resist the
aggressions of France. But he was as unsuccessful as in his previous endeavors.
Louis watched anxiously the movements of the German diet, and finding that he
had nothing to fear from the troops of the empire, having secured the
investiture of Milan, prepared for the invasion of Naples. The venal pope was
easily bought over. Even Ferdinand, the King of Aragon, was induced to loan his
connivance to a plan for robbing a near relative of his crown, by the promise
of sharing in the spoil. A treaty of partition was entered into by the two
robber kings, by which Ferdinand of Aragon was to receive Calabria and Apulia,
and the King of France the remaining States of the Neapolitan kingdom. The pope
was confidentially informed of this secret plot, which was arranged at Grenada,
and promised the plunderers his benediction, in consideration of the abundant
reward promised to him.
The doom of the King of Naples was now sealed. All
unconscious that his own relative, Ferdinand of Aragon, was conspiring against
him, he appealed to Ferdinand for aid against the King of France. The
perfidious king considered this as quite a providential interposition in his
favor. He affected great zeal for the King of Naples, sent a powerful army into
his kingdom, and stationed his troops in the important fortresses. The infamous
fraud was now accomplished. Frederic of Naples, to his dismay, found that he
had been placing his empire in the hands of his enemies instead of friends; at
the same time the troops of Louis arrived at Rome, where they were cordially
received; and the pope immediately, on the 25th of June, 1501, issued a bull
deposing Frederic from his kingdom, and, by virtue of that spiritual authority
which he derived from the Apostle Peter, invested Louis and Ferdinand with the
dominions of Frederic. Few men are more to be commiserated than a crownless
king. Frederic, in his despair, threw himself upon the clemency of Louis. He
was taken to France and was there fed and clothed by the royal bounty.
Maximilian impatiently watched the events from his
home in Austria, and burned with the desire to take a more active part in these
stirring scenes. Despairing, however, to rouse the German States to any
effectual intervention in the affairs of southern Europe, he now endeavored to
rouse the enthusiasm of the German nobles against the Turks. In this, by
appealing to superstition, he was somewhat successful. He addressed the
following circular letter to the German States:
“A stone, weighing two hundred pounds, recently fell
from heaven, near the army under my command in Upper Alsace, and I caused it,
as a fatal warning from God to men, to be hung up in the neighboring church of Encisheim. In vain I myself explained to all Christian
kings the signification of this mysterious stone. The Almighty punished the
neglect of this warning with a dreadful scourge, from which thousands have
suffered death, or pains worse than death. But since this punishment of the
abominable sins of men has produced no effect, God has imprinted in a
miraculous manner the sign of the cross, and the instruments of our Lord's
passion in dark and bloody colors, on the bodies and garments of thousands. The
appearance of these signs in Germany, in particular, does not indeed denote
that the Germans have been peculiarly distinguished in guilt, but rather that
they should set the example to the rest of the world, by being the first to
undertake a crusade against the infidels.”
For a time Maximilian seemed quite encouraged, for
quite a wave of religious enthusiasm seemed to roll over Europe. All the
energies of the pope were apparently enlisted, and he raised, through all the
domains of the Church, large sums of money for the holy enterprise of driving
the invading infidels out of Europe. England and France both proffered their
co-operation, and England, opening her inexhaustible purse, presented a subsidy
of ten thousand pounds. The German nobles rallied in large numbers under the
banner of the cross. But disappointment seemed to be the doom of the emperor.
The King of France sent no aid. The pope, iniquitously squandered all the money
he had raised upon his infamous, dissolute son, Caesar Borgia. And the emperor
himself was drawn into a war with Bavaria, to settle the right of succession
between two rival claimants. The settlement of the question devolved upon
Maximilian as emperor, and his dignity was involved in securing respect for his
decision. Thus the whole gorgeous plan of a war against the Turks, such as
Europe had never beheld, vanished into thin air, and Maximilian was found at
the head of fourteen thousand infantry, and twelve thousand horse, engaged
in a quarrel in the heart of Germany. In this war Maximilian was successful,
and he rewarded himself by annexing to Austria several small provinces, the sum
total of which quite enlarged his small domains.
By this time the kings of France and Spain were
fiercely fighting over their conquest of Naples and Sicily, each striving to
grasp the lion's share. Maximilian thought his interests would be promoted by
aiding the Spaniards, and he accordingly sent three thousand men to Trieste,
where they embarked, and sailing down the Adriatic, united with the Spanish
troops. The French were driven out of Italy. There then ensued, for several
years, wars and intrigues in which France, Spain, Italy and Austria were
involved; all alike selfish and grasping. Armies were ever moving to and fro, and the people of Europe, by the victories of kings
and nobles, were kept in a condition of misery. No one seemed ever to think of
their rights or their happiness.
Various circumstances had exasperated Maximilian very
much against the Venetians. All the powers of Europe were then ready to combine
against any other power whatever, if there was a chance of obtaining any share
in the division of the plunder. Maximilian found no difficulty in secretly
forming one of the most formidable leagues history had then recorded, the
celebrated league of Cambray. No sympathy need be
wasted upon the Venetians, the victims of this coalition, for they had rendered
themselves universally detestable by their arrogance, rapacity, perfidy and
pride. France joined the coalition, and, in view of her power, was to receive a
lion's share of the prey—the provinces of Brescia, Bergamo, Cremona, and the Ghiradadda. The King of Aragon was to send ships and
troops, and receive his pay in the maritime towns on the shores of the
Adriatic. The pope, Julius II., the most grasping, perfidious and selfish of
them all, demanded Ravenna, Cervia, Faenza, Rimini, Immola and Cesena. His exorbitant claims were assented to,
as it was infinitely important that the piratic expedition should be sanctioned
by the blessing of the Church. Maximilian was to receive, in addition to some
territories which Venice had wrested from him, Roveredo,
Verona, Padua, Vicenza, Trevigi, and the Friuli. As
Maximilian was bound by a truce with Venice, and as in those days of chivalry
some little regard was to be paid to one's word of honor, Maximilian was only to
march at the summons of the pope, which no true son of the Church, under any
circumstances, was at liberty to disobey. Sundry other minor dukes and princes
were engaged in the plot, who were also to receive a proportionate share of the
spoil.
After these arrangements were all completed,
the holy father, with characteristic infamy, made private overtures to the
Venetians, revealing to them the whole plot, and offering to withdraw from the
confederacy and thwart all its plans, if Venice would pay more as the reward of
perfidy than Rome could hope to acquire by force of arms. The haughty republic
rejected the infamous proposal, and prepared for a desperate defense.
All the powers of the confederacy were now collecting
their troops. But Maximilian was dependent upon the German diet for his ability
to fulfill his part of the contract. He assembled the diet at Worms on the 21st
of April, 1509, presented to them the plan of the league, and solicited their
support. The diet refused to cooperate, and hardly affecting even the forms of
respect, couched its refusal in terms of stinging rebuke.
“We are tired,” they said, “of these innumerable calls
for troops and money. We cannot support the burden of these frequent diets,
involving the expense of long journeys, and we are weary of expeditions and
wars. If the emperor enters into treaties with France and the pope without
consulting us, it is his concern and not ours, and we are not bound to aid him
to fulfill his agreement. And even if we were to vote the succors which are now
asked of us, we should only be involved in embarrassment and disgrace, as we
have been by the previous enterprises of the emperor.”
Such, in brief, was the response of the diet. It drew
from the emperor a long defense of his conduct, which he called an Apology,
and which is considered one of the most curious and characteristic documents of
those days. He made no attempt to conceal his vexation, but assailed them in
strong language of reproach.
“I have concluded a treaty with my allies,” he wrote, “in
conformity to the dictates of conscience and duty, and for the honor, glory and
happiness of the empire and of Christendom. The negotiation could not be
postponed, and if I had convoked a diet to demand the advice of the States, the
treaty would never have been concluded. I was under the necessity of concealing
the project of the combined powers, that we might fall on the Venetians at once
and unexpectedly, which could not have been effected in the midst of public
deliberations and endless discussions; and I have, I trust, clearly proved,
both in my public and my private communications, the advantage which is likely
to result from this union. If the aids hitherto granted by diets have produced
nothing but disgrace and dishonor, I am not to blame, but the States who acted
so scandalously in granting their succors with so much reluctance and delay. As
for myself, I have, on the contrary, exposed my treasure, my countries, my
subjects and my life, while the generality of the German States have remained
in dishonorable tranquillity at home. I have more
reason to complain of you than you of me; for you have constantly refused me
your approbation and assistance; and even when you have granted succors, you
have rendered them fruitless by the scantiness and tardiness of your supplies,
and compelled me to dissipate my own revenues, and injure my own subjects.”
Of course these bitter recriminations accomplished
nothing in changing the action of the diet, and Maximilian was thrown upon the
Austrian States alone for supplies. Louis of France, at the head of seventeen
thousand troops, crossed the Alps. The pope fulminated a bull of
excommunication against the Venetians, and sent an army of ten thousand men.
The Duke of Ferrara and the Marquis of Mantua sent their contingents.
Maximilian, by great exertions, sent a few battalions through the mountains of
the Tyrol, and was preparing to follow with stronger forces. Province after
province fell before the resistless invaders, and Venice would have fallen irretrievably
had not the conquerors began to quarrel among themselves. The pope, in
secret treaty, was endeavoring to secure his private interests, regardless of
the interests of the allies. Louis, from some pique, withdrew his forces, and
abandoned Maximilian in the hour of peril, and the emperor, shackled by want of
money, and having but a feeble force, was quite unable to make progress alone
against the Venetian troops.
It does not seem to be the will of Providence that the
plots of unprincipled men, even against men as bad as themselves, should be
more than transiently prosperous. Maximilian, thus again utterly thwarted in
one of his most magnificent plans, covered with disgrace, and irritated almost
beyond endurance, after attempting in vain to negotiate a truce with the
Venetians, was compelled to retreat across the Alps, inveighing bitterly
against the perfidious refusal to fulfill a perfidious agreement.
The holy father, Julius II, outwitted all his
accomplices. He secured from Venice very valuable accessions of territory, and
then, recalling his ecclesiastical denunciations, united with Venice to drive
the barbarians, as he affectionately called his French and German allies, out
of Italy. Maximilian returned to Austria as in a funeral march, ventured to
summon another diet, told them how shamefully he had been treated by France,
Venice and the pope, and again implored them to do something to help him.
Perseverance is surely the most efficient of virtues. Incredible as it may
seem, the emperor now obtained some little success. The diet, indignant at the
conduct of the pope, and alarmed at so formidable a union as that between
the papal States and Venice, voted a succor of six thousand infantry
and eighteen hundred horse. This encouraged the emperor, and forgetting his
quarrel with Louis XII of France, in the stronger passion of personal
aggrandizement which influenced him, he entered into another alliance with
Louis against the pope and Venice, and then made a still stronger and a
religious appeal to Germany for aid. A certain class of politicians in all
countries and in all ages, have occasionally expressed great
solicitude for the reputation of religion.
“The power and government of the pope,” the emperor
proclaimed, “which ought to be an example to the faithful, present, on the
contrary, nothing but trouble and disorder. The enormous sums daily extorted
from Germany, are perverted to the purposes of luxury or worldly views, instead
of being employed for the service of God, or against the infidels. As Emperor
of Germany, as advocate and protector of the Christian Church, it is my duty to
examine into such irregularities, and exert all my efforts for the glory of God
and the advantage of the empire; and as there is an evident necessity to
reestablish due order and decency, both in the ecclesiastical and temporal
state, I have resolved to call a general council, without which nothing
permanent can be effected.”
It is said that Maximilian was now so confident of
success, that he had decided to divide Italy between himself and France. He was
to take Venice and the States of the Church, and France was to have the rest.
Pope Julius was to be deposed, and to be succeeded by Pope Maximilian. The
following letter from Maximilian to his daughter, reveals his
ambitious views at the time. It is dated the 18th of September, 1511.
“Tomorrow I shall send the Bishop of Guzk to the pope at Rome, to conclude an agreement with him
that I may be appointed his coadjutor, and on his death succeed to the papacy,
and become a priest, and afterwards a saint, that you may be bound to worship
me, of which I shall be very proud. I have written on this subject to the King
of Aragon, entreating him to favor my undertaking, and he has promised me his
assistance, provided I resign my imperial crown to my grandson Charles, which I
am very ready to do. The people and nobles of Rome have offered to support me
against the French and Spanish party. They can muster twenty thousand
combatants, and have sent me word that they are inclined to favor my scheme of
being pope, and will not consent to have either a Frenchman, a
Spaniard or a Venetian. I have already began to sound the cardinals,
and, for that purpose, two or three hundred thousand ducats would be of great
service to me, as their partiality to me is very great. The King of Arragon has ordered his ambassadors to assure me that he
will command the Spanish cardinals to favor my pretensions to the papacy. I
entreat you to keep this matter secret for the present, though I am afraid it
will soon be known, for it is impossible to carry on a business secretly for
which it is necessary to gain over so many persons, and to have so much money.
Adieu. Written with the hand of your dear father Maximilian, future
pope. The pope’s fever has increased, and he cannot live long.”
It is painful to follow out the windings of intrigue
and the labyrinths of guile, where selfishness seemed to actuate every heart,
and where all alike seem destitute of any principle of Christian integrity. Bad
as the world is now, and selfish as political aspirants are now, humanity has
made immense progress since that dark age of superstition, fraud and violence.
After many victories and many defeats, after innumerable fluctuations of guile,
Maximilian accepted a bribe, and withdrew his forces, and the King of France
was summoned home by the invasion of his own territories by the King of Aragon
and Henry VIII. of England, who, for a suitable consideration, had
been induced to join Venice and the pope. At the end of this long campaign of
diplomacy, perfidy and blood, in which misery had rioted through ten thousand
cottages, whose inhabitants the warriors regarded no more than the occupants of
the ant-hills they trampled beneath their feet, it was found that no
one had gained any hing but toil and disappointment.
On the 21st of February, 1513, Pope Julius
II. died, and the cardinals, rejecting all the overtures of the emperor,
elected John of Medici pope, who assumed the name of Leo X. The new pontiff was
but thirty-six years of age, a man of brilliant talents, and devoted to the
pursuit of letters. Inspired by boundless ambition, he wished to signalize his
reign by the magnificence of his court and the grandeur of his achievements.
Thus far nothing but disaster seemed to attend the
enterprises of Maximilian; but now the tide suddenly turned and rolled in upon
him billows of prosperity. It will be remembered that Maximilian married, for
his first wife, Mary, the daughter of the Duke of Burgundy. Their son Philip
married Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, whose marriage, uniting the
kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, created the splendid kingdom of Spain. Philip
died young, leaving a son, Charles, and Joanna, an insane wife, to watch his
grave through weary years of woe. Upon the death of Ferdinand, in January,
1516, Charles, the grandson of Maximilian, became undisputed heir to the whole
monarchy of Spain; then, perhaps, the grandest power in Europe, including
Naples, Sicily and Navarre. This magnificent inheritance, coming so
directly into the family, and into the line of succession, invested Maximilian
and the house of Austria with new dignity.
It was now an object of intense solicitude with
Maximilian, to secure the reversion of the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, which
were both upon the brow of Ladislaus, to his own family. With this object in
view, and to render assurance doubly sure, he succeeded in negotiating a
marriage between two children of Ladislaus, a son and a daughter, and two of
his own grand-children. This was a far pleasanter mode of acquiring territory
and family aggrandizement than by the sword. In celebration of the betrothals,
Ladislaus and his brother Sigismond, King of Poland,
visited Vienna, where Ladislaus was so delighted with the magnificent
hospitality of his reception, that he even urged upon the emperor, who was then
a widower, fifty-eight years of age, that he should marry another of his
daughters, though she had but attained her thirteenth year. The emperor
declined the honor, jocularly remarking—
“There is no method more pleasant to kill an old man,
than to marry him to a young bride.”
The German empire was then divided into ten districts,
or circles, as they were then called, each of which was responsible for the
maintenance of peace among its own members. These
districts were, Austria, Burgundy, the Upper Rhine, the Lower Rhine,
Franconia, Bavaria, Suabia, Westphalia, Upper Saxony
and Lower Saxony. The affairs of each district were to be regulated by a court
of a few nobles, called a diet. The emperor devoted especial attention to the
improvement of his own estate of Austria, which he subdivided into two
districts, and these into still smaller districts. Over all, for the settlement
of all important points of dispute, he established a tribunal called the Aulic
Council, which subsequently exerted a powerful influence over the affairs of
Austria.
One more final effort Maximilian made to rouse Germany
to combine to drive the Turks out of Europe. Though the benighted masses looked
up with much reverence to the pontiff, the princes and the nobles regarded him
only as a power, wielding, in addition to the military arm, the potent energies
of superstition. A diet was convened. The pope's legate appeared, and sustained
the eloquent appeal of the emperor with the paternal commands of the holy
father. But the press was now becoming a power in Europe, diffusing
intelligence and giving freedom to thought and expression. The diet, after
listening patiently to the arguments of the emperor and the requests of the
pontiff, dryly replied—
“We think that Christianity has more to fear from the
pope than from the Turks. Much as we may dread the ravages of the infidel, they
can hardly drain Christendom more effectually than it is now drained by the
exactions of the Church.”
It was at Augsburg in July, 1518, that the diet
ventured thus boldly to speak. This was one year after Luther had nailed upon
the church door in Wittemberg, his ninety-five
propositions, which had roused all Germany to scrutinize the abominable
corruptions of the papal church. This bold language of the diet, influenced by
the still bolder language of the intrepid monk, alarmed Leo X., and on the 7th
of August he issued his summons commanding Luther to repair to Rome to answer
for heresy. Maximilian, who had been foiled in his own attempt to attain the
chair of St. Peter, who had seen so much of the infamous career of Julius and
Alexander, as to lose all his reverence for the sacred character of the popes,
and who regarded Leo X. merely as a successful rival who had thwarted his own
plans, espoused, with cautious development, but with true interest, the cause
of the reformer. And now came the great war of the Reformation,
agitating Germany in every quarter, and rousing the lethargic intellect of the
nations as nothing else could rouse it. Maximilian, with characteristic
fickleness, or rather, with characteristic pliancy before every breeze of
self-interest, was now on the one side, now on the other, and now, nobody knew
where, until his career was terminated by sudden and fatal sickness.
The emperor was at Innsbruck, all overwhelmed with his
cares and his plans of ambition, when he was seized with a slight fever. Hoping
to be benefited by a change of air, he set out to travel by slow stages to one
of his castles among the mountains of Upper Austria. The disease, however,
rapidly increased, and it was soon evident that death was approaching. The
peculiarities of his character were never more strikingly developed than in
these last solemn hours. Being told by his physicians that he had not long to
live and that he must now prepare for the final judgment, he calmly replied, “I
have long ago made that preparation. Had I not done so, it would be too late
now.”
For four years he had been conscious of declining
health, and had always carried with him, wherever he traveled, an oaken coffin,
with his shroud and other requisites for his funeral. With very minute
directions he settled all his worldly affairs, and gave the most particular
instructions respecting his funeral. Changing his linen, he strictly enjoined
that his shirt should not be removed after his death, for his fastidious
modesty was shocked by the idea of the exposure of his body, even after the
soul had taken its flight.
He ordered his hair, after his death, to be cut off,
all his teeth to be extracted, pounded to powder and publicly burned in the
chapel of his palace. For one day his remains were to be exposed to the public,
as a lesson of mortality. They were then to be placed in a sack filled with
quicklime. The sack was to be enveloped in folds of silk and satin, and then
placed in the oaken coffin which had been so long awaiting his remains. The
coffin was then to be deposited under the altar of the chapel of his palace at
Neustadt, in such a position that the officiating priest should ever trample
over his head and heart. The king expressed the hope that this humiliation of
his body would, in some degree, be accepted by the Deity in atonement for the sins
of his soul. How universal the instinct that sin needs an atonement!
Having finished these directions the emperor observed
that some of his attendants were in tears. “Do you weep,” said he, “because
you see a mortal die? Such tears become women rather than men.” The emperor was
now dying. As the ecclesiastics repeated the prayers of the Church, the emperor
gave the responses until his voice failed, and then continued to give tokens of
recognition and of faith, by making the sign of the cross. At three o'clock in
the morning of the 11th of January, 1519, the Emperor Maximilian breathed his
last. He was then in the sixtieth year of his age.
Maximilian is justly considered one of the most
renowned of the descendants of Rhodolph of Hapsburg. It is saying but little
for his moral integrity, to affirm that he was one of the best of the rulers of
his age. According to his ideas of religion, he was a religious man. According
to his ideas of honesty and of honor, he was both an honest and an honorable
man. According to his idea of what is called moral conduct, he was
irreproachable, being addicted to no ungenteel vices, or any sins which would
be condemned by his associates. His ambition was not to secure for himself ease
or luxury, but to extend his imperial power, and to aggrandize his family. For
these objects he passed his life, ever tossed upon the billows of toil and
trouble. In industry and perseverance he has rarely been surpassed.
Notwithstanding the innumerable interruptions and
cares attendant upon his station, he still found time, one can hardly imagine
when, to become a proficient in all the learning of the day. He wrote and spoke
four languages readily, Latin, French, German and Italian. Few men have
possessed more persuasive powers of eloquence. All the arts and sciences he
warmly patronized, and men of letters of every class found in him a protector.
But history must truthfully declare that there was no perfidy of which he would
not be guilty, and no meanness to which he would not stoop, if he could only
extend his hereditary domains and add to his family renown.
CHAPTER VII
CHARLES V AND THE REFORMATION. From 1519 to 1531.
Charles V of Spain, as the nearest male heir,
inherited from Maximilian the Austrian States. He was the grandson of the late
emperor, son of Philip and of Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, and
was born on the 24th of February, 1500. He had been carefully educated in the
learning and accomplishments of the age, and particularly in the arts of war.
At the death of his grandfather, Ferdinand, Charles, though but sixteen years
of age, assumed the title of King of Spain, and though strongly opposed for a
time, he grasped firmly and held securely the reins of government.
Joanna, his mother, was legally the sovereign, both by
the laws of united Castile and Arragon, and by
the testaments of Isabella and Ferdinand. But she was insane, and was sunk in
such depths of melancholy as to be almost unconscious of the scenes which were
transpiring around her. Two years had elapsed between the accession of Charles
V to the throne of Spain and the death of his grandfather, Maximilian. The
young king, with wonderful energy of character, had, during that time,
established himself very firmly on the throne. Upon the death of Maximilian
many claimants rose for the imperial throne. Henry VIII of England and Francis
of France, were prominent among the competitors. For six months all the arts of
diplomacy were exhausted by the various candidates, and Charles of Spain won
the prize. On the 28th of June, 1519, he was unanimously elected Emperor of
Germany. The youthful sovereign, who was but nineteen years of age, was at Barcelona
when he received the first intelligence of his election. He had sufficient
strength of character to avoid the slightest appearance of exultation, but
received the announcement with dignity and gravity far above his years.
The Spaniards were exceedingly excited and alarmed by
the news. They feared that their young sovereign, of whom they had already
begun to be proud, would leave Spain to establish his court in the German
empire, and they should thus be left, as a distant province, to the government
of a viceroy. The king was consequently flooded with petitions, from all parts
of his dominions, not to accept the imperial crown. But Charles was as
ambitious as his grandfather, Maximilian, whose foresight and maneuvering had
set in train those influences which had elevated him to the imperial dignity.
Soon a solemn embassy arrived, and, with the customary
pomp, proffered to Charles the crown which so many had coveted. Charles
accepted the office, and made immediate preparations, notwithstanding the
increasing clamor of his subjects, to go to Germany for his coronation. Intrusting the government of Spain during his absence to
officers in whom he reposed confidence, he embarked on shipboard, and landing
first at Dover in England, made a visit of four days to Henry VIII. He then
continued his voyage to the Netherlands; proceeding thence to Aix-la-Chapelle,
he was crowned on the 20th of October, 1520, with magnificence far surpassing
that of any of his predecessors. Thus Charles V., when but twenty years of age,
was the King of Spain and the crowned Emperor of Germany. It is a great mistake
to suppose that youthful precocity is one of the innovations of modern times.
In the changes of the political kaleidoscope, Austria
had now become a part of Spain, or rather a prince of Austrian descent, a
lineal heir of the house of Hapsburg, had inherited the dominion of Spain, the
most extensive monarchy, in its continental domains and its colonial
possessions, then upon the globe. The Germanic confederation at this time made
a decided step in advance. Hitherto the emperors, when crowned, had made a sort
of verbal promise to administer the government in accordance with the laws and
customs of the several states. They were, however, apprehensive that the new
emperor, availing himself of the vast power which he possessed independently of
the imperial crown, might, by gradual encroachments, defraud them of their
rights. A sort of constitution was accordingly drawn up, consisting of
thirty-six articles, defining quite minutely the laws, customs and privileges
of the empire, which constitution Charles was required to sign before his
coronation.
Charles presided in person over his first diet which
he had convened at Worms on the 6th of January, 1521. The theological and
political war of the Reformation was now agitating all Germany, and raging with
the utmost violence. Luther had torn the vail from the corruptions of
papacy, and was exhibiting to astonished Europe the enormous aggression and the
unbridled licentiousness of pontifical power. Letter succeeded letter, and
pamphlet pamphlet, and they fell upon the decaying hierarchy like shot and
shell upon the walls of a fortress already crumbling and tottering through age.
On the 15th of July, 1520, three months before the
coronation of Charles V., the pope issued his world-renowned bull against the
intrepid monk. He condemned Luther as a heretic, forbade the reading of his
writings, excommunicated him if he did not retract within sixty days, and all
princes and states were commanded, under pain of incurring the same censure, to
seize his person and punish him and his adherents. Many were overawed by these
menaces of the holy father, who held the keys of heaven and of hell. The fate
of Luther was considered sealed. His works were publicly burned in several
cities.
Luther, undaunted, replied with blow for blow. He
declared the pope to be antichrist, renounced all obedience to him, detailed
with scathing severity the conduct of corrupt pontiffs, and called upon the
whole nation to renounce all allegiance to the scandalous court of Rome. To cap
the climax of his contempt and defiance, he, on the 10th of December, 1520, not
two months after the crowning of Charles V., led his admiring followers, the
professors and students of the university of Wittemberg,
in procession to the eastern gate of the city, where, in the presence of a vast
concourse, he committed the papal bull to the flames, exclaiming, in the words
of Ezekiel, "Because thou hast troubled the Holy One of God, let eternal
fire consume thee." This dauntless spirit of the reformer inspired his
disciples throughout Germany with new courage, and in many other cities the
pope's bull of excommunication was burned with expressions of indignation and
contempt.
Such was the state of this great religious controversy
when Charles V. held his first diet at Worms. The pope, wielding all the
energies of religious fanaticism, and with immense temporal revenues at his
disposal, with ecclesiastics, officers of his spiritual court, scattered all over
Europe, who exercised almost a supernatural power over the minds of the
benighted masses, was still perhaps the most formidable power in Europe. The
new emperor, with immense schemes of ambition opening before his youthful and
ardent mind, and with no principles of heartfelt piety to incline him to seek
and love the truth, as a matter of course sought the favor of the imperial
pontiff, and was not at all disposed to espouse the cause of the obscure monk.
Charles, therefore, received courteously the legates
of the pontiff at the diet, gave them a friendly hearing as they inveighed
against the heresy of Luther, and proposed that the diet should also condemn
the reformer. Fortunately for Luther he was a subject of the electorate of
Saxony, and neither pope nor emperor could touch him but through the elector.
Frederic, the Duke of Saxony, one of the electors of the empire, governed a
territory of nearly fifteen thousand square miles, more than twice as large as
the State of Massachusetts, and containing nearly three millions of
inhabitants. The duchy has since passed through many changes and
dismemberments, but in the early part of the sixteenth century the Elector of
Saxony was one of the most powerful princes of the German empire. Frederic was
not disposed to surrender his subject untried and uncondemned to
the discipline of the Roman pontiff. He accordingly objected to this summary
condemnation of Luther, and declared that before judgment was pronounced, the
accused should be heard in his own defense. Charles, who was by no means aware
how extensively the opinions of Luther had been circulated and received, was
surprised to find many nobles, each emboldened by the rest, rise in the diet
and denounce, in terms of ever-increasing severity, the exactions and the arrogance
of the court of Rome.
Notwithstanding the remonstrances of the pope's
legates, the emperor found it necessary to yield to the demands of the diet,
and to allow Luther the privilege of being heard, though he avowed to the
friends of the pope that Luther should not be permitted to make any defense,
but should only have an opportunity to confess his heresy and implore
forgiveness. Worms, where the diet was in session, on the west banks of the
Rhine, was not within the territories of the Elector of Saxony, and
consequently the emperor, in sending a summons to Luther to present himself
before the diet, sent, also, a safe conduct. With alacrity the bold reformer
obeyed the summons. From Wittemberg, where
Luther was both professor in the university and also pastor of a church, to
Worms, was a distance of nearly three hundred miles. But the journey of the
reformer, through all of this long road was almost like a triumphal procession.
Crowds gathered everywhere to behold the man who had dared to bid defiance to
the terrors of that spiritual power before which the haughtiest monarchs had
trembled. The people had read the writings of Luther, and justly regarded him
as the advocate of civil and religious liberty. The nobles, who had often been
humiliated by the arrogance of the pontiff, admired a man who was bringing a
new power into the field for their disenthrallment.
When Luther had arrived within three miles of Worms,
accompanied by a few friends and the imperial herald who had summoned him, he
was met by a procession of two thousand persons, who had come from the city to
form his escort. Some friends in the city sent him a warning that he could not
rely upon the protection of his safe conduct, that he would probably be
perfidiously arrested, and they intreated him to retire immediately
again to Saxony. Luther made the memorable reply,
“I will go to Worms, if as many devils meet me there
as there are tiles upon the roofs of the houses.”
The emperor was astonished to find that greater crowds
were assembled, and greater enthusiasm was displayed in witnessing the entrance
of the monk of Wittemberg, than had greeted the
imperial entrance to the city.
It was indeed an august assemblage before which Luther
was arrayed. The emperor himself presided, sustained by his brother, the
Archduke Ferdinand. Six electors, twenty-four dukes, seven margraves, thirty
bishops and prelates, and an uncounted number of princes, counts, lords and
ambassadors filled the spacious hall. It was the 18th of April, 1521. His
speech, fearless, dignified, eloquent, unanswerable, occupied two hours. He
closed with the noble words: “Let me be refuted and convinced by the testimony
of the Scriptures or by the clearest arguments; otherwise I cannot and
will not recant; for it is neither safe nor expedient to act against
conscience. Here I take my stand. I can do no otherwise, so help me God, Amen.”
In this sublime moral conflict Luther came off the
undisputed conqueror. The legates of the pope, exasperated at his
triumph, intreated the emperor to arrest him, in defiance of his word
of honor pledged for his safety. Charles rejected the infamous proposal with
disdain. Still he was greatly annoyed at so serious a schism in the Church,
which threatened to alienate from him the patronage of the pope. It was evident
that Luther was too strongly intrenched in the hearts of the Germans,
for the youthful emperor, whose crown was not yet warm upon his brow, and who
was almost a stranger in Germany, to undertake to crush him. To appease the
pope he drew up an apologetic declaration, in which he said, in terms which do
not honor his memory,
“Descended as I am from the Christian emperors of
Germany, the Catholic kings of Spain, and from the archdukes of Austria and the
Dukes of Burgundy, all of whom have preserved, to the last moment of their
lives, their fidelity to the Church, and have always been the defenders and
protectors of the Catholic faith, its decrees, ceremonies and usages, I have
been, am still, and will ever be devoted to those Christian doctrines, and the
constitution of the Church which they have left to me as a sacred inheritance.
And as it is evident that a simple monk has advanced opinions contrary to the
sentiments of all Christians, past and present, I am firmly determined to wipe
away the reproach which a toleration of such errors would cast on Germany, and
to employ all my powers and resources, my body, my blood, my life, and even my
soul, in checking the progress of this sacrilegious doctrine. I will not,
therefore, permit Luther to enter into any further explanation, and will
instantly dismiss and afterward treat him as a heretic. But I cannot violate my
safe conduct, but will cause him to be conducted safely back to Wittemberg.”
The emperor now attempted to accomplish by intrigue
that which he could not attain by authority of force. He held a private
interview with the reformer, and endeavored, by all those arts at the disposal
of an emperor, to influence Luther to a recantation. Failing utterly in this,
he delayed further operations for a month, until many of the diet, including
the Elector of Saxony and other powerful friends of Luther, had retired. He
then, having carefully retained those who would be obsequious to his will,
caused a decree to be enacted, as if it were the unanimous sentiment of the
diet, that Luther was a heretic; confirmed the sentence of the pope, and
pronounced the ban of the empire against all who should countenance or protect
him.
But Luther, on the 26th of May, had left Worms on his
return to Wittemberg. When he had passed over
about half the distance, his friend and admirer, Frederic of Saxony, conscious
of the imminent peril which hung over the intrepid monk, sent a troop of masked
horsemen who seized him and conveyed him to the castle of Wartburg, where
Frederic kept him safely concealed for nine months, not allowing even his
friends to know the place of his concealment. Luther, acquiescing in the
prudence of this measure, called this retreat his Patmos, and devoted himself
most assiduously to the study of the Scriptures, and commenced his most
admirable translation of the Bible into the German language, a work which has
contributed vastly more than all others to disseminate the principles of the
Reformation throughout Germany.
It will be remembered that Maximilian's son Ferdinand,
who was brother to Charles V., had married Anne, daughter of Ladislaus,
King of Hungary and Bohemia. Disturbances in Spain rendered it necessary for
the emperor to leave Germany, and for eight years his attention was almost
constantly occupied by wars and intrigues in southern Europe. Ferdinand was
invested with the government of the Austrian States. In the year 1521, Leo X.
died, and Adrian, who seems to have been truly a conscientious Christian man,
assumed the tiara. He saw the deep corruptions of the Church, confessed them
openly, mourned over them and declared that the Church needed a thorough
reformation.
This admission, of course, wonderfully strengthened
the Lutheran party. The diet, meeting soon after, drew up a list of a hundred
grievances, which they intreated the pope to reform, declaring that
Germany could no longer endure them. They declared that Luther had opened the
eyes of the people to these corruptions, and that they would not suffer the
edicts of the diet of Worms to be enforced. Ferdinand of Austria, entering into
the views of his brother, was anxious to arrest the progress of the new ideas,
now spreading with great rapidity, and he entered—instructed by a legate, Campegio, from the pope—into an engagement with the Duke of
Bavaria, and most of the German bishops, to carry the edict of Worms into
effect.
Frederic, the Elector of Saxony, died in 1525, but he
was succeeded by his brother John the Constant, who cordially embraced and
publicly avowed the doctrines of the Reformation; and Luther, in July of this
year, gave the last signal proof of his entire emancipation from the
superstitions of the papacy by marrying Catharine Bora, a noble lady who,
having espoused his views, had left the nunnery where she had been an inmate.
It is impossible for one now to conceive the impression which was produced in
Catholic Europe by the marriage of a priest and a nun.
Many of the German princes now followed the example of
John of Saxony, and openly avowed their faith in the Lutheran doctrines. In the
Austrian States, notwithstanding all Ferdinand's efforts to the contrary, the
new faith steadily spread, commanding the assent of the most virtuous and the
most intelligent. Many of the nobles avowed themselves Lutherans, as did even
some of the professors in the university at Vienna. The vital questions at issue,
taking hold, as they did, of the deepest emotions of the soul and the daily
habits of life, roused the general mind to the most intense activity. The
bitterest hostility sprung up between the two parties, and many persons,
without piety and without judgment, threw off the superstitions of the papacy,
only to adopt other superstitions equally revolting. The sect of Anabaptists
rose, abjuring all civil as well as all religious authority, claiming to be the
elect of God, advocating a community of goods and of wives, and discarding all
restraint. They roused the ignorant peasantry, and easily showed them that they
were suffering as much injustice from feudal lords as from papal bishops. It
was the breaking out of the French Revolution on a small scale. Germany was
desolated by infuriate bands, demolishing alike the castles of the nobles and
the palaces of the bishops, and sparing neither age nor sex in their
indiscriminate slaughter.
The insurrection was so terrible, that both Lutherans
and papists united to quell it; and so fierce were these fanatics, that a
hundred thousand perished on fields of blood before the rebellion was quelled.
These outrages were, of course, by the Catholics regarded as the legitimate
results of the new doctrines, and it surely cannot be denied that
they sprung from them. The fire which glows on the hearth may consume the
dwelling. But Luther and his friends assailed the Anabaptists with every weapon
they could wield. The Catholics formed powerful combinations to arrest the spread
of evangelical views. The reformers organized combinations equally powerful to
diffuse those opinions, which they were sure involved the welfare of the world.
Charles V, having somewhat allayed the troubles which
harassed him in southern Europe, now turned his attention to Germany, and
resolved, with a strong hand, to suppress the religious agitation. In a letter
to the German States he very peremptorily announced his determination,
declaring that he would exterminate the errors of Luther, exhorting them, to resist
all attacks against the ancient usages of the Church, and expressing to each of
the Catholic princes his earnest approval of their conduct.
Germany was now threatened with civil war. The
Catholics demanded the enforcement of the edict of Worms. The reformers
demanded perfect toleration—that every man should enjoy freedom of opinion and
of worship. A new war in Italy perhaps prevented this appeal to arms, as
Charles V. found himself involved in new difficulties which engrossed all his
energies. Ferdinand found the Austrian States so divided by this controversy,
that it became necessary for him to assume some degree of impartiality, and to
submit to something like toleration. A new pope, Clement VII., succeeded the
short reign of Adrian, and all the ambition, intrigue and corruption which had
hitherto marked the course of the court of Rome, resumed their sway. The pope
formed the celebrated Holy League to arrest the progress of the new opinions;
and this led all the princes of the empire, who had espoused the Lutheran
doctrines, more openly and cordially to combine in self-defense. In every
country in Europe the doctrines of the reformer spread rapidly, and the papal
throne was shaken to its base.
Charles V, whose arms were successful in southern
Europe, and whose power was daily increasing, was still very desirous of
restoring quiet to Europe by reestablishing the supremacy of the
papal Church, and crushing out dissent. He accordingly convened another diet at
Spires, the capital of Rhenish Bavaria, on the 15th of March, 1529. As the
emperor was detained in Italy, his brother Ferdinand presided. The diet was of
course divided, but the majority passed very stringent resolutions against the
Reformation. It was enacted that the edict of Worms should be enforced; that
the mass should be reestablished wherever it had been abolished; and
that preachers should promulgate no new doctrines. The minority entered their
protest. They urged that the mass had been clearly proved to be contrary to the
Word of God; that the Scriptures were the only certain rule of life; and
declared their resolution to maintain the truths of the Old and New Testaments,
regardless of traditions. This Protest was sustained by powerful names—John,
Elector of Saxony; George, Margrave of Brandenburg; two Dukes of Brunswick; the
Landgrave of Hesse Cassel; the Prince of Anhalt, and fourteen
imperial cities, to which were soon added ten more. Nothing can more decisively
show than this the wonderful progress which the Reformation in so short a time
had made. From this Protest the reformers received the name of Protestants,
which they have since retained.
The emperor, flushed with success, now resolved, with
new energy, to assail the principles of the Reformation. Leaving Spain he went
to Italy, and met the pope, Clement VII., at Bologna, in February, 1530. The
pope and the emperor held many long and private interviews. What they said no
one knows. But Charles V., who was eminently a sagacious man, became convinced
that the difficulty had become far too serious to be easily healed, that men of
such power had embraced the Lutheran doctrines that it was expedient to change
the tone of menace into one of respect and conciliation. He accordingly issued
a call for another diet to meet in April, 1530, at the city of Augsburg in
Bavaria.
“I have convened,” he wrote, “this assembly to
consider the difference of opinion on the subject of religion. It is my
intention to hear both parties with candor and charity, to examine their
respective arguments, to correct and reform what requires to be corrected and
reformed, that the truth being known, and harmony established, there may, in
future, be only one pure and simple faith, and, as all are disciples of the same
Jesus, all may form one and the same Church.”
These fair words, however, only excited the suspicions
of the Protestants, which suspicions subsequent events proved to be well
founded. The emperor entered Augsburg in great state, and immediately assumed a
dictatorial air, requiring the diet to attend high mass with him, and to take
part in the procession of the host.
“I will rather,” said the Marquis of Brandenburg to
the emperor, “instantly offer my head to the executioner, than renounce the
gospel and approve idolatry. Christ did not institute the sacrament of the
Lord's Supper to be carried in pomp through the streets, nor to be adored by
the people. He said, ‘Take, eat’; but never said, ‘Put this sacrament into a
vase, carry it publicly in triumph, and let the people prostrate themselves
before it’.”
The Protestants, availing themselves of the emperor’s
declaration that it was his intention to hear the sentiments of all, drew up a
confession of their faith, which they presented to the emperor in German and in
Latin. This celebrated creed is known in history as the Confession of
Augsburg. The emperor was quite embarrassed by this document, as he was well
aware of the argumentative powers of the reformers, and feared that the
document, attaining celebrity, and being read eagerly all over the empire,
would only multiply converts to their views. At first he refused to allow it to
be read. But finding that this only created commotion which would add celebrity
to the confession, he adjourned the diet to a small chapel where but two
hundred could be convened. When the Chancellor of Saxony rose to read the
confession, the emperor commanded that he should read the Latin copy, a
language which but few of the Germans understood.
“Sire,” said the chancellor, “we are now on German
ground. I trust that your majesty will not order the apology of our faith,
which ought to be made as public as possible, to be read in a language not
understood by the Germans.”
The emperor was compelled to yield to so reasonable a
request. The adjacent apartments, and the court-yard of the palace, were all
filled with an eager crowd. The chancellor read the creed in a voice so clear
and loud that the whole multitude could hear. The emperor was very uneasy, and
at the close of the reading, which occupied two hours, took both the Latin and
the German copies, and requested that the confession should not be published
without his consent. Luther and Melanchthon drew up this celebrated
document. Melanchthon was an exceedingly mild and amiable man, and
such a lover of peace that he would perhaps do a little violence to his own
conscience in the attempt to conciliate those from whom he was constrained to
differ. Luther, on the contrary, was a man of great force, decision and
fearlessness, who would speak the truth in the plainest terms, without
softening a phrase to conciliate either friend or foe. The Confession of
Augsburg being the joint production of both Melanchthon and Luther,
did not exactly suit either. It was a little too uncompromising
for Melanchthon, a little too pliant and yielding for Luther. Melanchthon soon
after took the confession and changed it to bring it into more entire
accordance with his spirit. Hence a division which, in oblivion of its origin,
has continued to the present day. Those who adhered to the original document
which was presented to the emperor, were called Lutherans; those who adopted
the confession as softened by Melanchthon, were called German Reformed.
The emperor now threw off the mask, and carrying with
him the majority of the diet, issued a decree of intolerance and menace, in
which he declared that all the ceremonies, doctrines and usages of the papal
church, without exception, were to be reestablished, married priests
deposed, suppressed convents restored, and every innovation, of whatever kind,
to be revoked. All who opposed this decree were to be exposed to the ban of the
empire, with all its pains and penalties.
This was indeed an appalling measure. Recantation or
war was the only alternative. Charles, being still much occupied by the affairs
of his vast kingdom of Spain, with all its ambitions and wars, needed a
coadjutor in the government of Germany, as serious trouble was evidently near
at hand. He therefore proposed the election of his brother Ferdinand as coadjutor
with him in administering the affairs of Germany. Ferdinand, who had recently
united to the Austrian territories the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, was
consequently chosen, on the 5th of January, 1531, King of the Romans. Charles
was determined to enforce his decrees, and both parties now prepared for war.
CHAPTER VIII
CHARLES V AND THE REFORMATION.
From 1531 to 1552.
The intolerant decrees of the diet of Augsburg, and
the evident determination of the emperor unrelentingly to enforce them, spread
the greatest alarm among the Protestants. They immediately assembled at Smalkalde in December, 1530, and entered into a league
for mutual protection. The emperor was resolved to crush the Protestants. The
Protestants were resolved not to be crushed. The sword of the Catholics was
drawn for the assault—the sword of the reformers for defense. Civil war was
just bursting forth in all its horrors, when the Turks, with an army three
hundred thousand strong, like ravening wolves rushed into Hungary. This danger
was appalling. The Turks in their bloody march had, as yet, encountered no
effectual resistance; though they had experienced temporary checks, their
progress had been on the whole resistless, and wherever they had planted their
feet they had established themselves firmly. Originating as a small tribe on
the shores of the Caspian, they had spread over all Asia Minor, had crossed the Bosphorus,
captured Constantinople, and had brought all Greece under their sway. They were
still pressing on, flushed with victory. Christian Europe was trembling before
them. And now an army of three hundred thousand had crossed the Danube, sweeping
all opposition before them, and were spreading terror and destruction through
Hungary. The capture of that immense kingdom seemed to leave all Europe
defenseless.
The emperor and his Catholic friends were fearfully
alarmed. Here was a danger more to be dreaded than even the doctrines of
Luther. All the energies of Christendom were requisite to repel this invasion.
The emperor was compelled to appeal to the Protestant princes to cooperate in
this great emergence. But they had more to fear from the fiery persecution of
the papal church than from the sword of the infidel, and they refused
any cooperation with the emperor so long as the menaces of the
Augsburg decrees were suspended over them. The emperor wished the Protestants
to help him drive out the Turks, that then, relieved from that danger, he might
turn all his energies against the Protestants.
After various negotiations it was agreed, as a
temporary arrangement, that there should be a truce of the Catholic persecution
until another general council should be called, and that until then the
Protestants should be allowed freedom of conscience and of worship. The German
States now turned their whole force against the Turks. The Protestants
contributed to the war with energy which amazed the Catholics. They even
trebled the contingents which they had agreed to furnish, and marched to the
assault with the greatest intrepidity. The Turks were driven from Hungary, and
then the emperor, in violation of his pledge, recommenced proceeding against
the Protestants. But it was the worst moment the infatuated emperor could have
selected. The Protestants, already armed and marshaled, were not at all
disposed to lie down to be trodden upon by their foes. They renewed their
confederacy, drove the emperor's Austrian troops out of the territories
of Wirtemberg, which they had seized, and
restored the duchy to the Protestant duke, Ulric. Civil war had now
commenced. But the Protestants were strong, determined, and had proved their
valor in the recent war with the Turks. The more moderate of the papal party,
foreseeing a strife which might be interminable, interposed, and succeeded in
effecting a compromise which again secured transient peace.
Charles, however, had not yet abandoned his design to
compel the Protestants to return to the papal church. He was merely temporizing
till he could bring such an array of the papal powers against the reformers
that they could present no successful resistance. With this intention he
entered into a secret treaty with the powerful King of France, in which Francis
agreed to concentrate all the forces of his kingdom to crush the Lutheran
doctrines. He then succeeded in concluding a truce with the Turks for five
years. He was now prepared to act with decision against the reformed religion.
But while Charles had been marshaling his party the
Protestants had been rapidly increasing. Eloquent preachers, able writers, had
everywhere proclaimed the corruptions of the papacy and urged a pure gospel.
These corruptions were so palpable that they could not bear the light. The most
intelligent and conscientious, all over Europe, were rapidly embracing the new
doctrines. These new doctrines embraced and involved principles of civil as
well as religious liberty. The Bible is the most formidable book which was ever
penned against aristocratic usurpation. God is the universal Father. All men
are brothers. The despots of that day regarded the controversy as one which, in
the end, involved the stability of their thrones. "Give us light,"
the Protestants said. “Give us darkness,” responded the papacy, “or the
submissive masses will rise and overthrow despotic thrones as well as
idolatrous altars.”
Several of the ablest and most powerful of the bishops
who, in that day of darkness, had been groping in the dark, now that light had
come into the world, rejoiced in that light, and enthusiastically espoused the
truth. The emperor was quite appalled when he learned that the Archbishop of
Cologne, who was also one of the electors of the empire, had joined the
reformers; for, in addition to the vast influence of his name, this conversion
gave the Protestants a majority in the electoral diet, so many of the German
princes had already adopted the opinions of Luther. The Protestants, encouraged
by the rapidity with which their doctrines were spreading, were not at all
disposed to humble themselves before their opponents, but with their hands upon
the hilts of their swords, declared that they would not bow their necks to
intolerance.
It was indeed a formidable power which the emperor was
now about to marshal against the Protestants. He had France, Spain, all the
roused energies of the pope and his extended dominions, and all the Catholic
States of the empire. But Protestantism, which had overrun Germany, had
pervaded Switzerland and France, and was daily on the increase. The pope and
the more zealous papists were impatient and indignant that the emperor did not
press his measures with more vigor. But the sagacious Charles more clearly saw
the difficulties to be surmounted than they did, and while no less determined
in his resolves, was more prudent and wary in his measures.
With the consent of the pope he summoned a general
council to meet at Trent on the confines of his own Austrian territories, where
he could easily have everything under his own control. He did everything in
his power, in the meantime to promote division among the Protestants, by trying
to enter into private negotiations with the Protestant princes. He had the
effrontery to urge the Protestants to send their divines to the council of
Trent, and agreed to abide by its decisions, even when that council was
summoned by the pope, and was to be so organized as to secure an overwhelming
majority to the papists. The Protestants, of course, rejected so silly a
proposition, and refused to recognize the decrees of such a council as of any
binding authority.
In preparation for enforcing the decrees which he
intended to have enacted by the council of Trent, Charles obtained from the
pope thirteen thousand troops, and five hundred thousand ducats (one million
one hundred thousand dollars). He raised one army in the Low Countries to march
upon Germany. He gathered another army in his hereditary States of Austria. His
brother Ferdinand, as King of Hungary and Bohemia, raised a large army in each
of those dominions. The King of France mustered his legions, and boasted of the
condign punishment to which he would consign the heretics. The pope issued a
decree offering the entire pardon of all sins to those who should engage in this
holy war for the extirpation of the doctrines of the reformers.
The Protestants were for a moment in consternation in
view of the gatherings of so portentous a storm. The emperor, by false
professions and affected clemency, had so deceived them that they were quite
unprepared for so formidable an attack. They soon, however, saw that their only
salvation depended upon a vigorous defense, and they marshaled their forces for
war. With promptness and energy which even astonished themselves, they speedily
raised an army which, on the junction of its several corps, amounted to eighty
thousand men. In its intelligence, valor, discipline and equipments,
it was probably the best army which had ever been assembled in the States of
Germany. Resolutely they marched under Schartlin,
one of the most experienced generals of the age, toward Ratisbon, where the
emperor was holding a diet.
Charles V was as much alarmed by this unexpected
apparition, as the Protestants had been alarmed by the preparations of the
emperor. He had supposed that his force was so resistless that the Protestants
would see at once the hopelessness of resistance, and would yield without a
struggle. The emperor had a guard of but eight thousand troops at Ratisbon. The
Duke of Bavaria, in whose dominions he was, was wavering, and the papal troops
had not commenced their march. But there was not a moment to be lost. The
emperor himself might be surrounded and taken captive. He retired precipitately
about thirty miles south to the strong fortress of Landshut, where he could
hold out until he received succor from his Austrian territories, which were
very near, and also from the pope.
Charles soon received powerful reinforcements from
Austria, from the pope, and from his Spanish kingdom. With these he marched
some forty miles west to Ingolstadt and intrenched himself beneath
its massive walls. Here he waited for further reinforcements, and then
commencing the offensive, marched up the Danube, taking possession of the
cities on either bank. And now the marshaled forces of the emperor began to
crowd the Protestants on all sides. The army became bewildered, and instead of
keeping together, separated to repel the attack at different points. This
caused the ruin of the Protestant army. The dissevered fragments were speedily
dispersed. The emperor triumphantly entered the Protestant cities of Ulm and
Augsburg, Strasbourg and Frankfort, compelled them to accept humiliating
conditions, to surrender their artillery and military stores, and to pay
enormous fines. The Archbishop of Cologne was deposed from his dignities. The
emperor had thrown his foes upon the ground and bound them.
All the Protestant princes but two were vanquished,
the Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse. It was evident that they
must soon yield to the overwhelming force of the emperor. It was a day of
disaster, in which no gleam of light seemed to dawn upon the Protestant cause.
But in that gloomy hour we see again the illustration of that sentiment, that “the
race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong.” Unthinking
infidelity says sarcastically, “Providence always helps the heavy battalions.”
But Providence often brings to the discomfited, in their despair,
reinforcements all unlooked for.
There were in the army of Ferdinand, gathered from the
Austrian territories by the force of military conscription, many troops more or
less influenced by the reformed religion. They were dissatisfied with this
warfare against their brothers, and their dissatisfaction increased to murmurs
and then to revolt. Thus encouraged, the Protestant nobles in Bohemia rose
against Ferdinand their king, and the victorious Ferdinand suddenly found his
strong battalions melting away, and his banners on the retreat.
The other powers of Europe began to look with alarm
upon the vast ascendency which Charles V. was attaining over Europe. His
exacting and aggressive spirit assumed a more menacing aspect than the
doctrines of Luther. The King of France, Francis I., with the characteristic
perfidy of the times, meeting cunning with cunning, formed a secret league
against his ally, combining, in that league, the English ministry who governed
during the minority of Edward VI, and also the cooperation of the
illustrious Gustavus Vasa, the powerful King of Sweden, who was then
strongly inclined to that faith of the reformers which he afterwards openly
avowed. Even the pope, who had always felt a little jealous of the power of the
emperor, thought that as the Protestants were now put down it might be well to
check the ambition of Charles V a little, and he accordingly ordered all his
troops to return to Italy. The holy father, Paul III, even sent money to the
Protestant Elector of Saxony, to enable him to resist the emperor, and sent
ambassadors to the Turks, to induce them to break the truce and make war upon
Christendom, that the emperor might be thus embarrassed.
Charles thus found himself, in the midst of his
victories, suddenly at a stand. He could no longer carry on offensive
operations, but was compelled to prepare for defense against the attacks with
which he was threatened on every side.
Again, the kaleidoscope of political combination
received a jar, and all was changed. The King of France died. This so
embarrassed the affairs of the confederation which Francis had organized with
so much toil and care, that Charles availed himself of it to make a sudden and
vigorous march against the Elector of Saxony. He entered his territories with
an army of thirty-three thousand men, and swept all opposition before him. In a
final and desperate battle the troops of the elector were cut to pieces, and
the elector himself, surrounded on all sides, sorely wounded in the face and
covered with blood, was taken prisoner. Charles disgraced his character by the
exhibition of a very ignoble spirit of revenge. The captive elector, as he was
led into the presence of his conqueror, said—
“Most powerful and gracious emperor, the fortune of
war has now rendered me your prisoner, and I hope to be treated—"
Here the emperor indignantly interrupted him, saying—
“I am now your gracious emperor! Lately you
could only vouchsafe me the title of Charles of Ghent!”
Then turning abruptly upon his heel, he consigned his
prisoner to the custody of one of the Spanish generals. The emperor marched
immediately to Wittemberg, which was distant but
a few miles. It was a well-fortified town, and was resolutely defended by
Isabella, the wife of the elector. The emperor, maddened by the resistance,
summoned a court martial, and sentenced the elector to instant death unless he
ordered the surrender of the fortress. He at first refused, and prepared to
die. But the tears of his wife and his family conquered his resolution, and the
city was surrendered. The emperor took from his captive the electoral dignity,
and extorted from him the most cruel concessions as the ransom for his life.
Without a murmur he surrendered wealth, power and rank, but neither entreaties
nor menaces could induce him in a single point to abjure his Christian faith.
Charles now entered Wittemberg in
triumph. The great reformer had just died. The emperor visited the grave of
Luther, and when urged to dishonor his remains, replied—
“I war not with the dead, but with the
living. Let him repose in peace; he is already before his Judge.”
The Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, now the only
member of the Protestant league remaining in arms, was in a condition utterly
hopeless, and was compelled to make an unconditional submission.
The landgrave, ruined in fortune, and crushed in
spirit, was led a captive into the imperial camp at Halle, in Saxony, the 19th
of June, 1547. He knelt before the throne, and made an humble confession of his
crime in resisting the emperor; he resigned himself and all his dominions to the
clemency of his sovereign. As he rose to kiss the hand of the emperor, Charles
turned contemptuously from him and ordered him to be conveyed to one of the
apartments of the palace as a prisoner. Most ignobly the emperor led his two
illustrious captives, the Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave
of Hesse Cassel, as captives from city to city, exhibiting them as
proofs of his triumph, and as a warning to all others to avoid their fate. Very
strong jealousies had now sprung up between the emperor and the pope, and they
could not cooperate. The emperor, consequently, undertook to settle the
religious differences himself. He caused twenty-six articles to be drawn up as
the basis of pacification, which he wished both the Catholics and the
Protestants to sign. The pope was indignant, and the Catholics were disgusted
with this interference of the emperor in the faith of the Church, a matter
which in their view belonged exclusively to the pope and the councils which he
might convene.
The emperor, however, resolutely persevered in the
endeavor to compel the Protestants to subscribe to his articles, and punished
severely those who refused to do so. In his Burgundian provinces he endeavored
to establish the inquisition, that all heresy might be nipped in the bud. In his
zeal he quite outstripped the pope. As Julius III. had now ascended the
pontifical throne, Charles, fearful that he might be too liberal in his policy
towards the reformers, and might make too many concessions, extorted from him
the promise that he would not introduce any reformation in the Church without
consulting him and obtaining his consent. Thus the pope himself became but one
of the dependents of Charles V, and all the corruptions of the Church were
sustained by the imperial arm. He then, through the submissive pope, summoned a
council of Catholic divines to meet at Trent. He had arranged in his own mind
the decrees which they were to issue, and had entered into a treaty with the
new King of France, Henry II., by which the French monarch agreed, with all the
military force of his kingdom, to maintain the decrees of the council of Trent,
whatever they might be.
The emperor had now apparently attained all his ends.
He had crushed the Protestant league, vanquished the Protestant princes,
subjected the pope to his will, arranged religious matters according to his
views, and had now assembled a subservient council to ratify and confirm all he
had done. But with this success he had become arrogant, implacable and cruel.
His friends had become alienated and his enemies exasperated. Even the most
rigorous Catholics were alarmed at his assumptions, and the pope was humiliated
by his haughty bearing.
Charles assembled a diet of the States of the empire
at Augsburg, the 26th of July, 1550. He entered the city with the pomp and the
pride of a conqueror, and with such an array of military force as to awe the
States into compliance with his wishes. He then demanded of all the States of
the empire an agreement that they would enforce, in all their dominions the decrees
of the council of Trent, which council was soon to be convened. There is
sublimity in the energy with which this monarch moved, step by step, toward the
accomplishment of his plans. He seemed to leave no chance for failure. The
members of the diet were as obsequious as spaniels to their imperious master,
and watched his countenance to learn when they were to say yes, and when no.
In one thing only he failed. He wished to have his son
Philip elected as his successor on the imperial throne. His brother Ferdinand
opposed him in this ambitious plan, and thus emboldened the diet to declare
that while the emperor was living it was illegal to choose his successor, as it
tended to render the imperial crown hereditary. The emperor, sagacious as he
was domineering, waived the prosecution of his plan for the present, preparing
to resume it when he had punished and paralyzed those who opposed.
The emperor had deposed Frederic the Elector of
Saxony, and placed over his dominions, Maurice, a nephew of the deposed
elector. Maurice had married a daughter of the Landgrave
of Hesse Cassel. He was a man of commanding abilities, and as shrewd,
sagacious and ambitious as the emperor himself. He had been strongly inclined
to the Lutheran doctrines, but had been bought over to espouse the cause of
Charles V. by the brilliant offer of the territories of Saxony. Maurice, as he
saw blow after blow falling upon his former friends; one prince after another
ejected from his estates, Protestantism crushed, and finally his own uncle and
his wife's father led about to grace the triumph of the conqueror; as he saw
the vast power to which the emperor had attained, and that the liberties of the
German empire were in entire subjection to his will, his pride was wounded, his
patriotism aroused, and his Protestant sympathies revived. Maurice, meeting
Charles V on the field of intrigue, was Greek meeting Greek.
Maurice now began with great guile and profound
sagacity to plot against the despotic emperor. Two circumstances essentially
aided him. Charles coveted the dukedoms of Parma and Placentia in Italy, and
the Duke Ottavia had been deposed. He
rallied his subjects and succeeded in uniting France on his side, for Henry II
was alarmed at the encroachments the emperor was making in Italy. A very fierce
war instantly blazed forth, the Duke of Parma and Henry II. on one side, the
pope and the emperor on the other. At the same time the Turks, under the
leadership of the Sultan Solyman himself, were organizing a
formidable force for the invasion of Hungary, which invasion would require all
the energies of Ferdinand, with all the forces he could raise in Austria, Hungary
and Bohemia to repel.
Next to Hungary and Bohemia, Saxony was perhaps the
most powerful State of the Germanic confederacy. The emperor placed full
reliance upon Maurice, and the Protestants in their despair would have thought
of him as the very last to come to their aid; for he had marched vigorously in
the armies of the emperor to crush the Protestants, and was occupying the
territories of their most able and steadfast friend. Secretly, Maurice made
proposals to all the leading Protestant princes of the empire, and having
made everything ready for an outbreak, he entered into a treaty with
the King of France, who promised large subsidies and an efficient military
force.
Maurice conducted these intrigues with such consummate
skill that the emperor had not the slightest suspicion of the storm which was
gathering. Everything being matured, early in April, 1552, Maurice
suddenly appeared before the gates of Augsburg with an army of twenty-five
thousand men. At the same time he issued a declaration that he had taken up
arms to prevent the destruction of the Protestant religion, to defend the
liberties of Germany which the emperor had infringed, and to rescue his
relatives from their long and unjust imprisonment. The King of France and other
princes issued similar declarations. The smothered disaffection with the
emperor instantly blazed forth all over the German empire. The cause of Maurice
was extremely popular. The Protestants in a mass, and many others, flocked to
his standard. As by magic and in a day, all was changed. The imperial towns
Augsburg, Nuremberg and others, threw open their gates joyfully to Maurice.
Whole provinces rushed to his standard. He was everywhere received as the
guardian of civil and religious liberty. The ejected Protestant rulers and magistrates
were reinstated, the Protestant churches opened, the Protestant preachers
restored. In one month the Protestant party was predominant in the German
empire, and the Catholic party either neutral or secretly favoring one who was
humbling that haughty emperor whom even the Catholics had begun to fear. The
prelates who were assembling at Trent, alarmed by so sudden and astounding a
revolution, dissolved the assembly and hastened to their homes.
The emperor was at Innsbruck seated in his
arm chair, with his limbs bandaged in flannel, enfeebled and suffering from a
severe attack of the gout, when the intelligence of this sudden and
overwhelming reverse reached him. He was astonished and utterly confounded. In
weakness and pain, unable to leave his couch, with his treasury exhausted, his
armies widely scattered, and so pressed by their foes that they could not be
concentrated from their wide dispersion, there was nothing left for him but to
endeavor to beguile Maurice into a truce. But Maurice was as much at home in
all the arts of cunning as the emperor, and instead of being beguiled,
contrived to entrap his antagonist. This was a new and a very salutary
experience for Charles. It is a very novel sensation for a successful rogue to
be the dupe of roguery.
Maurice pressed on, his army gathering force at every
step. He entered the Tyrol, swept through all its valleys, took possession of
all its castles and its sublime fastnesses, and the blasts of his bugles
reverberated among the cliffs of the Alps, ever sounding the charge and
announcing victory, never signaling a defeat. The emperor was reduced to the
terrible humiliation of saving himself from capture only by flight. The emperor
could hardly credit his senses when told that his conquering foes were within two
days' march of Innsbruck, and that a squadron of horse might at any hour
appear and cut off his retreat. It was in the night when these appalling
tidings were brought to him. The tortures of the gout would not allow him to
mount on horseback, neither could he bear the jolting in a carriage over the
rough roads. It was a dark and stormy night, the 20th of May, 1552. The rain
fell in torrents, and the wind howled through the fir-trees and around the
crags of the Alps. Some attendants wrapped the monarch in blankets, took him
out into the court-yard of the palace, and placed him in a litter. Attendants
led the way with lanterns, and thus, through the inundated and storm-swept
defiles of the mountains, they fled with their helpless sovereign through the
long hours of the tempestuous night, not daring to stop one moment lest they
should hear behind them the clatter of the iron hoofs of their pursuers. What a
change for one short month to produce! What a comment upon earthly grandeur! It
is well for man in the hour of most exultant prosperity to be humble. He knows
not how soon he may fall. Instructive indeed is the apostrophe of Cardinal
Wolsey, illustrated as the truth he utters is by almost every page of history:
This is the state of man; today he puts forth
The tender leaves of hope, to-morrow blossoms,
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost;
And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely
His greatness is a ripening—nips his root,
And then he falls as I do.
The fugitive emperor did not venture to stop for
refreshment or repose until he had reached the strong town of Villach in
Carinthia, nearly one hundred and fifty miles west of Innsbruck. The
troops of Maurice soon entered the city which the emperor had abandoned, and
the imperial palace was surrendered to pillage. Heroic courage, indomitable
perseverance always commands respect. These are great and noble qualities,
though they may be exerted in a bad cause. The will of Charles was
unconquerable. In these hours of disaster, tortured with pain, driven from his
palace, deserted by his allies, impoverished, and borne upon his litter in
humiliating flight before his foes, he was just as determined to enforce his
plans as in the most brilliant hour of victory.
He sent his brother Ferdinand and other ambassadors to
Passau to meet Maurice, and mediate for a settlement of the difficulties.
Maurice now had no need of diplomacy. His demands were simple and reasonable.
They were, that the emperor should liberate his father-in-law from captivity,
tolerate the Protestant religion, and grant to the German States their
accustomed liberty. But the emperor would not yield a single point. Though his
brother Ferdinand urged him to yield, though his Catholic
ambassadors intreated him to yield, though they declared that if he
did not they should be compelled to abandon his cause and make the best terms
for themselves with the conqueror that they could, still nothing could bend his
inflexible will, and the armies, after the lull of a few days, were again in
motion. The despotism of the emperor we abhor; but his indomitable perseverance
and unconquerable energy are worthy of all admiration and imitation. Had they
but been exerted in a good cause!
CHAPTER IX
CHARLES V AND THE TURKISH WARS.
From 1552 to 1555.
The Turks, animated by this civil war which was raging
in Germany, were pressing their march upon Hungary with great vigor, and the
troops of Ferdinand were retiring discomfited before the invader. Henry of
France and the Duke of Parma were also achieving victories in Italy endangering
the whole power of the emperor over those States. Ferdinand, appalled by the
prospect of the loss of Hungary, imploringly besought the emperor to listen to
terms of reconciliation. The Catholic princes, terrified in view of the
progress of the infidel, foreseeing the entire subjection of Europe to the arms
of the Moslem unless Christendom could combine in self-defense, joined their
voices with that of Ferdinand so earnestly and in such impassioned tones, that
the emperor finally, though very reluctantly, gave his assent to the celebrated
treaty of Passau, on the 2d of August, 1552. By this pacification the captives
were released, freedom of conscience and of worship was established, and the
Protestant troops, being disbanded, were at liberty to enter into the service
of Ferdinand to repel the Turks. Within six months a diet was to be assembled
to attempt an amicable adjustment of all civil and religious difficulties.
The intrepid Maurice immediately marched, accompanied
by many of the Protestant princes, and at the head of a powerful army, to repel
the Mohammedan armies. Charles, relieved from his German troubles, gathered his
strength to wreak revenge upon the King of France. But fortune seemed to have
deserted him. Defeat and disgrace accompanied his march. Having penetrated the
French province of Lorraine, he laid siege to Metz. After losing thirty
thousand men beneath its walls, he was compelled, in the depth of winter, to raise
the siege and retreat. His armies were everywhere routed; the Turks menaced the
shores of Italy; the pope became his inveterate enemy, and joined France
against him. Maurice was struck by a bullet, and fell on the field of battle.
The electorate of Saxony passed into the hands of Augustus, a brother of
Maurice, while the former elector, Ferdinand, who shortly after died, received
some slight indemnification.
Such was the state of affairs when the promised diet
was summoned at Passau. It met on the 5th of February, 1555. The emperor was
confined with the gout at Brussels, and his brother Ferdinand presided. It was
a propitious hour for the Protestants. Charles was sick, dejected and in
adversity. The better portion of the Catholics were disgusted with the
intolerance of the emperor, intolerance which even the more conscientious popes
could not countenance. Ferdinand was fully aware that he could not defend his
own kingdom of Hungary from the Turks without the intervention of Protestant
arms. He was, therefore, warmly in favor of conciliation.
The world was not yet sufficiently enlightened to
comprehend the beauty of a true toleration, entire freedom of conscience and of
worship. After long and very exciting debates—after being again and again at
the point of grasping their arms anew—they finally agreed that the Protestants
should enjoy the free exercise of their religion wherever Protestantism had
been established and recognized by the Confession of Augsburg. That in all
other places Protestant princes might prohibit the Catholic religion in their
States, and Catholic princes prohibit the Protestant religion. But in each case
the ejected party was at liberty to sell their property and move without
molestation to some State where their religion was dominant. In the free cities
of the empire, where both religions were established, both were to be
tolerated.
Thus far, and no further, had the spirit of toleration
made progress in the middle of the sixteenth century.
Such was the basis of the pacification. Neither party
was satisfied. Each felt that it had surrendered far too much to the other; and
there was subsequently much disagreement respecting the interpretation of some
of the most important articles. The pope, Paul IV, was indignant that such
toleration had been granted to the Protestants, and threatened the emperor and
his brother Ferdinand of Austria with excommunication if they did not declare
these decrees null and void throughout their dominions. At the same time he
entered into correspondence with Henry II. of France to form a new holy league
for the defense of the papal church against the inroads of heresy.
And now occurred one of the most extraordinary events
which history has recorded. Charles V., who had been the most enterprising and
ambitious prince in Europe, and the most insatiable in his thirst for power,
became the victim of the most extreme despondency. Harassed by the perplexities
which pressed in upon him from his widely-extended realms, annoyed by the
undutiful and haughty conduct of his son, who was endeavoring to wrest
authority from his father by taking advantage of all his misfortunes, and
perhaps inheriting a melancholy temperament from his mother, who died in the
glooms of insanity, and, more than all, mortified and wounded by so sudden and
so vast a reverse of fortune, in which all his plans seemed to have failed—thus
oppressed, humbled, he retired in disgust to his room, indulged in the most
fretful temper, admitted none but his sister and a few confidential servants to
his presence, and so entirely neglected all business as to pass nine months
without signing a single paper.
While the emperor was in this melancholy state, his
insane mother, who had lingered for years in delirious gloom, died on the 4th
of April, 1555. It will be remembered that Charles had inherited valuable
estates in the Low Countries from his marriage with the daughter of the Duke of
Burgundy. Having resolved to abdicate all his power and titles in favor of his
son, he convened the States of the Low Countries at Brussels on the 25th of
October, 1555. Charles was then but fifty-five years of age, and should have
been in the strength of vigorous manhood. But he was prematurely old, worn down
with care, toil and disappointment. He attended the assembly accompanied by his
son Philip. Tottering beneath infirmities, he leaned upon the shoulders of a
friend for support, and addressed the assembly in a long and somewhat boastful
speech, enumerating all the acts of his administration, his endeavors, his long
and weary journeys, his sleepless care, his wars, and, above all, his
victories. In conclusion he said:
“While my health enabled me to perform my duty, I
cheerfully bore the burden; but as my constitution is now broken by an
incurable distemper, and my infirmities admonish me to retire, the happiness of
my people affects me more than the ambition of reigning. Instead of a decrepit old
man, tottering on the brink of the grave, I transfer your allegiance to a
sovereign in the prime of life, vigilant, sagacious, active and enterprising.
With respect to myself, if I have committed any error in the course of a long
administration, forgive and impute it to my weakness, not to my intention. I
shall ever retain a grateful sense of your fidelity and attachment, and your
welfare shall be the great object of my prayers to Almighty God, to whom I now
consecrate the remainder of my days.”
Then turning to his son Philip, he said:
“And you, my son, let the grateful recollection of
this day redouble your care and affection for your people. Other sovereigns may
rejoice in having given birth to their sons and in leaving their States to them
after their death. But I am anxious to enjoy, during my life, the double
satisfaction of feeling that you are indebted to me both for your birth and
power. Few monarchs will follow my example, and in the lapse of ages I have
scarcely found one whom I myself would imitate. The resolution, therefore, which
I have taken, and which I now carry into execution, will be justified only by
your proving yourself worthy of it. And you will alone render yourself worthy
of the extraordinary confidence which I now repose in you by a zealous
protection of your religion, and by maintaining the purity of the Catholic
faith, and by governing with justice and moderation. And may you, if ever you
are desirous of retiring like myself to the tranquillity of
private life, enjoy the inexpressible happiness of having such a son, that you
may resign your crown to him with the same satisfaction as I now deliver mine
to you.”
The emperor was here entirely overcome by emotion, and
embracing Philip, sank exhausted into his chair. The affecting scene moved all
the audience to tears. Soon after this, with the same formalities the emperor
resigned the crown of Spain to his son, reserving to himself, of all his
dignities and vast revenues, only a pension of about twenty thousand dollars a
year. For some months he remained in the Low Countries, and then returned to
Spain to seek an asylum in a convent there.
When in the pride of his power he once, while
journeying in Spain, came upon the convent of St. Justus in Estremadura,
situated in a lovely vale, secluded from all the bustle of life. The massive
pile was embosomed among the hills; forests spread widely around, and a
beautiful rivulet murmured by its walls. As the emperor gazed upon the
enchanting scene of solitude and silence he exclaimed, “Behold a lovely retreat
for another Diocletian!”
The picture of the convent of St. Justus had ever
remained in his mind, and perhaps had influenced him, when overwhelmed with
care, to seek its peaceful retirement. Embarking in a ship for Spain, he landed
at Loredo on the 28th of September, 1556. As
soon as his feet touched the soil of his native land he prostrated himself to
the earth, kissed the ground, and said, “Naked came I into the world, and naked
I return to thee, thou common mother of mankind. To thee I dedicate my body, as
the only return I can make for all the benefits conferred on me.”
Then kneeling, and holding the crucifix before him,
with tears streaming from his eyes, and all unmindful of the attendants who
were around, he breathed a fervent prayer of gratitude for the past, and commended
himself to God for the future. By slow and easy stages, as he was very infirm,
he journeyed to the vale of Estremadura, near Placentia, and
entered upon his silent, monastic life.
His apartments consisted of six small cells. The stone
walls were whitewashed, and the rooms furnished with the utmost frugality.
Within the walls of the convent, and communicating with the chapel, there was a
small garden, which the emperor had tastefully arranged with shrubbery and
flowers. Here Charles passed the brief remainder of his days. He amused himself
with laboring in the garden with his own hands. He regularly attended worship
in the chapel twice every day, and took part in the service, manifestly with
the greatest sincerity and devotion.
The emperor had not a cultivated mind, and was not
fond of either literary or scientific pursuits. To beguile the hours he amused
himself with tools, carving toys for children, and ingenious puppets and
automata to astonish the peasants. For a time he was very happy in his new employment.
After so stormy a life, the perfect repose and freedom from care which he
enjoyed in the convent, seemed to him the perfection of bliss. But soon the
novelty wore away, and his constitutional despondency returned with accumulated
power.
His dejection now assumed the form of religious
melancholy. He began to devote every moment of his time to devotional reading
and prayer, esteeming all amusements and all employments sinful which
interfered with his spiritual exercises. He expressed to the Bishop of Toledo
his determination to devote, for the rest of his days, every moment to the
service of God. With the utmost scrupulousness he carried out this plan. He
practiced rigid fasts, and conformed to all the austerity of convent
discipline. He renounced his pension, and sitting at the abstemious table with
the monks, declined seeing any other company than that of the world-renouncing
priests and friars around him. He scourged himself with the most cruel
severity, till his back was lacerated with the whip. He whole soul seemed to
crave suffering, in expiation for his sins. His ingenuity was tasked to devise
new methods of mortification and humiliation. Ambition had ever been the ruling
passion of his soul, and now he was ambitious to suffer more, and to abuse
himself more than any other mortal had ever done.
Goaded by this impulse, he at last devised the scheme
of solemnizing his own funeral. All the melancholy arrangements for
his burial were made; the coffin provided; the emperor reclined upon his bed as
dead; he was wrapped in his shroud, and placed in his coffin. The monks, and
all the inmates of the convent attended in mourning; the bells tolled; requiems
were chanted by the choir; the funeral service was read, and then the emperor,
as if dead, was placed in the tomb of the chapel, and the congregation retired.
The monarch, after remaining some time in his coffin to impress himself with
the sense of what it is to die, and be buried, rose from his tomb, kneeled
before the altar for some time in worship, and then returned to his cell to
pass the night in deep meditation and prayer.
The shock and the chill of this solemn scene were too
much for the old monarch's feeble frame and weakened mind. He was seized with a
fever, and in a few days breathed his last, in the 59th year of his age. He had
spent a little over three years in the convent. The life of Charles V. was a
sad one. Through all his days he was consumed by unsatisfied ambition, and he
seldom enjoyed an hour of contentment. To his son he said—
“I leave you a heavy burden; for, since my shoulders
have borne it, I have not passed one day exempt from disquietude.”
Indeed it would seem that there could have been but
little happiness for anybody in those dark days of feudal oppression and of
incessant wars. Ambition, intrigue, duplicity, reigned over the lives of
princes and nobles, while the masses of the people were ever trampled down by
oppressive lords and contending armies. Europe was a field of fire and blood.
The sword of the Turk spared neither mother, maiden nor babe. Cities
and villages were mercilessly burned, cottages set in flames, fields of grain
destroyed, and whole populations carried into slavery, where they miserably
died. And the ravages of Christian warfare, duke against duke, baron against
baron, king against king, were hardly less cruel and desolating. Balls from
opposing batteries regard not the helpless ones in their range. Charging
squadrons must trample down with iron hoof all who are in their way. The wail
of misery rose from every portion of Europe. The world has surely made some
progress since that day.
There was but very little that was loveable in the
character of Charles, and he seems to have had but very few friends. So intense
and earnest was he in the prosecution of the plans of grandeur which engrossed
his soul, that he was seldom known to smile. He had many of the attributes of
greatness, indomitable energy and perseverance, untiring industry,
comprehensive grasp of thought and capability of superintending the minutest
details. He had, also, a certain fanatic conscientiousness about him, like that
which actuated Saul of Tarsus, when, holding the garments of those who stoned
the martyr, he “verily thought that he was doing God service.”
Many anecdotes are told illustrative of certain
estimable traits in his character. When a boy, like other boys, he was not fond
of study, and being very self-willed, he would not yield to the entreaties of
his tutors. He consequently had but an imperfect education, which may in part
account for his excessive illiberality, and for many of his stupendous follies.
The mind, enlarged by liberal culture, is ever tolerant. He afterwards
regretted exceedingly this neglect of his early studies. At Genoa, on some
public occasion, he was addressed in a Latin oration, not one word of which he
understood.
“I now feel,” he said, “the justice of my preceptor
Adrian's remonstrances, who frequently used to predict that I should be
punished for the thoughtlessness of my youth.”
He was fond of the society of learned men, and treated
them with great respect. Some of the nobles complained that the emperor treated
the celebrated historian, Guicciardini, with much more respect than he did
them. He replied—
“I can, by a word, create a hundred nobles; but God
alone can create a Guicciardini.”
He greatly admired the genius of Titian, and
considered him one of the most resplendent ornaments of his empire. He knew
full well that Titian would be remembered long after thousands of the proudest
grandees of his empire had sunk into oblivion. He loved to go into the studio of
the illustrious painter, and watch the creations of beauty as they rose beneath
his pencil. One day Titian accidentally dropped his brush. The emperor picked
it up, and, presenting it to the artist, said gracefully—
“Titian is worthy of being served by an emperor.”
Charles V never, apparently, inspired the glow of
affection, or an emotion of enthusiasm in any bosom. He accomplished some
reforms in the German empire, and the only interest his name now excites is the
interest necessarily involved in the sublime drama of his long and eventful
reign.
It is now necessary to retrace our steps for a few
years, that we may note the vicissitudes of Austria, while the empire was
passing through the scenes we have narrated.
Ferdinand I, the brother of Charles V, who was left
alone in the government of Austria, was the second son of Philip the Handsome
and Joanna of Spain. His birth was illustrious, the Emperor Maximilian being
his paternal grandfather, and Ferdinand and Isabella being his grandparents on
his mother's side. He was born in Spain, March 10, 1503, and received a
respectable education. His manners were courteous and winning, and he was so
much more popular than Charles as quite to excite the jealousy of his imperious
and imperial spirit. Charles, upon attaining the throne, ceded to his brother
the Austrian territories, which then consisted of four small provinces,
Austria, Styria, Carinthia and Carniola, with the Tyrol.
Ferdinand married Ann, princess of Hungary and
Bohemia. The death of his wife’s brother Louis made her the heiress of those
two crowns, and thus secured to Ferdinand the magnificent dowry of the kingdoms
of Hungary and Bohemia. But possession of the scepter of those realms was by no
means a sinecure. The Turkish power, which had been for many years increasing
with the most alarming rapidity and had now acquired appalling strength, kept
Hungary, and even the Austrian States, in constant and terrible alarm.
The Turks, sweeping over Persia, Arabia, Egypt, Syria,
all Asia Minor, crossing the straits and inundating Greece, fierce and
semi-savage, with just civilization enough to organize and guide with skill
their wolf-like ferocity, were now pressing Europe in Spain, in Italy, and were
crowding, in wave after wave of invasion, up the valley of the Danube. They had
created a navy which was able to cope with the most powerful fleets of Europe,
and island after island of the Mediterranean was yielding to their sway.
In 1520, Solyman, called the Magnificent, overran
Bosnia, and advancing to the Danube, besieged and captured Belgrade, which
strong fortress was considered the only reliable barrier against his
encroachments. At the same time his fleet took possession of the island of
Rhodes. After some slight reverses, which the Turks considered merely
embarrassments, they resumed their aggressions, and Solyman, in 1525,
again crossing the Danube, entered Hungary with an army of two hundred thousand
men. Louis, who was then King of Hungary, brother of the wife of Ferdinand, was
able to raise an army of but thirty thousand to meet him. With more courage
than discretion, leading this feeble band, he advanced to resist the foe. They
met on the plains of Mohatz. The Turks made
short work of it. In a few hours, with their swords they hewed down
nearly the whole Christian army. The remnant escaped as lambs from wolves. The
king, in his heavy armor, spurred his horse into a stream to cross in his
flight. In attempting to ascend the bank, the noble charger, who had borne his
master bravely through the flood, fell back upon his rider, and the dead body
of the king was afterward picked up by the Turks, covered with the mud of the
morass. All Hungary would now have fallen into the hands of the Turks had
not Solyman been recalled by a rebellion in one of his own provinces.
It was this event which placed the crowns of Bohemia
and Hungary on the brow of Ferdinand, and by annexing those two kingdoms to the
Austrian States, elevated Austria to be one of the first powers in Europe.
Ferdinand, thus strengthened sent ambassadors to Constantinople to demand the
restitution of Belgrade and other important towns which the Turks still held in
Hungary.
“Belgrade!”exclaimed the
haughty sultan, when he heard the demand. “Go tell your master that I am
collecting troops and preparing for my expedition. I will suspend at my neck
the keys of my Hungarian fortresses, and will bring them to that plain of Mohatz where Louis, by the aid of Providence, found
defeat and a grave. Let Ferdinand meet and conquer me, and take them, after severing
my head from my body! But if I find him not there, I will seek him at Buda or
follow him to Vienna.”
Soon after this Solyman crossed the Danube
with three hundred thousand men, and advancing to Mohatz,
encamped for several days upon the plain, with all possible display or Oriental
pomp and magnificence. Thus proudly he threw down the gauntlet of defiance. But
there was no champion there to take it up. Striking his tents, and spreading
his banners to the breeze, in unimpeded march he ascended the Danube two
hundred miles from Belgrade to the city of Pest. And here his martial bands
made hill and vale reverberate the bugle blasts of victory. Pest, the ancient
capital of Hungary, rich in all the wealth of those days, with a population of
some sixty thousand, was situated on the left bank of the river. Upon the
opposite shore, connected by a fine bridge three quarters of a mile in width,
was the beautiful and opulent city of Buda. In possession of these two maritime
towns, then perhaps the most important in Hungary, the Turks rioted for a few
days in luxury and all abominable outrage and indulgence, and then, leaving a
strong garrison to hold the fortresses, they continued their march.
Pressing resistlessly onward some hundred miles further, taking all
the towns by the way, on both sides of the Danube, they came to the city
of Raab.
It seems incredible that there could have been such an
unobstructed march of the Turks, through the very heart of Hungary. But the
Emperor Charles V was at that time in Italy, all engrossed in the fiercest
warfare there. Throughout the German empire the Catholics and the Protestants
were engaged in a conflict which absorbed all other thoughts. And the
Protestants resolutely refused to assist in repelling the Turks while the sword
of Catholic vengeance was suspended over them. From Raab the invading
army advanced some hundred miles further to the very walls of Vienna.
Ferdinand, conscious of his inability to meet the foe in the open field, was
concentrating all his available strength to defend his capital.
At Cremnitz the
Turks met with the first serious show of resistance. The fortress was strong,
and the garrison, inspired by the indomitable energy and courage of their
commandant, Nicholas, Count of Salm, for a month repelled every assault of
the foe. Day after day and night after night the incessant bombardment
continued; the walls were crumbed by the storm of shot; column after column of
the Turks rushed to the assault, but all in vain. The sultan, disappointed and
enraged, made one last desperate effort, but his strong columns, thined, mangled and bleeding, were compelled to retire in
utter discomfiture.
Winter was now approaching. Reinforcements were also
hastening from Vienna, from Bohemia, and from other parts of the German
empire. Solyman, having devastated the country around him, and being all
unprepared for the storms of winter, was compelled to retire. He struck his
tents, and slowly and sullenly descended the Danube, wreaking diabolical
vengeance upon the helpless peasants, killing, burning and destroying. Leaving
a strong garrison to hold what remained of Buda and Pest, he carried thousands
with him into captivity, where, after years of woe, they passed into the grave.
'Tis terrible to rouse the lion,
Dreadful to cross the tiger's path;
But the most terrible of terrors,
Is man himself in his wild wrath.
Solyman spent two years in making preparation for
another march to Vienna, resolved to wipe out the disgrace of his last defeat
by capturing all the Austrian States, and of then spreading the terror of his
arms far and wide through the empire of Germany. The energy with which he acted
may be inferred from one well authenticated anecdote illustrative of his
character. He had ordered a bridge to be constructed across the Drave. The
engineer who had been sent to accomplish the task, after a careful survey,
reported that a bridge could not be constructed at that
point. Solyman sent him a linen cord with this message:
“The sultan, thy master, commands thee, without
consideration of the difficulties, to complete the bridge over the Drave. If
thou doest it not, on his arrival he will
have thee strangled with this cord.”
With a large army, thoroughly drilled, and equipped
with all the enginery of war, the sultan commenced his campaign. His force was
so stupendous and so incumbered with the necessary baggage and heavy
artillery, that it required a march of sixty days to pass from Constantinople
to Belgrade. Ferdinand, in inexpressible alarm, sent ambassadors
to Solyman, hoping to avert the storm by conciliation and concessions.
This indication of weakness but increased the arrogance of the Turk.
He embarked his artillery on the Danube in a flotilla
of three thousand vessels. Then crossing the Save, which at Belgrade flows into
the Danube, he left the great central river of Europe on his right, and marching
almost due west through Sclavonia, approached
the frontiers of Styria, one of the most important provinces of the Austrian
kingdom, by the shortest route. Still it was a long march of some two hundred
miles. Among the defiles of the Illyrian mountains, through which he was
compelled to pass in his advance to Vienna, he came upon the little fortress
of Guntz, garrisoned only by eight hundred
men. Solyman expected to sweep this slight annoyance away as he would
brush a fly from his face. He sent his advance guard to demolish the impudent
obstacle; then, surprised by the resistance, he pushed forward a few more
battalions; then, enraged at the unexpected strength developed, he ordered to
the attack what he deemed an overwhelming force; and then, in astonishment and
fury, impelled against the fortress the combined strength of his whole army.
But the little crag stood, like a rock opposing the flooding tide. The waves of
war rolled on and dashed against impenetrable and immovable granite, and were
scattered back in bloody spray. The fortress commanded the pass, and swept it
clean with an unintermitted storm of shot and balls. For twenty-eight
days the fortress resisted the whole force of the Turkish army, and prevented
it from advancing a mile. This check gave the terrified inhabitants of Vienna,
and of the surrounding region, time to unite for the defense of the capital.
The Protestants and the Catholics having settled their difficulties by the
pacification of Ratisbon, as we have before narrated, combined all their
energies; the pope sent his choicest troops; all the ardent young men of the
German empire, from the ocean to the Alps, rushed to the banners of the cross,
and one hundred and thirty thousand men, including thirty thousand mounted
horsemen, were speedily gathered within and around the walls of Vienna.
Thus thwarted in his plans, Solyman found
himself compelled to retreat ingloriously, by the same path through which he
had advanced. Thus Christendom was relieved of this terrible menace. Though the
Turks were still in possession of Hungary, the allied troops of the empire
strangely dispersed without attempting to regain the kingdom from their
domination.
CHAPTER X
FERDINAND I, HIS WARS AND INTRIGUES.
From 1555 To 1562.
During all the wars with the Turks, a Transylvanian
count, John of Tapoli, was disputing Ferdinand’s
right to the throne of Hungary and claiming it for himself. He even entered
into negotiations with the Turks, and cooperated with Solyman in his invasion
of Hungary, having the promise of the sultan that he should be appointed king
of the realm as soon as it was brought in subjection to Turkey. The Turks had
now possession of Hungary, and the sultan invested John of Tapoli with the sovereignty of the kingdom, in the
presence of a brilliant assemblage of the officers of his army and of the
Hungarian nobles.
The last discomfiture and retreat of Solyman
encouraged Ferdinand to redoubled exertions to reconquer Hungary from
the combined forces of the Turks and his Transylvanian rival. Several years
passed away in desultory, indecisive warfare, while John held his throne as
tributary king to the sultan. At last Ferdinand, finding that he could not resist
their united strength, and John becoming annoyed by the exactions of his
Turkish master, they agreed to a compromise, by which John, who was aged,
childless and infirm, was to remain king of all that part of Hungary which
he held until he died; and the whole kingdom was then to revert to Ferdinand
and his heirs—But it was agreed that should John marry and have a son, that son
should be viceroy, or, as the title then was, univode,
of his father's hereditary domain of Transylvania, having no control over
any portion of Hungary proper.
Somewhat to the disappointment of Ferdinand, the old
monarch immediately married a young bride. A son was born to them, and in
fourteen days after his birth the father died of a stroke of apoplexy. The
child was entitled to the viceroyship of Transylvania, while all the
rest of Hungary was to pass unincumbered to Ferdinand. But Isabella,
the ambitious young mother, who had married the decrepit monarch that she might
enjoy wealth and station, had no intention that her babe should be less of a
king than his father was. She was the daughter of Sigismond,
King of Poland, and relying upon the support of her regal father she claimed
the crown of Hungary for her boy, in defiance of the solemn compact. In that
age of chivalry a young and beautiful woman could easily find defenders
whatever might be her claims. Isabella soon rallied around her banner many
Hungarian nobles, and a large number of adventurous knights from Poland.
Under her influence a large party of nobles met, chose
the babe their king, and crowned him, under the name of Stephen, with a great
display of military and religious pomp. They then conveyed him and his mother
to the strong castle of Buda and dispatched an embassy to the sultan at
Constantinople, avowing homage to him, as their feudal lord, and imploring his
immediate and vigorous support.
Ferdinand, thus defrauded, and conscious of his
inability to rescue the crown from the united forces of the Hungarian partisans
of Stephen, and from the Turks, condescended also to send a message to the
sultan, offering to hold the crown as his fief and to pay to the Porte the same
tribute which John had paid, if the sultan would support his claim. The
imperious Turk, knowing that he could depose the baby king at his pleasure,
insultingly rejected the proposals which Ferdinand had humiliated himself in
advancing. He returned in answer, that he demanded, as the price of peace, not
only that Ferdinand should renounce all claim whatever to the crown of Hungary,
but that he should also acknowledge the Austrian territories as under vassalage
to the Turkish empire, and pay tribute accordingly.
Ferdinand, at the same time that he sent his embassy
to Constantinople, without waiting for a reply dispatched an army into Hungary,
which reached Buda and besieged Isabella and her son in the citadel.
He pressed the siege with such vigor that Isabella
must have surrendered had not an army of Turks come to her rescue. The Austrian
troops were defeated and dispersed. The sultan himself soon followed with a
still larger army, took possession of the city, secured the person of the queen
and the infant prince, and placed a garrison of ten thousand janissaries in the
citadel. The Turkish troops spread in all directions, establishing themselves
in towns, castles, fortresses, and setting at defiance all Ferdinand's efforts
to dislodge them. These events occurred during the reign of the Emperor Charles
V. The resources of Ferdinand had become so exhausted that he was compelled,
while affairs were in this state, in the year 1545, ten years before the
abdication of the emperor, to implore of Solyman a suspension of arms.
The haughty sultan reluctantly consented to a truce of
five years upon condition that Ferdinand would pay him an annual tribute of
about sixty thousand dollars, and become feudatory of the Porte. To these
humiliating conditions Ferdinand felt compelled to assent. Solyman, thus
relieved from any trouble on the part of Ferdinand, compelled the queen to
renounce to himself all right which either she or her son had to the throne.
And now for many years we have nothing but a weary record of intrigues,
assassinations, wars and woes. Miserable Hungary was but a field of blood.
There were three parties, Ferdinand, Stephen and Solyman, all alike ready to be
guilty of any inhumanity or to perpetrate any perfidy in the accomplishment of
their plans. Ferdinand with his armies held one portion of Hungary, Solyman
another, and Stephen, with his strong partisans another. Bombardment succeeded
bombardment; cities and provinces were now overrun by one set of troops and now
by another; the billows of war surged to and fro incessantly, and the wail of the widow and the cry of the orphan ascended by
day and by night to the ear of God.
In 1556 the Turks again invested Stephen with the
government of that large portion of Hungary which they held, including
Transylvania. Ferdinand still was in possession of several important
fortresses, and of several of the western districts of Hungary bordering on the
Austrian States. Isabella, annoyed by her subjection to the Turks, made
propositions to Ferdinand for a reconciliation, and a truce was agreed upon
which gave the land rest for a few years.
While these storms were sweeping over Hungary, events
of scarcely less importance were transpiring in Bohemia. This kingdom was an
elective monarchy, and usually upon the death of a king the fiercest strife
ensued as to who should be his successor. The elected monarch, on receiving the
crown, was obliged to recognize the sovereignty of the people as having chosen
him for their ruler, and he promised to govern according to the ancient
constitution of the kingdom. The monarch, however, generally found no
difficulty in surrounding himself with such strong supporters as to secure the
election of his son or heir, and frequently he had his successor chosen before
his death. Thus the monarchy, though nominally elective, was in its practical
operation essentially hereditary.
The authority of the crown was quite limited. The
monarch was only intrusted with so much
power as the proud nobles were willing to surrender to one of their number
whom they appointed chief, whose superiority they reluctantly
acknowledged, and against whom they were very frequently involved in wars. In
those days the people had hardly a recognized existence. The nobles
met in a congress called a diet, and authorized their elected chief, the king,
to impose taxes, raise troops, declare war and institute laws according to
their will. These diets were differently composed under different reigns, and
privileged cities were sometimes authorized to send deputies whom they selected
from the most illustrious of their citizens. The king usually convoked the
diets; but in those stormy times of feuds, conspiracies and wars, there was hardly
any general rule. The nobles, displeased at some act of the king, would
themselves, through some one or more of their number, summon a diet and
organize resistance. The numbers attending such an irregular body were of
course very various. There appear to have been diets of the empire composed of
not more than half a dozen individuals, and others where as many hundreds were
assembled. Sometimes the meetings were peaceful, and again tumultuous with the
clashing of arms.
In Bohemia the conflict between the Catholics and the
reformers had raged with peculiar acrimony, and the reformers in that kingdom
had become a very numerous and influential body. Ferdinand was anxious to check
the progress of the Reformation, and he exerted all the power he could command
to defend and maintain Catholic supremacy. For ten years Ferdinand was absent
from Bohemia, all his energies being absorbed by the Hungarian war. He was
anxious to weaken the power of the nobles in Bohemia. There was ever, in those
days, either an open or a smothered conflict between the king and the nobles,
the monarch striving to grasp more power, the nobles striving to keep him in
subjection to them. Ferdinand attempted to disarm the nobles by sending for all
the artillery of the kingdom, professing that he needed it to carry on his war
with the Turks. But the wary nobles held on to their artillery. He then
was guilty of the folly of hunting up some old exploded compacts, in virtue of
which he declared that Bohemia was not an elective but a hereditary monarchy,
and that he, as hereditary sovereign, held the throne for himself and his
heirs.
This announcement spread a flame of indignation
through all the castles of Bohemia. The nobles rallied, called a diet, passed
strong resolutions, organized an army, and adopted measures for vigorous
resistance. But Ferdinand was prepared for all these demonstrations. His
Hungarian truce enabled him to march a strong army on Bohemia. The party in
power has always numerous supporters from those who, being in office, will lose
their dignities by revolution. The king summoned all the well affected to
repair to his standards, threatening condign punishment to all who did not give
this proof of loyalty. Nobles and knights in great numbers flocked to his
encampment. With menacing steps his battalions strode on, and triumphantly
entered Prague, the capital city, situated in the very heart of the kingdom.
The indignation in the city was great, but the king
was too strong to be resisted, and he speedily quelled all movements of tumult.
Prague, situated upon the steep and craggy banks of the Moldau, spanning the stream, and with its antique dwellings
rising tier above tier upon the heights, is one of the most grand and imposing
capitals of Europe. About one hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants crowd its
narrow streets and massive edifices. Castles, fortresses, somber convents and
the Gothic palaces of the old Bohemian monarchs, occupying every picturesque
locality, as gray with age as the eternal crags upon which they stand, and
exhibiting every fantastic variety of architecture, present an almost unrivaled
aspect of beauty and of grandeur. The Palace on the Hill alone is larger than
the imperial palace at Vienna, containing over four hundred apartments, some of
them being rooms of magnificent dimensions. The cathedral within the precincts
of this palace occupied more than one hundred and fifty years in its
erection.
Ferdinand, with the iron energy and determined will of
an enraged, successful despot, stationed his troops at the gates, the bridges
and at every commanding position, and thus took military possession of the
city. The inhabitants, overawed and helpless, were in a state of terror. The
emperor summoned six hundred of the most influential of the citizens to his
palace, including all who possessed rank or office or wealth. Tremblingly they
came. As soon as they had entered, the gates were closed and guarded, and they
were all made prisoners. The king then, seated upon his throne, in his royal
robes, and with his armed officers around him, ordered the captives like
culprits to be led before him. Sternly he charged them with treason, and
demanded what excuse they had to offer. They were powerless, and their only
hope was in self-abasement. One, speaking in the name of the rest, said:
“We will not presume to enter into any defense of our
conduct with our king and master. We cast ourselves upon his royal mercy.”
They then all simultaneously threw themselves upon
their knees, imploring his pardon. The king allowed them to remain for some
time in that posture, that he might enjoy their humiliation. He then ordered
his officers to conduct them into the hall of justice, and detain them there
until he had decided respecting their punishment. For some hours they were kept
in this state of suspense. He then informed them, that out of his great
clemency he had decided to pardon them on the following conditions.
They were to surrender all their constitutional
privileges, whatever they were, into the hands of the king, and be satisfied
with whatever privileges he might condescend to confer upon them. They were to
bring all their artillery, muskets and ammunition to the palace, and surrender
them to his officers; all the revenues of the city, together with a tax
upon malt and beer, were to be paid into his hands for his disposal, and
all their vassals, and their property of every kind, they were to resign to the
king and to his heirs, whom they were to acknowledge as
the hereditary successors to the throne of Bohemia. Upon these
conditions the king promised to spare the rebellious city, and to pardon all
the offenders, excepting a few of the most prominent, whom he was determined to
punish with such severity as to prove an effectual warning to all others.
The prisoners were terrified into the immediate
ratification of these hard terms. They were then all released, excepting forty,
who were reserved for more rigorous punishment. In the same manner the king
sent a summons to all the towns of the kingdom; and by the same terrors the
same terms were extorted. All the rural nobles, who had manifested a spirit of
resistance, were also summoned before a court of justice for trial. Some fled
the kingdom. Their estates were confiscated to Ferdinand, and they were sentenced
to death should they ever return. Many others were deprived of their
possessions. Twenty-six were thrown into prison, and two condemned to public
execution.
The king, having thus struck all the discontented with
terror, summoned a diet to meet in his palace at Prague. They met the 22d of
August, 1547. A vast assemblage was convened, as no one who was summoned dared
to stay away. The king, wishing to give an intimation to the diet of what they
were to expect should they oppose his wishes, commenced the session by publicly
hanging four of the most illustrious of his captives. One of these, high judge
of the kingdom, was in the seventieth year of his age. The Bloody Diet, as it
has since been called, was opened, and Ferdinand found all as pliant as he could
wish. The royal discipline had effected wonders. The slightest intimation of
Ferdinand was accepted with eagerness.
The execrable tyrant wished to impress the whole
kingdom with a salutary dread of incurring his paternal displeasure. He
brought out the forty prisoners who still remained in their dungeons. Eight of
the most distinguished men of the kingdom were led to three of the principal
cities, in each of which, in the public square, they were ignominiously and
cruelly whipped on the bare back. Before each flagellation the executioner
proclaimed—
“These men are punished because they are traitors, and
because they excited the people against their hereditary master.”
They then, with eight others, their property being
confiscated, in utter beggary, were driven as vagabonds from the kingdom. The
rest, after being impoverished by fines, were restored to liberty. Ferdinand
adopted vigorous measures to establish his despotic power. Considering the
Protestant religion as peculiarly hostile to despotism, in the encouragement it
afforded to education, to the elevation of the masses, and to the diffusion of
those principles of fraternal equality which Christ enjoined; and considering
the Catholic religion as the great bulwark of kingly power, by the intolerance of
the Church teaching the benighted multitudes subjection to civil intolerance,
Ferdinand, with unceasing vigilance, and with melancholy success, endeavored to
eradicate the Lutheran doctrines from the kingdom. He established the most
rigorous censorship of the press, and would allow no foreign work, unexamined,
to enter the realm. He established in Bohemia the fanatic order of the Jesuits,
and intrusted to them the education of the
young.
It is often impossible to reconcile the
inconsistencies of the human heart. Ferdinand, while guilty of such atrocities,
affected, on some points, the most scrupulous punctilios of honor. The
clearly-defined privileges which had been promised the Protestants, he would
not infringe in the least. They were permitted to give their children
Protestant teachers, and to conduct worship in their own way. He effected his
object of changing Bohemia from an elective to a hereditary monarchy, and
thus there was established in Bohemia the renowned doctrine of regal
legitimacy; of the divine right of kings to govern. With such a
bloody hand was the doctrine of the sovereignty, not of the people, but of
the nobles, overthrown in Bohemia. The nobles are not much to be
commiserated, for they trampled upon the people as mercilessly as the king did
upon them. It is merely another illustration of the old and melancholy story of
the strong devouring the weak: the owl takes the wren; the eagle the owl.
Bohemia, thus brought in subjection to a single mind,
and shackled in its spirit of free enterprise, began rapidly to exhibit
symptoms of decline and decay. It was a great revolution, accomplished by
cunning and energy, and maintained by the terrors of confiscation, exile and
death.
The Emperor Charles V, it will be remembered, had
attempted in vain to obtain the reversion of the imperial crown for his son
Philip at his own death. The crown of Spain was his hereditary possession, and
that he could transmit to his son. But the crown of the empire was elective.
Charles V. was so anxious to secure the imperial dignity for his son, that he
retained the crown of the empire for some months after abdicating that of
Spain, still hoping to influence the electors in their choice. But there were
so many obstacles in the way of the recognition of the young Philip as emperor,
that Charles, anxious to retain the dignity in the family, reluctantly yielded
to the intrigues of his brother Ferdinand, who had now become so powerful that
he could perhaps triumph over any little irregularity in the succession and silence
murmurs.
Consequently, Charles, nine months after the
abdication of the thrones of the Low Countries and of Spain, tried the
experiment of abdicating the elective crown of the empire in favor of
Ferdinand. It was in many respects such an act as if the President of the
United States should abdicate in favor of some one of his own choice. The
emperor had, however, a semblance of right to place the scepter in the
hands of whom he would during his lifetime. But, upon the death of the emperor,
would his appointee still hold his power, or would the crown at that moment be
considered as falling from his brow? It was the 7th of August, 1556, when the
emperor abdicated the throne of the empire in behalf of his brother Ferdinand.
It was a new event in history, without a precedent, and the matter was long and
earnestly discussed throughout the German States. Notwithstanding all
Ferdinand's energy, sagacity and despotic power, two years elapsed before he
could secure the acknowledgment of his title, by the German States, and obtain
a proclamation of his imperial state.
The pope had thus far had such an amazing control over
the conscience, or rather the superstition of Europe, that the choice of the
electors was ever subject to the ratification of the holy father. It was
necessary for the emperor elect to journey to Rome, and be personally crowned
by the hands of the pope, before he could be considered in legal possession of
the imperial title and of a right to the occupancy of the throne. Julius II,
under peculiar circumstances, allowed Maximilian to assume the title
of emperor elect while he postponed his visit to Rome for coronation;
but he want of the papal sanction, by the imposition of the crown upon his brow
by those sacred hands, thwarted Maximilian in some of his most fondly-cherished
measures.
Paul IV was now pontiff, an old man, jealous of his
prerogatives, intolerant in the extreme, and cherishing the most exorbitant
sense of his spiritual power. He execrated the Protestants, and was indignant
with Ferdinand that he had shown them any mercy at all. But Ferdinand,
conscious of the importance of a papal coronation, sent a very obsequious
embassy to Rome, announcing his appointment as emperor, and imploring the
benediction of the holy father and the reception of the crown from his hands.
The haughty and disdainful reply of the pope was characteristic of the
times and of the man. It was in brief, as follows:
“The Emperor Charles has behaved like a madman; and
his acts are no more to be respected than the ravings of insanity. Charles V
received the imperial crown from the head of the Church; in abdicating, that
crown could only return to the sacred hands which conferred it. The nomination
of Ferdinand as his successor we pronounce to be null and void. The alleged
ratification of the electors is a mockery, dishonored and vitiated as it is by
the votes of electors polluted with heresy. We therefore command Ferdinand to
relinquish all claim to the imperial crown.”
The irascible old pontiff, buried beneath the
senseless pomps of the Vatican, was not at
all aware of the change which Protestant preaching and writing had effected in
the public mind of Germany. Italy was still slumbering in the gloom of the dark
ages; but light was beginning to dawn upon the hills of the empire. One half of
the population of the German empire would rally only the more enthusiastically
around Ferdinand, if he would repel all papal assumptions with defiance and
contempt. Ferdinand was the wiser and the better informed man of the two. He
conducted with dignity and firmness which make us almost forget his crimes. A
diet was summoned, and it was quietly decreed that a papal coronation was
no longer necessary. That one short line was the heaviest blow the papal throne
had yet received. From it, it never recovered and never can recover.
Paul IV was astounded at such effrontery, and as soon
as he had recovered a little from his astonishment, alarmed in view of such a
declaration of independence, he took counsel of discretion, and humiliating as
it was, made advances for a reconciliation. Ferdinand was also anxious to be on
good terms with the pope. While negotiations were pending, Paul died, his death
being perhaps hastened by chagrin. Pius IV succeeded him, and pressed still
more earnestly overtures for reconciliation Ferdinand, through his
ambassador, expressed his willingness to pledge the
accustomed devotion and reverence to the head of the
Church, omitting the word obedience. But the pope was anxious, above all
things, to have that emphatic word obey introduced into the ritual of
subjection, and after employing all the arts of diplomacy and cajolery, carried
his point. Ferdinand, with duplicity which was not honorable, let the word
remain, saying that it was not his act, but that of his ambassador. The pope affected
satisfaction with the formal acknowledgment of his power, while Ferdinand ever
after refused to recognize his authority. Thus terminated the long dependence,
running through ages of darkness and delusion, of the German emperors upon the
Roman see.
Ferdinand did not trouble himself to receive the crown
from the pope, and since his day the emperors of Germany have no longer been
exposed to the expense and the trouble of a journey to Rome for their
coronation. Though Ferdinand was strongly attached to the tenets of the papal
church, and would gladly have eradicated Protestantism from his domains, he was
compelled to treat the Protestants with some degree of consideration, as he
needed the aid of their arms in the wars in which he was incessantly involved
with the Turks. He even made great efforts to introduce some measure of
conciliation which should reconcile the two parties, and thus reunite his
realms under one system of doctrine and of worship.
Still Protestantism was making rapid strides all over
Europe. It had become the dominant religion in Denmark and Sweden, and, by the
accession of Elizabeth to the throne of England, was firmly established in that
important kingdom. In France also the reformed religion had made extensive
inroads, gathering to its defense many of the noblest spirits, in rank and
intellect, in the realm. The terrors of the inquisition had thus far prevented
the truth from making much progress in Spain and Portugal.
With the idea of promoting reconciliation,
Ferdinand adopted a measure which contributed greatly to his popularity
with the Protestants. He united with France and Spain in urging Pius IV, a mild
and pliant pontiff, to convene a council in Germany to heal the religious feud.
He drew up a memorial, which was published and widely scattered, declaring that
the Protestants had become far too powerful to be treated with outrage or
contempt; that there were undeniable wrongs in the Church which needed to be
reformed; and that no harm could accrue from permitting the clergy to marry,
and to administer both bread and wine to the communicants in the Lord's Supper.
It was a doctrine of the Church of Rome, that the laity could receive the bread
only; the wine was reserved for the officiating priest.
This memorial of Ferdinand, drawn up with much
distinctness and great force of argument, was very grateful to the Protestants,
but very displeasing to the court of Rome. These conflicts raged for several
years without any decisive results. The efforts of Ferdinand to please both
parties, as usual, pleased neither. By the Protestants he was regarded as a
persecutor and intolerant; while the Catholics accused him of lukewarmness, of
conniving at heresy and of dishonoring the Church by demanding of her
concessions derogatory to her authority and her dignity.
Ferdinand, finding that the Church clung with deathly
tenacity to its corruptions, assumed himself quite the attitude of a reformer.
A memorable council had been assembled at Trent on the 15th of January, 1562.
Ferdinand urged the council to exhort the pope to examine if there was not room
for some reform in his own person, state or court. "Because," said
he, "the only true method to obtain authority for the reformation of
others, is to begin by amending oneself." He commented upon the manifest
impropriety of scandalous indulgences: of selling the sacred offices of the
Church to the highest bidder, regardless of character; of extorting fees for
the administration of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper; of offering
prayers and performing the services of public devotion in a language which the
people could not understand; and other similar and most palpable abuses. Even
the kings of France and Spain united with the emperor in these remonstrances.
It is difficult now to conceive of the astonishment
and indignation with which the pope and his adherents received these very
reasonable suggestions, coming not from the Protestants but from the most
staunch advocates of the papacy. The see of Rome, corrupt to its very
core, would yield nothing. The more senseless and abominable any of its
corruptions were, the more tenaciously did pope and cardinals cling to them. At
last the emperor, in despair of seeing anything accomplished, requested that
the assembly might be dissolved, saying, “Nothing good can be expected, even if
it continue its sittings for a hundred years.”
CHAPTER XI
DEATH OF FERDINAND I. ACCESSION OF MAXIMILIAN II.
From 1562 to 1576.
This celebrated council of Trent, which was called
with the hope that by a spirit of concession and reform the religious
dissensions which agitated Europe might be adjusted, declared, in the very
bravado of papal intolerance, the very worst abuses of the Church to be
essential articles of faith, which could only be renounced at the peril of
eternal condemnation, and thus presented an insuperable barrier to any
reconciliation between the Catholics and the Protestants. Ferdinand was
disappointed, and yet did not venture to break with the pope by withholding his
assent from the decrees which were enacted.
The Lutheran doctrines had spread widely through
Ferdinand's hereditary States of Austria. Several of the professors in the
university at Vienna had embraced those views; and quite a number of the most
powerful and opulent of the territorial lords even maintained Protestant
chaplains at their castles. The majority of the inhabitants of the Austrian
States had, in the course of a few years, become Protestants. Though Ferdinand
did everything he dared to do to check their progress, forbidding the
circulation of Luther's translation of the Bible, and throwing all the
obstacles he could in the way of Protestant worship, he was compelled to grant
them very considerable toleration, and to overlook the infraction of his
decrees, that he might secure their aid to repel the Turks. Providence seemed
to overrule the Moslem invasion for the protection of the Protestant faith.
Notwithstanding all the efforts of Ferdinand, the reformers gained ground in
Austria as in other parts of Germany.
The two articles upon which the Protestants at this
time placed most stress were the right of the clergy to marry and the
administration of the communion under both kinds, as it was called; that is,
that the communicants should partake of both the bread and the wine. Ferdinand,
having failed entirely in inducing the council to submit to any reform, opened
direct communication with the pope to obtain for his subjects indulgence in
respect to these two articles. In advocacy of this measure he wrote:
“In Bohemia no persuasion, no argument, no violence,
not even arms and war, have succeeded in abolishing the use of the cup as well
as the bread in the sacrament. In fact the Church itself permitted it, although
the popes revoked it by a breach of the conditions on which it was granted. In
the other States, Hungary, Austria, Silesia, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola,
Bavaria and other parts of Germany, many desire with ardor the same indulgence.
If this concession is granted they may be reunited to the Church, but if
refused they will be driven into the party of the Protestants. So many of the
priests have been degraded by their diocesans for administering the sacrament
in both kinds, that the country is almost deprived of priests. Hence children
die or grow up to maturity without baptism; and men and women, of all ages and
of all ranks, live like the brutes, in the grossest ignorance of God and of
religion.”
In reference to the marriage of the clergy he wrote: “If
a permission to the clergy to marry cannot be granted, may not
married men of learning and probity be ordained, according to the custom of the
eastern church; or married priests be tolerated for a time, provided they act
according to the Catholic and Christian faith? And it may be justly asked
whether such concessions would not be far preferable to tolerating, as has
unfortunately been done, fornication and concubinage? I cannot avoid
adding, what is a common observation, that priests who live
in concubinage are guilty of greater sin than those who are married;
for the last only transgress a law which is capable of being changed, whereas
the first sin against a divine law, which is capable of neither change nor
dispensation.”
The pope, pressed with all the importunity which
Ferdinand could urge, reluctantly consented to the administration of the cup to
the laity, but resolutely refused to tolerate the marriage of the clergy.
Ferdinand was excessively annoyed by the stubbornness of the court of Rome in
its refusal to submit to the most reasonable reform, thus rendering it
impossible for him to allay the religious dissensions which were still
spreading and increasing in acrimony. His disappointment was so great that it
is said to have thrown him into the fever of which he died on the 25th of July,
1564.
For several ages the archdukes of Austria had been
endeavoring to unite the Austrian States with Hungary and Bohemia under one
monarchy. The union had been temporarily effected once or twice, but Ferdinand
accomplished the permanent union, and may thus be considered as the founder of
the Austrian monarchy essentially as it now exists. As Archduke of Austria, he
inherited the Austrian duchies. By his marriage with Anne, daughter
of Ladislaus, King of Hungary and Bohemia, he secured those crowns, which
he made hereditary in his family. He left three sons. The eldest, Maximilian,
inherited the archduchy of Austria and the crowns of Bohemia and Hungary, of
course inheriting, with Hungary, prospective war with the Turks. The second
son, Ferdinand, had, as his legacy, the government and the revenues of the
Tyrol. The third son, Charles, received Styria. There were nine daughters left,
three of whom took the vail and the rest formed illustrious marriages.
Ferdinand appears to have been a sincere Catholic,
though he saw the great corruptions of the Church and earnestly desired reform.
As he advanced in years he became more tolerant and gentle, and had his wise
counsels been pursued Europe would have escaped inexpressible woes. Still he
clung to the Church, unwisely seeking unity of faith and discipline, which can
hardly be attained in this world, rather than toleration with allowed
diversity.
Maximilian II was thirty-seven years of age on his
accession to the throne. Although he was educated in the court of Spain, which
was the most bigoted and intolerant in Europe, yet he developed a character
remarkable for mildness, affability and tolerance. He was indebted for these
attractive traits to his tutor, a man of enlarged and cultivated mind, and who
had, like most men of his character at that time, a strong leaning towards
Protestantism. These principles took so firm a hold of his youthful mind that
they could never be eradicated. As he advanced in life he became more and more
interested in the Protestant faith. He received a clergyman of the reformed
religion as his chaplain and private secretary, and partook of the sacrament of
the Lord's Supper, from his hands, in both kinds. Even while remaining in the
Spanish court he entered into a correspondence with several of the most
influential advocates of the Protestant faith. Returning to Austria from Spain,
he attended public worship in the chapels of the Protestants, and communed with
them in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. When some of his friends warned him
that by pursuing such a course he could never hope to obtain the imperial crown
of Germany, he replied:
“I will sacrifice all worldly interests for the sake
of my salvation.”
His father, the Emperor Ferdinand, was so much
displeased with his son's advocacy of the Protestant faith, that after many
angry remonstrances he threatened to disinherit him if he did not renounce all
connection with the reformers. But Maximilian, true to his conscience, would
not allow the apprehension of the loss of a crown to induce him to swerve from
his faith. Fully expecting to be thus cast off and banished from the kingdom,
he wrote to the Protestant elector Palatine:
“I have so deeply offended my father by maintaining a
Lutheran preacher in my service, that I am apprehensive of being expelled as a
fugitive, and hope to find an asylum in your court.”
The Catholics of course looked with apprehension to
the accession of Maximilian to the throne, while the Protestants anticipated
the event with great hope. There were, however, many considerations of vast
moment influencing Maximilian not to separate himself, in form, from the
Catholic church. Philip, his cousin, King of Spain, was childless, and should
he die without issue, Ferdinand would inherit that magnificent throne, which he
could not hope to ascend, as an avowed Protestant, without a long and bloody
war. It had been the most earnest dying injunction of his father that he should
not abjure the Catholic faith. His wife was a very zealous Catholic, as was
also each one of his brothers. There were very many who remained in the
Catholic church whose sympathies were with the reformers—who hoped to promote
reformation in the Church without leaving it. Influenced by such considerations,
Maximilian made a public confession of the Catholic faith, received his father’s
confessor, and maintained, in his court, the usages of the papal church. He
was, however, the kind friend of the Protestants, ever seeking to shield them
from persecution, claiming for them a liberal toleration, and seeking, in all
ways, to promote fraternal religious feeling throughout his domains.
The prudence of Maximilian wonderfully allayed the
bitterness of religious strife in Germany, while other portions of Europe were
desolated with the fiercest warfare between the Catholics and Protestants. In
France, in particular, the conflict raged with merciless fury. It was on August
24th, 1572, but a few years after Maximilian ascended the throne, when the
Catholics of France perpetrated the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, perhaps the
most atrocious crime recorded in history. The Catholics and Protestants in
France were nearly equally divided in numbers, wealth and rank. The papal
party, finding it impossible to crush their foes by force of arms, resolved to
exterminate them by a simultaneous massacre. They feigned toleration and
reconciliation. The court of Paris invited all the leading Protestants of the
kingdom to the metropolis to celebrate the nuptials of Henry, the young King of
Navarre, with Margaret, sister of Charles IX., the reigning monarch. Secret
orders were dispatched all over the kingdom, for the conspirators, secretly
armed, at a given signal, by midnight, to rise upon the Protestants, men, women
and children, and utterly exterminate them. “Let not one remain alive,” said
the King of France, “to tell the story.”
The deed was nearly accomplished. The king himself,
from a window of the Louvre, fired upon his Protestant subjects, as they fled
in dismay through the streets. In a few hours eighty thousand of the Protestants were mangled corpses. Protestantism in France has never
recovered from this blow. Maximilian openly expressed his execration of this
deed, though the pope ordered Te Deums to be chanted at Rome in exultation over the
crime. Not long after this horrible slaughter, Charles IX died in mental
torment. Henry of Valois, brother of the deceased king, succeeded to the
throne. He was at that time King of Poland. Returning to France, through
Vienna, he had an interview with Maximilian, who addressed him in those
memorable words which have often been quoted to the honor of the Austrian sovereign:
“There is no crime greater in princes,” said
Maximilian, “than to tyrannize over the consciences of their subjects. By
shedding the blood of heretics, far from honoring the common Father of all,
they incur the divine vengeance; and while they aspire, by such means, to
crowns in heaven, they justly expose themselves to the loss of their earthly
kingdoms.”
Under the peaceful and humane reign of Ferdinand,
Germany was kept in a general state of tranquillity,
while storms of war and woe were sweeping over almost all other parts of
Europe. During all his reign, Maximilian II. was unwearied in his endeavors to
promote harmony between the two great religious parties, by trying, on the one
hand, to induce the pope to make reasonable concessions, and, on the other
hand, to induce the Protestants to moderate their demands. His first great
endeavor was to induce the pope to consent to the marriage of the clergy. In
this he failed entirely. He then tried to form a basis of mutual agreement,
upon which the two parties could unite. His father had attempted this plan, and
found it utterly impracticable. Maximilian attempted it, with just as little
success. It has been attempted a thousand times since, and has always failed.
Good men are ever rising who mourn the divisions in the Christian Church, and
strive to form some plan of union, where all true Christians can meet and
fraternize, and forget their minor differences. Alas! for poor human nature,
there is but little prospect that this plan can ever be accomplished. There
will be always those who can not discriminate
between essential and non-essential differences of opinion. Maximilian at last
fell back simply upon the doctrine of a liberal toleration, and in maintaining
this he was eminently successful.
At one time the Turks were crowding him very hard in
Hungary. A special effort was requisite to raise troops to repel them.
Maximilian summoned a diet, and appealed to the assembled nobles for supplies
of men and money. In Austria proper, Protestantism was now in the decided
ascendency. The nobles took advantage of the emperor's wants to reply—
“We are ready to march to the assistance of our
sovereign, to repel the Turks from Hungary, if the Jesuits are first expelled
from our territories.”
The answer of the king was characteristic of his
policy and of his career. “I have convened you,” he said, “to give me
contributions, not remonstrances. I wish you to help me expel the Turks, not
the Jesuits.”
From many a prince this reply would have excited
exasperation. But Maximilian had established such a character for impartiality
and probity, that the rebuke was received with applause rather than with
murmurs, and the Protestants, with affectionate zeal, rallied around his
standard. So great was the influence of the king, that toleration, as one of
the virtues of the court, became the fashion, and the Catholics and Protestants
vied with each other in the manifestation of mutual forbearance and good will.
They met on equal terms in the palace of the monarch, shared alike in his
confidence and his favors, and cooperated cordially in the festivities of the
banqueting room, and in the toils of the camp. We love to dwell upon the first
beautiful specimen of toleration which the world has seen in any court. It is
the more beautiful, and the more wonderful, as having occurred in a dark age of
bigotry, intolerance and persecution. And let us be sufficiently candid to
confess, that it was professedly a Roman Catholic monarch, a member of the
papal church, to whom the world is indebted for this first recognition of true
mental freedom. It cannot be denied that Maximilian II was in advance
of the avowed Protestants of his day.
Pope Pius V was a bigot, inflexible, overbearing; and
he determined, with a bloody hand, to crush all dissent. From his throne in the
Vatican he cast an eagle eye to Germany, and was alarmed and indignant at the
innovations which Maximilian was permitting. In all haste he dispatched a
legate to remonstrate strongly against such liberality. Maximilian received the
legate, Cardinal Commendon, with courtesy, but
for a time firmly refused to change his policy in obedience to the exactions of
the pope. The pope brought to bear upon him all the influence of the Spanish
court. He was threatened with war by all the papal forces, sustained by the
then immense power of the Spanish monarchy. For a time Maximilian was in great
perplexity, and finally yielded to the pope so far as to promise not to permit
any further innovations than those which he had already allowed, and not to
extend his principles of toleration into any of his States where they had not
as yet been introduced. Thus, while he did not retract any concessions he had
made, he promised to stop where he was, and proceed no further.
Maximilian was so deeply impressed with the calamities
of war, that he even sent an embassy to the Turks, offering to continue to pay
the tribute which they had exacted of his father, as the price of a continued
armistice. But Solyman, having made large preparations for the renewed invasion
of Hungary, and sanguine of success, haughtily rejected the offer, and renewed
hostilities.
Nearly all of the eastern and southern portions of
Hungary were already in the hands of the Turks. Maximilian held a few important
towns and strong fortresses on the western frontier. Not feeling strong enough
to attempt to repel the Turks from the portion they already held, he
strengthened his garrisons, and raising an army of eighty thousand men, of
which he assumed the command, he entered Hungary and marched down the Danube
about sixty miles to Raab, to await the foe and act on the defensive.
Solyman rendezvoused an immense army at Belgrade, and commenced his march up
the Danube.
“Old as I am,” said he to his troops, “I am determined
to chastise the house of Austria, or to perish in the attempt beneath the walls
of Vienna.”
It was beautiful spring weather, and the swelling buds
and hourly increasing verdure, decorated the fields with loveliness. For
several days the Turks marched along the right bank of the Danube, through
green fields, and beneath a sunny sky, encountering no foe. War seemed but as
the pastime of a festive day, as gay banners floated in the breeze, groups of
horsemen, gorgeously caparisoned, pranced along, and the turbaned multitude, in
brilliant uniform, with jokes, and laughter and songs, leisurely ascended the
majestic stream. A fleet of boats filled the whole body of the river, impelled
by sails when the wind favored, or, when the winds were adverse, driven by the
strong arms of the rowers against the gentle tide. Each night the white tents
were spread, and a city for a hundred thousand inhabitants rose as by magic,
with its grassy streets, its squares, its busy population, its music, its
splendor, blazing in all the regalia of war. As by magic the city rose in the
rays of the declining sun. As by magic it disappeared in the early dawn of the
morning, and the mighty hosts moved on.
A few days thus passed, when Solyman approached the
fortified town of Zigeth, near the confluence of
the Drave and the Danube. Nicholas, Count of Zrini,
was intrusted with the defense of this
place, and he fulfilled his trust with heroism and valor which has immortalized
both his name and the fortress which he defended. Zrini had
a garrison of but three thousand men. An army of nearly a hundred thousand were
marching upon him. Zrini collected his
troops, and took a solemn oath, in the presence of all, that, true to God, to
his Christian faith, and his country, he never would surrender the town to the
Turks, but with his life. He then required each soldier individually to take
the same oath to his captain. All the captains then, in the presence of the
assembled troops, took the same oath to him.
The Turks soon arrived and commenced an unceasing
bombardment day and night. The little garrison vigorously responded. The
besieged made frequent sallies, spiking the guns of the besiegers, and again
retiring behind their works. But their overpowering foes advanced, inch by
inch, till they got possession of what was called the "old city." The
besieged retiring to the "new city," resumed the defense with
unabated ardor. The storm of war raged incessantly for many days, and the new
city was reduced to a smoldering heap of fire and ashes. The Turks, with
incredible labor, raised immense mounds of earth and stone, on the summits of
which they planted their batteries, where they could throw their shot, with
unobstructed aim, into every part of the city. Roads were constructed across
the marsh, and the swarming multitudes, in defiance of all the efforts of the
heroic little garrison, filled up the ditch, and were just on the rush to take
the place by a general assault, when Zrini abandoned
the new city to flames, and threw himself into the citadel. His force was now
reduced to about a thousand men. Day after day the storm of war blazed with
demoniac fury around the citadel. Mines were dug, and, as by volcanic
explosions, bastions, with men and guns, were blown high into the air. The
indomitable Hungarians made many sallies, cutting down the gunners and spiking
the guns, but they were always driven back with heavy loss. Repeated demands
for capitulation were sent in and as repeatedly rejected. For a week seven
assaults were made daily upon the citadel by the Turks, but they were always
repulsed. At length the outer citadel was entirely demolished. Then the heroic
band retired to the inner works. They were now without ammunition or
provisions, and the Turks, exasperated by such a defense, were almost gnashing
their teeth with rage. The old sultan, Solyman, actually died from the
intensity of his vexation and wrath. The death of the sultan was concealed from
the Turkish troops, and a general assault was arranged upon the inner works.
The hour had now come when they must surrender or die, for the citadel was all
battered into a pile of smoldering ruins, and there were no ramparts capable of
checking the progress of the foe. Zrini assembled
his little band, now counting but six hundred, and said,
“Remember your oath. We must die in the flames, or
perish with hunger, or go forth to meet the foe. Let us die like men. Follow
me, and do as I do.”
They made a simultaneous rush from their defenses into
the thickest of the enemy. For a few moments there was a scene of wildest
uproar and confusion, and the brave defenders were all silent in death. The
Turks with shouts of triumph now rushed into the citadel. But Zrini had fired trains leading to the subterranean
vaults of powder, and when the ruins were covered with the conquerors, a sullen
roar ran beneath the ground and the whole citadel, men, horses, rocks and
artillery were thrown into the air, and fell a commingled mass of ruin, fire
and blood. A more heroic defense history has not recorded. Twenty thousand
Turks perished in this siege. The body of Zrini was
found in the midst of the mangled dead. His head was cut off and, affixed to a
pole, was raised as a trophy before the tent of the deceased sultan.
The death of Solyman, and the delay which this
desperate siege had caused, embarrassed all the plans of the invaders, and they
resolved upon a retreat. The troops were consequently withdrawn from Hungary,
and returned to Constantinople.
Maximilian, behind
his intrenchments at Raab, did not dare to march to the succor
of the beleaguered garrison, for overpowering numbers would immediately have
destroyed him had he appeared in the open field. But upon the withdrawal of the
Turks he disbanded his army, after having replenished his garrisons, and
returned to Vienna. Selim succeeded Solyman, and Maximilian sent an embassy to
Constantinople to offer terms of peace. At the same time, to add weight to his
negotiations, he collected a large army, and made the most vigorous
preparations for the prosecution of the war.
Selim, just commencing his reign, anxious to
consolidate his power, and embarrassed by insurrection in his own realms, was
glad to conclude an armistice on terms highly favorable to Maximilian.
John Sigismond, who had been crowned by the
Turks, as their tributary King of Hungary, was to retain Transylvania. The
Turks were to hold the country generally between Transylvania and the
river Teiss, while Ferdinand was to have the
remainder, extending many hundred miles from the Teiss to
Austria. The Prince of Transylvania was compelled, though very reluctantly, to
assent to this treaty. He engaged not to assume the title of King of Hungary,
except in correspondence with the Turks. The emperor promised him one of his
nieces in marriage, and in return it was agreed that should John Sigismond die without male issue, Transylvania should
revert to the crown of Hungary.
Soon after this treaty, John Sigismond died,
before his marriage with the emperor's niece, and Transylvania was again united
to Hungary and came under the sway of Maximilian. This event formed quite an
accession to the power of the Austrian monarch, as he now held all of Hungary
save the southern and central portion where the Turks had garrisoned the
fortresses. The pope, the King of Spain, and the Venetians, now sent united
ambassadors to the emperor urging him to summon the armies of the empire and
drive the Turks entirely out of Hungary. Cardinal Commendon assured
the emperor, in the name of the holy father of the Church, that it was no sin
to violate any compact with the infidel. Maximilian nobly replied,
“The faith of treaties ought to be considered as
inviolable, and a Christian can never be justified in breaking an oath.”
Maximilian never enjoyed vigorous health, and being
anxious to secure the tranquillity of his
extended realms after his death, he had his eldest son, Rhodolph, in a
diet at Presburg, crowned King of
Hungary. Rhodolph at once entered upon the government of his realm as
viceroy during the life of his father. Thus he would have all the reins of
government in his hands, and, at the death of the emperor, there would be no
apparent change.
It will be remembered that Ferdinand had, by violence
and treachery, wrested from the Bohemians the privilege of electing their
sovereign, and had thus converted Bohemia into an hereditary monarchy.
Maximilian, with characteristic prudence, wished to maintain the hereditary
right thus established, while at the same time he wished to avoid wounding the
prejudices of those who had surrendered the right of suffrage only to fraud and
the sword. He accordingly convoked a diet at Prague. The nobles were assembled
in large numbers, and the occasion was invested with unusual solemnity. The
emperor himself introduced to them his son, and recommended him to them as
their future sovereign. The nobles were much gratified by so unexpected a
concession, and with enthusiasm accepted their new king. The emperor had thus
wisely secured for his son the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia.
Having succeeded in these two important measures,
Maximilian set about the more difficult enterprise of securing for his son his
succession upon the imperial throne. This was a difficult matter in the strong
rivalry which then existed between the Catholics and the Protestants. With
caution and conciliation, encountering and overturning innumerable obstacles,
Maximilian proceeded, until having, as he supposed, a fair chance of success,
he summoned the diet of electors at Ratisbon. But here new difficulties arose.
The Protestants were jealous of their constantly imperiled privileges, and
wished to surround them with additional safeguards. The Catholics, on the
contrary, stimulated by the court of Rome, wished to withdraw the toleration
already granted, and to pursue the Protestant faith with new rigor. The meeting
of the diet was long and stormy, and again they were upon the point of a
violent dissolution. But the wisdom, moderation and perseverance of Maximilian
finally prevailed, and his success was entire. Rhodolph III was
unanimously chosen to succeed him upon the imperial throne, and was crowned at
Ratisbon on the 1st of November, 1575.
Poland was strictly an elective monarchy. The
tumultuous nobles had established a law prohibiting the election of a successor
during the lifetime of the monarch. Their last king had been the reckless,
chivalrous Henry, Duke of Anjou, brother of Charles IX of France. Charles IX
having died without issue, Henry succeeded him upon the throne of France, and
abdicated the crown of the semi-barbaric wilds of Poland. The nobles were about
to assemble for the election. There were many influential candidates.
Maximilian was anxious to obtain the crown for his son Ernest. Much to the
surprise of Maximilian, he himself was chosen king. Protestantism had gained
the ascendency in Poland, and a large majority of the nobles united upon
Maximilian. The electors honored both themselves and the emperor in assigning,
as the reason for their choice, that the emperor had conciliated the contending
factions of the Christian world, and had acquired more glory by his pacific
policy than other princes had acquired in the exploits of war.
There were curious conditions at that time assigned to
the occupancy of the throne of Poland. The elected monarch, before receiving
the crown, was required to give his pledge that he would reside two years
uninterruptedly in the kingdom, and that then he would not leave without the
consent of the nobles. He was also required to construct four fortresses at his
own expense, and to pay all the debts of the last monarch, however heavy they
might be, including the arrears of the troops. He was also to maintain a sort
of guard of honor, consisting of ten thousand Polish horsemen.
In addition to the embarrassment which these conditions
presented, there were many indications of jealousy on the part of other powers,
in view of the wonderful aggrandizement of Austria. Encouraged by the emperor's
delay and by the hostility of other powers, a minority of the nobles chose
Stephen Bathori, a Transylvanian prince, King of
Poland; and to strengthen his title, married him to Anne, sister to Sigismond Augustus, the King of Poland who preceded
the Duke of Anjou. Maximilian thus aroused, signed the articles of agreement,
and the two rival monarchs prepared for war. The kingdoms of Europe were
arraying themselves, some on the one side and some on the other, and there was
the prospect of a long, desperate and bloody strife, when death stilled the
tumult.
Maximilian had long been declining. On the 12th of
October, 1576, he breathed his last at Ratisbon. He apparently died the death
of the Christian, tranquilly surrendering his spirit to his Saviour. He died in the fiftieth year of his age and the
twelfth of his reign. He had lived, for those dark days, eminently the life of
the righteous, and his end was peace.
So fades the summer cloud away,
So sinks the gale when storms are o'er
So gently shuts the eye of day,
So dies a wave along the shore.
CHAPTER XII
CHARACTER OF MAXIMILIAN II. SUCCESSION OF RHODOLPH
III.
From 1576 to 1604.
It is indeed refreshing, in the midst of the long list
of selfish and ambitious sovereigns who have disgraced the thrones of Europe,
to meet with such a prince as Maximilian, a gentleman, a philosopher, a
philanthropist and a Christian. Henry of Valois, on his return from Poland to
France, visited Maximilian at Vienna. Henry was considered one of the most
polished men of his age. He remarked in his palace at Paris that in all his
travels he had never met a more accomplished gentleman than the Emperor
Maximilian. Similar is the testimony of all his contemporaries. With all alike,
at all times, and under all circumstances, he was courteous and affable. His
amiability shone as conspicuously at home as abroad, and he was invariably the
kind husband, the tender father, the indulgent master and the faithful friend.
In early life he had vigorously prosecuted his
studies, and thus possessed the invaluable blessing of a highly cultivated mind.
Fond of the languages, he not only wrote and conversed in the Latin tongue with
fluency and elegance, but was quite at home in all the languages of his
extensive domains. Notwithstanding the immense cares devolving upon the ruler
of so extended an empire, he appropriated a portion of time every day to
devotional reading and prayer; and his hours were methodically arranged for
business, recreation and repose. The most humble subject found easy access to
his person, and always obtained a patient hearing. When he was chosen King of
Poland, some ambassadors from Bohemia voluntarily went to Poland to testify to
the virtues of their king. It was a heartfelt tribute, such as few sovereigns
have ever received.
“We Bohemians,” said they, “are as happy under his government
as if he were our father. Our privileges, laws, rights, liberties and usages
are protected and defended. Not less just than wise, he confers the offices and
dignities of the kingdom only on natives of rank, and is not influenced by
favor or artifice. He introduces no innovations contrary to our immunities; and
when the great expenses which he incurs for the good of Christendom render
contributions necessary, he levies them without violence, and with the
approbation of the States. But what may be almost considered a miracle is, the
prudence and impartiality of his conduct toward persons of a different faith,
always recommending union, concord, peace, toleration and mutual regard. He
listens even to the meanest of his subjects, readily receives their petitions
and renders impartial justice to all.”
Not an act of injustice sullied his reign, and during
his administration nearly all Germany, with the exception of Hungary, enjoyed
almost uninterrupted tranquillity. Catholics and
Protestants unite in his praises, and have conferred upon him the surname of
the Delight of Mankind. His wife Mary was the daughter of Charles V. She was an
accomplished, exemplary woman, entirely devoted to the Catholic faith. For this
devotion, notwithstanding the tolerant spirit of her husband, she was warmly
extolled by the Catholics. Gregory XIII called her the firm column of the
Catholic faith, and Pius V pronounced her worthy of being worshiped. After the
death of her husband she returned to Spain, to the bigoted court of her bigoted
brother Philip. Upon reaching Madrid she developed the spirit which dishonored
her, in expressing great joy that she was once more in a country where no
heretic was tolerated. Soon after she entered a nunnery where she remained
seven years until her death.
It is interesting briefly to trace out the history of
the children of this royal family. It certainly will not tend to make one any
more discontented to move in a humbler sphere. Maximilian left three daughters
and five sons.
Anne, the eldest daughter, was engaged to her cousin,
Don Carlos, only son of her uncle Philip, King of Spain. As he was consequently
heir to the Spanish throne, this was a brilliant match. History thus records
the person and character of Don Carlos. He was sickly and one of his legs was
shorter than the other. His temper was not only violent, but furious, breaking
over all restraints, and the malignant passions were those alone which governed
him. He always slept with two naked swords under his pillow, two loaded pistols,
and several loaded guns, with a chest of fire-arms at the side of his bed. He
formed a conspiracy to murder his father. He was arrested and imprisoned.
Choking with rage, he called for a fire, and threw himself into the flames,
hoping to suffocate himself. Being rescued, he attempted to starve himself.
Failing in this, he tried to choke himself by swallowing a diamond. He threw
off his clothes, and went naked and barefoot on the stone floor, hoping to
engender some fatal disease. For eleven days he took no food but ice. At length
the wretched man died, and thus Anne lost her lover. But Philip, the father of
Don Carlos, and own uncle of Anne, concluded to take her for himself. She lived
a few years as Queen of Spain, and died four years after the death of her
father, Maximilian.
Elizabeth, the second daughter, was beautiful. At
sixteen years of age she married Charles IX., King of France, who was then
twenty years old. Charles IX ascended the throne when but ten years of age,
under the regency of his infamous mother, Catherine de Medici, perhaps the most
demoniac female earth has known. Under her tutelage, her boy, equally impotent
in body and in mind, became as pitiable a creature as ever disgraced a throne.
The only energy he ever showed was in shooting the Protestants from a window of
the Louvre in the horrible Massacre of St. Bartholomew, which he planned at the
instigation of his fiend-like mother. A few wretched years the youthful queen
lived with the monster, when his death released her from that bondage. She then
returned to Vienna, a young and childless widow, but twenty years of age. She
built and endowed the splendid monastery of St. Mary de Angelis, and having
seen enough of the pomp of the world, shut herself up from the world in the
imprisonment of its cloisters, where she recounted her beads for nineteen
years, until she died in 1592.
Margaret, the youngest daughter, after her father’s
death, accompanied her mother to Spain. Her sister Anne soon after died, and
Philip II. her morose and debauched husband, having already buried four wives,
and no one can tell how many guilty favorites, sought the hand of his young and
fresh niece. But Margaret wisely preferred the gloom of the cloister to
the Babylonish glare of the palace. She rejected the polluted and withered
hand, and in solitude and silence, as a hooded nun, she remained immured in her
cell for fifty-seven years. Then her pure spirit passed from a joyless life on
earth, we trust, to a happy home in heaven.
Rhodolph, the eldest son, succeeded his father, and in
the subsequent pages we shall record his career.
Ernest, the second son, was a mild, bashful young man,
of a temperament so singularly melancholy that he was rarely known to smile.
His brother Rhodolph gave him the appointment of Governor of Hungary.
He passed quietly down the stream of time until he was forty-two years of age,
when he died of the stone, a disease which had long tortured him with
excruciating pangs.
Matthias, the third son, became a restless, turbulent
man, whose deeds we shall have occasion to record in connection with his
brother Rhodolph, whom he sternly and successfully opposed.
Maximilian, the fourth son, when thirty years of age
was elected King of Poland. An opposition party chose John, son of the King of
Sweden. The rival candidates appealed to the cruel arbitration of the sword. In
a decisive battle Maximilian's troops were defeated, and he was taken prisoner.
He was only released upon his giving the pledge that he renounced all his right
to the throne. He rambled about, now governing a province, and now fighting the
Turks, until he died unmarried, sixty years of age.
Albert, the youngest son, was destined to the Church.
He was sent to Spain, and under the patronage of his royal uncle he soon rose
to exalted ecclesiastical dignities. He, however, eventually renounced these
for more alluring temporal honors. Surrendering his cardinal's hat, and
archiepiscopal robes, he espoused Isabella, daughter of Philip, and from the
governorship of Portugal was promoted to the sovereignty of the Netherlands.
Here he encountered only opposition and war. After a stormy and unsuccessful
life, in which he was thwarted in all his plans, he died childless.
From this digression let us return
to Rhodolph III, the heir to the titles and the sovereignties of his
father the emperor. It was indeed a splendid inheritance which fell to his lot.
He was the sole possessor of the archduchy of Austria, King of Bohemia and of
Hungary, and Emperor of Germany. He was but twenty-five years of age when he
entered upon the undisputed possession of all these dignities. His natural
disposition was mild and amiable, his education had been carefully attended to,
his moral character was good, a rare virtue in those days, and he had already
evinced much industry, energy and talents for business. His father had left the
finances and the internal administration of all his realms in good condition;
his moderation had greatly mitigated the religious animosities which disturbed
other portions of Europe, and all obstacles to a peaceful and prosperous reign
seemed to have been removed.
But all these prospects were blighted by the religious
bigotry which had gained a firm hold of the mind of the young emperor. When he
was but twelve years of age he was sent to Madrid to be educated. Philip II, of
Spain, Rhodolph’s uncle, had an only
daughter, and no son, and there seemed to be no prospect that his queen would
give birth to another child. Philip consequently thought of
adopting Rhodolph as his successor to the Spanish throne, and of
marrying him to his daughter. In the court of Spain where the Jesuits held
supreme sway, and where Rhodolph was intrusted to
their guidance, the superstitious sentiments which he had imbibed from his
mother were still more deeply rooted. The Jesuits found Rhodolph a
docile pupil; and never on earth have there been found a set of men who, more
thoroughly than the Jesuits, have understood the art of educating the mind to
subjection. Rhodolph was instructed in all the petty arts of intrigue
and dissimulation, and was brought into entire subserviency to the
Spanish court. Thus educated, Rhodolph received the crown.
He commenced his reign with the desperate resolve to
crush out Protestantism, either by force or guile, and to bring back his realms
to the papal church. Even the toleration of Maximilian, in those dark days, did
not allow freedom of worship to any but the nobles. The wealthy and emancipated
citizens of Vienna, and other royal cities, could not establish a church of
their own; they could only, under protection of the nobles, attend the churches
which the nobles sustained. In other words, the people were slaves, who were
hardly thought of in any state arrangements. The nobles were merely the
slaveholders. As there was not difference of color to mark the difference
between the slaveholder and the slaves or vassals, many in the cities, who had
in various ways achieved their emancipation, had become wealthy and instructed,
and were slowly claiming some few rights. The country nobles could assemble
their vassals in the churches where they had obtained toleration. In some few
cases some of the citizens of the large towns, who had obtained emancipation
from some feudal oppressions, had certain defined political privileges granted
them. But, in general, the nobles or slaveholders, some having more, and some
having less wealth and power, were all whom even Maximilian thought of
including in his acts of toleration. A learned man in the universities, or a
wealthy man in the walks of commerce, was compelled to find shelter under the
protection of some powerful noble. There were nobles of all ranks, from the
dukes, who could bring twenty thousand armed men into the field, down to the
most petty, impoverished baron, who had perhaps not half a dozen vassals.
Rhodolph’s first measure was to prevent the burghers, as they were
called, who were those who had in various ways obtained emancipation from
vassal service, and in the large cities had acquired energy, wealth and an air
of independence, from attending Protestant worship. The nobles were very
jealous of their privileges, and were prompt to combine whenever they thought
them infringed. Fearful of rousing the nobles, Rhodolph issued a
decree, confirming the toleration which his father had granted the nobles, but
forbidding the burghers from attending Protestant worship. This was very
adroitly done, as it did not interfere with the vassals of the rural nobles on
their estates; and these burghers were freed men, over whom the nobles could
claim no authority. At the same time Rhodolph silenced three of the
most eloquent and influential of the Protestant ministers, under the plea that
they assailed the Catholic church with too much virulence; and he also forbade
any one thenceforward to officiate as a Protestant clergyman without a license
from him. These were very decisive acts, and yet very adroit ones, as they did
not directly interfere with any of the immunities of the nobles.
The Protestants were, however, much alarmed by these
measures, as indicative of the intolerant policy of the new king. The preachers
met together to consult. They corresponded with foreign universities respecting
the proper course to pursue; and the Protestant nobles met to confer upon the
posture of affairs. As the result of their conferences, they issued a
remonstrance, declaring that they could not yield to such an infringement of
the rights of conscience, and that “they were bound to obey God rather than
man.”
Rhodolph was pleased with this resistance, as it
afforded him some excuse for striking a still heavier blow. He declared
the remonstrants guilty of rebellion. As a
punishment, he banished several Protestant ministers, and utterly forbade the
exercise of any Protestant worship whatever, in any of the royal towns,
including Vienna itself. He communicated with the leading Catholics in the
Church and in the State, urging them to act with energy, concert and unanimity.
He removed the Protestants from office, and supplied their places with
Catholics. He forbade any license to preach or academical degree, or
professorship in the universities from being conferred upon any one who did not
sign the formulary of the Catholic faith. He ordered a new catechism to be
drawn up for universal use in the schools, that there should be no more
Protestant education of children; he allowed no town to choose any officer
without his approbation, and he refused to ratify any choice which did not fall
upon a Catholic. No person was to be admitted to the rights of burghership, until he had taken an oath of submission to
the Catholic priesthood. These high-handed measures led to the outbreak of a
few insurrections, which the emperor crushed with iron rigor. In the course of
a few years, by the vigorous and unrelenting prosecution of these
measures, Rhodolph gave the Catholics the ascendency in all his
realms.
While the Catholics were all united, the Protestants
were shamefully divided upon the most trivial points of discipline, or upon
abstruse questions in philosophy above the reach of mortal minds. It was as
true then, as in the days of our Saviour, that “the
children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of
light.” Henry IV, of France, who had not then embraced the Catholic faith, was
anxious to unite the two great parties of Lutherans and Calvinists, who were as
hostile to each other as they were to the Catholics. He sent an ambassador to
Germany to urge their union. He entreated them to call a general synod,
suggesting, that as they differed only on the single point of the Lord's
Supper, it would be easy for them to form some basis of fraternal and
harmonious action.
The Catholic church received the doctrine, so called,
of transubstantiation; that is, the bread and wine, used in the Lord's
Supper, is converted into the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ, that it is
no longer bread and wine, but real flesh and blood; and none the less so,
because it does not appear such to our senses. Luther renounced the doctrine of
transubstantiation, and adopted, in its stead, what he
called consubstantiation; that is, that after the consecration of the
elements, the body and blood of Christ are substantially present
with (cum et sub,) with and under, the substance of the bread and wine.
Calvin taught that the bread and wine represented the real body and blood of
Christ, and that the body and blood were spiritually present in the
sacrament. It is a deplorable exhibition of the weakness of good men, that the
Lutherans and the Calvinists should have wasted their energies in contending
together upon such a point. But we moderns have no right to boast. Precisely
the same spirit is manifested now, and denominations differ and strive together
upon questions which the human mind can never settle. The spirit which then
animated the two parties may be inferred from the reply of the Lutherans.
“The partisans of Calvin,” they wrote, “have
accumulated such numberless errors in regard to the person of Christ, the
communication of His merits and the dignity of human nature; have given such
forced explanations of the Scriptures, and adopted so many blasphemies, that
the question of the Lord's Supper, far from being the principal, has become the
least point of difference. An outward union, merely for worldly purposes, in
which each party is suffered to maintain its peculiar tenets, can neither be
agreeable to God nor useful to the Church. These considerations induced us to
insert into the formulary of concord a condemnation of the Calvinistical errors; and to declare our public
decision that false principles should not be covered with the semblance of exterior
union, and tolerated under pretense of the right of private judgment, but that
all should submit to the Word of God, as the only rule to which their faith and
instructions should be conformable.”
They, in conclusion, very politely informed King Henry
IV himself, that if he wished to unite with them, he must sign their creed.
This was sincerity, honesty, but it was the sincerity and honesty of minds but
partially disenthralled from the bigotry of the dark ages. While the
Protestants were thus unhappily disunited, the pope cooperated with
the emperor, and wheeled all his mighty forces into the line to recover the
ground which the papal church had lost. Several of the more enlightened of the
Protestant princes, seeing all their efforts paralyzed by disunion, endeavored
to heal the schism. But the Lutheran leaders would not listen to the
Calvinists, nor the Calvinists to the Lutherans, and the masses, as usual,
blindly followed their leaders.
Several of the Calvinist princes and nobles, the
Lutherans refusing to meet with them, united in a confederacy at Heilbronn,
and drew up a long list of grievances, declaring that, until they were
redressed, they should withhold the succors which the emperor had solicited to
repel the Turks. Most of these grievances were very serious, sufficiently so to
rouse men to almost any desperation of resistance. But it would be amusing,
were it not humiliating, to find among them the complaint that the pope had
changed the calendar from the Julian to the Gregorian.
By the Julian calendar, or Old Style as it was called,
the solar year was estimated at three hundred and sixty-five days and six
hours; but it exceeds this by about eleven minutes. As no allowance was made
for these minutes, which amount to a day in about one hundred and thirty years,
the current year had, in process of ages, advanced ten days beyond the real
time. Thus the vernal equinox, which really took place on the 10th of March,
was assigned in the calendar to the 21st. To rectify this important error the
New Style, or Gregorian calendar, was introduced, so called from Pope Gregory
XII. Ten days were dropped after the 4th of October, 1582, and the 5th was
called the 15th. This reform of the calendar, correct and necessary as it was,
was for a long time adopted only by the Catholic princes, so hostile were the
Protestants to anything whatever which originated from the pope. In
their list of grievances they mentioned this most salutary reform as one,
stating that the pope and the Jesuits presumed even to change the order of
times and years.
This confederacy of the Calvinists, unaided by the
Lutherans, accomplished nothing; but still, as year after year the disaffection
increased, their numbers gradually increased also, until, on the 12th of
February, 1603, at Heidelberg they entered into quite a formidable alliance,
offensive and defensive.
Rhodolph, encouraged by success, pressed his measure
of intolerance with renovated vigor. Having quite effectually abolished the
Protestant worship in the States of Austria, he turned his attention to
Bohemia, where, under the mild government of his father, the Protestants had
enjoyed a degree of liberty of conscience hardly known in any other part of
Europe. The realm was startled by the promulgation of a decree forbidding both Calvinists
and Lutherans from holding any meetings for divine worship, and declaring them
incapacitated from holding any official employment whatever. At the same time
he abolished all their schools, and either closed all their churches, or placed
in them Catholic preachers. These same decrees were also promulgated and these
same measures adopted in Hungary. And still the Protestants, insanely
quarreling among themselves upon the most abstruse points of theological
philosophy, chose rather to be devoured piecemeal by their great enemy than to
combine in self-defense.
The emperor now turned from his own dominions of
Austria, Hungary and Bohemia, where he reigned in undisputed sway, to other
States of the empire, which were governed by their own independent rulers and
laws, and where the power of the emperor was shadowy and limited. He began with
the city of Aix-la-Chapelle, in a Prussian province on the Lower Rhine; sent an
army there, took possession of the town, expelled the Protestants from the
magistracy, driving some of them into exile, inflicting heavy fines upon
others, and abolishing entirely the exercise of the Protestant religion.
He then turned to Donauworth,
an important city of Bavaria, upon the Upper Danube. This was a Protestant
city, having within its walls but few Catholics. There was in the city one
Catholic religious establishment, a Benedictine abbey. The friars enjoyed
unlimited freedom of conscience and worship within their own walls, but were
not permitted to occupy the streets with their processions, performing the
forms and ceremonies of the Catholic church. The Catholics, encouraged by the
emperor, sent out a procession from the walls of the abbey, with torches,
banners, relics and all the pageants of Catholic worship. The magistrates stopped
the procession, took away their banners and sent them back to the abbey, and
then suffered the procession to proceed. Soon after the friars got up another
procession on a funeral occasion. The magistrates, apprehensive that this was a
trap to excite them to some opposition which would render it plausible for the
emperor to interfere, suffered the procession to proceed unmolested. In a few
days the monks repeated the experiment. The populace had now become excited,
and there were threats of violence. The magistrates, fearful of the
consequences, did everything in their power to soothe the people, and
urged them, by earnest proclamation, to abstain from all tumult. For some time
the procession, displaying all the hated pomp of papal worship, paraded the
streets undisturbed. But at length the populace became ungovernable, attacked
the monks, demolished their pageants and pelted them with mire back into the
convent.
This was enough. The emperor published the ban of the
empire, and sent the Duke of Bavaria with an army to execute the decree.
Resistance was hopeless. The troops took possession of the town, abolished the
Protestant religion, and delivered the churches to the Catholics.
The Protestants now saw that there was no hope for
them but in union. Thus driven together by an outward pressure which was every
day growing more menacing and severe, the chiefs of the Protestant party met
at Aschhausen and established a confederacy
to continue for ten years. Thus united, they drew up a list of grievances, and
sent an embassy to present their demands to the emperor. And now came a very
serious turn in the fortunes of Rhodolph. Notwithstanding the armistice
which had been concluded with the Turks by Rhodolph, a predatory warfare
continued to rage along the borders. Neither the emperor nor the sultan, had
they wished it, could prevent fiery spirits, garrisoned in fortresses frowning
at each other, from meeting occasionally in hostile encounter. And both parties
were willing that their soldiers should have enough to do to keep up their
courage and their warlike spirit. Aggression succeeding aggression, sometimes
on one side and sometimes on the other, the sultan at last, in a moment of
exasperation, resolved to break the truce.
A large army of Turks invaded Croatia, took several
fortresses, and marching up the valley of the Save, were opening before them a
route into the heart of the Austrian States. The emperor hastily gathered an
army to oppose them. They met before Siseck, at
the confluence of the Kulpa and the Save.
The Turks were totally defeated, with the loss of twelve thousand men.
Exasperated by the defeat, the sultan roused his energies anew, and war again
raged in all its horrors. The advantage was with the Turks, and they gradually
forced their way up the valley of the Danube, taking fortress after fortress,
till they were in possession of the important town of Raab, within a
hundred miles of Vienna.
Sigismond, the vaivode or governor of Transylvania, an energetic,
high-spirited man, had, by his arms, brought the provinces of Wallachia and
Moldavia under subjection to him. Having attained such power, he was galled at
the idea of holding his government under the protection of the Turks. He
accordingly abandoned the sultan, and entered into a coalition with the
emperor. The united armies fell furiously upon the Turks, and drove them back
to Constantinople.
The sultan, himself a man of exceedingly ferocious
character, was thoroughly aroused by this disgrace. He raised an immense army,
placed himself at its head, and in 1596 again invaded Hungary. He drove the
Austrians everywhere before him, and but for the lateness of the season would
have bombarded Vienna. Sigismond, in the hour of
victory, sold Transylvania to Rhodolph for the governorship of some
provinces in Silesia, and a large annual pension. There was some fighting
before the question was fully settled in favor of the emperor, and then he
placed the purchased and the conquered province under the government of the
imperial general Basta.
The rule of Basta was so despotic that the
Transylvanians rose in revolt, and under an intrepid chief, Moses Tzekeli, appealed to the Turks for aid. The Turks were
rejoiced again to find the Christians divided, and hastened to avail themselves
of the cooperation of the disaffected. The Austrians were driven from
Transylvania, and the Turks aided in crowning Tzekeli Prince
of Transylvania, under the protection of the Porte. The Austrians, however,
soon returned in greater force, killed Tzekeli in
the confusion of battle, and reconquered the country. During all this time
wretched Hungary was ravaged with incessant wars between the Turks and
Austrians. Army after army swept to and fro over the
smoldering cities and desolated plains. Neither party gained any decisive
advantage, while Hungary was exposed to misery which no pen can describe.
Cities were bombarded, now by the Austrians and now by the Turks, villages were
burned, harvests trodden down, everything eatable was consumed.
Outrages were perpetrated upon the helpless population by the ferocious Turks
which cannot be told.
The Hungarians lost all confidence in Rhodolph.
The bigoted emperor was so much engaged in the attempt to extirpate what he
called heresy from his realms, that he neglected to send armies sufficiently
strong to protect Hungary from these ravages. He could have done this without
much difficulty; but absorbed in his hostility to Protestantism, he merely sent
sufficient troops to Hungary to keep the country in a constant state of
warfare. He filled every important governmental post in Hungary with Catholics and
foreigners. To all the complaints of the Hungarians he turned a deaf ear; and
his own Austrian troops frequently rivaled the Turks in devastation and
pillage. At the same time he issued the most intolerant edicts, depriving the
Protestants of all their rights, and endeavoring to force the Roman Catholic
religion upon the community.
He allowed, and even encouraged, his rapacious
generals to insult and defraud the Protestant Hungarian nobles, seizing their
castles, confiscating their estates and driving them into exile. This
oppression at last became unendurable. The people were driven to despair. One
of the most illustrious nobles of Hungary, a magnate of great wealth and
distinction, Stephen Botskoi, repaired to Prague
to inform the emperor of the deplorable state of Hungary and to seek redress.
He was treated with the utmost indignity; was detained for hours in the
ante-chamber of the emperor, where he encountered the most cutting insults from
the minions of the court. The indignation of the high-spirited noble was roused
to the highest pitch. And when, on his return to Hungary, he found his estates
plundered and devastated by order of the imperial governor, he was all ready to
head an insurrection.
CHAPTER XIII
RHODOLPH III AND MATTHIAS.
From 1604 to 1609.
Stephen Botskoi issued
a spirited manifesto to his countrymen, urging them to seek by force of arms
that redress which they could obtain in no other way. The Hungarians flocked in
crowds to his standard. Many soldiers deserted from the service of the emperor
and joined the insurrection. Botskoi soon
found himself in possession of a force sufficiently powerful to meet the
Austrian troops in the field. The two hostile armies soon met in the vicinity
of Cassau. The imperial troops were defeated
with great slaughter, and the city of Cassau fell
into the hands of Botskoi; soon his victorious
troops took several other important fortresses. The inhabitants of
Transylvania, encouraged by the success of Botskoi,
and detesting the imperial rule, also in great numbers crowded his ranks
and intreated him to march into Transylvania. He promptly obeyed
their summons. The misery of the Transylvanians was, if possible, still greater
than that of the Hungarians. Their country presented but a wide expanse of ruin
and starvation. Every aspect of comfort and industry was obliterated. The
famishing inhabitants were compelled to use the most disgusting animals for
food; and when these were gone, in many cases they went to the grave-yard, in
the frenzied torments of hunger, and devoured the decaying bodies of the dead.
Pestilence followed in the train of these woes, and the land was filled with
the dying and the dead.
The Turks marched to the aid of Botskoi to expel the Austrians. Even the sway of
the Mussulman was preferable to that of the bigoted Rhodolph.
Hungary, Transylvania and Turkey united, and the detested Austrians were driven
out of Transylvania, and Botskoi, at the head of
his victorious army, and hailed by thousands as the deliverer of Transylvania,
was inaugurated prince of the province. He then returned to Hungary, where an
immense Turkish army received him, in the plains of Rahoz,
with regal honors. Here a throne was erected. The banners of the majestic host
fluttered in the breeze, and musical bands filled the air with their triumphal
strains as the regal diadem was placed upon the brow of Botskoi, and he was proclaimed King of Hungary. The
Sultan Achment sent, with his
congratulations to the victorious noble, a saber of exquisite temper and
finish, and a gorgeous standard. The grand vizier himself placed the royal
diadem upon his brow.
Botskoi was
a nobleman in every sense of the word. He thought it best publicly to accept
these honors in gratitude to the sultan for his friendship and aid, and also to
encourage and embolden the Hungarians to retain what they had already acquired.
He knew that there were bloody battles still before them, for the emperor would
doubtless redouble his efforts to regain his Hungarian possessions. At the same
time Botskoi, in the spirit of true patriotism,
was not willing even to appear to have usurped the government through the
energies of the sword. He therefore declared that he should not claim the crown
unless he should be freely elected by the nobles; and that he accepted these honors
simply as tokens of the confidence of the allied army, and as a means of
strengthening their power to resist the emperor.
The campaign was now urged with great vigor, and
nearly all of Hungary was conquered. Such was the first great disaster which the
intolerance and folly of Rhodolph brought upon him. The Turks and the
Hungarians were now good friends, cordially coöperating.
A few more battles would place them in possession of the whole of Hungary, and
then, in their alliance they could defy all the power of the emperor, and
penetrate even the very heart of his hereditary dominions of
Austria. Rhodolph, in this sudden peril, knew not where to look for aid.
The Protestants, who constituted one half of the physical force, not only of
Bohemia and of the Austrian States, but of all Germany, had been insulted and
oppressed beyond all hope of reconciliation. They dreaded the papal emperor
more than the Mohammedan sultan. They were ready to hail Botskoi as their deliverer from intolerable despotism,
and to swell the ranks of his army. Botskoi was
a Protestant, and the sympathies of the Protestants all over Germany were with
him. Elated by his advance, the Protestants withheld all contributions from the
emperor, and began to form combinations in favor of the Protestant
chief. Rhodolph was astonished at this sudden reverse, and quite in
dismay. He had no resource but to implore the aid of the Spanish court.
Rhodolph was as superstitious as he was bigoted
and cruel. Through the mysteries of alchemy he had been taught to
believe that his life would be endangered by one of his own blood. The idea
haunted him by night and by day; he was to be assassinated, and by a near
relative. He was afraid to marry lest his own child might prove his destined
murderer. He was afraid to have his brothers marry lest it might be a nephew
who was to perpetrate the deed. He did not dare to attend church, or to
appear anywhere in public without taking the greatest precautions
against any possibility of attack. The galleries of his palace were so arranged
with windows in the roof, that he could pass from one apartment to another
sheltered by impenetrable walls.
This terror, which pursued him every hour, palsied his
energies; and while the Turks were drawing nearer to his capital, and Hungary
had broken from his sway, and insurrection was breaking out in all parts of his
dominions, he secluded himself in the most retired apartments of his palace at
Prague, haunted by visions of terror, as miserable himself as he had already
made millions of his subjects. He devoted himself to the study of the mystic
sciences of astrology and alchemy. He became irritable, morose, and
melancholy even to madness. Foreign ambassadors could not get admission to his
presence. His religion, consisting entirely in ecclesiastical rituals and papal
dogmas, not in Christian morals, could not dissuade him from the most degrading
sensual vice. Low-born mistresses, whom he was continually changing, became his
only companions, and thus sunk in sin, shame and misery, he virtually abandoned
his ruined realms to their fate.
Rhodolph had received the empire from the hands
of his noble father in a state of the very highest prosperity. In thirty years,
by shameful misgovernment, he had carried it to the brink of ruin. Rhodolph's third brother, Matthias, was now forty-nine
years of age. He had been educated by the illustrious Busbequias,
whose mind had been liberalized by study in the most celebrated universities of
Flanders, France and Italy. His teacher had passed many years as an ambassador
in the court of the sultan, and thus had been able to give his pupil a very
intimate acquaintance with the resources, the military tactics, the manners and
customs of the Turks. He excelled in military exercises, and was passionately
devoted to the art of war. In all respects he was the reverse of his
brother—energetic, frank, impulsive. The two brothers, so dissimilar, had no
ideas in common, and were always involved in bickerings.
The Netherlands had risen in revolt against the
infamous Philip II of Spain. They chose the intrepid and warlike Matthias as
their leader. With alacrity he assumed the perilous post. The rivalry of the
chiefs thwarted his plans, and he resigned his post and returned to Austria,
where his brother, the emperor, refused even to see him, probably fearing
assassination. Matthias took up his residence at Lintz,
where he lived for some time in obscurity and penury. His imperial brother
would neither give him help nor employment. The restless prince fretted like a
tiger in his cage.
In 1595 Rhodolph’s second
brother, Ernest, died childless, and thus Matthias became heir presumptive to
the crown of Austria. From that time Rhodolph made a change,
and intrusted him with high offices. Still
the brothers were no nearer to each other in
affection. Rhodolph dreaded the ambition and was jealous of the
rising power of his brother. He no longer dared to treat him ignominiously,
lest his brother should be provoked to some desperate act of retaliation. On
the other hand, Matthias despised the weakness and superstition
of Rhodolph. The increasing troubles in the realm and the utter
inefficiency of Rhodolph, convinced Matthias that the day was near when he
must thrust Rhodolph from the throne he disgraced, and take his seat
upon it, or the splendid hereditary domains which had descended to them from
their ancestors would pass from their hands forever.
With this object in view, he did all he could to
conciliate the Catholics, while he attempted to secure the Protestants by
promising to return to the principles of toleration established by his father,
Maximilian. Matthias rapidly increased in popularity, and as
rapidly Rhodolph was sinking into disgrace. Catholics and Protestants
saw alike that the ruin of Austria was impending, and that apparently there was
no hope but in the deposition of Rhodolph and the enthronement of
Matthias.
It was not difficult to accomplish this revolution,
and yet it required energy, secrecy and an extended combination. Even the
weakest reigning monarch has power in his hands which can only be wrested from
him by both strength and skill. Matthias first gained over to his plan his
younger brother, Maximilian, and two of his cousins, princes of the Styrian line.
They entered into a secret agreement, by which they declared that in
consequence of the incapacity of Rhodolph, he was to be considered as
deposed by the will of Providence, and that Matthias was entitled to the
sovereignty as head of the house of Austria. Matthias then gained, by the
varied arts of diplomatic bargaining, the promised support of several other
princes.
He purchased the cooperation of Botskoi by surrendering to him the whole of
Transylvania, and all of Hungary to the river Theiss, which, including
Transylvania, constitutes one half of the majestic kingdom. Matthias agreed to
grant general toleration to all Protestants, both Lutherans and Calvinists, and
also to render them equally eligible with the Catholics to all offices of
emolument and honor. Both parties then agreed to unite against the Turks if
they refused to accede to honorable terms of peace. The sultan, conscious that
such a union would be more than he could successfully oppose, listened to the
conditions of peace when they afterwards made them, as he had never
condescended to listen before. It is indicative of the power which the Turks
had at that day attained, that a truce with the sultan for twenty years,
allowing each party to retain possession of the territories which they then
held, was purchased by paying a sum outright, amounting to two hundred thousand
dollars. The annual tribute, however, was no longer to be paid, and thus
Christendom was released from the degradation of vassalage to the Turk.
Rhodolph, who had long looked with a suspicious eye
upon Matthias, watching him very narrowly, began now to see indications of the
plot. He therefore, aided by the counsel and the energy of the King
of Spain, who was implacable in his hostility to Matthias, resolved to make his
cousin Ferdinand, a Styrian prince, his heir to succeed him upon the
throne. He conferred upon Ferdinand exalted dignities; appointed him to preside
in his stead at a diet at Ratisbon, and issued a proclamation full of most
bitter recriminations against Matthias.
Matters had now come to such a pass that Matthias was
compelled either to bow in humble submission to his brother, or by force of
arms to execute his purposes. With such an alternative he was not a man long to
delay his decision. Still he advanced in his plans, though firmly, with great
circumspection. To gain the Protestants was to gain one half of the physical
power of united Austria, and more than one half of its energy and intelligence.
He appointed a rendezvous for his troops at Znaim in
Moravia, and while Rhodolph was timidly secluding himself in his
palace at Prague, Matthias left Vienna with ten thousand men, and marched to
meet them. He was received by the troops assembled at Znaim with
enthusiasm. Having thus collected an army of twenty-five thousand men, he
entered Bohemia. On the 10th of May, 1608, he reached Craslau,
within sixty miles of Prague. Great multitudes now crowded around him and
openly espoused his cause. He now declared openly and to all, that it was his
intention to depose his brother and claim for himself the government of
Hungary, Austria and Bohemia.
He then urged his battalions onward, and pressed with
rapid march towards Prague. Rhodolph was now roused to some degree of
energy. He summoned all his supporters to rally around him. It was a late hour
for such a call, but the Catholic nobles generally, all over the kingdom, were
instantly in motion. Many Protestant nobles also attended the assembly, hoping
to extort from the emperor some measures of toleration. The emperor was so
frightened that he was ready to promise almost anything. He even crept
from his secluded apartments and presided over the meeting in person. The
Protestant nobles drew up a paper demanding the same toleration which
Maximilian had granted, with the additional permission to build churches and to
have their own burying-grounds. With this paper, to which five or six hundred
signatures were attached, they went to the palace, demanded admission to the
emperor, and required him immediately to give his assent to them. It was not
necessary for them to add any threat, for the emperor knew that there was an
Austrian and Hungarian army within a few hours' march.
While matters were in this state, commissioners from
Matthias arrived to inform the king that he must cede the crown to his brother
and retire into the Tyrol. The emperor, in terror, inquired, “What shall I do?”.
The Protestants demanded an immediate declaration, either that he would or
would not grant their request. His friends told him that resistance was unavailing,
and that he must come to an accommodation. Still the emperor had now thirty-six
thousand troops in and around Prague. They were, however, inspired with no
enthusiasm for his person, and it was quite doubtful whether they would fight.
A few skirmishes took place between the advance guards with such results as to
increase Rhodolph’s alarm.
He consequently sent envoys to his brother. They met
at Liebau, and after a negotiation of four days
they made a partial compromise, by which Rhodolph ceded to Matthias,
without reservation, Hungary, Austria and Moravia. Matthias was also declared
to be the successor to the crown of Bohemia should Rhodolph die
without issue male, and Matthias was immediately to assume the title of “appointed
King of Bohemia.” The crown and scepter of Hungary were surrendered to
Matthias. He received them with great pomp at the head of his army, and then
leading his triumphant battalions out of Bohemia, he returned to Vienna and
entered the city with all the military parade of a returning conqueror.
Matthias had now gained his great object, but he was
not at all inclined to fulfill his promises. He assembled the nobles of
Austria, to receive from them their oaths of allegiance. But the Protestants,
taught caution by long experience, wished first to see the decree of toleration
which he had promised. Many of the Protestants, at a distance from the capital,
not waiting for the issuing of the decree, but relying upon his promise, established their
worship, and the Lord of Inzendorf threw
open his chapel to the citizens of the town. But Matthias was now disposed to
play the despot. He arrested the Lord of Inzendorf,
and closed his church. He demanded of all the lords, Protestant as well as
Catholic, an unconditional oath of allegiance, giving vague promises, that
perhaps at some future time he would promulgate a decree of toleration, but
declaring that he was not bound to do so, on the miserable quibble that, as he
had received from Rhodolph a hereditary title, he was not bound to
grant anything but what he had received.
The Protestants were alarmed and exasperated. They
grasped their arms; they retired in a body from Vienna to Hern; threw
garrisons and provisions into several important fortresses; ordered a levy of
every fifth man; sent to Hungary and Moravia to rally their friends there, and
with amazing energy and celerity formed a league for the defense of their
faith. Matthias was now alarmed. He had not anticipated such energetic action,
and he hastened to Pressburg, the capital of Hungary, to secure, if
possible, a firm seat upon the throne. A large force of richly caparisoned
troops followed him, and he entered the capital with splendor, which he hoped
would dazzle the Hungarians. The regal crown and regalia, studded with priceless
jewels, which belonged to Hungary, he took with him, with great parade. Hungary
had been deprived of these treasures, which were the pride of the nation, for
seventy years. But the Protestant nobles were not to be cajoled with such
tinsel. They remained firm in their demands, and refused to accept him as their
sovereign until the promised toleration was granted. Their claims were very
distinct and intelligible, demanding full toleration for both Calvinists and
Lutherans, and equal eligibility for Protestants with Catholics, to all
governmental offices; none but native Hungarians were to be placed in office;
the king was to reside in Hungary, and when necessarily absent, was to intrust the government to a regent, chosen jointly by
the king and the nobles; Jesuits were not to be admitted into the kingdom; no
foreign troops were to be admitted, unless there was war with the Turks, and
the king was not to declare war without the consent of the nobles.
Matthias was very reluctant to sign such conditions,
for he was very jealous of his newly-acquired power as a sovereign. But a
refusal would have exposed him to a civil war, with such forces arrayed against
him as to render the result at least doubtful. The Austrian States were already
in open insurrection. The emissaries of Rhodolph were busy, fanning
the flames of discontent, and making great promises to those who would
restore Rhodolph to the throne. Intolerant and odious
as Rhodolph had been, his great reverses excited sympathy, and many
were disposed to regard Matthias but as a usurper. Thus influenced, Matthias
not only signed all the conditions, but was also constrained to carry them,
into immediate execution. These conditions being fulfilled, the nobles met on
the 19th of November, 1606, and elected Matthias king, and inaugurated him with
the customary forms.
Matthias now returned to Vienna, to quell the
insurrection in the Austrian States. The two countries were so entirely
independent of each other, though now under the same ruler, that he had no fear
that his Hungarian subjects would interfere at all in the internal
administration of Austria. Matthias was resolved to make up for the concessions
he had granted the Hungarians, by ruling with more despotic sway in Austria.
The pope proffered him his aid. The powerful bishops of Passau and Vienna
assured him of efficient support, and encouraged the adoption of energetic
measures. Thus strengthened Matthias, who was so pliant and humble in Hungary,
assumed the most haughty airs of the sovereign in Austria. He peremptorily
ordered the Protestants to be silent, and to cease their murmurings, or he
would visit them with the most exemplary punishment.
North-east of the duchy of Austria, and lying between
the kingdoms of Hungary and Bohemia, was the province of Moravia. This
territory was about the size of the State of Massachusetts, and its chief
noble, or governor, held the title of margrave, or marquis. Hence the province,
which belonged to the Austrian empire, was called the margraviate of
Moravia. It contained a population of a little over a million. The nobles of
Moravia immediately made common cause with those of Austria, for they knew that
they must share the same fate. Matthias was again alarmed, and brought to
terms. On the 16th of March, 1609, he signed a capitulation, which restored to
all the Austrian provinces all the toleration which they had enjoyed under
Maximilian II. The nobles then, of all the States of Austria, took the oath of
allegiance to Matthias.
The ambitious monarch, having thus for succeeded,
looked with a covetous eye towards Transylvania. That majestic province, on the
eastern borders of Hungary, being three times the size of Massachusetts, and
containing a population of about two millions, would prove a splendid addition
to the Hungarian kingdom. While Matthias was secretly encouraging what in
modern times and republican parlance is called a filibustering expedition, for
the sake of annexing Transylvania to the area of Hungary, a new object of
ambition, and one still more alluring, opened before him.
The Protestants in Bohemia were quite excited when
they heard of the great privileges which their brethren in Hungary, and in the
Austrian provinces had extorted from Matthias. This rendered them more restless
under the intolerable burdens imposed upon them. Soon after the armies of
Matthias had withdrawn from Bohemia, Rhodolph, according to his promise,
summoned a diet to deliberate upon the state of affairs. The Protestants, who
despised Rhodolph, attended the diet, resolved to demand reform, and, if
necessary, to seek it by force of arms. They at once assumed a bold front, and
refused to discuss any civil affairs whatever, until the freedom of religious
worship, which they had enjoyed under Maximilian, was restored to them.
But Rhodolph, infatuated, and under the baleful influence of the Jesuits,
refused to listen to their appeal.
Matthias, informed of this state of affairs, saw that
there was a fine opportunity for him to place himself at the head of the
Protestants, who constituted not only a majority in Bohemia, but were also a
majority in the diet. He therefore sent his emissaries among them to encourage
them with assurances of his sympathy and aid. The diet
which Rhodolph had summoned, separated without coming to other result
than rousing thoroughly the spirit of the Protestants. They boldly called
another diet to meet in May, in the city of Prague itself, under the very
shadow of the palace of Rhodolph, and sent deputies to Matthias, and to the
Protestant princes generally of the German empire, soliciting their
support. Rhodolph issued a proclamation forbidding them to meet.
Regardless of this injunction they met, at the appointed time and place, opened
the meeting with imposing ceremonies, and made quiet preparation to repel force
with force. These preparations were so effectually made that upon an alarm
being given that the troops of Rhodolph were approaching to disperse
the assembly, in less than an hour twelve hundred mounted knights and more than
ten thousand foot soldiers surrounded their hall as a guard.
This was a very broad hint to the emperor, and it
surprisingly enlightened him. He began to bow and to apologize, and to asseverate upon
his word of honor that he meant to do what was right, and from denunciations,
he passed by a single step to cajolery and fawning. It was, however, only his
intention to gain time till he could secure the cooperation of the
pope, and other Catholic princes. The Protestants, however, were not to be thus
deluded. As unmindful of his protestations as they had been of his menaces,
they proceeded resolutely in establishing an energetic organization for the
defense of their civil and religious rights. They decreed the levying of an
army, and appointed three of the most distinguished nobles as generals. The
decree was hardly passed before it was carried into execution, and an army of
three thousand foot soldiers, and two thousand horsemen was assembled as by
magic, and their numbers were daily increasing.
Rhodolph, still cloistered in his palace, looked with
amazement upon this rising storm. He had no longer energy for any decisive
action. With mulish obstinacy he would concede nothing, neither had he force of
character to marshal any decisive resistance. But at last he saw that the hand
of Matthias was also in the movement; that his ambitious, unrelenting brother
was cooperating with his foes, and would inevitably hurl him from the throne of
Bohemia, as he had already done from the kingdom of Hungary and from the
dukedom of Austria. He was panic-stricken by this sudden revelation, and in the
utmost haste issued a decree, dated July 5th, 1609, granting to the Protestants
full toleration of religious worship, and every other right they had demanded.
The despotic old king became all of a sudden as docile and pliant as a child.
He assured his faithful and well-beloved Protestant subjects that they might
worship God in their own chapels without any molestation; that they might build
churches that they might establish schools for their children; that their
clergy might meet in ecclesiastical councils; that they might choose chiefs,
who should be confirmed by the sovereign, to watch over their religious
privileges and to guard against any infringement of this edict; and finally,
all ordinances contrary to this act of free and full toleration, which might
hereafter be issued, either by the present sovereign or any of his successors,
were declared null and void.
The Protestants behaved nobly in this hour of
bloodless triumph. Their demands were reasonable and honorable, and they sought
no infringement whatever of the rights of others. Their brethren of Silesia had
aided them in this great achievement. The duchy of Silesia was then dependent
upon Bohemia, and was just north of Moldavia. It contained a population of
about a million and a half, scattered over a territory of about fifteen
thousand square miles. The Protestants demanded that the Silesians should share
in the decree. “Most certainly,” replied the amiable Rhodolph. An act of
general amnesty for all political offenses was then passed, and peace was
restored to Germany.
Never was more forcibly seen, than on this occasion,
the power of the higher classes over the masses of the people. In fact, popular
tumults, disgraceful mobs, are almost invariably excited by the higher classes,
who push the mob on while they themselves keep in the background. It was now
for the interest of the leaders, both Catholic and Protestant, that there
should be peace, and the populace immediately imbibed that spirit. The
Protestant chapel stood by the side of the Romish cathedral, and the
congregations mingled freely in courtesy and kindness, as they passed to and
from their places of worship. Mutual forbearance and good will seemed at once
to be restored. And now the several cities of the German empire, where
religious freedom had been crushed by the emperor, began to throng his palace
with remonstrants and demands. They,
united, resolved at every hazard to attain the privileges which their brethren
in Bohemia and Austria had secured. The Prince of Anhalt, an able and
intrepid man, was dispatched to Prague with a list of grievances. In very plain
language he inveighed against the government of the emperor, and demanded
for Donauworth and other cities of the
German empire, the civil and religious freedom of which Rhodolph had
deprived them; declaring, without any softening of expression, that if the
emperor did not peacefully grant their requests, they would seek redress by
force of arms. The humiliated and dishonored emperor tried to pacify the prince
by vague promises and honeyed words, to which the prince replied in language
which at once informed the emperor that the time for dalliance had passed.
“I fear,” said the Prince of Anhalt, in words which
sovereigns are not accustomed to hear, “that this answer will rather tend to
prolong the dispute than to tranquillize the united princes. I am bound in duty
to represent to your imperial majesty the dangerous flame which I now see
bursting forth in Germany. Your counselors are ill adapted to extinguish this
rising flame—those counselors who have brought you into such imminent danger,
and who have nearly destroyed public confidence, credit and prosperity
throughout your dominions. I must likewise exhort your imperial majesty to take
all important affairs into consideration yourself, intreating you to
recollect the example of Julius Caesar, who, had he not neglected to read the
note presented to him as he was going to the capitol, would not have received the
twenty wounds which caused his death.”
This last remark threw the emperor into a paroxysm of
terror. He had long been trembling from the apprehension of assassination. This
allusion to Julius Caesar he considered an intimation that his hour was at
hand. His terror was so great that Prince Anhalt had to assure him,
again and again, that he intended no such menace, and that he was not aware
that any conspiracy was thought of anywhere, for his death. The emperor was,
however, so alarmed that he promised anything and everything. He
doubtless intended to fulfill his promise, but subsequent troubles arose which
absorbed all his remaining feeble energies, and obliterated past engagements
from his mind.
Matthias was watching all the events with the intensest eagerness, as affording a brilliant prospect
to him, to obtain the crown of Bohemia, and the scepter of the empire. This
ambition consumed his days and his nights, verifying the adage, "uneasy
lies the head which wears a crown."
CHAPTER XIV
RHODOLPH III AND MATTHIAS.
From 1609 to 1612.
And now suddenly arose another question which
threatened to involve all Europe in war. The Duke of Cleves, Juliers, and Berg died without issue. This splendid duchy,
or rather combination of duchies, spread over a territory of several thousand
square miles, and was inhabited by over a million of inhabitants. There were
many claimants to the succession, and the question was so singularly intricate
and involved, that there were many who seemed to have an equal right to the
possession. The emperor, by virtue of his imperial authority, issued an edict,
putting the territory in sequestration, till the question should be decided by
the proper tribunals, and, in the meantime, placing the territory in the hands
of one of his own family as administrator.
This act, together with the known wishes of Spain to
prevent so important a region, lying near the Netherlands, from falling into
the hands of the Protestants, immediately changed the character of the dispute
into a religious contest, and, as by magic, all Europe wheeled into line on the
one side or the other, Every other question was lost sight of, in the
all-absorbing } one, Shall the duchy fall into the hands of the Protestants or
the Catholics?
Henry IV of France zealously espoused the cause of the
Protestants. He was very hostile to the house of Austria for the assistance it
had lent to that celebrated league which for so many years had deluged France
in blood, and kept Henry IV from the throne; and he was particularly anxious to
humble that proud power. Though Henry IV, after fighting for many years the
battles of Protestantism, had, from motives of policy, avowed
the Romish faith, he could never forget his mother's instructions,
his early predilections and his old friends and supporters, the Protestants;
and his sympathies were always with them. Henry IV, as sagacious and energetic
as he was ambitious, saw that he could never expect a more favorable moment to
strike the house of Austria than the one then presented. The
Emperor Rhodolph was weak, and universally unpopular, not only with
his own subjects, but throughout Germany. The Protestants were all inimical to
him, and he was involved in desperate antagonism with his energetic brother
Matthias. Still he was a formidable foe, as, in a war involving religious
questions, he could rally around him all the Catholic powers of Europe.
Henry IV, preparatory to pouring his troops into the
German empire, entered into secret negotiations with England, Denmark,
Switzerland, Venice, whom he easily purchased with offers of plunder, and with
the Protestant princes of minor power on the continent. There were not a few,
indifferent upon religious matters, who were ready to engage in any enterprise
which would humble Spain and Austria. Henry collected a large force on the
frontiers of Germany, and, with ample materials of war, was prepared, at a
given signal, to burst into the territory of the empire.
The Catholics watched these movements with alarm, and
began also to organize. Rhodolph, who, from his position as emperor,
should have been their leader, was a wretched hypochondriac, trembling before
imaginary terrors, a prey to the most gloomy superstitions, and still concealed
in the secret chambers of his palace. He was a burden to his party, and was
regarded by them with contempt. Matthias was watching him, as the tiger watches
its prey. To human eyes it would appear that the destiny of the house of
Austria was sealed. Just at that critical point, one of those unexpected events
occurred, which so often rise to thwart the deepest laid schemes of man.
On the 14th of May, 1610, Henry IV left the Louvre in
his carriage to visit his prime minister, the illustrious Sully, who was sick.
The city was thronged with the multitudes assembled to witness the triumphant
entry of the queen, who had just been crowned. It was a beautiful spring
morning, and the king sat in his carriage with several of his nobles, the
windows of his carriage being drawn up. Just as the carriage was turning up
from the rue St. Honoré into the rue Ferronnerie,
the passage was found blocked up by two carts. The moment the carriage stopped,
a man sprung from the crowd upon one of the spokes of the wheel, and grasping a
part of the coach with his right hand, with his left plunged a dagger to the
hilt into the heart of Henry IV. Instantly withdrawing it, he repeated the
blow, and with nervous strength again penetrated the heart. The king dropped
dead into the arms of his friends, the blood gushing from the wound and from
his mouth. The wretched assassin, a fanatic monk, Francis Ravaillac, was immediately seized by the guard. With
difficulty they protected him from being torn in pieces by the populace. He was
reserved for a more terrible fate, and was subsequently put to death by the
most frightful tortures human ingenuity could devise.
The poniard of the assassin changed the fate of
Europe. Henry IV. had formed one of the grandest plans which ever entered the
human mind. Though it is not at all probable that he could have executed it,
the attempt, with the immense means he had at his disposal, and with his energy
as a warrior and diplomatist, would doubtless have entirely altered the aspect
of human affairs. There was very much in his plan to secure the approval of all
those enlightened men who were mourning over the incessant and cruel wars with
which Europe was ever desolated. His intention was to reconstruct Europe into
fifteen States, as nearly uniform in size and power as possible. These States
were, according to their own choice, to be monarchical or republican, and were
to be associated on a plan somewhat resembling that of the United States of
North America. In each State the majority were to decide which religion,
whether Protestant or Catholic, should be established. The Catholics were all
to leave the Protestant States, and assemble in their own. In like manner the
Protestants were to abandon the Catholic kingdoms. This was the very highest
point to which the spirit of toleration had then attained. All Pagans and
Mohammedans were to be driven out of Europe into Asia. A civil tribunal was to
be organized to settle all national difficulties, so that there should be no
more war. There was to be a standing army belonging to the confederacy, to
preserve the peace, and enforce its decrees, consisting of two hundred and
seventy thousand infantry, fifty thousand cavalry, two hundred cannon, and one
hundred and twenty ships of war.
This plan was by no means so chimerical as at first
glance it might seem to be. The sagacious Sully examined it in all its details,
and gave it his cordial support. The cooperation of two or three of
the leading powers would have invested the plan with sufficient moral and
physical support to render its success even probable. But the single poniard of
the monk Ravaillac arrested it all.
The Emperor Napoleon I. had formed essentially the
same plan, with the same humane desire to put an end to interminable wars; but
he had adopted far nobler principles of toleration. “One of my great plans,”
said he at St. Helena, “was the rejoining, the concentration of those same
geographical nations which have been disunited and parcelled out
by revolution and policy. There are dispersed in Europe upwards of thirty
millions of French, fifteen millions of Spaniards, fifteen millions of
Italians, and thirty millions of Germans. It was my intention to incorporate
these several people each into one nation. It would have been a noble thing to
have advanced into posterity with such a train, and attended by the blessings
of future ages. I felt myself worthy of this glory.”
After this summary simplification, it would have been
possible to indulge the chimera of the beau ideal of civilization. In
this state of things there would have been some chance of establishing in every
country a unity of codes, of principles, of opinions, of sentiments, views and
interests. Then perhaps, by the help of the universal diffusion of knowledge,
one might have thought of attempting in the great human family the application
of the American Congress, or the Amphictyons of
Greece. What a perspective of power, grandeur, happiness and prosperity would
thus have appeared.
The concentration of thirty or forty millions of
Frenchmen was completed and perfected. That of fifteen millions of Spaniards
was nearly accomplished. Because I did not subdue the Spaniards, it will
henceforth be argued that they were invincible, for nothing is more common than
to convert accident into principle. But the fact is that they were actually
conquered, and, at the very moment when they escaped me, the Cortes of Cadiz
were secretly in treaty with me. They were not delivered either by their own
resistance or by the efforts of the English, but by the reverses which I
sustained at different points, and, above all, by the error I committed in
transferring my whole forces to the distance of three thousand miles from them.
Had it not been for this, the Spanish government would have been shortly
consolidated, the public mind would have been tranquilized, and hostile parties
would have been rallied together. Three or four years would have restored the
Spaniards to profound peace and brilliant prosperity. They would have become a
compact nation, and I should have well deserved their gratitude, for I should
have saved them from the tyranny by which they are now oppressed, and the
terrible agitations which await them.
With regard to the fifteen millions of Italians, their
concentration was already far advanced; it only wanted maturity. The people
were daily becoming more firmly established in the unity of principles and
legislation, and also in the unity of thought and feeling—that certain and
infallible cement of human thought and concentration. The union of Piedmont to
France, and the junction of Parma, Tuscany and Rome, were, in my mind, only
temporary measures, intended merely to guarantee and promote the national
education of the Italians. The portions of Italy that were united to France,
though that union might have been regarded as the result of invasion on our part,
were, in spite of their Italian patriotism, the very places that continued most
attached to us.
All the south of Europe, therefore, would soon have
been rendered compact in point of locality, views, opinions, sentiments and
interests. In this state of things, what would have been the weight of all the
nations of the North? What human efforts could have broken through so strong a
barrier? The concentration of the Germans must have been effected more
gradually, and therefore I had done no more than simplify their monstrous
complication. Not that they were unprepared for concentralization;
on the contrary, they were too well prepared for it, and they might have
blindly risen in reaction against us before they had comprehended our designs.
How happens it that no German prince has yet formed a just notion of the spirit
of his nation, and turned it to good account? Certainly if Heaven had made me a
prince of Germany, amid the critical events of our times I should infallibly
have governed the thirty millions of Germans combined; and, from what I know of
them, I think I may venture to affirm that if they had once elected and
proclaimed me they would not have forsaken me, and I should never have been at
St. Helena.
“At all events,” the emperor continued, after a moment’s
pause, “this concentration will be brought about sooner or later by the very
force of events. The impulse is given, and I think that since my fall and the
destruction of my system, no grand equilibrium can possibly be established in
Europe except by the concentration and confederation of the principal nations.
The sovereign who in the first great conflict shall sincerely embrace the cause
of the people, will find himself at the head of Europe, and may attempt
whatever he pleases.”
Thus similar were the plans of these two most
illustrious men. But from this digression let us return to the affairs of
Austria. With the death of Henry IV, fell the stupendous plan which his genius
conceived, and which his genius alone could execute. The Protestants, all over
Europe, regarded his death as a terrible blow. Still they did not despair of
securing the contested duchy for a Protestant prince. The fall of Henry IV
raised from the Catholics a shout of exultation, and they redoubled their zeal.
The various princes of the house of Austria, brothers,
uncles, cousins, holding important posts all over the empire, were much alarmed
in view of the peril to which the family ascending was exposed by the
feebleness of Rhodolph. They held a private family conference, and decided
that the interests of all required that there should be reconciliation between
Matthias and Rhodolph; or that, in their divided state, they would fall
victims to their numerous foes. The brothers agreed to an outward
reconciliation; but there was not the slightest mitigation of the rancor which
filled their hearts. Matthias, however, consented to acknowledge the
superiority of his brother, the emperor, to honor him as the head of the
family, and to hold his possessions as fiefs of Rhodolph entrusted to
him by favor. Rhodolph, while hating Matthias, and watching for an
opportunity to crush him, promised to regard him hereafter as a brother and a
friend.
And now Rhodolph developed unexpected
energy, mingled with treachery and disgraceful duplicity. He secretly and
treacherously invited the Archduke Leopold, who was also Bishop of Passau and
Strasbourg, and one of the most bigoted of the warrior ecclesiastics of the
papal church, to invade, with an army of sixteen thousand men, Rhodolph’s own kingdom of Bohemia, under the plea that
the wages of the soldiers had not been paid. It was his object, by thus
introducing an army of Roman Catholics into his kingdom, and betraying into
their hands several strong fortresses, then to place himself at their head,
rally the Catholics of Bohemia around him, annul all the edicts of toleration,
crush the Protestants, and then to march to the punishment of Matthias.
The troops, in accordance with their treacherous plan,
burst into Upper Austria, where the emperor had provided that there should be
no force to oppose them. They spread themselves over the country, robbing the
Protestants and destroying their property with the most wanton cruelty.
Crossing the Danube they continued their march and entered Bohemia.
Still Rhodolph kept quiet in his palace, sending no force to oppose,
but on the contrary contriving that towns and fortresses, left defenseless,
should fall easily into their hands. Bohemia was in a terrible state of
agitation. Wherever the invading army appeared, it wreaked dire vengeance upon
the Protestants. The leaders of the Protestants hurriedly ran together, and,
suspicious of treachery, sent an earnest appeal to the king.
The infamous emperor, not yet ready to lay aside
the vail, called Heaven to witness that the irruption was made without his
knowledge, and advised vigorous measures to repel the foe, while he carefully
thwarted the execution of any such measures. At the same time he issued a
proclamation to Leopold, commanding him to retire. Leopold understood all this
beforehand, and smiling, pressed on. Aided by the treason of the king, they
reached Prague, seized one of the gates, massacred the guard, and took possession
of the capital. The emperor now came forward and disclosed his plans. The
foreign troops, holding Prague and many other of the most important towns and
fortresses in the kingdom, took the oath of allegiance to Rhodolph as
their sovereign, and he placed in their hands five pieces of heavy artillery,
which were planted in battery on an eminence which commanded the town. A part
of Bohemia rallied around the king in support of these atrocious measures.
But all the Protestants, and all who had any sympathy
with the Protestants, were exasperated to the highest pitch. They immediately
dispatched messengers to Matthias and to their friends in Moravia, imploring
aid. Matthias immediately started eight thousand Hungarians on the march. As
they entered Bohemia with rapid steps and pushed their way toward Prague they
were joined every hour by Protestant levies pouring in from all quarters. So
rapidly did their ranks increase that Leopold’s troops, not daring to await
their arrival, in a panic, fled by night. They were pursued on their retreat,
attacked, and put to flight with the loss of two thousand men. The
ecclesiastical duke, in shame and confusion, slunk away to
his episcopal castle of Passau.
The contemptible Rhodolph now first proposed
terms of reconciliation, and then implored the clemency of his indignant
conquerors. They turned from the overtures of the perjured monarch with
disdain, burst into the city of Prague, surrounded every avenue to the palace,
and took Rhodolph a prisoner. Soon Matthias arrived, mounted in regal
splendor, at the head of a gorgeous retinue. The army received him with
thunders of acclaim. Rhodolph, a captive in his palace, heard the
explosion of artillery, the ringing of bells and the shouts of the populace,
welcoming his dreaded and detested rival to the capital. It was the 20th of
March, 1611. The nobles commanded Rhodolph to summon a diet. The
humiliated, degraded, helpless emperor knew full well what this signified, but
dared not disobey. He summoned a diet. It was immediately
convened. Rhodolph sent in a message, saying,
“Since, on account of my advanced age, I am no longer
capable of supporting the weight of government, I hereby abdicate the throne,
and earnestly desire that my brother Matthias may be crowned without delay.”
The diet were disposed very promptly to gratify the
king in his expressed wishes. But there arose some very formidable
difficulties. The German princes, who were attached to the cause
which Rhodolph had so cordially espoused, and who foresaw that his fall
threatened the ascendency of Protestantism throughout the empire, sent their
ambassadors to the Bohemian nobles with the menace of the vengeance of the
empire, if they proceeded to the deposition of Rhodolph and to the
inauguration of Matthias, whom they stigmatized as an usurper. This unexpected
interposition reanimated the hopes of Rhodolph, and he instantly found
such renovation of youth and strength as to feel quite able to bear the burden
of the crown a little longer; and consequently, notwithstanding his abdication,
through his friends, all the most accomplished mechanism of diplomacy, with its
menaces, its bribes, and its artifice were employed to thwart the movements of
Matthias and his friends.
There was still another very great difficulty. Matthias
was very ambitious, and wished to be a sovereign, with sovereign power. He was
very reluctant to surrender the least portion of those prerogatives which his
regal ancestors had grasped. But the nobles deemed this a favorable opportunity
to regain their lost power. They were disposed to make a hard bargain with
Matthias. They demanded—1st, that the throne should no longer be hereditary,
but elective; 2d, that the nobles should be permitted to meet in a diet, or
congress, to deliberate upon public affairs whenever and wherever they pleased;
3d, that all financial and military affairs should be left in their hands; 4th,
that although the king might appoint all the great officers of state, they
might remove any of them at pleasure; 5th, that it should be the privilege of
the nobles to form all foreign alliances; 6th, that they were to be empowered
to form an armed force by their own authority.
Matthias hesitated in giving his assent to such
demands, which seemed to reduce him to a cipher, conferring upon him only the
shadow of a crown. Rhodolph, however, who was eager to make any
concessions, had his agents busy through the diet, with assurances that the
emperor would grant all these concessions. But Rhodolph had fallen
too low to rise again. The diet spurned all his offers, and chose Matthias,
though he postponed his decision upon these articles until he could convene a
future and more general diet. Rhodolph had eagerly caught at the hope
of regaining his crown. As his messengers returned to him in the palace with
the tidings of their defeat, he was overwhelmed with indignation, shame and
despair. In a paroxysm of agony he threw up his window, and looking out upon
the city, exclaimed,
“O Prague, unthankful Prague, who hast been so highly
elevated by me; now thou spurnest at thy
benefactor. May the curse and vengeance of God fall upon thee and all Bohemia.”
The 23d of May was appointed for the coronation. The
nobles drew up a paper, which they required Rhodolph to sign,
absolving his subjects from their oath of allegiance to him. The degraded king
writhed in helpless indignation, for he was a captive. With the foolish
petulance of a spoiled child, as he affixed his signature in almost an
illegible scrawl, he dashed blots of ink upon the paper, and then, tearing the
pen to pieces, threw it upon the floor, and trampled it beneath his feet.
It was still apprehended that the adherents
of Rhodolph might make some armed demonstration in his favor. As a
precaution against this, the city was filled with troops, the gates closed, and
carefully guarded. The nobles met in the great hall of the palace. It was
called a meeting of the States, for it included the higher nobles, the higher
clergy, and a few citizens, as representatives of certain privileged cities.
The forced abdication of Rhodolph was first read. It was as follows:—
“In conformity with the humble request of the States
of our kingdom, we graciously declare the three estates, as well as all the
inhabitants of all ranks and conditions, free from all subjection, duty and
obligation; and we release them from their oath of allegiance, which they have
taken to us as their king, with a view to prevent all future dissensions and
confusion. We do this for the greater security and advantage of the whole
kingdom of Bohemia, over which we have ruled six-and-thirty years, where we
have almost always resided, and which, during our administration, has been
maintained in peace, and increased in riches and splendor. We accordingly, in
virtue of this present voluntary resignation, and after due reflection, do,
from this day, release our subjects from all duty and obligation.”
Matthias was then chosen king, in accordance with all
the ancient customs of the hereditary monarchy of Bohemia. The States
immediately proceeded to his coronation. Every effort was made to dazzle the
multitude with the splendors of the coronation, and to throw a halo of glory
around the event, not merely as the accession of a new monarch to the throne,
but as the introduction of a great reform in reinstating the nation in its
pristine rights.
While the capital was resounding with these
rejoicings, Rhodolph had retired to a villa at some distance from the
city, in a secluded glen among the mountains, that he might close his ears
against the hateful sounds. The next day Matthias, fraternally or maliciously,
for it is not easy to judge which motive actuated him, sent a stinging message
of assumed gratitude to his brother, thanking him for relinquishing in his
brother's favor his throne and his palaces, and expressing the hope that they
might still live together in fraternal confidence and affection.
Matthias and the States consulted their own honor
rather than Rhodolph’s merits, in treating
him with great magnanimity. Though Rhodolph had lost, one by one, all
his own hereditary or acquired territories, Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, he still
retained the imperial crown of Germany. This gave him rank and certain official
honors, with but little real power. The emperor, who was also a powerful
sovereign in his own right, could marshal his own forces to establish his
decrees. But the emperor, who had no treasury or army of his own, was powerless
indeed.
The emperor was permitted to occupy one of the palaces
at Prague. He received an annual pension of nearly a million of dollars; and
the territories and revenues of four lordships were conferred upon him. Matthias
having consolidated his government, and appointed the great officers of his
kingdom, left Prague without having any interview with his brother, and
returned to his central capital at Vienna, where he married Anne, daughter of
his uncle Ferdinand of Tyrol.
The Protestants all over the German empire hailed
these events with public rejoicing. Rhodolph had been their
implacable foe. He was now disarmed and incapable of doing them any serious
injury. Matthias was professedly their friend, had been placed in power mainly
as their sovereign, and was now invested with such power, as sovereign of the
collected realms of Austria, that he could effectually protect them from
persecution. This success emboldened them to unite in a strong, wide-spread
confederacy for the protection of their rights. The Protestant nobles and
princes, with the most distinguished of their clergy from all parts of the
German empire, held a congress at Rothenburg.
This great assembly, in the number, splendor and dignity of its attendants, vied
with regal diets. Many of the most illustrious princes of the empire were there
in person, with imposing retinues. The emperor and Matthias both deemed it
expedient to send ambassadors to the meeting. The congress at Rothenburg was one of the most memorable movements of
the Protestant party. They drew up minute regulations for the government of
their confederacy, established a system of taxation among themselves, made
efficient arrangements for the levying of troops, established arsenals and
magazines, and strongly garrisoned a fortress, to be the nucleus of their
gathering should they at any time be compelled to appeal to arms.
Rhodolph, through his ambassadors, appeared before
this resplendent assembly the mean and miserable sycophant he ever was in days
of disaster. He was so silly as to try to win them again to his cause. He
coaxed and made the most liberal promises, but all in vain. Their reply was
indignant and decisive, yet dignified.
“We have too long,” they replied, “been duped by
specious and deceitful promises. We now demand actions, not words. Let the
emperor show us by the acts of his administration that his spirit is changed,
and then, and then only, can we confide in him.”
Matthias was still apprehensive that the emperor might
rally the Catholic forces of Germany, and in union with the pope and the
formidable power of the Spanish court, make an attempt to recover his Bohemian
throne. It was manifest that with any energy of
character, Rhodolph might combine Catholic Europe, and inundate the
plains of Germany with blood. While it was very important, therefore, that
Matthias should do every thing he could to
avoid exasperating the Catholics, it was essential to his cause that he should
rally around him the sympathies of the Protestants.
The ambassadors of Matthias respectfully announced to
the congress the events which had transpired in Bohemia in the transference of
the crown, and solicited the support of the congress. The Protestant princes
received this communication with satisfaction, promised their support in case
it should be needed, and, conscious of the danger of
provoking Rhodolph to any desperate efforts to rouse the Catholics,
recommended that he should be treated with brotherly kindness, and, at the same
time, watched with a vigilant eye.
Rhodolph, disappointed here, summoned an electoral
meeting of the empire, to be held at Nuremburg on the 14th of December, 1711.
He hoped that a majority of the electors would be his friends. Before this body
he presented a very pathetic account of his grievances, delineating in most
melancholy colors the sorrows which attend fallen grandeur. He detailed his
privations and necessities, the straits to which he was reduced by poverty, his
utter inability to maintain a state befitting the imperial dignity, and
implored them, with the eloquence of a Neapolitan mendicant, to grant him a
suitable establishment, and not to abandon him, in his old age, to penury and
dishonor.
The reply of the electors to the dispirited, degraded,
downtrodden old monarch was the unkindest cut of all. Much
as Rhodolph is to be execrated and despised, one can hardly refrain
from an emotion of sympathy in view of this new blow which fell upon him. A
deputation sent from the electoral college met him in his palace at Prague. Mercilessly
they recapitulated most of the complaints which the Protestants had brought
against him, declined rendering him any pecuniary relief, and requested him to
nominate someone to be chosen as his successor on the imperial
throne.
“The emperor,” said the delegation in conclusion, “is
himself the principal author of his own distresses and misfortunes. The
contempt into which he has fallen and the disgrace which, through him, is
reflected upon the empire, is derived from his own indolence and his obstinacy
in following perverse counsels. He might have escaped all these calamities if,
instead of resigning himself to corrupt and interested ministers, he had
followed the salutary counsels of the electors.”
They closed this overwhelming announcement by demanding
the immediate assembling of a diet to elect an emperor to succeed him on the
throne of Germany. Rhodolph, not yet quite sufficiently humiliated to
officiate as his own executioner, though he promised to summon a diet, evaded
the fulfillment of his promise. The electors, not disposed to dally with him at
all, called the assembly by their own authority to meet on the 31st of May.
This seemed to be the finishing blow. Rhodolph,
now sixty years of age, enfeebled and emaciated by disease and melancholy, threw
himself upon his bed to die. Death, so often invoked in vain by the miserable,
came to his aid. He welcomed its approach. To those around his bed he remarked,
“When a youth, I experienced the most exquisite
pleasure in returning from Spain to my native country. How much more joyful
ought I to be when I am about to be delivered from the calamities of human
nature, and transferred to a heavenly country where there is no change of time,
and where no sorrow can enter!”
In the tomb let him be forgotten
CHAPTER XV
MATTHIAS.
From 1612 to 1619.
Upon the death of Rhodolph, Matthias promptly offered
himself as a candidate for the imperial crown. But the Catholics, suspicious of
Matthias, in consequence of his connection with the Protestants, centered upon
the Archduke Albert, sovereign of the Netherlands, as their candidate. Many of
the Protestants, also, jealous of the vast power Matthias was attaining, and
not having full confidence in his integrity, offered their suffrages to
Maximilian, the younger brother of Matthias. But notwithstanding this want of
unanimity, political intrigue removed all difficulties and Matthias was
unanimously elected Emperor of Germany.
The new emperor was a man of renown. His wonderful
achievements had arrested the attention of Europe, and it was expected that in
his hands the administration of the empire would be conducted with almost
unprecedented skill and vigor. But clouds and storms immediately began to lower
around the throne. Matthias had no spirit of toleration in his heart, and every
tolerant act he had assented to, had been extorted from him. He was, by nature,
a despot, and most reluctantly, for the sake of grasping the reins of power, he
had relinquished a few of the royal prerogatives. He had thus far evaded many
of the claims which had been made upon him, and which he had partially promised
to grant, and now, being both king and emperor, he was disposed to grasp all
power, both secular and religious, which he could attain.
Matthias’s first endeavor was to recover Transylvania.
This province had fallen into the hands of Gabriel Bethlehem, who was under the
protection of the Turks. Matthias, thinking that a war with the infidel would
be popular, summoned a diet and solicited succors to drive the Turks from
Moldavia and Wallachia, where they had recently established themselves. The
Protestants, however, presented a list of grievances which they wished to have
redressed before they listened to his request. The Catholics, on the other
hand, presented a list of their grievances, which consisted, mainly, in
privileges granted the Protestants, which they also demanded to have redressed
before they could vote any supplies to the emperor. These demands were so
diametrically hostile to each other, that there could be no reconciliation.
After an angry debate the diet broke up in confusion, having accomplished
nothing.
Matthias, disappointed in this endeavor, now applied
to the several States of his widely extended Austrian domains—to his own
subjects. A general assembly was convened at Lintz.
Matthias proposed his plans, urging the impolicy of allowing the
Turks to retain the conquered provinces, and to remain in the ascendency in
Transylvania. But here again Matthias was disappointed. The Bohemian
Protestants were indignant in view of some restrictions upon their worship,
imposed by the emperor to please the Catholics. The Hungarians, weary of the
miseries of war, were disposed on any terms to seek peace with the Turks. The
Austrians had already expended an immense amount of blood and money on the
battle-fields of Hungary, and urged the emperor to send an ambassador to treat
for peace. Matthias was excessively annoyed in being thus thwarted in all his
plans.
Just at this time a Turkish envoy arrived at Vienna,
proposing a truce for twenty years. The Turks had never before condescended to
send an embassage to a Christian power. This afforded Matthias an
honorable pretext for abandoning his warlike plan, and the truce was agreed to.
The incessant conflict between the Catholics and
Protestants allowed Germany no repose. A sincere toleration, such as existed
during the reign of Maximilian I, established fraternal feelings between the
contending parties. But it required ages of suffering and peculiar combination
of circumstances, to lead the king and the nobles to a cordial consent to that
toleration.
But the bigotry of Rhodolph and the trickery
of Matthias, had so exasperated the parties, and rendered them so suspicious of
each other, that the emperor, even had he been so disposed, could not, but by
very slow and gradual steps, have secured
reconciliation. Rhodolph had put what was called the ban of the
empire upon the Protestant city of Aix-la-Chapelle, removing the Protestants
from the magistracy, and banishing their chiefs from the city. When Rhodolph was
sinking into disgrace and had lost his power, the Protestants, being in the
majority, took up arms, reflected their magistracy, and expelled the Jesuits
from the city. The Catholics now appealed to Matthias, and he insanely revived
the ban against the Protestants, and commissioned Albert, Archduke of Cologne,
a bigoted Catholic, to march with an army to Aix-la-Chapelle and enforce its
execution.
Opposite Cologne, on the Rhine, the Protestants, in
the days of bitter persecution, had established the town of Mulheim. Several of
the neighboring Protestant princes defended with their arms the refugees who
settled there from all parts of Germany. The town was strongly fortified, and
here the Protestants, with arms in their hands, maintained perfect freedom of
religious worship. The city grew rapidly and became one of the most important
fortresses upon the river. The Catholics, jealous of its growing power,
appealed to the emperor. He issued a decree ordering the Protestants to
demolish every fortification of the place within thirty days; and to put up no
more buildings whatever.
These decrees were both enforced by the aid of a
Spanish army of thirty thousand men, which, having executed the ban, descended
the river and captured several others of the most important of the Protestant
towns. Of course all Germany was in a ferment. Everywhere was heard the
clashing of arms, and everything indicated the immediate outburst of
civil war. Matthias was in great perplexity, and his health rapidly failed beneath
the burden of care and sorrow. All the thoughts of Matthias were now turned to
the retaining of the triple crown of Bohemia, Hungary and the empire, in the
family. Matthias was old, sick and childless. Maximilian, his next brother, was
fifty-nine years of age and unmarried. The next brother, Albert, was
fifty-eight, and without children. Neither of the brothers could consequently
receive the crowns with any hope of retaining them in the family. Matthias
turned to his cousin Ferdinand, head of the Styrian branch of the
family, as the nearest relative who was likely to continue the succession. In
accordance with the custom which had grown up, Matthias wished to nominate his
successor, and have him recognized and crowned before his death, so that immediately
upon his death the new sovereign, already crowned, could enter upon the
government without any interregnum.
The brothers, appreciating the importance of retaining
the crown in the family, and conscious that all the united influence they then
possessed was essential to securing that result, assented to the plan,
and cooperated in the nomination of Ferdinand. All the arts of
diplomatic intrigue were called into requisition to attain these important
ends. The Bohemian crown was now electoral; and it was necessary to persuade
the electors to choose Ferdinand, one of the most intolerant Catholics who ever
swayed a scepter. The crown of Hungary was nominally hereditary. But the
turbulent nobles, ever armed, and strong in their fortresses, would accept no
monarch whom they did not approve. To secure also the electoral vote for
Emperor of Germany, while parties were so divided and so bitterly hostile to
each other, required the most adroit application of bribes and menaces.
Matthias made his first movement in Bohemia. Having
adopted previous measures to gain the support of the principal nobles, he
summoned a diet at Prague, which he attended in person, accompanied by
Ferdinand. In a brief speech he thus addressed them.
“As I and my brothers,” said the king, “are without
children, I deem it necessary, for the advantage of Bohemia, and to prevent
future contests, that my cousin Ferdinand should be proclaimed and crowned
king. I therefore request you to fix a day for the confirmation of this
appointment.”
Some of the leading Protestants opposed this, on the
ground of the known intolerance of Ferdinand. But the majority, either won over
by the arts of Matthias, or dreading civil war, accepted Ferdinand. He was
crowned on the 10th of June, 1616, he promising not to interfere with the
government during the lifetime of Matthias. The emperor now turned to Hungary,
and, by the adoption of the same measures, secured the same results. The nobles
accepted Ferdinand, and he was solemnly crowned at Pressburg.
Ferdinand was Archduke of Styria, a province of
Austria embracing a little more than eight thousand square miles, being about
the size of the State of Massachusetts, and containing about a million of
inhabitants. He was educated by the Jesuits after the strictest manner of their
religion. He became so thoroughly imbued with the spirit of his monastic
education, that he was anxious to assume the cowl of the monk, and enter the
order of the Jesuits. His devotion to the papal church assumed the aspect of
the most inflexible intolerance towards all dissent. In the administration of
the government of his own duchy, he had given free swing to his bigotry.
Marshaling his troops, he had driven all the Protestant preachers from his
domains. He had made a pilgrimage to Rome, to receive the benediction of the
pope, and another to Loretto, where, prostrating himself before the
miraculous image, he vowed never to cease his exertions until he had extirpated
all heresy from his territories. He often declared that he would beg his bread
from door to door, submit to every insult, to every calamity, sacrifice even
life itself, rather than suffer the true Church to be injured. Ferdinand was no
time-server—no hypocrite. He was a genuine bigot, sincere and conscientious.
Animated by this spirit, although two thirds of the inhabitants of Styria were
Protestants, he banished all their preachers, professors and schoolmasters;
closed their churches, seminaries and schools; even tore down the churches and
school-houses; multiplied papal institutions, and called in teachers and
preachers from other States.
Matthias and Ferdinand now seemed jointly to reign,
and the Protestants were soon alarmed by indications that a new spirit was
animating the councils of the sovereign. The most inflexible Catholics were
received as the friends and advisers of the king. The Jesuits loudly exulted,
declaring that heresy was no longer to be tolerated. Banishments and
confiscations were talked of, and the alarm of the Protestants became intense
and universal: they looked forward to the commencement of the reign of
Ferdinand with terror.
As was to be expected, such wrongs and perils called
out an avenger. Matthew Henry, Count of Thurn, was one of the most
illustrious and wealthy of the Bohemian nobles. He had long been a warm
advocate of the doctrines of the Reformation; and having, in the wars with the
Turks, acquired a great reputation for military capacity and courage, and being
also a man of great powers of eloquence, and of exceedingly popular manners, he
had become quite the idol of the Protestant party. He had zealously opposed the
election of Ferdinand to the throne of Bohemia, and had thus increased that
jealousy and dislike with which both Matthias and Ferdinand had previously
regarded so formidable an opponent. He was, in consequence, very summarily
deprived of some very important dignities. This roused his impetuous spirit,
and caused the Protestants more confidingly to rally around him as a martyr to
their cause.
The Count of Thurn, as prudent as he was bold, as
deliberate as he was energetic, aware of the fearful hazard of entering into
hostilities with the sovereign who was at the same time king of all the
Austrian realms, and Emperor of Germany, conferred with the leading Protestant
princes, and organized a confederacy so strong that all the energies of the
empire could with difficulty crush it. They were not disposed to make any
aggressive movements, but to defend their rights if assailed. The inhabitants
of a town in the vicinity of Prague began to erect a church for Protestant
worship. The Roman Catholic bishop, who presided over that diocese, forbade
them to proceed. They plead a royal edict, which authorized them to erect the
church, and continued their work, regardless of the prohibition. Count Thurn encouraged
them to persevere, promising them ample support. The bishop appealed to the
Emperor Matthias. He also issued his prohibition; but aware of the strength of
the Protestants, did not venture to attempt to enforce it by arms. Ferdinand,
however, was not disposed to yield to this spirit, and by his influence
obtained an order, demanding the immediate surrender of the church to the
Catholics, or its entire demolition. The bishop attempted its destruction by an
armed force, but the Protestants defended their property, and sent a committee
to Matthias, petitioning for a revocation of the mandate. These deputies were
seized and imprisoned by the king, and an imperial force was sent to the
town, Brunau, to take possession of the church.
From so small a beginning rose the Thirty Years’ War.
Count Thurn immediately summoned a
convention of six delegates from each of the districts, called circles in
Bohemia. The delegates met at Prague on the 16th of March, 1618. An immense
concourse of Protestants from all parts of the surrounding country accompanied
the delegates to the capital. Count Thurn was a man of surpassing
eloquence, and seemed to control at will all the passions of the human heart.
In the boldest strains of eloquence he addressed the assembly, and roused them
to the most enthusiastic resolve to defend at all hazards their civil and
religious rights. They unanimously passed a resolve that the demolition of the
church and the suspension of the Protestant worship were violations of the
royal edict, and they drew up a petition to the emperor demanding the redress
of this grievance, and the liberation of the imprisoned deputies from Brunau. The meeting then adjourned, to be reassembled soon
to hear the reply of the emperor.
As the delegates and the multitudes who accompanied
them returned to their homes, they spread everywhere the impression produced
upon their minds by the glowing eloquence of Count Thurn. The Protestant
mind was roused to the highest pitch by the truthful representation, that the court
had adopted a deliberate plan for the utter extirpation of Protestant worship
throughout Bohemia, and that foreign troops were to be brought in to execute
this decree. These convictions were strengthened and the alarm increased by the
defiant reply which Matthias sent back from his palace in Vienna to his
Bohemian subjects. He accused the delegates of treason and of circulating false
and slanderous reports, and declared that they should be punished according to
their deserts. He forbade them to meet again, or to interfere in any way with
the affairs of Brunau, stating that at his
leisure he would repair to Prague and attend to the business himself.
The king could not have framed an answer better
calculated to exasperate the people, and rouse them to the most determined
resistance. Count Thurn, regardless of the prohibition, called the
delegates together and read to them the answer, which the king had not
addressed to them but to the council of regency. He then addressed them again
in those impassioned strains which he had ever at command, and roused them
almost to fury against those Catholic lords who had dictated this answer to the
king and obtained his signature.
The next day the nobles met again. They came to the
place of meeting thoroughly armed and surrounded by their retainers, prepared
to repel force by force. Count Thurn now wished to lead them to some
act of hostility so decisive that they would be irrecoverably committed. The
king's council of regency was then assembled in the palace of Prague. The regency
consisted of seven Catholics and three Protestants. For some unknown reason the
Protestant lords were not present on this occasion. Three of the members of the
regency, Slavata and Martinetz and the burgrave of Prague, were
peculiarly obnoxious on account of the implacable spirit with which they had
ever persecuted the reformers. These lords were the especial friends of
Ferdinand and had great influence with Matthias, and it was not doubted that
they had framed the answer which the emperor had returned. Incited by
Count Thurn, several of the most resolute of the delegates, led by the
count, proceeded to the palace, and burst into the room where the regency was
in session.
Their leader, addressing Slavata, Martinetz, and Diepold,
the burgrave, said, “Our business is with you. We wish to know if you are
responsible for the answer returned to us by the king.”
“That,” one of them replied, “is a secret of state
which we are not bound to reveal.”
“Let us follow,” exclaimed the Protestant chief, “the
ancient custom of Bohemia, and hurl them from the window.”
They were in a room in the tower of the castle, and it
was eighty feet to the water of the moat. The Catholic lords were instantly
seized, dragged to the window and thrust out. Almost incredible as it may seem,
the water and the mud of the moat so broke their fall, that neither of them was
killed. They all recovered from the effects of their fall. Having performed
this deed, Count Thurn and his companions returned to the delegates,
informed them of what they had done, and urged them that the only hope of
safety now, for any Protestant, was for all to unite in open and desperate
resistance. Then mounting his horse, and protected by a strong body-guard, he
rode through the streets of Prague, stopping at every corner to harangue the
Protestant populace. The city was thronged on the occasion by Protestants from
all parts of the kingdom.
“I do not,” he exclaimed, “propose myself as your
chief, but as your companion, in that peril which will lead us to happy freedom
or to glorious death. The die is thrown. It is too late to recall what is past.
Your safety depends alone on unanimity and courage, and if you hesitate to
burst asunder your chains, you have no alternative but to perish by the hands
of the executioner.”
He was everywhere greeted with shouts of enthusiasm,
and the whole Protestant population were united as one man in the cause. Even
many of the moderate Catholics, disgusted with the despotism of the newly
elected king, which embraced civil as well as religious affairs, joined the
Protestants, for they feared the loss of their civil rights more than they
dreaded the inroads of heresy.
With amazing celerity they now organized to repel the
force which they knew that the emperor would immediately send to crush them.
Within three days their plans were all matured and an organization effected
which made the king tremble in his palace. Count Thurn was appointed
their commander, an executive committee of thirty very efficient men was
chosen, which committee immediately issued orders for the levy of troops all
over the kingdom. Envoys were sent to Moravia, Silesia, Lusatia, and Hungary,
and to the Protestants all over the German empire. The Archbishop of Prague was
expelled from the city, and the Jesuits were also banished. They then issued a
proclamation in defense of their conduct, which they sent to the king with a
firm but respectful letter.
One can not but be
amused in reading their defense of the outrage against the council of regency. “We
have thrown from the windows,” they said, “the two ministers who have been the
enemies of the State, together with their creature and flatterer, in conformity
with an ancient custom prevalent throughout all Bohemia, as well as in the
capital. This custom is justified by the example of Jezebel in holy Writ, who
was thrown from a window for persecuting the people of God; and it was common
among the Romans, and all other nations of antiquity, who hurled the disturbers
of the public peace from rocks and precipices.”
Matthias had very reluctantly sent his insulting and
defiant answer to the reasonable complaints of the Protestants, and he was
thunderstruck in contemplating the storm which had thus been raised—a storm
which apparently no human wisdom could now allay. There are no energies so
potent as those which are aroused by religious convictions. Matthias well knew
the ascendency of the Protestants all over Bohemia, and that their spirit, once
thoroughly aroused, could not be easily quelled by any opposing force he could
array. He was also aware that Ferdinand was thoroughly detested by the
Protestant leaders, and that it was by no means improbable that this revolt
would thwart all his plans in securing his succession.
As the Protestants had not renounced their allegiance,
Matthias was strongly disposed to measures of conciliation, and several of the
most influential, yet fair-minded Catholics supported him in these views. The
Protestants were too numerous to be annihilated, and too strong in their
desperation to be crushed. But Ferdinand, guided by the Jesuits, was
implacable. He issued a manifesto, which was but a transcript of his own soul,
and which is really sublime in the sincerity and fervor of its intolerance.
“All attempts,” said he, “to bring to reason a people
whom God has struck with judicial blindness will be in vain. Since the
introduction of heresy into Bohemia, we have seen nothing but tumults,
disobedience and rebellion. While the Catholics and the sovereign have
displayed only lenity and moderation, these sects have become stronger, more
violent and more insolent; having gained all their objects in religious
affairs, they turn their arms against the civil government, and attack the
supreme authority under the pretense of conscience; not content with
confederating themselves against their sovereign, they have usurped the power
of taxation, and have made alliances with foreign States, particularly with the
Protestant princes of Germany, in order to deprive him of the very means of
reducing them to obedience. They have left nothing to the sovereign but his
palaces and the convents; and after their recent outrages against his
ministers, and the usurpation of the regal revenues, no object remains for
their vengeance and rapacity but the persons of the sovereign and his successor,
and the whole house of Austria.
“If sovereign power emanates from God, these atrocious
deeds must proceed from the devil, and therefore must draw down divine
punishment. Neither can God be pleased with the conduct of the sovereign, in
conniving at or acquiescing in all the demands of the disobedient. Nothing now
remains for him, but to submit to be lorded by his subjects, or to free himself
from this disgraceful slavery before his territories are formed into a
republic. The rebels have at length deprived themselves of the only plausible
argument which their preachers have incessantly thundered from the pulpit, that
they were contending for religious freedom; and the emperor and the house of
Austria have now the fairest opportunity to convince the world that their sole
object is only to deliver themselves from slavery and restore their legal
authority. They are secure of divine support, and they have only the
alternative of a war by which they may regain their power, or a peace which is
far more dishonorable and dangerous than war. If successful, the forfeited
property of the rebels will defray the expense of their armaments; if the event
of hostilities be unfortunate, they can only lose, with honor, and with arms in
their hands, the rights and prerogatives which are and will be wrested from
them with shame and dishonor. It is better not to reign than to be the slave of
subjects. It is far more desirable and glorious to shed our blood at the foot
of the throne than to be driven from it like criminals and malefactors.”
Matthias endeavored to unite his own peace policy with
the energetic warlike measures urged by Ferdinand. He attempted to overawe by a
great demonstration of physical force, while at the same time he made very
pacific proposals. Applying to Spain for aid, the Spanish court sent him eight
thousand troops from the Netherlands; he also raised, in his own dominions, ten
thousand men. Having assembled this force he sent word to the Protestants, that
if they would disband their force he would do the same, and that he would
confirm the royal edict and give full security for the maintenance of their
civil and religious privileges. The Protestants refused to disband, knowing
that they could place no reliance upon the word of the unstable monarch who was
crowded by the rising power of the energetic Ferdinand. The ambitious naturally
deserted the court of the sovereign whose days were declining, to enlist in the
service of one who was just entering upon the kingly power.
Ferdinand was enraged at what he considered the
pusillanimity of the king. Maximilian, the younger brother of Matthias,
cordially espoused the cause of Ferdinand. Cardinal Kleses,
a Catholic of commanding influence and of enlightened, liberal views, was the
counselor of the king. Ferdinand and Maximilian resolved that he should no
longer have access to the ear of the pliant monarch, but he could be removed
from the court only by violence. With an armed band they entered the palace at
Vienna, seized the cardinal in the midst of the court, stripped him of his
robes, hurried him into a carriage, and conveyed him to a strong castle in the
midst of the mountains of the Tyrol, where they held him a close prisoner. The
emperor was at the time confined to his bed with the gout. As soon as they had
sent off the cardinal, Ferdinand and Maximilian repaired to the royal chamber,
informed the emperor of what they had done, and attempted to justify the deed
on the plea that the cardinal was a weak and wicked minister whose policy would
certainly divide and ruin the house of Austria.
The emperor was in his bed as he received this
insulting announcement of a still more insulting outrage. For a moment he was
speechless with rage. But he was old, sick and powerless. This act revealed to
him that the scepter had fallen from his hands. In a paroxysm of excitement, to
prevent himself from speaking he thrust the bed-clothes into his mouth, nearly
suffocating himself. Resistance was in vain. He feared that should he manifest
any, he also might be torn from his palace, a captive, to share the prison of
the cardinal. In sullen indignation he submitted to the outrage.
Ferdinand and Maximilian now pursued their energetic
measures of hostility unopposed. They immediately put the army in motion to
invade Bohemia, and boasted that the Protestants should soon be punished with
severity which would teach them a lesson they would never forget. But the
Protestants were on the alert. Every town in the kingdom had joined in the
confederacy, and in a few weeks Count Thurn found himself at the head
of ten thousand men inspired with the most determined spirit. The Silesians
and Lusatians marched to help them, and the
Protestant league of Germany sent them timely supplies. The troops of Ferdinand
found opponents in every pass and in every defile, and in their endeavor to
force their way through the fastnesses of the mountains, were frequently driven
back with great loss. At length the troops of Ferdinand, defeated at every
point, were compelled to retreat in shame back to Austria, leaving all Bohemia
in the hands of the Protestants.
Ferdinand was now in trouble and disgrace. His plans
had signally failed. The Protestants all over Germany were in arms, and their
spirits roused to the highest pitch; many of the moderate Catholics refused to
march against them, declaring that the Protestants were right in resisting such
oppression. They feared Ferdinand, and were apprehensive that his despotic
temper, commencing with religious intolerance, would terminate in civil
tyranny. It was evident to all that the Protestants could not be put down by
force of arms, and even Ferdinand was so intensely humiliated that he was
constrained to assent to the proposal which Matthias made to refer their
difficulty to arbitration. Four princes were selected as the referees—the
Electors of Mentz, Bavaria, Saxony and Palatine. They were to meet
at Egra the 14th of April, 1619.
But Matthias, the victim of disappointment and grief,
was now rapidly approaching his end. The palace at Vienna was shrouded in
gloom, and no smiles were seen there, and no sounds of joy were heard in those
regal saloons. The wife of Matthias, whom he tenderly loved, oppressed by the
humiliation and anguish which she saw her husband enduring, died of a broken
heart. Matthias was inconsolable under this irretrievable loss. Lying upon his
bed tortured with the pain of the gout, sinking under incurable disease, with
no pleasant memories of the past to cheer him, with disgrace and disaster
accumulating, and with no bright hopes beyond the grave, he loathed life and
dreaded death. The emperor in his palace was perhaps the most pitiable object
which could be found in all his realms. He tossed upon his pillow, the victim
of remorse and despair, now condemning himself for his cruel treatment of his brother Rhodolph,
now inveighing bitterly against the inhumanity and arrogance of Ferdinand and
Maximilian. On the 20th of March, 1619, the despairing spirit of the emperor
passed away to the tribunal of the "King of kings and the Lord of lords."
CHAPTER XVI
FERDINAND II.
From 1619 to 1621.
Ferdinand, who now ascended the throne by right of the
coronation he had already received, was in the prime of life, being but
forty-one years of age, and was in possession of a rare accumulation of
dignities. He was Archduke of Austria, King of Hungary and of Bohemia, Duke of
Styria, Carinthia and Carniola, and held joint possession, with his two
brothers, of the spacious territory of the Tyrol. Thus all these wide-spread
and powerful territories, with different languages, different laws, and diverse
manners and customs, were united under the Austrian monarchy, which was now
undeniably one of the leading powers of Europe. In addition to all these titles
and possessions, he was a prominent candidate for the imperial crown of
Germany. To secure this additional dignity he could rely upon his own family
influence, which was very powerful, and also upon the aid of the Spanish
monarchy. When we contemplate his accession in this light, he appears as one of
the most powerful monarchs who ever ascended a throne.
But there is another side to the picture. The spirit
of rebellion against his authority had spread through nearly all his
territories, and he had neither State nor kingdom where his power seemed
stable. In whatever direction he turned his eyes, he saw either the gleam of
hostile arms or the people in a tumult just ready to combine against him.
The Protestants of Bohemia had much to encourage them.
All the kingdom, excepting one fortress, was in their possession. All the
Protestants of the German empire had espoused their cause. The Silesians, Lusatians and Moravians were in open revolt. The
Hungarian Protestants, animated by the success of the Bohemians, were eager to
follow their example and throw off the yoke of Ferdinand. With iron tyranny he
had silenced every Protestant voice in the Styrian provinces, and had
crushed every semblance of religious liberty. But the successful example of the
Bohemians had roused the Styrians, and they also
were on the eve of making a bold move in defense of their rights. Even in
Austria itself, and beneath the very shadow of the palaces of Vienna,
conspiracies were rife, and insurrection was only checked by the presence of
the army which had been driven out of Bohemia.
Even Ferdinand could not be blind to the difficulties
which were accumulating upon him, and to the precarious tenure of his power. He
saw the necessity of persevering in the attempt at conciliation which he had so
reluctantly commenced. And yet, with strange infatuation, he proposed an
accommodation in a manner which was deemed insulting, and which tended only to
exasperate. The very day of his accession to the throne, he sent a commission
to Prague, to propose a truce; but, instead of conferring with the Protestant
leaders, he seemed to treat them with intentional contempt, by addressing his
proposal to that very council of regency which had become so obnoxious. The
Protestants, justly regarding this as an indication of the implacable state of
his mind, and conscious that the proposed truce would only enable him more
effectually to rally his forces, made no reply whatever to his proposals.
Ferdinand, perceiving that he had made a great mistake, and that he had not
rightly appreciated the spirit of his foes, humbled himself a little more, and
made still another attempt at conciliation. But the Protestants had now
resolved that Ferdinand should never be King of Bohemia. It had become an
established tenet of the Catholic church that it is not necessary to keep faith
with heretics. Whatever solemn promises Ferdinand might make, the pope would
absolve him from all sin in violating them.
Count Thurn, with sixteen thousand men, marched
into Moravia. The people rose simultaneously to greet him. He entered Brunn, the capital, in triumph. The revolution was
immediate and entire. They abolished the Austrian government, established the
Protestant worship, and organized a new government similar to that which they
had instituted in Bohemia. Crossing the frontier, Count Thurn boldly
entered Austria and, meeting no foe capable of retarding his steps, he pushed
vigorously on even to the very gates of Vienna. As he had no heavy artillery
capable of battering down the walls, and as he knew that he had many partisans
within the walls of the city, he took possession of the suburbs, blockaded the
town, and waited for the slow operation of a siege, hoping thus to be able to
take the capital and the person of the sovereign without bloodshed.
Ferdinand had brought such trouble upon the country,
that he was now almost as unpopular with the Catholics as with the Protestants,
and all his appeals to them for aid were of but little avail. The sudden
approach of Count Thurn had amazed and discomfited him, and he knew
not in what direction to look for aid. Cooped up in his capital, he could hold
no communication with foreign powers, and his own subjects manifested no
disposition to come to his rescue. The evidences of popular discontent, even in
the city, were every hour becoming more manifest, and the unhappy sovereign was
in hourly expectation of an insurrection in the streets.
The surrender of Vienna involved the loss of Austria.
With the loss of Austria vanished all hopes of the imperial crown. Bohemia,
Austria, and the German scepter gone, Hungary would soon follow; and then, his
own Styrian territories, sustained and aided by their successful
neighbors, would speedily discard his sway. Ferdinand saw it all clearly, and
was in an agony of despair. He has confided to his confessor the emotions which,
in those terrible hours, agitated his soul. It is affecting to read the
declaration, indicative as it is that the most cruel and perfidious man may be
sincere and even conscientious in his cruelty and crime. To his Jesuitical
confessor, Bartholomew Valerius, he said,
“I have reflected on the dangers which threaten me and
my family, both at home and abroad. With an enemy in the suburbs, sensible that
the Protestants are plotting my ruin, I implore that help from God which
I can not expect from man. I had recourse
to my Saviour, and said, 'Lord Jesus Christ,
Thou Redeemer of mankind, Thou to whom all hearts are opened, Thou knowest that I seek Thy honor, not my own. If it be
Thy will, that, in this extremity, I should be overcome by thy enemies, and be
made the sport and contempt of the world, I will drink of the bitter
cup. Thy will be done.' I had hardly spoken these words before I was
inspired with new hope, and felt a full conviction that God would frustrate the
designs of my enemies.”
Nerved by such a spirit, Ferdinand was prepared to
endure all things rather than yield the slightest point. Hour after hour his
situation became more desperate, and still he remained inflexible. Balls from
the batteries of Count Thurn struck even the walls of his palace;
murmurs filled the streets, and menaces rose to his ears from beneath his
windows. “Let us put his evil counselors to the sword,” the disaffected
exclaimed; “shut him up in a convent; and educate his children in the
Protestant religion.”
At length the crisis had apparently arrived.
Insurrection was organized. Clamorous bands surged through the streets, and
there was a state of tumult which no police force could quell. A band of armed
men burst into the palace, forced their way into the presence of Ferdinand, and
demanded the surrender of the city. At that moment, when Ferdinand might well
have been in despair, the unexpected sound of trumpets was heard in the
streets, and the tramp of a squadron of cavalry. The king was as much amazed as
were the insurgents. The deputies, not knowing what it meant, in great alarm
retreated from the palace. The squadron swept the streets, and surrounded the
palace. They had been sent to the city by the general who had command of the
Austrian forces, and, arriving at full speed, had entered unexpectedly at the
only gate which the besiegers had not guarded.
Their arrival, as if by heavenly commission, and the
tidings they brought of other succor near at hand, reanimated the king and his
partisans, and instantly the whole aspect of things within the city was
changed. Six hundred students in the Roman Catholic institutions of the city
flew to arms, and organized themselves as a body-guard of the king. All the
zealous Catholics formed themselves into military bands, and this encouraged that
numerous neutral party, always existing in such seasons of uncertainty, ready
to join those who shall prove to be the strongest. The Protestants fled from
the city, and sought protection under the banners of Count Thurn.
In the meantime the Catholics in Bohemia, taking
advantage of the absence of Count Thurn with his troops, had
surrounded Prague, and were demanding its capitulation. This rendered it
necessary for the Bohemian army immediately to strike their tents and return to
Bohemia. Never was there a more sudden and perfect deliverance. It was,
however, deliverance only from the momentary peril. The great elements of
discontent and conflict remained unchanged.
It was very evident that the difficulties which
Ferdinand had to encounter in his Austrian dominions, were so immense that he
could not hope to surmount them without foreign aid. He consequently deemed it
a matter important above all others to secure the imperial throne. Without this
strength the loss of all his Austrian possessions was inevitable. With the
influence and the power which the crown of Germany would confer upon him he
could hope to gain all. Ferdinand immediately left Vienna and visited the most
influential of the German princes to secure their support for his election. The
Catholics all over Germany, alarmed by the vigor and energy which had been
displayed by the Protestants, laid aside their several preferences, and
gradually all united upon Ferdinand. The Protestants, foolishly allowing their
Lutheran and Calvinistic differences to disunite them, could not agree in their
candidate. Consequently Ferdinand was elected, and immediately crowned emperor,
the 9th of September, 1619.
The Bohemians, however, remained firm in their resolve
to repudiate him utterly as their king. They summoned a diet of the States of
Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia to meet at Prague. Delegates also
attended the diet from Upper and Lower Austria, as also many nobles from
distant Hungary. The diet drew up a very formidable list of grievances, and
declared, in view of them, that Ferdinand had forfeited all right to the crown
of Bohemia, and that consequently it was their duty, in accordance with the
ancient usages, to proceed to the election of a sovereign. The Catholics were
now so entirely in the minority in Bohemia that the Protestants held the
undisputed control. They first chose the Elector of Saxony. He, conscious that
he could maintain his post only by a long and uncertain war, declined the
perilous dignity. They then with great unanimity elected Frederic, the Elector
of Palatine.
The Palatinate was a territory bordering on Bohemia,
of over four thousand square miles, and contained nearly seven hundred thousand
inhabitants. The elector, Frederic V., was thus a prince of no small power in
his own right. He had married a daughter of James I of England, and had many
powerful relatives. Frederic was an affable, accomplished, kind-hearted man,
quite ambitious, and with but little force of character. He was much pleased at
the idea of being elevated to the dignity of a king, and was yet not a little
appalled in contemplating the dangers which it was manifest he must encounter.
His mother, with maternal solicitude, trembling for her
son, intreated him not to accept the perilous crown. His
father-in-law, James, remonstrated against it, sternly declaring that he would
never patronize subjects in rebellion against their sovereign, that he would
never acknowledge Frederic's title as king, or render him, under any
circumstances, either sympathy or support. On the other hand the members of the
Protestant league urged his acceptance; his uncles united strongly with them in
recommending it, and above all, his fascinating wife, whom he dotingly loved,
and who, delighted at the idea of being a queen, threw herself into his arms,
and plead in those persuasive tones which the pliant heart of Frederic could
not resist. The Protestant clergy, also, in a strong delegation waited upon
him, and intreated him in the name of that Providence which had
apparently proffered to him the crown, to accept it in fidelity to himself, to
his country and to the true religion.
The trembling hand and the tearful eye with which
Frederic accepted the crown, proved his incapacity to bear the burden in those
stormy days. Placing the government of the Palatinate in the hands of the Duke
of Deux Ponts, he repaired, with his
family, to Prague. A rejoicing multitude met him at several leagues from the
capital, and escorted him to the city with an unwonted display of popular
enthusiasm. He was crowned with splendor such as Bohemia had never witnessed
before.
For a time the Bohemians surrendered themselves to the
most extravagant joy. Frederic was exceedingly amiable, and just the prince to
win, in calm and sunny days, the enthusiastic admiration of his subjects. They
were highly gratified in having the King of Bohemia dwell in his own capital at
Prague, a privilege and honor which they had seldom enjoyed. Many of the German
princes acknowledged Frederic's title, as did also Sweden, Denmark, Holland and
Vienna. The revolution in Bohemia was apparently consummated, and to the
ordinary observer no cloud could be seen darkening the horizon.
The Bohemians were strengthened in their sense of
security by a similar revolution which was taking place in Hungary. As soon as
Ferdinand left Vienna, to seek the crown of Germany, the Protestants of Hungary
threw off their allegiance to Austria, and rallied around the banners of their
bold, indomitable leader, Gabriel Bethlehem. They fell upon the imperial forces
with resistless fury and speedily dispersed them. Having captured several of
the most important fortresses, and having many troops to spare, Gabriel
Bethlehem sent eighteen thousand men into Moravia to aid Count Thurn to
disperse the imperial forces there. He then marched triumphantly to Presburg, the renowned capital of Hungary, within thirty
miles of Vienna, where he was received by the majority of the inhabitants with
open arms. He took possession of the sacred crown and of the crown jewels,
called an assembly of the nobles from the various States of Hungary and
Transylvania, and united them in a firm band against Ferdinand. He now marched
up the banks of the Danube into Austria. Count Thurn advanced from
Moravia to meet him. The junction of their forces placed the two leaders in
command of sixty thousand men. They followed along the left bank of the
majestic Danube until they arrived opposite Vienna. Here they found eighteen
thousand troops posted to oppose. After a short conflict, the imperial troops
retreated from behind their intrenchments across the river, and blew
up the bridge.
In such a deplorable condition did the Emperor
Ferdinand find his affairs, as he returned from Germany to Austria. He was
apparently in a desperate position, and no human sagacity could foresee how he
could retrieve his fallen fortunes. Apparently, could his despotic arm then
have been broken, Europe might have been spared many years of war and woe. But
the designs of Providence are inscrutable. Again there was apparently almost
miraculous interposition. The imperial troops were rapidly concentrated in the
vicinity of Vienna, to prevent the passage of the broad, deep and rapid river
by the allied army. A strong force was dispatched down the right bank of the
Danube, which attacked and dispersed a force left to protect the communication
with Hungary. The season was far advanced, and it was intensely cold in those
northern latitudes. The allied army had been collected so suddenly, that no
suitable provision had been made for feeding so vast a host. Famine added its
terrors to the cold blasts which menacingly swept the plains, and as there was
imminent danger that the imperial army might cut off entirely the communication
of the allies with Hungary, Gabriel Bethlehem decided to relinquish the
enterprise of taking Vienna, and retired unimpeded to Pressburg. Almost
every fortress in Hungary was now in the possession of the Hungarians, and
Ferdinand, though his capital was released, saw that Hungary as well as Bohemia
had escaped from his hands. At Pressburg Gabriel was, with imposing
ceremonies, proclaimed King of Hungary, and a decree of proscription and
banishment was issued against all the adherents of Ferdinand.
Germany was now divided into two great leagues, the
Catholic and the Protestant. Though nominally religious parties, they were
political as well as religious, and subject to all the fluctuations and
corruptions attending such combinations. The Protestant league, composed of
princes of every degree of dignity, who came from all parts of Germany, proudly
mounted and armed, and attended by armed retainers, from a few score to many
hundreds or even thousands, met at Nuremburg. It was one of the most
influential and imposing assemblages which had ever gathered in Europe. The
Catholics, with no less display of pomp and power, for their league embraced
many of the haughtiest sovereigns in Europe, met at Wurtzburg.
There were, of course, not a few who were entirely indifferent as to the
religious questions involved, and who were Catholics or Protestants,
in subserviency to the dictates of interest or ambition. Both parties
contended with the arts of diplomacy as well as with those of war. The Spanish
court was preparing a powerful armament to send from the Netherlands to the
help of Ferdinand. The Protestants sent an army to Ulm to watch their
movements, and to cut them off.
Ferdinand was as energetic as he had previously proved
himself inflexible and persevering. In person he visited Munich, the capital of
Bavaria, that he might more warmly interest in his favor Maximilian, the
illustrious and warlike duke. The emperor made him brilliant promises, and
secured his cordial cooperation. The Duke of Bavaria, and the Elector of
the Palatinate, were neighbors and rivals; and the emperor offered Maximilian
the spoils of the Palatinate, if they should be successful in their warfare
against the newly elected Bohemian king. Maximilian, thus persuaded, placed all
his force at the disposal of the emperor.
The Elector of Saxony was a Lutheran; the Elector
Palatine a Calvinist. The Lutherans believed, that after the consecration of
the bread and wine at the sacramental table, the body and blood of Christ were
spiritually present with that bread and wine. This doctrine, which they
called consubstantiation, they adopted in antagonism to the papal doctrine
of transubstantiation, which was that the bread and wine were actually
transformed into, and became the real body and blood of Christ.
The difference between the Calvinists and the
Lutherans, as we have before mentioned, was that, while the former considered
the bread and wine in the sacraments as representing the body and the
blood of Christ, the latter considered the body and the blood as spiritually
present in the consecrated elements. This trivial difference divided brethren
who were agreed upon all the great points of Christian faith, duty and
obligation. It is melancholy, and yet instructive to observe, through the
course of history, how large a proportion of the energies of Christians have
been absorbed in contentions against each other upon shadowy points of
doctrine, while a world has been perishing in wickedness. The most efficient
men in the Church on earth, have had about one half of their energies paralyzed
by contentions with their own Christian brethren. It is so now. The most
energetic men, in pleading the cause of Christ, are often assailed even more
unrelentingly by brethren who differ with them upon some small point of
doctrine, than by a hostile world.
Human nature, even when partially sanctified, is frail
indeed. The Elector of Saxony was perhaps a good man, but he was a weak one. He
was a zealous Lutheran, and was shocked that a Calvinist, a man who held the
destructive error that the bread and wine only represented the body
and the blood of Christ, should be raised to the throne of Bohemia, and thus
become the leader of the Protestant party. The Elector of Saxony and the
Elector of the Palatine had also been naturally rivals, as neighbors, and
possessors of about equal rank and power. Though the Calvinists, to conciliate
the Lutherans, had offered the throne to the Elector of Saxony, and he had
declined it, as too perilous a post for him to occupy, still he was weakly
jealous of his rival who had assumed that post, and was thus elevated above him
to the kingly dignity.
Ferdinand understood all this, and shrewdly availed
himself of it. He plied the elector with arguments and promises, assuring him
that the points in dispute were political merely and not religious; that he had
no intention of opposing the Protestant religion, and that if the elector would
abandon the Protestant league, he would reward him with a large accession of
territory. It seems incredible that the Elector of Saxony could have been
influenced by such representations. But so it was. Averring that he could not
in conscience uphold a man who did not embrace the vital doctrine of the
spiritual presence, he abandoned his Protestant brethren, and drew with him the
Landgrave of Hesse, and several other Lutheran princes. This was a very
serious defection, which disheartened the Protestants as much as it encouraged
Ferdinand.
The wily emperor having succeeded so admirably with
the Protestant elector, now turned to the Roman Catholic court of France—that
infamous court, still crimsoned with the blood of the St. Bartholomew massacre.
Then, with diplomatic tergiversation, he represented that the conflict was not
a political one, but purely religious, involving the interests of the Church.
He urged that the peace of France and of Europe required that the Protestant
heresy should be utterly effaced; and he provoked the resentment of the court
by showing how much aid the Protestants in Europe had ever received from the
Palatinate family. Here again he was completely successful, and the young king,
Louis XIII., who was controlled by his bigoted yet powerful minister, the Duke
of Luines, cordially espoused his cause.
Spain, intolerant, despotic, hating Protestantism with
perfect hatred, was eager with its aid. A well-furnished army of twenty-four
thousand men was sent from the Netherlands, and also a large sum of money was
placed in the treasury of Ferdinand. Even the British monarch, notwithstanding
the clamors of the nation, was maneuvered into neutrality. And most surprising
of all, Ferdinand was successful in securing a truce with Gabriel Bethlehem,
which, though it conferred peace upon Hungary, deprived the Bohemians of their
powerful support.
The Protestants were strong in their combination; but
still it was a power of fearful strength now arrayed against them. It was
evident that Europe was on the eve of a long and terrible struggle. The two
forces began to assemble. The Protestants rendezvoused at Ulm, under the
command of the Margrave of Anspach. The Catholic
troops, from their wide dispersion, were concentrating at Guntzburg, to be led by the Duke of Bavaria. The attention
of all Europe was arrested by these immense gatherings. All hearts were
oppressed with solicitude, for the parties were very equally matched, and
results of most momentous importance were dependent upon the issue.
In this state of affairs the Protestant league, which
extended through Europe, entered into a truce with the Catholic league, which
also extended through Europe, that they should both withdraw from the contest,
leaving Ferdinand and the Bohemians to settle the dispute as they best could.
This seemed very much to narrow the field of strife, but the measure, in its
practical results, was far more favorable to Ferdinand than to the Bohemians.
The emperor thus disembarrassed, by important concessions, and by menaces,
brought the Protestants of Lower Austria into submission. The masses, overawed
by a show of power which they could not resist, yielded; the few who refused to
bow in homage to the emperor were punished as guilty of treason.
Ferdinand, by these cautious steps, was now prepared
to concentrate his energies upon Bohemia. He first attacked the dependent
provinces of Bohemia, one by one, sending an army of twenty-five thousand men
to take them unprepared. Having subjected all of Upper Austria to his sway,
with fifty thousand men he entered Bohemia. Their march was energetic and sanguinary.
With such an overpowering force they took fortress after fortress, scaling
ramparts, mercilessly cutting down garrisons, plundering and burning towns,
and massacring the inhabitants. Neither sex nor age was spared, and a
brutal soldiery gratified their passions in the perpetration of indescribable
horrors. Even the Duke of Bavaria was shocked at such barbarities, and entered
his remonstrances against them. Many large towns, terrified by the atrocities
perpetrated upon those who resisted the imperial arms, threw open their gates,
hoping thus, by submission, to appease the vengeance of the conqueror.
Frederic was a weak man, not at all capable of
encountering such a storm, and the Bohemians had consequently no one to rally
and to guide them with efficiency. His situation was now alarming in the
extreme. He was abandoned by the Protestant league, hemmed in on every side by
the imperial troops, and his hereditary domains of the Palatinate were overrun
by twenty thousand Spaniards. His subjects, alarmed at his utter inefficiency,
and terrified by the calamities which were falling, like avalanche after
avalanche upon them, became dissatisfied with him, and despairing respecting
their own fate. He was a Calvinist, and the Lutherans had never warmly received
him. The impotent monarch, instead of establishing himself in the affections of
his subjects, by vigorously driving the invaders from his realms, with almost
inconceivable silliness endeavored to win their popularity by balls and smiles,
pleasant words and masquerades. In fact, Frederic, by his utter inefficiency,
was a foe more to be dreaded by Bohemia than Ferdinand.
The armies of the emperor pressed on, throwing the
whole kingdom into a state of consternation and dismay. The army of Frederic,
which dared not emerge from its intrenchments at Pritznitz, about fifty miles south of Prague, consisted of
but twenty-two thousand men, poorly armed, badly clothed, wretchedly supplied
with military stores, and almost in a state of mutiny from arrears of pay. The generals
were in perplexity and disagreement. Some, in the recklessness of despair, were
for marching to meet the foe and to risk a battle; others were for avoiding a
conflict, and thus protracting the war till the severity of winter should drive
their enemies from the field, when they would have some time to prepare for
another year's campaign. These difficulties led Frederic to apply for a truce.
But Ferdinand was too wise to lose by wasting time in negotiations, vantage
ground he had already gained. He refused to listen to any word except the
unequivocal declaration that Frederic relinquished all right to the crown.
Pressing his forces onward, he drove the Bohemians from behind their ramparts
at Pritznitz, and pursued them down the Moldau even to the walls of Prague.
Upon a magnificent eminence called the White Mountain,
which commanded the city and its most important approaches, the disheartened
army of Frederic stopped in its flight, and made its last stand. The enemy were
in hot pursuit. The Bohemians in breathless haste began to throw
up intrenchments along the ravines, and to plant their batteries on
the hills, when the banners of Ferdinand were seen approaching. The emperor was
too energetic a warrior to allow his panic-stricken foes time to regain their
courage. Without an hour's delay he urged his victorious columns to the charge.
The Bohemians fought desperately, with far more spirit than could have been
expected. But they were overpowered by numbers, and in one short hour the army
of Frederic was annihilated. Four thousand were left dead upon the field, one
thousand were drowned in the frantic attempt to swim the Moldau, and the rest were either dispersed as fugitives
over hill and valley or taken captive. The victory of the emperor was complete,
the hopes of Frederic crushed, and the fate of Bohemia sealed.
The contemptible Frederic, while this fierce battle
was raging beneath the very walls of his capital, instead of placing himself at
the head of his troops, was in the heart of the city, in the banqueting-hall of
his palace, bowing and smiling and feasting his friends. The Prince
of Anhalt, who was in command of the Bohemian army, had sent a most urgent
message to the king, intreating him to dispatch immediately to his
aid all the troops in the city, and especially to repair himself to the camp to
encourage the troops by his presence. Frederic was at the table when he
received this message, and sent word back that he could not come until after
dinner. As soon as the combat commenced, another still more urgent message was
sent, to which he returned the same reply. After dinner he mounted
his horse and rode to the gate which led to the White Mountain. The thunders of
the terrible battle filled the air; the whole city was in the wildest state of
terror and confusion; the gates barred and barricaded. Even the king could not
get out. He climbed one of the towers of the wall and looked out upon the gory
field, strewn with corpses, where his army had been, but was no more. He
returned hastily to his palace, and met there the Prince of Anhalt, who,
with a few fugitives, had succeeded in entering the city by one of the gates.
The city now could not defend itself for an hour. The
batteries of Ferdinand were beginning to play upon the walls, when Frederic
sent out a flag of truce soliciting a cessation of hostilities for twenty-four
hours, that they might negotiate respecting peace. The peremptory reply
returned was, that there should not be truce for a single moment, unless
Frederic would renounce all pretension to the crown of Bohemia. With such a
renunciation truce would be granted for eight hours. Frederic acceded to the
demand, and the noise of war was hushed.
CHAPTER XVII
FERDINAND II.
From 1621 to
1629.
The citizens of Prague were indignant at the
pusillanimity of Frederic. In a body they repaired to the palace and tried to
rouse his feeble spirits. They urged him to adopt a manly resistance, and
offered to mount the ramparts and beat off the foe until succor could arrive.
But Frederic told them that he had resolved to leave Prague, that he should
escape during the darkness of the night, and advised them to capitulate on the
most favorable terms they could obtain. The inhabitants of the city were in
despair. They knew that they had nothing to hope from the clemency of the
conqueror, and that there was no salvation for them from irretrievable ruin but
in the most desperate warfare. Even now, though the enemy was at their gates,
their situation was by no means hopeless with a leader of any energy.
“We have still,” they urged, “sufficient strength to
withstand a siege. The city is not invested on every side, and reinforcements
can enter by some of the gates. We have ample means in the city to support all
the troops which can be assembled within its walls. The soldiers who have
escaped from the disastrous battle need but to see the Bohemian banners again
unfurled and to hear the blast of the bugle, to return to their ranks. Eight
thousand troops are within a few hours' march of us. There is another strong
band in the rear of the enemy, prepared to cut off their communications.
Several strong fortresses, filled with arms and ammunition, are still in our
possession, and the Bohemians, animated by the remembrance of the heroic deeds
of their ancestors, are eager to retrieve their fortunes.”
Had Frederic possessed a tithe of the perseverance and
energy of Ferdinand, with these resources he might soon have arrested the steps
of the conqueror. Never was the characteristic remark of Napoleon to Ney better
verified, that "an army of deer led by a lion is better than an army of
lions led by a deer." Frederic was panic-stricken for fear he might fall
into the hands of Ferdinand, from whom he well knew that he was to expect no
mercy. With ignominious haste, abandoning everything, even the coronation regalia,
at midnight, surrounded by a few friends, he stole out at one of the gates of
the city, and putting spurs to his horse, allowed himself no rest until he was
safe within the walls of Berlin, two hundred miles from Prague.
The despairing citizens, thus deserted by their
sovereign, and with a victorious foe at their very walls, had no alternative
but to throw open their gates and submit to the mercy of the conqueror. The
next day the whole imperial army, under the Duke of Bavaria, with floating banners
and exultant music, entered the streets of the capital, and took possession of
the palaces. The tyrant Ferdinand was as vengeful and venomous as he was
vigorous and unyielding. The city was immediately disarmed, and the
government intrusted to a vigorous Roman
Catholic prince, Charles of Lichtenstein. A strong garrison was left in the
city to crush, with a bloody hand, any indications of insurrection, and then
the Duke of Bavaria returned with most of his army to Munich, his capital,
tottering beneath the burden of plunder.
There was a moment’s lull before the tempest of
imperial wrath burst upon doomed Bohemia. Ferdinand seemed to deliberate, and
gather his strength, that he might strike a blow which would be felt forever.
He did strike such a blow—one which has been remembered for two hundred years,
and which will not be forgotten for ages to come—one which doomed parents and
children to weary years of vagabondage, penury and woe which must have made
life a burden.
On the night of the 21st of January, three months
after the capitulation, and when the inhabitants of Prague had begun to hope
that there might, after all, be some mercy in the bosom of Ferdinand, forty of
the leading citizens of the place were simultaneously arrested. They
were torn from their families and thrown into dungeons where they were kept in
terrific suspense for four months. They were then brought before an imperial
commission and condemned as guilty of high treason. All their property was
confiscated, nothing whatever being left for their helpless families.
Twenty-three were immediately executed upon the scaffold, and all the rest were
either consigned to life-long imprisonment, or driven into banishment.
Twenty-seven other nobles, who had escaped from the kingdom, were declared traitors.
Their castles were seized, their property confiscated and presented as rewards
to Roman Catholic nobles who were the friends of Ferdinand. An order was then
issued for all the nobles and landholders throughout the kingdom to send in a
confession of whatever aid they had rendered, or encouragement they had given
to the insurrection. And the most terrible vengeance was threatened
against anyone who should afterward be proved guilty of any act
whatever of which he had not made confession. The consternation which this
decree excited was so great, that not only was every one anxious to confess the
slightest act which could be construed as unfriendly to the emperor, but many,
in their terror, were driven to accuse themselves of guilt, who had taken no share
in the movement. Seven hundred nobles, and the whole body of Protestant
landholders, placed their names on the list of those who confessed guilt and
implored pardon.
The fiend-like emperor, then, in the mockery of mercy,
declared that in view of his great clemency and their humble confession, he
would spare their forfeited lives, and would only punish them by depriving them
of their estates. He took their mansions, their estates, their property, and
turned them adrift upon the world, with their wives and their children,
fugitives and penniless. Thus between one and two thousand of the most ancient
and noble families of the kingdom were rendered houseless and utterly beggared.
Their friends, involved with them in the same woe, could render no assistance.
They were denounced as traitors; no one dared befriend them, and their
possessions were given to those who had rallied beneath the banners of the
emperor. "To the victors belong the spoils." No pen can describe the
ruin of these ancient families. No imagination can follow them in their steps
of starvation and despair, until death came to their relief.
Ferdinand considered Protestantism and rebellion as
synonymous terms. And well he might, for Protestantism has ever been arrayed as
firmly against civil as against religious despotism. The doctrines of the
reformers, from the days of Luther and Calvin, have always been associated with
political liberty. Ferdinand was determined to crush Protestantism. The
punishment of the Elector Palatine was to be a signal and an appalling warning
to all who in future should think of disputing the imperial sway. The elector
himself, having renounced the throne, had escaped beyond the emperor's reach.
But Ferdinand took possession of his ancestral territories and divided them among
his Roman Catholic allies. The electoral vote which he held in the diet of the
empire, Ferdinand transferred to the Duke of Bavaria, thus reducing the
Protestant vote to two, and securing an additional Catholic suffrage. The ban
of the empire was also published against the Prince of Anhalt, the Count
of Hohenloe, and the Duke Jaegendorf, who had been supporters of Frederic. This ban
of the empire deprived them of their territories, of their rank, and of their
possessions.
The Protestants throughout the empire were terrified
by these fierce acts of vengeance, and were fearful of sharing the same fate.
They now regretted bitterly that they had disbanded their organization. They
dared not make any move against the emperor, who was flushed with pride and power,
lest he should pounce at once upon them. The emperor consequently marched
unimpeded in his stern chastisements. Frederic was thus deserted entirely by
the Protestant union; and his father-in-law, James of England, in accordance
with his threat, refused to lend him any aid. Various most heroic efforts were
made by a few intrepid nobles but one after another they were crushed by the
iron hand of the emperor.
Ferdinand, having thus triumphed over all his foes,
and having divided their domains among his own followers, called a meeting of
the electors who were devoted to his cause, at Ratisbon, on the 25th of
February, 1623, to confirm what he had done. In every portion of the empire,
where the arm of the emperor could reach them, the Protestants were receiving
heavy blows. They were now thoroughly alarmed and aroused. The Catholics all
over Europe were renewing their league; all the Catholic powers were banded
together, and Protestantism seemed on the eve of being destroyed by the sword
of persecution.
Other parts of Europe also began to look with alarm
upon the vast power acquired by Austria. There was but little of conciliation
in the character of Ferdinand, and his unbounded success, while it rendered him
more haughty, excited also the jealousy of the neighboring powers. In Lower
Saxony, nearly all the nobles and men of influence were Protestants. The
principal portion of the ecclesiastical property was in their hands. It was
very evident that unless the despotism of Ferdinand was checked, he would soon wrest
from them their titles and possessions, and none the less readily because he
had succeeded in bribing the Elector of Saxony to remain neutral while he tore
the crown of Bohemia from the Elector of the Palatine, and despoiled him of his
widespread ancestral territories.
James I of England had been negotiating a marriage of
his son, the Prince of Wales, subsequently Charles I, with the daughter of the
King of Spain. This would have been, in that day, a brilliant match for his
son; and as the Spanish monarch was a member of the house of Austria, and
a comparator with his cousin, the Emperor Ferdinand, in all his
measures in Germany, it was an additional reason why James should not interfere
in defense of his son-in-law, Frederic of the Palatine. But now this match was
broken off by the influence of the haughty English minister Buckingham, who had
the complete control of the feeble mind of the British monarch. A treaty of
marriage was soon concluded between the Prince of Wales and Henrietta, a
princess of France. There was hereditary hostility between France and Spain,
and both England and France were now quite willing to humble the house of
Austria. The nobles of Lower Saxony availed themselves of this new turn in the
posture of affairs, and obtained promises of aid from them both, and, through
their intercession, aid also from Denmark and Sweden.
Richelieu, the imperious French minister, was
embarrassed by two antagonistic passions. He was eager to humble the house of
Austria; and this he could only do by lending aid to the Protestants. On the
other hand, it was the great object of his ambition to restore the royal
authority to unlimited power, and this he could only accomplish by aiding the
house of Austria to crush the Protestants, whose love of freedom all despots
have abhorred. Impelled by these conflicting passions, he did all in his power
to extirpate Protestantism from France, while he omitted neither lures nor
intrigues to urge the Protestants in Germany to rise against the despotism of
Austria. Gustavus Adolphus, of Sweden, was personally inimical to
Ferdinand, in consequence of injuries he had received at his hands. Christian
IV. of Denmark was cousin to Elizabeth, the mother of Frederic, and, in
addition to this interest in the conflict which relationship gave him, he was
also trembling lest some of his own possessions
should soon be wrested from him by the all-grasping emperor. A year was
employed, the year 1624, in innumerable secret intrigues, and plans of
combination, for a general rising of the Protestant powers. It was necessary
that the utmost secrecy should be observed in forming the coalition, and that
all should be ready, at the same moment, to cooperate against a foe so able, so
determined and so powerful.
Matters being thus essentially arranged, the States of
Lower Saxony, who were to take the lead, held a meeting
at Segeberg on the 25th of March, 1625. They formed a league for the
preservation of their religion and liberties, settled the amount of money and
men which each of the contracting parties was to furnish, and chose Christian
IV., King of Denmark, their leader. The emperor had for some time suspected
that a confederacy was in the process of formation, and had kept a watchful eye
upon every movement. The vail was now laid aside, and Christian IV.
issued a proclamation, stating the reasons why they had taken up arms against
the emperor. This was the signal for a blaze of war, which wrapped all northern
Europe in a wide conflagration. Victory ebbed and flowed. Bohemia, Hungary, Denmark,
Austria—all the States of the empire, were swept and devastated by pursuing and
retreating armies. But gradually the emperor gained. First he overwhelmed all
opposition in Lower Saxony, and riveting anew the shackles of despotism,
rewarded his followers with the spoils of the vanquished. Then he silenced
every murmur in Austria, so that no foe dared lift up the voice or peep. Then
he poured his legions into Hungary, swept back the tide of victory which had
been following the Hungarian banners, and struck blow after blow, until Gabriel
Bethlehem was compelled to cry for peace and mercy. Bohemia, previously
disarmed and impoverished, was speedily struck down.
And now the emperor turned his energies against the
panic-stricken King of Denmark. He pursued him from fortress to fortress;
attacked him in the open field, and beat him; attacked him behind
his intrenchments, and drove him from them through the valleys, and over
the hills, across rivers, and into forests; bombarded his cities, plundered his
provinces, shot down his subjects, till the king, reduced almost to the last
extremity, implored peace. The emperor repelled his advances with scorn,
demanding conditions of debasement more to be dreaded than death. The King of
Denmark fled to the isles of the Baltic. Ferdinand took possession of the
shores of this northern sea, and immediately commenced with vigor creating a
fleet, that he might have sea as well as land forces, that he might pursue the
Danish monarch over the water, and that he might more effectually
punish Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. He had determined to
dethrone this monarch, and to transfer the crown of Sweden to Sigismond, his brother-in-law, King of Poland, who was
almost as zealous a Roman Catholic as was the emperor himself.
He drove the two Dukes of Mecklenburg from their
territory, and gave the rich and beautiful duchy, extending along the
south-eastern shore of the Baltic, to his renowned general, Wallenstein. This
fierce, ambitious warrior was made generalissimo of all the imperial troops by
land, and admiral of the Baltic sea. Ferdinand took possession of all the
ports, from the mouth of the Keil, to Kolberg,
at the mouth of the Persante. Wismar, on the
magnificent bay bearing the same name, was made the great naval depot; and, by
building, buying, hiring and robbing, the emperor soon collected quite a
formidable fleet. The immense duchy of Pomerania was just north-east of
Mecklenburg, extending along the eastern shore of the Baltic sea some hundred
and eighty miles, and about sixty miles in breadth. Though the duke had in no
way displeased Ferdinand, the emperor grasped the magnificent duchy, and held
it by the power of his resistless armies. Crossing a narrow arm of the sea, he
took the rich and populous islands of Rugen and Usedom,
and laid siege to the city of Stralsund, which almost commanded the Baltic sea.
The kings of Sweden and Denmark, appalled by the rapid
strides of the imperial general, united all their strength to resist him. They
threw a strong garrison into Stralsund, and sent the fleets of both kingdoms to
aid in repelling the attack, and succeeded in baffling all the attempts of
Wallenstein, and finally in driving him off, though he had boasted that
"he would reduce Stralsund, even if it were bound to heaven with chains of
adamant." Though frustrated in this attempt, the armies of Ferdinand had
swept along so resistlessly, that the King of Denmark was ready to make
almost any sacrifice for peace. A congress was accordingly held at Lubec in May, 1629, when peace was made; Ferdinand
retaining a large portion of his conquests, and the King of Denmark engaging no
longer to interfere in the affairs of the empire.
Ferdinand was now triumphant over all his foes. The
Protestants throughout the empire were crushed, and all their allies
vanquished. He now deemed himself omnipotent, and with wild ambition
contemplated the utter extirpation of Protestantism, and the subjugation of
nearly all of Europe to his sway. He formed the most intimate alliance with the
branch of his house ruling over Spain, hoping that thus the house of Austria
might be the arbiter of the fate of Europe. The condition of Europe at that
time was peculiarly favorable for the designs of the emperor. Charles I. of
England was struggling against that Parliament which soon deprived him both of
his crown and his head. France was agitated, from the Rhine to the Pyrenees, by
civil war, the Catholics striving to exterminate the Protestants. Insurrections
in Turkey absorbed all the energies of the Ottoman court, leaving them no time
to think of interfering with the affairs of Europe. The King of Denmark was
humiliated and prostrate. Sweden was too far distant and too feeble to excite
alarm. Sigismond of Poland was in intimate
alliance with the emperor. Gabriel Bethlehem of Hungary was languishing on a
bed of disease and pain, and only asked permission to die in peace.
The first step which the emperor now took was to
revoke all the concessions which had been granted to the Protestants. In Upper
Austria, where he felt especially strong, he abolished the Protestant worship
utterly. In Lower Austria he was slightly embarrassed by engagements which he
had so solemnly made, and dared not trample upon them without some little show
of moderation. First he prohibited the circulation of all Protestant books; he
then annulled all baptisms and marriages performed by Protestants; then all
Protestants were excluded from holding any civil or military office; then he
issued a decree that all the children, without exception, should be educated by
Catholic priests, and that every individual should attend Catholic worship.
Thus coil by coil he wound around his subjects the chain of unrelenting
intolerance.
In Bohemia he was especially severe, apparently
delighting to punish those who had made a struggle for civil and religious
liberty. Every school teacher, university professor and Christian minister, was
ejected from office, and their places in schools, universities and churches
were supplied by Catholic monks. No person was allowed to exercise any
mechanical trade whatever, unless he professed the Roman Catholic faith. A very
severe fine was inflicted upon any one who should be detected worshiping at any
time, even in family prayer, according to the doctrines and customs of the
Protestant church. Protestant marriages were pronounced illegal, their children
illegitimate, their wills invalid. The Protestant poor were driven from the hospitals
and the alms-houses. No Protestant } was allowed to reside in the capital city
of Prague, but, whatever his wealth or rank, he was driven ignominiously from
the metropolis.
In the smaller towns and remote provinces of the
kingdom, a military force, accompanied by Jesuits and Capuchin friars, sought
out the Protestants, and they were exposed to every conceivable insult and
indignity. Their houses were pillaged, their wives and children surrendered to
all the outrages of a cruel soldiery; many were massacred; many, hunted like
wild beasts, were driven into the forest; many were put to the torture, and as
their bones were crushed and quivering nerves were torn, they were required to
give in their adhesion to the Catholic faith. The persecution to which the
Bohemians were subjected has perhaps never been exceeded in severity.
While Bohemia was writhing beneath these woes, the
emperor, to secure the succession, repaired in regal pomp to Prague, and
crowned his son King of Bohemia. He then issued a decree abolishing the right
which the Bohemians had claimed, to elect their king, forbade the use of the
Bohemian language in the court and in all public transactions, and annulled all
past edicts of toleration. He proclaimed that no religion but the Roman Catholic
should henceforth be tolerated in Bohemia, and that all who did not immediately
return to the bosom of the Church should be banished from the kingdom. This
cruel edict drove into banishment thirty thousand families. These Protestant
families composed the best portion of the community, including the most
illustrious in rank, the most intelligent, the most industrious and the most
virtuous, No State could meet with such a loss without feeling it deeply, and
Bohemia has never yet recovered from the blow. One of the Bohemian historians,
himself a Roman Catholic, thus describes the change which persecution wrought
in Bohemia:
“The records of history scarcely furnish a similar
example of such a change as Bohemia underwent during the reign of Ferdinand II.
In 1620, the monks and a few of the nobility only excepted, the whole country
was entirely Protestant. At the death of Ferdinand it was, in appearance at
least, Catholic. Till the battle of the White Mountain the States enjoyed more
exclusive privileges than the Parliament of England. They enacted laws, imposed
taxes, contracted alliances, declared war and peace, and chose or confirmed
their kings. But all these they now lost.
“Till this fatal period the Bohemians were daring,
undaunted, enterprising, emulous of fame; now they have lost all their courage,
their national pride, their enterprising spirit. Their courage lay buried in
the White Mountain. Individuals still possessed personal valor, military ardor
and a thirst of glory, but, blended with other nations, they resembled the
waters of the Moldau which join those of
the Elbe. These united streams bear ships, overflow lands and overturn rocks;
yet the Elbe is only mentioned, and the Moldau forgotten.
“The Bohemian language, which had been used in all the
courts of justice, and which was in high estimation among the nobles, fell into
contempt. The German was introduced, became the general language among the
nobles and citizens, and was used by the monks in their sermons. The
inhabitants of the towns began to be ashamed of their native tongue, which was
confined to the villages and called the language of peasants. The arts and
sciences, so highly cultivated and esteemed under Rhodolph, sunk beyond
recovery. During the period which immediately followed the banishment of the
Protestants, Bohemia scarcely produced one man who became eminent in any branch
of learning. The greater part of the schools were conducted by Jesuits and
other monkish orders, and nothing taught therein but bad Latin.
“It can not be
denied that several of the Jesuits were men of great learning and science; but
their system was to keep the people in ignorance. Agreeably to this principle
they gave their scholars only the rind, and kept to themselves the pulp of
literature. With this view they traveled from town to town as missionaries, and
went from house to house, examining all books, which the landlord was compelled
under pain of eternal damnation to produce. The greater part they confiscated
and burnt. They thus endeavored to extinguish the ancient literature of the
country, labored to persuade the students that before the introduction of their
order into Bohemia nothing but ignorance prevailed, and carefully concealed the
learned labors and even the names of our ancestors.”
Ferdinand, having thus bound Bohemia hand and foot,
and having accomplished all his purpose in that kingdom, now endeavored, by
cautious but very decisive steps, to expel Protestant doctrines from all parts
of the German empire. Decree succeeded decree, depriving Protestants of their
rights and conferring upon the Roman Catholics wealth and station. He had a
powerful and triumphant standing army at his control, under the energetic and
bigoted Wallenstein, ready and able to enforce his ordinances. No Protestant
prince dared to make any show of resistance. All the church property was torn
from the Protestants, and this vast sum, together with the confiscated
territories of those Protestant princes or nobles who had ventured to resist
the emperor, placed at his disposal a large fund from which to reward his
followers. The emperor kept, however, a large portion of the spoils in his own
hands for the enriching of his own family.
This state of things soon alarmed even the Catholics.
The emperor was growing too powerful, and his power was bearing profusely its
natural fruit of pride and arrogance. The army was insolent, trampling alike
upon friend and foe. As there was no longer any war, the army had become merely
the sword of the emperor to maintain his despotism. Wallenstein had become so
essential to the emperor, and possessed such power at the head of the army,
that he assumed all the air and state of a sovereign, and insulted the highest
nobles and the most powerful bishops by his assumptions of superiority. The
electors of the empire perceiving that the emperor was centralizing power in
his own hands, and that they would soon become merely provincial governors,
compelled to obey his laws and subject to his appointment and removal, began to
whisper to each other their alarm.
The Duke of Bavaria was one of the most powerful
princes of the German empire. He had been the rival of Count Wallenstein, and
was now exceedingly annoyed by the arrogance of this haughty military chief.
Wallenstein was the emperor's right arm of strength. Inflamed by as intense an
ambition as ever burned in a human bosom, every thought and energy was devoted
to self-aggrandizement. He had been educated a Protestant, but abandoned those
views for the Catholic faith which opened a more alluring field to ambition.
Sacrificing the passions of youth he married a widow, infirm and of advanced
age, but of great wealth. The death of his wrinkled bride soon left him the
vast property without incumbrance. He then entered into a matrimonial
alliance which favored his political prospects, marrying Isabella, the daughter
of Count Harruch, who was one of the emperor's
greatest favorites.
When Ferdinand's fortunes were at a low ebb, and he
knew not in which way to find either money or an army, Wallenstein offered to
raise fifty thousand men at his own expense, to pay their wages, supply them
with arms and all the munitions of war, and to call upon the emperor for no
pecuniary assistance whatever, if the emperor would allow him to retain the
plunder he could extort from the conquered. Upon this majestic scale
Wallenstein planned to act the part of a highwayman. Ferdinand's necessities
were so great that he gladly availed himself of this infamous offer.
Wallenstein made money by the bargain. Wherever he marched he compelled the
people to support his army, and to support it luxuriously. The emperor had now
constituted him admiral of the Baltic fleet, and had conferred upon him the
title of duke, with the splendid duchy of Mecklenburg, and the principality of
Sagan in Silesia. His overbearing conduct and his enormous extortions—he
having, in seven years, wrested from the German princes more than four hundred million of dollars—excited a general feeling of discontent,
in which the powerful Duke of Bavaria took the lead.
Envy is a stronger passion than political religion.
Zealous as the Duke of Bavaria had been in the cause of the papal church, he
now forgot that church in his zeal to abase an arrogant and insulting rival.
Richelieu, the prime minister of France, was eagerly watching for opportunities
to humiliate the house of Austria, and he, with alacrity, met the advances of
the Duke of Bavaria, and conspired with him to form a Catholic league, to check
the ambition of Wallenstein, and to arrest the enormous strides of the emperor.
With this object in view, a large number of the most powerful Catholic princes
met at Heidelberg, in March, 1629, and passed resolutions soliciting Ferdinand
to summon a diet of the German empire to take into consideration the evils
occasioned by the army of Wallenstein, and to propose a remedy. The emperor
had, in his arrogance, commanded the princes of the various States in the
departments of Suabia and Franconia, to
disband their troops. To this demand they returned the bold and spirited reply,
“Till we have received an indemnification, or a pledge
for the payment of our expenses, we will neither disband a single soldier, nor
relinquish a foot of territory, ecclesiastical or secular, demand it who
will.”
The emperor did not venture to disregard the request
for him to summon a diet. Indeed he was anxious, on his own account, to convene
the electors, for he wished to secure the election of his son to the throne of
the empire, and he needed succors to aid him in the ambitious wars which he was
waging in various and distant parts of Europe. The diet was assembled at
Ratisbon: the emperor presided in person. As he had important favors to
solicit, he assumed a very conciliatory tone. He expressed his regret that the
troops had been guilty of such disorders, and promised immediate redress. He
then, supposing that his promise would be an ample satisfaction, very
graciously solicited of them the succession of the imperial throne for his son,
and supplies for his army.
But the electors were not at all in a pliant mood.
Some were resolved that, at all hazards, the imperial army, which threatened
Germany, should be reduced, and that Wallenstein should be dismissed from the
command. Others were equally determined that the crown of the empire should not
descend to the son of Ferdinand. The Duke of Bavaria headed the party who would
debase Wallenstein; and Cardinal Richelieu, with all the potent influences of
intrigue and bribery at the command of the French court, was the soul of the
party resolved to wrest the crown of the empire from the house of Austria.
Richelieu sent two of the most accomplished diplomatists France could furnish,
as ambassadors to the diet, who, while maintaining, as far as possible, the
guise of friendship, were to do everything in their power to thwart
the election of Ferdinand's son. These were supplied with inexhaustible means
for the purchase of votes, and were authorized to make any promises, however
extravagant, which should be deemed essential for the attainment of their
object.
Ferdinand, long accustomed to have his own way, was
not anticipating any serious resistance. He was therefore amazed and
confounded, when the diet returned to him, instead of their humble submission
and congratulations, a long, detailed, emphatic remonstrance against the
enormities perpetrated by the imperial army, and demanding the immediate
reduction of the army, now one hundred and fifty thousand strong, and
the dismission of Wallenstein, before they could proceed to any other
business whatever. This bold stand animated the Protestant princes of the
empire, and they began to be clamorous for their rights. Some of the Catholics
even espoused their cause, warning Ferdinand that, unless he granted the
Protestants some degree of toleration, they would seek redress by joining the
enemies of the empire.
It would have been impossible to frame three demands
more obnoxious to the emperor. To crush the Protestants had absorbed the
energies of his life; and now that they were utterly prostrate, to lift them up
and place them on their feet again, was an idea he could not endure. The
imperial army had been his supple tool. By its instrumentality he had gained
all his power, and by its energies alone he retained that power. To disband the
army was to leave himself defenseless. Wallenstein had been everything to
the emperor, and Ferdinand still needed the support of his inflexible and
unscrupulous energies. Wallenstein was in the cabinet of the emperor advising
him in this hour of perplexity. His counsel was characteristic of his
impetuous, headlong spirit. He advised the emperor to pour his army into the
territory of the Duke of Bavaria; chastise him and all his associates for their
insolence, and thus overawe the rest. But the Duke of Bavaria was in favor of
electing the emperor's son as his successor on the throne of the empire; and
Ferdinand's heart was fixed upon this object.
“Dismiss Wallenstein, and reduce the army," said
the Duke of Bavaria, "and the Catholic electors will vote for your son;
grant the required toleration to the Protestants, and they will vote for him
likewise.”
The emperor yielded, deciding in his own mind, aided
by the Jesuitical suggestions of a monk, that he could afterwards recall
Wallenstein, and assemble anew his dispersed battalions. He dismissed sixteen thousand of his best cavalry; suspended some of the most
obnoxious edicts against the Protestants, and implored Wallenstein to
resign his post. The emperor was terribly afraid that this proud general would
refuse, and would lead the army to mutiny. The emperor accordingly accompanied
his request with every expression of gratitude and regret, and assured the
general of his continued favor. Wallenstein, well aware that the disgrace would
be but temporary, quietly yielded. He dismissed the envoys of the emperor with
presents, wrote a very submissive letter, and, with much ostentation of
obedience, retired to private life.
CHAPTER XVIII
FERDINAND II AND GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS.
From 1629 to 1632.
The hand of France was conspicuous in wresting all
these sacrifices from the emperor, and was then still more conspicuous in
thwarting his plans for the election of his son. The ambassadors of Richelieu,
with diplomatic adroitness, urged upon the diet the Duke of Bavaria as
candidate for the imperial crown. This tempting offer silenced the duke, and he
could make no more efforts for the emperor. The Protestants greatly preferred
the duke to any one of the race of the bigoted Ferdinand. The emperor was
excessively chagrined by this aspect of affairs, and abruptly dissolved the
diet. He felt that he had been duped by France; that a cunning monk,
Richelieu's ambassador, had outwitted him. In his vexation he exclaimed, “A
Capuchin friar has disarmed me with his rosary, and covered six electoral caps
with his cowl.”
The emperor was meditating vengeance—the recall of
Wallenstein, the reconstruction of the army, the annulling of the edict of
toleration, the march of an invading force into the territories of the Duke of
Bavaria, and the chastisement of all, Catholics as well as Protestants, who had
aided in thwarting his plans—when suddenly a new enemy
appeared. Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, reigning over his remote
realms on the western shores of the Baltic, though a zealous Protestant, was
regarded by Ferdinand as a foe too distant and too feeble to be either
respected or feared. But Gustavus, a man of exalted abilities, and of vast
energy, was watching with intense interest the despotic strides of the emperor.
In his endeavors to mediate in behalf of the Protestants of Germany, he had
encountered repeated insults on the part of Ferdinand. The imperial troops were
now approaching his own kingdom. They had driven Christian IV, King of Denmark,
from his continental territories on the eastern shore of the Baltic, had already
taken possession of several of the islands, and were constructing a fleet which
threatened the command of that important sea. Gustavus was alarmed,
and roused himself to assume the championship of the civil and religious
liberties of Europe. He conferred with all the leading Protestant princes,
formed alliances, secured funds, stationed troops to protect his own frontiers,
and then, assembling the States of his kingdom, entailed the succession of the
crown on his only child Christiana, explained to them his plans of war against
the emperor, and concluded a dignified and truly pathetic harangue with the
following words.
“The enterprise in which I am about to engage is not
one dictated by the love of conquest or by personal ambition. Our honor, our
religion and our independence are imperiled. I am to encounter great dangers,
and may fall upon the field of battle. If it be God's will that I should die in
the defense of liberty, of my country and of mankind, I cheerfully surrender
myself to the sacrifice. It is my duty as a sovereign to obey the King of kings
without murmuring, and to resign the power I have received from His hands
whenever it shall suit His all-wise purposes. I shall yield up my last breath
with the firm persuasion that Providence will support my subjects because they
are faithful and virtuous, and that my ministers, generals and senators will
punctually discharge their duty to my child because they love justice, respect
me, and feel for their country.”
The king himself was affected as he uttered these
words, and tears moistened the eyes of many of the stern warriors who
surrounded him. With general acclaim they approved of his plan, voted him all
the succors he required, and enthusiastically offered their own fortunes and
lives to his service. Gustavus assembled a fleet at Elfsnaben, crossed the Baltic sea, and in June, 1630,
landed thirty thousand troops in Pomerania, which Wallenstein had overrun. The
imperial army, unprepared for such an assault, fled before the Swedish king.
Marching rapidly, Gustavus took Stettin, the capital of the duchy,
situated at the mouth of the Oder, and commanding that stream. Driving the
imperial troops everywhere before him from Pomerania, and pursuing them into the
adjoining Mark of Brandenburg, he took possession of a large part of that
territory. He issued a proclamation to the inhabitants of Germany,
recapitulating the arbitrary and despotic acts of the emperor, and calling upon
all Protestants to aid in an enterprise, in the success of which the very
existence of Protestantism in Germany seemed to be involved. But so utterly had
the emperor crushed the spirits of the Protestants by his fiend-like severity,
that but few ventured to respond to his appeal. The rulers, however, of many of
the Protestant States met at Leipsic, and without venturing to espouse the
cause of Gustavus, and without even alluding to his invasion, they
addressed a letter to the emperor demanding a redress of grievances, and
informing him that they had decided to establish a permanent council for the
direction of their own affairs, and to raise an army of forty thousand men for
their own protection.
Most of these events had occurred while the emperor,
with Wallenstein, was at Ratisbon, intriguing to secure the succession of the
imperial crown for his son. They both looked upon the march of the King of
Sweden into the heart of Germany as the fool-hardy act of a mad adventurer. The
courtiers ridiculed his transient conquests, saying, “Gustavus Adolphus is
a king of snow. Like a snowball he will melt in a southern clime.” Wallenstein
was particularly contemptuous. “I will whip him back to his country,” said he, “like
a truant school-boy, with rods.” Ferdinand was for a time deceived by these
representations, and was by no means aware of the real peril which threatened
him. The diet which the emperor had assembled made a proclamation of war
against Gustavus, but adopted no measures of energy adequate to the
occasion. The emperor sent a silly message to Gustavus that if he did
not retire immediately from Germany he would attack him with his whole force.
To this folly Gustavus returned a contemptuous reply.
A few of the minor Protestant princes now ventured to
take arms and join the standard of Gustavus. The important city of
Magdeburg, in Saxony, on the Elbe, espoused his cause. This city, with its
bastions and outworks completely commanding the Elbe, formed one of the
strongest fortresses of Europe. It contained, exclusive of its strong garrison,
thirty thousand inhabitants. It was now evident to Ferdinand that vigorous
action was called for. He could not, consistently with his dignity, recall
Wallenstein in the same breath with which he had dismissed him. He accordingly
concentrated his troops and placed them under the command of Count Tilly.
The imperial troops were dispatched to Magdeburg. They surrounded the doomed
city, assailed it furiously, and proclaimed their intention of making it a
signal mark of imperial vengeance. Notwithstanding the utmost efforts of Gustavus to
hasten to their relief, he was foiled in his endeavors, and the town was
carried by assault on the 10th of May. Never, perhaps, did earth witness a more
cruel exhibition of the horrors of war. The soul sickens in the contemplation
of outrages so fiend-like. We prefer to give the narrative of these deeds,
which it is the duty of history to record, in the language of another.
“All the horrors ever exercised against a captured
place were repeated and almost surpassed, on this dreadful event, which,
notwithstanding all the subsequent disorders and the lapse of time, is still
fresh in the recollection of its inhabitants and of Germany. Neither age,
beauty nor innocence, neither infancy nor decrepitude, found refuge or
compassion from the fury of the licentious soldiery. No retreat was
sufficiently secure to escape their rapacity and vengeance; no sanctuary
sufficiently sacred to repress their lust and cruelty. Infants were murdered
before the eyes of their parents, daughters and wives violated in the arms of
their fathers and husbands. Some of the imperial officers, recoiling from this
terrible scene, flew to Count Tilly and supplicated him to put a stop
to the carnage. ‘Stay yet an hour,’ was his barbarous reply; ‘let the soldier
have some compensation for his dangers and fatigues.’
“The troops, left to themselves, after sating their
passions, and almost exhausting their cruelty in three hours of pillage and
massacre, set fire to the town, and the flames were in an instant spread by the
wind to every quarter of the place. Then opened a scene which surpassed all the
former horrors. Those who had hitherto escaped, or who were forced by the
flames from their hiding-places, experienced a more dreadful fate. Numbers were
driven into the Elbe, others massacred with every species of savage
barbarity—the wombs of pregnant women ripped up, and infants thrown into the
fire or impaled on pikes and suspended over the flames. History has no terms,
poetry no language, painting no colors to depict all the horrors of the scene.
In less than ten hours the most rich, the most flourishing and the most
populous town in Germany was reduced to ashes. The cathedral, a single convent
and a few miserable huts, were all that were left of its numerous buildings,
and scarcely more than a thousand souls all that remained of more than thirty
thousand inhabitants.
“After an interval of two days, when the soldiers were
fatigued, if not sated, with devastation and slaughter, and when the flames had
begun to subside, Tilly entered the town in triumph. To make room for
his passage the streets were cleared and six thousand carcasses thrown into the
Elbe. He ordered the pillage to cease, pardoned the scanty remnant of the
inhabitants, who had taken refuge in the cathedral, and, surrounded by flames
and carnage, had remained three days without food or refreshment, under all the
terrors of impending fate. After hearing a Te Deum in the midst of military pomp, he paraded the streets; and even
though his unfeeling heart seemed touched with the horrors of the scene, he
could not refrain from the savage exultation of boasting to the emperor, and
comparing the assault of Magdeburg to the sack of Troy and of Jerusalem.”
This terrible display of vengeance struck the
Protestants with consternation. The extreme Catholic party were exultant, and
their chiefs met in a general assembly and passed resolutions approving the
course of the emperor and pledging him their support. Ferdinand was much
encouraged by this change in his favor, and declared his intention of silencing
all Protestant voices. He recalled an army of twenty-four thousand men from
Italy. They crossed the Alps, and, as they marched through the frontier States
of the empire, they spread devastation and ruin through all the Protestant
territories, exacting enormous contributions, compelling the Protestant
princes, on oath, to renounce the Protestant league, and to unite with the
Catholic confederacy against the King of Sweden.
In the meantime, Gustavus pressed forward
into the duchy of Mecklenburg, driving the imperial troops before
him. Tilly retired into the territory of the Elector of Saxony,
robbing, burning and destroying everywhere. Uniting his force with the army
from Italy he ravaged the country, resistlessly advancing even
to Leipsic, and capturing the city. The elector, quite unable to cope with
so powerful a foe, retired with his troops to the Swedish camp, where he
entered into an offensive and defensive alliance with Gustavus. The
Swedish army, thus reinforced, hastened to the relief of Leipsic, and
arrived before its walls the very day on which the city surrendered.
Tilly, with the pride of a conqueror, advanced to meet
them. The two armies, about equal in numbers, and commanded by their renowned
captains, met but a few miles from the city. Neither of the commanders had ever
before suffered a defeat. It was a duel, in which one or the other must fall.
Every soldier in the ranks felt the sublimity of the hour. For some time there
was marching and countermarching—the planting of batteries, and the gathering
of squadrons and solid columns, each one hesitating to strike the first blow.
At last the signal was given by the discharge of three pieces of cannon from
one of the batteries of Tilly. Instantly a thunder peal rolled along the
extended lines from wing to wing. The awful work of death was begun. Hour after
hour the fierce and bloody fight continued, as the surges of victory and defeat
swept to and fro upon the plain. But the ever
uncertain fortune of battle decided in favor of the Swedes. As the darkness of
evening came prematurely on, deepened by the clouds of smoke which canopied the
field, the imperialists were everywhere flying in dismay. Tilly, having
been struck by three balls, was conveyed from the field in excruciating pain to
a retreat in Halle. Seven thousand of his troops lay
dead upon the field. Five thousand were taken prisoners. All the imperial
artillery and baggage fell into the hands of the conqueror. The rest of the
army was so dispersed that but two thousand could be rallied under the imperial
banners.
Gustavus, thus triumphant, dispatched a portion of his
army, under the Elector of Saxony, to rescue Bohemia from the tyrant grasp of
the emperor. Gustavus himself, with another portion, marched in
various directions to cut off the resources of the enemy and to combine the
scattered parts of the Protestant confederacy. His progress was like the
tranquil march of a sovereign in his own dominions, greeted by the enthusiasm
of his subjects. He descended the Maine to the Rhine, and then ascending the
Rhine, took every fortress from Maine to Strasbourg.
While Gustavus was thus extending his conquests through the very
heart of Germany, the Elector of Saxony reclaimed all of Bohemia from the
imperial arms. Prague itself capitulated to the Saxon troops.
Count Thurn led the Saxon troops in triumph over the same bridge
which he, but a few months before, had traversed a fugitive. He found, impaled
upon the bridge, the shriveled heads of twelve of his companions, which he
enveloped in black satin and buried with funeral honors.
The Protestants of Bohemia rose enthusiastically to
greet their deliverers. Their churches, schools and universities were reestablished.
Their preachers resumed their functions. Many returned from exile and rejoiced
in the restoration of their confiscated property. The Elector of Saxony
retaliated upon the Catholics the cruel wrongs which they had inflicted upon
the Protestants. Their castles were plundered, their nobles driven into exile,
and the conquerors loaded themselves with the spoils of the vanquished.
But Ferdinand, as firm and inexorable in adversity as
in prosperity, bowed not before disaster. He roused the Catholics to a sense of
their danger, organized new coalitions, raised new armies. Tilly, with
recruited forces, was urged on to arrest the march of the conqueror. Burning
under the sense of shame for his defeat at Leipsic, he placed himself at
the head of his veterans, fell, struck by a musket-ball, and died, after a few
days of intense suffering, at the age of seventy-three. The vast Austrian
empire, composed of so many heterogeneous States, bound together only by the
iron energy of Ferdinand, seemed now upon the eve of its dissolution. The
Protestants, who composed in most of the States a majority, were cordially
rallying beneath the banners of Gustavus. They had been in a state of
despair. They now rose in exalted hope. Many of the minor princes who had been
nominally Catholics, but whose Christian creeds were merely political dogmas,
threw themselves into the arms of Gustavus. Even the Elector of Bavaria
was so helpless in his isolation, that, champion as he had been of the Catholic
party, there seemed to be no salvation for him but in abandoning the cause of
Ferdinand. Gustavus was now, with a victorious army, in the heart of
Germany. He was in possession of the whole western country from the Baltic to
the frontiers of France, and apparently a majority of the population were in
sympathy with him.
Ferdinand at first resolved, in this dire extremity,
to assume himself the command of his armies, and in person to enter the field.
This was heroic madness, and his friends soon convinced him of the folly of one
so inexperienced in the arts of war undertaking to cope
with Gustavus Adolphus, now the most experienced and renowned captain
in Europe. He then thought of appointing his son, the Archduke Ferdinand,
commander-in-chief. But Ferdinand was but twenty-three years of age, and though
a young man of decided abilities, was by no means able to encounter on the
field the skill and heroism of the Swedish warrior. In this extremity,
Ferdinand was compelled to turn his eyes to his discarded general Wallenstein.
This extraordinary man, in renouncing, at the command
of his sovereign, his military supremacy, retired with boundless wealth, and
assumed a style of living surpassing even regal splendor. His gorgeous palace
at Prague was patrolled by sentinels. A body-guard of fifty halberdiers, in
sumptuous uniform, ever waited in his ante-chamber. Twelve nobles attended his
person, and four gentlemen ushers introduced to his presence those whom he
condescended to favor with an audience. Sixty pages, taken from the most
illustrious families, embellished his courts. His steward was a baron of the
highest rank; and even the chamberlain of the emperor had left Ferdinand's
court, that he might serve in the more princely palace of this haughty subject.
A hundred guests dined daily at his table. His gardens and parks were
embellished with more than oriental magnificence. Even his stables were
furnished with marble mangers, and supplied with water from an ever-living
fountain. Upon his journeys he was accompanied by a suite of twelve coaches of
state and fifty carriages. A large retinue of wagons conveyed his plate and
equipage. Fifty mounted grooms followed with fifty led horses richly
caparisoned.
Wallenstein watched the difficulties gathering around
the emperor with satisfaction which he could not easily disguise. Though
intensely eager to be restored to the command of the armies, he affected an air
of great indifference, and when the emperor suggested his restoration, he very
adroitly played the coquette. The emperor at first proposed that his son, the
Archduke Ferdinand, should nominally have the command, while Wallenstein should
be his executive and advisory general. “I would not serve,” said the impious
captain, “as second in command under God Himself.”
After long negotiation, Wallenstein, with well-feigned
reluctance, consented to relinquish for a few weeks the sweets of private life,
and to recruit an army, and bring it under suitable discipline. He, however,
limited the time of his command to three months. With his boundless wealth and
amazing energy, he immediately set all springs in motion. Adventurers from all
parts of Europe, lured by the splendor of his past achievements, crowded his ranks.
In addition to his own vast opulence, the pope and the court of Spain opened
freely to him their purses. As by magic he was in a few weeks at the head of
forty thousand men. In companies, regiments and battalions they were
incessantly drilled, and by the close of three months this splendid army,
thoroughly furnished, and in the highest state of discipline, was presented to
the emperor. Every step he had taken had convinced, and was intended to
convince Ferdinand that his salvation depended upon the energies of
Wallenstein. Gustavus was now, in the full tide of victory, marching
from the Rhine to the Danube, threatening to press his conquests even to
Vienna. Ferdinand was compelled to assume the attitude of a suppliant, and to
implore his proud general to accept the command of which he had so recently
been deprived. Wallenstein exacted terms so humiliating as in reality to divest
the emperor of his imperial power. He was to be declared generalissimo of all
the forces of the empire, and to be invested with unlimited authority. The
emperor pledged himself that neither he nor his son would ever enter the camp.
Wallenstein was to appoint all his officers, distribute all rewards, and the
emperor was not allowed to grant either a pardon or a safe-conduct without the
confirmation of Wallenstein. The general was to levy what contribution he
pleased upon the vanquished enemy, confiscate property, and no peace or truce
was to be made with the enemy without his consent. Finally, he was to receive,
either from the spoils of the enemy, or from the hereditary States of the
empire, princely remuneration for his services.
Armed with such enormous power, Wallenstein consented
to place himself at the head of the army. He marched to Prague, and without
difficulty took the city. Gradually he drove the Saxon troops from all their
fortresses in Bohemia. Then advancing to Bavaria, he effected a junction with
Bavarian troops, and found himself sufficiently strong to attempt to arrest the
march of Gustavus. The imperial force now amounted to sixty thousand men.
Wallenstein was so sanguine of success, that he boasted that in a few days he
would decide the question, whether Gustavus Adolphus or
Wallenstein was to be master of the world. The Swedish king was at Nuremberg with
but twenty thousand men, when he heard of the approach of the imperial army,
three times outnumbering his own. Disdaining to retreat, he threw up redoubts,
and prepared for a desperate defense. As Wallenstein brought up his heavy
battalions, he was so much overawed by the military genius
which Gustavus had displayed in his strong intrenchments, and by
the bold front which the Swedes presented, that notwithstanding his boast, he
did not dare to hazard an attack. He accordingly threw up intrenchments opposite
the works of the Swedes, and there the two armies remained, looking each other
in the face for eight weeks, neither daring to withdraw from behind
their intrenchments, and each hoping to starve the other party
out. Gustavus did everything in his power to provoke Wallenstein
to the attack, but the wary general, notwithstanding the importunities of his
officers, and the clamors of his soldiers, refused to risk an engagement. Both
parties were all the time strengthening their intrenchments and
gathering reinforcements.
At last Gustavus resolved upon an attack. He
led his troops against the intrenchments of Wallenstein, which
resembled a fortress rather than a camp. The Swedes clambered over
the intrenchments, and assailed the imperialists with as much valor and
energy as mortals ever exhibited. They were, however, with equal fury repelled,
and after a long conflict were compelled to retire again behind their
fortifications with the loss of three thousand of their best troops. For
another fortnight the two armies remained watching each other, and
then Gustavus, leaving a strong garrison in Nuremberg, slowly and
defiantly retired. Wallenstein stood so much in fear of the tactics
of Gustavus that he did not even venture to molest his retreat.
During this singular struggle of patient endurance, both armies suffered
fearfully from sickness and famine. In the city of Nuremberg ten thousand
perished. Gustavus buried twenty thousand of his men beneath
his intrenchments. And in the imperial army, after the retreat of Gustavus,
but thirty thousand troops were left to answer the roll-call.
Wallenstein claimed, and with justice, the merit of
having arrested the steps of Gustavus, though he could not boast of any
very chivalrous exploits. After various maneuvering, and desolating marches,
the two armies, with large reinforcements, met at Lutzen,
about thirty miles from Leipsic. It was in the edge of the evening when
they arrived within sight of each other's banners. Both parties passed an
anxious night, preparing for the decisive battle which the dawn of the morning
would usher in.
Wallenstein was fearfully alarmed. He had not
willingly met his dreaded antagonist, and would now gladly escape the issues of
battle. He called a council of war, and even suggested a retreat. But it was
decided that such an attempt in the night, and while watched by so able and
vigilant a foe, would probably involve the army in irretrievable ruin, besides
exposing his own name to deep disgrace. The imperial troops, thirty thousand
strong, quite outnumbered the army of Gustavus, and the officers of
Wallenstein unanimously advised to give battle. Wallenstein was a superstitious
man and deeply devoted to astrological science. He consulted his astrologers,
and they declared the stars to be unpropitious to Gustavus. This at once
decided him. He resolved, however, to act on the defensive, and through the
night employed the energies of his army in throwing up intrenchments. In
the earliest dawn of the morning mass was celebrated throughout the whole camp,
and Wallenstein on horseback rode along behind the redoubts, urging his troops,
by every consideration, to fight valiantly for their emperor and their
religion.
The morning was dark and lowering, and such an
impenetrable fog enveloped the armies that they were not visible to each other.
It was near noon ere the fog arose, and the two armies, in the full blaze of an
unclouded sun, gazed, awe-stricken, upon each other. The imperial troops and
the Swedish troops were alike renowned; and Gustavus Adolphus and
Wallenstein were, by universal admission, the two ablest captains in Europe.
Neither force could even affect to despise the other. The scene unfolded, as
the vapor swept away, was one which even war has seldom presented. The vast
plain of Lutzen extended many miles, almost
as smooth, level and treeless as a western prairie. Through the center of this
plain ran a nearly straight and wide road. On one side of this road, in long
line, extending one or two miles, was the army of Wallenstein. His whole front
was protected by a ditch and redoubts bristling with bayonets. Behind
these intrenchments his army was extended; the numerous and
well-mounted cavalry at the wings, the artillery, in ponderous batteries, at
the center, with here and there solid squares of infantry to meet the rush of
the assailing columns. On the other side of the road, and within musket-shot,
were drawn up in a parallel line the troops of Gustavus. He had
interspersed along his double line bands of cavalry, with artillery and
platoons of musketeers, that he might be prepared from any point to make or
repel assault. The whole host stood reverently, with uncovered heads, as a
public prayer was offered. The Psalm which Watts has so majestically versified
was read—
God is the refuge of his saints,
When storms of dark distress invade;
Ere we can offer our complaints,
Behold him present with his aid.
Let mountains from their seats be hurled
Down to the deep, and buried there,
Convulsions shake the solid world;
Our faith shall never yield to fear.
From twenty thousand voices the solemn hymn arose and
floated over the field—celestial songs, to be succeeded by demoniac clangor.
Both parties appealed to the God of battle; both parties seemed to feel that
their cause was just. Alas for man!
Gustavus now ordered the attack. A solid column
emerged from his ranks, crossed the road, in breathless silence approached the
trenches, while both armies looked on. They were received with a volcanic sheet
of flame which prostrated half of them bleeding upon the sod. Gustavus ordered
column after column to follow on to support the assailants, and to pierce the
enemy's center. In his zeal he threw himself from his horse, seized a pike, and
rushed to head the attack. Wallenstein energetically ordered up cavalry and artillery
to strengthen the point so fiercely assailed. And now the storm of war blazed
along the whole lines. A sulphureous canopy settled down over the
contending hosts, and thunderings, shrieks,
clangor as of Pandemonium, filled the air. The king, as reckless of life as if
he had been the meanest soldier, rushed to every spot where the battle raged
the fiercest. Learning that his troops upon the left were yielding to the
imperial fire, he mounted his horse and was galloping across the field swept by
the storm of war, when a bullet struck his arm and shattered the bone. Almost
at the same moment another bullet struck his breast, and he fell mortally
wounded from his horse, exclaiming, “My God! my God!”
The command now devolved upon the Duke of Saxe Weimar.
The horse of Gustavus, galloping along the lines, conveyed to the whole
army the dispiriting intelligence that their beloved chieftain had fallen. The
duke spread the report that he was not killed, but taken prisoner, and summoned
all to the rescue. This roused the Swedes to superhuman exertions. They rushed
over the ramparts, driving the infantry back upon the cavalry, and the whole
imperial line was thrown into confusion. Just at that moment, when both parties
were in the extreme of exhaustion, when the Swedes were shouting victory and
the imperialists were flying in dismay, General Pappenheim, with eight
fresh regiments of imperial cavalry, came galloping upon the field. This seemed
at once to restore the battle to the imperialists, and the Swedes were apparently
undone. But just then a chance bullet struck Pappenheim and he fell,
mortally wounded, from his horse. The cry ran through the imperial ranks,
"Pappenheim is killed and the battle is lost." No further
efforts of Wallenstein were of any avail to arrest the confusion. His whole
host turned and fled. Fortunately for them, the darkness of the approaching
night, and a dense fog settling upon the plain, concealed them from their
pursuers. During the night the imperialists retired, and in the morning the Swedes
found themselves in possession of the field with no foe in sight. But the
Swedes had no heart to exult over their victory. The loss of their beloved king
was a greater calamity than any defeat could have been. His mangled body was
found, covered with blood, in the midst of heaps of the slain, and so much
mutilated with the tramplings of cavalry as
to be with difficulty recognized.
CHAPTER XIX
FERDINAND II, FERDINAND III AND LEOPOLD I.
From 1632 to 1662.
The battle of Lutzen was
fought on the 16th of November, 1632. It is generally estimated that the
imperial troops were forty thousand, while there were but twenty-seven thousand
in the Swedish army. Gustavus was then thirty-eight years of age. A
plain stone still marks the spot where he fell. A few poplars surround it, and
it has become a shrine visited by strangers from all parts of the world. Traces
of his blood are still shown in the town-house of Lutzen,
where his body was transported from the fatal field. The buff waistcoat he wore
in the engagement, pierced by the bullet which took his life, is preserved as a
trophy in the arsenal at Vienna.
Both as a monarch and a man, this illustrious
sovereign stands in the highest ranks. He possessed the peculiar power of
winning the ardent attachment of all who approached him. Every soldier in the
army was devoted to him, for he shared all their toils and perils. “Cities,” he
said, “are not taken by keeping in tents; as scholars, in the absence of the
master, shut their books, so my troops, without my presence, would slacken
their blows.”
In very many traits of character he resembled
Napoleon, combining in his genius the highest attributes of the statesman and
the soldier. Like Napoleon he was a predestinarian, believing himself the
child of Providence, raised for the accomplishment of great purposes, and that
the decrees of his destiny no foresight could thwart. When urged to spare his
person in the peril of battle, he replied, “My hour is written in heaven,
and cannot be reversed.”
Frederic, the unhappy Elector of the Palatine, and
King of Bohemia, who had been driven from his realms by Ferdinand, and who, for
some years, had been wandering from court to court in Europe, seeking an
asylum, was waiting at Mentz, trusting that the success of the armies of Gustavus would
soon restore him to his throne. The death of the king shattered all his hopes.
Disappointment and chagrin threw him into a fever of which he died, in the
thirty-ninth year of his age. The death of Gustavus was considered by
the Catholics such a singular interposition of Providence in their behalf,
that, regardless of the disaster of Lutzen, they
surrendered themselves to the most enthusiastic joy. Even in Spain bells were
rung, and the streets of Madrid blazed with bonfires and illuminations. At Vienna
it was regarded as a victory, and Te Deums were chanted in the cathedral. Ferdinand,
however, conducted with a decorum which should be recorded to his honor. He
expressed the fullest appreciation of the grand qualities of his opponent, and
in graceful words regretted his untimely death. When the bloody waistcoat,
perforated by the bullet, was shown him, he turned from it with utterances of
sadness and regret. Even if this were all feigned, it shows a sense of external
propriety worthy of record.
It was the genius of Gustavus alone which
had held together the Protestant confederacy. No more aid of any efficiency
could be anticipated from Sweden. Christina, the daughter and heiress
of Gustavus, was in her seventh year. The crown was claimed by her cousin Ladislaus,
the King of Poland, and this disputed succession threatened the kingdom with
the calamities of civil war. The Senate of Sweden in this emergence conducted
with great prudence. That they might secure an honorable peace they presented a
bold front of war. A council of regency was appointed, abundant succors in men
and money voted, and the Chancellor Oxenstiern,
a man of commanding civil and military talents, was entrusted with
the sole conduct of the war. The Senate declared the young queen the legitimate
successor to the throne, and forbade all allusion to the claims
of Ladislaus, under the penalty of high treason.
Oxenstiern proved himself worthy to be the successor of Gustavus. He
vigorously renewed alliances with the German princes, and endeavored to follow
out the able plans sketched by the departed monarch. Wallenstein, humiliated by
his defeat, had fallen back into Bohemia, and now, with moderation strangely
inconsistent with his previous career, urged the emperor to conciliate the
Protestants by publishing a decree of general amnesty, and by proposing peace
on favorable terms. But the iron will of Ferdinand was inflexible. In heart,
exulting that his most formidable foe was removed, he resolved with unrelenting
vigor to prosecute the war. The storm of battle raged anew; and to the surprise
of Ferdinand, Oxenstiern moved forward with
strides of victory as signal as those of his illustrious predecessor.
Wallenstein meanly attempted to throw the blame of the disaster at Lutzen upon the alleged cowardice of his officers.
Seventeen of them he hanged, and consigned fifty others to infamy by inscribing
their names upon the gallows.
So haughty a man could not but have many enemies at
court. They combined, and easily persuaded Ferdinand, who had also been
insulted by his arrogance, again to degrade him. Wallenstein, informed of their
machinations, endeavored to rally the army to a mutiny in his favor. Ferdinand,
alarmed by this intelligence, which even threatened his own dethronement,
immediately dismissed Wallenstein from the command, and dispatched officers
from Vienna to seize his person, dead or alive. This roused Wallenstein to desperation.
Having secured the cooperation of his leading officers, he dispatched
envoys to the Swedish camp, offering to surrender important fortresses to Oxenstiern, and to join him against the emperor. It was an
atrocious act of treason, and so marvellous in
its aspect, that Oxenstiern regarded it as
mere duplicity on the part of Wallenstein, intended to lead him into a trap. He
therefore dismissed the envoy, rejecting the offer. His officers now abandoned
him, and Gallas, who was appointed as his
successor, took command of the army.
With a few devoted adherents, and one regiment of
troops, he took refuge in the strong fortress of Egra,
hoping to maintain himself there until he could enter into some arrangement
with the Swedes. The officers around him, whom he had elevated and enriched by
his iniquitous bounty, entered into a conspiracy to purchase the favor of the
emperor by the assassination of their doomed general. It was a very difficult
enterprise, and one which exposed the conspirators to the most imminent peril.
On the 25th of February, 1634, the conspirators gave a
magnificent entertainment in the castle. They sat long at the table, wine
flowed freely, and as the darkness of night enveloped the castle, fourteen men,
armed to the teeth, rushed into the banqueting hall from two opposite doors,
and fell upon the friends of Wallenstein. Though thus taken by surprise, they
fought fiercely, and killed several of their assailants before they were cut
down. They all, however, were soon dispatched. The conspirators, fifty in
number, then ascended the stairs of the castle to the chamber of Wallenstein.
They cut down the sentinel at his door, and broke into the room. Wallenstein
had retired to his bed, but alarmed by the clamor, he arose, and was standing
at the window in his shirt, shouting from it to the soldiers for assistance.
“Are you,” exclaimed one of the conspirators, “the
traitor who is going to deliver the imperial troops to the enemy, and tear the
crown from the head of the emperor?”
Wallenstein was perfectly helpless. He looked around,
and deigned no reply. "You must die," continued the conspirator,
advancing with his halberd. Wallenstein, in silence, opened his arms to receive
the blow. The sharp blade pierced his body, and he fell dead upon the floor.
The alarm now spread through the town. The soldiers seized their arms, and
flocked to avenge their general. But the leading friends of Wallenstein were
slain; and the other officers easily satisfied the fickle soldiery that their
general was a traitor, and with rather a languid cry of “Long live Ferdinand,”
they returned to duty.
Two of the leading assassins hastened to Vienna to
inform the emperor of the deed they had perpetrated. It was welcome
intelligence to Ferdinand, and he finished the work they had thus commenced by
hanging and beheading the adherents of Wallenstein without mercy. The assassins
were abundantly rewarded. The emperor still prosecuted the war with
perseverance, which no disasters could check. Gradually the imperial arms
gained the ascendency. The Protestant princes became divided and jealous of
each other. The emperor succeeded in detaching from the alliance, and
negotiating a separate peace with the powerful Electors of Saxony and
Brandenburg. He then assembled a diet at Ratisbon on the 15th of September,
1639, and without much difficulty secured the election of his son Ferdinand to
succeed him on the imperial throne. The emperor presided at this diet in
person. He was overjoyed in the attainment of this great object of his ambition.
He was now fifty-nine years of age, in very feeble health, and quite worn out
by a life of incessant anxiety and toil. He returned to Vienna, and in four
months, on the 15th of February, 1637, breathed his last.
For eighteen years Germany had now been distracted by
war. The contending parties were so exasperated against each other, that no
human wisdom could, at once, allay the strife. The new king and emperor,
Ferdinand III, wished for peace, but he could not obtain it on terms which he
thought honorable to the memory of his father. The Swedish army was still in
Germany, aided by the Protestant princes of the empire, and especially by the
armies and the treasury of France. The thunders of battle were daily heard, and
the paths of these hostile bands were ever marked by smoldering ruins and
blood. Vials of woe were emptied, unsurpassed in apocalyptic vision. In the
siege of Brisac, the wretched inhabitants were
reduced to such a condition of starvation, that a guard was stationed at the
burying ground to prevent them from devouring the putrid carcasses of the dead.
For eleven years history gives us nothing but a dismal
record of weary marches, sieges, battles, bombardments, conflagrations, and all
the unimaginable brutalities and miseries of war. The war had now raged for
thirty years. Hundreds of thousands of lives had been lost. Millions of
property had been destroyed, and other millions squandered in the arts of
destruction. Nearly all Europe had been drawn into this vortex of fury and
misery. All parties were now weary. And yet seven years of negotiation had been
employed before they could consent to meet to consult upon a general peace. At
length congresses of the belligerent powers were assembled in two important
towns of Westphalia, Osnabruck and Munster. Ridiculous disputes upon etiquette
rendered this division of the congress necessary. The ministers
of electors enjoyed the title of excellency. The ministers
of princes claimed the same title. Months were employed in settling
that question. Then a difficulty arose as to the seats at table, who were
entitled to the positions of honor. After long debate, this point was settled
by having a large round table made, to which there could be no head and no
foot.
For four years the great questions of European policy
were discussed by this assembly. The all-important treaty, known in history as
the peace of Westphalia, and which established the general condition of Europe
for one hundred and fifty years, was signed on the 24th of October, 1648. The
contracting parties included all the great and nearly all the minor powers of
Europe. The articles of this renowned treaty are vastly too voluminous to be
recorded here. The family of Frederic received back the Palatinate of which he
had been deprived. The Protestants were restored to nearly all the rights which
they had enjoyed under the beneficent reign of Maximilian II. The princes of
the German empire, kings, dukes, electors, marquises, princes, of whatever
name, pledged themselves not to oppress those of their subjects who differed
from them in religious faith. The pope protested against this toleration, but
his protest was disregarded. The German empire lost its unity, and became a
conglomeration of three hundred independent sovereignties. Each petty prince or
duke, though possessing but a few square miles of territory, was recognized as
a sovereign power, entitled to its court, its army, and its foreign alliances.
The emperor thus lost much of that power which he had inherited from his
ancestors; as those princes, whom he had previously regarded as vassals, now
shared with him sovereign dignity.
Ferdinand III, however, weary of the war which for so
many years had allowed him not an hour of repose, gladly acceded to these terms
of peace, and in good faith employed himself in carrying out the terms of the
treaty. After the exchange of ratifications another congress was assembled at
Nuremburg to settle some of the minute details, which continued in session two
years, when at length, in 1651, the armies were disbanded, and Germany was
released from the presence of a foreign foe.
Internal peace being thus secured, Ferdinand was
anxious, before his death, to secure the succession of the imperial crown to
his son who bore his own name. He accordingly assembled a meeting of the
electors at Prague, and by the free use of bribes and diplomatic intrigue,
obtained their engagement to support his son. He accomplished his purpose, and
Ferdinand, quite to the astonishment of Germany, was chosen unanimously, King
of the Romans—the title assumed by the emperor elect. In June, 1653, the young
prince was crowned at Ratisbon. The joy of his father, however, was of short
duration. In one year from that time the small-pox, in its most loathsome form,
seized the prince, and after a few days of anguish he died. His father was
almost inconsolable with grief. As soon as he had partially recovered from the
blow, he brought forward his second son, Leopold, and with but little
difficulty secured for him the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, but was disappointed
in his attempts to secure the suffrages of the German electors.
With energy, moderation and sagacity, the peacefully
disposed Ferdinand so administered the government as to allay for seven years
all the menaces of war which were continually arising. For so long a period had
Germany been devastated by this most direful of earthly calamities, which is
indeed the accumulation of all conceivable woes, ever leading in its train
pestilence and famine, that peace seemed to the people a heavenly boon. The
fields were again cultivated, the cities and villages repaired, and comfort
began again gradually to make its appearance in homes long desolate. It is one
of the deepest mysteries of the divine government that the destinies of
millions should be so entirely placed in the hands of a single man. Had
Ferdinand II. been an enlightened, good man, millions would have been saved
from life-long ruin and misery.
One pert young king, in the search of glory, kindled
again the lurid flames of war. Christina, Queen of Sweden, daughter
of Gustavus Adolphus, influenced by romantic dreams, abdicated the
throne and retired to the seclusion of the cloister. Her cousin,
Charles Gustavus, succeeded her. He thought it a fine thing to play the
soldier, and to win renown by consigning the homes of thousands to blood and
misery. He was a king, and the power was in his hands. Merely to gratify this
fiend-like ambition, he laid claim to the crown of Poland, and raised an army
for the invasion of that kingdom. A portion of Poland was then in a state of
insurrection, the Ukraine Cossacks having risen against John Cassimar, the king. Charles Gustavus thought that
this presented him an opportunity to obtain celebrity as a warrior, with but
little danger of failure. He marched into the doomed country, leaving behind
him a wake of fire and blood. Cities and villages were burned; the soil was
drenched with the blood of fathers and sons, his bugle blasts were echoed by
the agonizing groans of widows and orphans, until at last, in an awful battle
of three days, under the walls of Warsaw, the Polish army, struggling in
self-defense, was cut to pieces, and Charles Gustavus was crowned a
conqueror. Elated by this infernal deed, the most infernal which mortal man can
commit, he began to look around to decide in what direction to extend his
conquests.
Ferdinand III, anxious as he was to preserve peace,
could not but look with alarm upon the movements which now threatened the
States of the empire. It was necessary to present a barrier to the inroads of
such a ruffian. He accordingly assembled a diet at Frankfort and demanded
succors to oppose the threatened invasion on the north. He raised an army,
entered into an alliance with the defeated and prostrate, yet still struggling
Poles, and was just commencing his march, when he was seized with sudden
illness and died, on the 3d of March, 1657. Ferdinand was a good man. He was
not responsible for the wars which desolated the empire during the first years
of his reign, for he was doing everything in his power to bring those
wars to a close. His administration was a blessing to millions. Just before his
death he said, and with truth which no one will controvert, “During my whole
reign no one can reproach me with a single act which I knew to be unjust.” Happy
is the monarch who can go into the presence of the King of kings with such a
conscience.
The death of the emperor was caused by a singular
accident. He was not very well, and was lying upon a couch in one of the
chambers of his palace. He had an infant son, but a few weeks old, lying in a
cradle in the nursery. A fire broke out in the apartment of the young prince.
The whole palace was instantly in clamor and confusion. Some attendants seized
the cradle of the young prince, and rushed with it to the chamber of the
emperor. In their haste and terror they struck the cradle with such violence
against the wall that it was broken to pieces and the child fell, screaming,
upon the floor. The cry of fire, the tumult, the bursting into the room, the
dashing of the cradle and the shrieks of the child, so shocked the debilitated
king that he died within an hour.
Leopold was but eighteen years of age when he
succeeded to the sovereignty of all the Austrian dominions, including the
crowns of Hungary and Bohemia. It was the first great object of his ambition to
secure the imperial throne also, which his father had failed to obtain for him.
Louis XIV was now the youthful sovereign of France. He, through his ambitious
and able minister, Mazarin, did everything in his power to thwart the
endeavors of Ferdinand, and to obtain the brilliant prize for himself. The King
of Sweden united with the French court in the endeavor to abase the pride of
the house of Austria. But notwithstanding all their efforts, Leopold carried
his point, and was unanimously elected emperor, and crowned on the 31st of
July, 1657. The princes of the empire, however, greatly strengthened in their
independence by the articles of the peace of Westphalia, increasingly jealous
of their rights, attached forty-five conditions to their acceptance of Leopold
as emperor. Thus, notwithstanding the imperial title, Leopold had as little
power over the States of the empire as the President of the United States has
over the internal concerns of Maine or Louisiana. In all such cases there is
ever a conflict between two parties, the one seeking the centralization of power,
and the other advocating its dispersion into various distant central points.
The flames of war which Charles Gustavus had
kindled were still blazing. Leopold continued the alliance which his father had
formed with the Poles, and sent an army of sixteen thousand men into Poland,
hoping to cut off the retreat of Charles Gustavus, and take him and all
his army prisoners. But the Swedish monarch was as sagacious and energetic as
he was unscrupulous and ambitious. Both parties formed alliances. State after
State was drawn into the conflict. The flame spread like a conflagration.
Fleets met in deadly conflict on the Baltic, and crimsoned its waves with
blood. The thunders of war were soon again echoing over all the plains of
northern and western Germany—and all this because a proud, unprincipled young
man, who chanced to be a king, wished to be called a hero.
He accomplished his object. Through burning homes and
bleeding hearts and crushed hopes he marched to his renown. The forces of the
empire were allied with Denmark and Poland against him. With skill and energy
which can hardly find a parallel in the tales of romance, he baffled all the
combinations of his foes. Energy is a noble quality, and we may admire its
exhibition even though we detest the cause which has called it forth. The
Swedish fleet had been sunk by the Danes, and Charles Gustavus was
driven from the waters of the Baltic. With a few transports he secretly
conveyed an army across the Cattegat to the
northern coast of Jutland, marched rapidly down those inhospitable shores until
he came to the narrow strait, called the Little Belt, which separates Jutland
from the large island of Fyen. He crossed this
strait on the ice, dispersed a corps of Danes posted to arrest him, traversed
the island, exposed to all the storms of mid-winter, some sixty miles to its
eastern shore. A series of islands, with intervening straits clogged with ice,
bridged by a long and circuitous way his passage across the Great Belt. A march
of ten miles across the hummocks, rising and falling with the tides, landed him
upon the almost pathless snows of Langeland.
Crossing that dreary waste diagonally some dozen miles to another arm of the
sea ten miles wide, which the ices of a winter of almost unprecedented severity
had also bridged, pushing boldly on, with a recklessness which nothing but
success redeems from stupendous infatuation, he crossed this fragile surface,
which any storm might crumble beneath his feet, and landed upon the western
coast of Laaland. A march of thirty-five miles
over a treeless, shelterless and almost
uninhabited expanse, brought him to the eastern shore. Easily crossing a narrow
strait about a mile in width, he plunged into the forests of the island of
Falster. A dreary march of twenty-seven miles conducted him to the last
remaining arm of the sea which separated him from Zealand. This strait, from
twelve to fifteen miles in breadth, was also closed by ice.
Charles Gustavus led his hardy soldiers across it, and then, with
accelerated steps, pressed on some sixty miles to Copenhagen, the capital of
Denmark. In sixteen days after landing in Jutland, his troops were encamped in
Zealand before the gates of the capital.
The King of Denmark was appalled at such a sudden
apparition. His allies were too remote to render him any assistance. Never
dreaming of such an attack, his capital was quite defenseless in that quarter.
Overwhelmed with terror and despondency, he was compelled to submit to such
terms as the conqueror might dictate. The conqueror was inexorable in his
demands. Sweden was aggrandized, and Denmark humiliated.
Leopold was greatly chagrined by this sudden
prostration of his faithful ally. In the midst of these scenes of ambition and
of conquest, the "king of terrors" came with his summons to Charles Gustavus.
The passage of this blood-stained warrior to the world of spirits reminds us of
the sublime vision of Isaiah when the King of Babylon sank into the grave:
“Hell from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at
thy coming; it stirreth up the dead for
thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their
thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say unto thee,
Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like
unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols; the
worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from
heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground
which didst weaken the nations!
They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee and
consider thee, saying, 'Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, and
didst shake kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness and destroyed the
cities thereof, that opened not the house of his prisoners?”
The death of Charles Gustavus was the signal
for the strife of war to cease, and the belligerent nations soon came to terms
of accommodation. But scarcely was peace proclaimed ere new troubles arose in
Hungary. The barbarian Turks, with their head-quarters at Constantinople, lived
in a state of continual anarchy. The cimeter was
their only law. The palace of the sultan was the scene of incessant
assassinations. Nothing ever prevented them from assailing their neighbors but
incessant quarrels among themselves. The life of the Turkish empire was
composed of bloody insurrections at home, and still more bloody wars abroad.
Mahomet IV was now sultan. He was but twenty years of age. A quarrel for
ascendency among the beauties of his harem had involved the empire in a civil
war. The sultan, after a long conflict, crushed the insurrection with a
blood-red hand. Having restored internal tranquillity,
he prepared as usual for foreign war. By intrigue and the force of arms they
took possession of most of the fortresses of Transylvania, and crossing the
frontier, entered Hungary, and laid siege to Great Wardein.
Leopold immediately dispatched ten thousand men to
succor the besieged town and to garrison other important fortresses. His
succors arrived too late. Great Wardein fell
into the hands of the Turks, and they commenced their merciless ravages.
Hungary was in a wretched condition. The king, residing in Vienna, was merely a
nominal sovereign. Chosen by nobles proud of their independence, and jealous of
each other and of their feudal rights, they were unwilling to delegate to the
sovereign any efficient power. They would crown him with great splendor of gold
and jewelry, and crowd his court in their magnificent display, but they would
not grant him the prerogative to make war or peace, to levy taxes, or to
exercise any other of the peculiar attributes of sovereignty. The king, with
all his sounding titles and gorgeous parade, was in reality but the chairman of
a committee of nobles. The real power was with the Hungarian diet.
This diet, or congress, was a peculiar body.
Originally it consisted of the whole body of nobles, who assembled annually on
horseback on the vast plain of Rakoz, near Buda.
Eighty thousand nobles, many of them with powerful revenues, were frequently
convened at these tumultuous gatherings. The people were thought to have no
rights which a noble was bound to respect. They lived in hovels, hardly
superior to those which a humane farmer now prepares for his swine. The only
function they fulfilled was, by a life of exhausting toil and suffering, to
raise the funds which the nobles expended in their wars and their pleasure; and
to march to the field of blood when summoned by the bugle. In fact history has
hardly condescended to allude to the people. We have minutely detailed the
intrigues and the conflicts of kings and nobles, when generation after
generation of the masses of the people have passed away, as little thought of
as billows upon the beach.
These immense gatherings of the nobles were found to
be so unwieldy, and so inconvenient for the transaction of any efficient
business, that Sigismond, at the commencement of
the fifteenth century, introduced a limited kind of representation. The
bishops, who stood first in wealth, power and rank, and the highest dukes,
attended in person. The nobles of less exalted rank sent their delegates, and
the assembly, much diminished in number, was transferred from the open plain to
the city of Pressburg. The diet, at the time of which we write, was
assembled once in three years, and at such other times as the sovereign thought
it necessary to convene it. The diet controlled the king, unless he chanced to
be a man of such commanding character, that by moral power he could bring the
diet to his feet. A clause had been inserted in the coronation oath, that the
nobles, without guilt, could oppose the authority of the king, whenever he
transgressed their privileges; it was also declared that no foreign troops
could be introduced into the kingdom without the consent of the diet.
Under such a government, it was inevitable that the
king should be involved in a continued conflict with the nobles. The nobles
wished for aid to repel the Turks; and yet they were unwilling that an Austrian
army should be introduced into Hungary, lest it should enable the king to
enlarge those prerogatives which he was ever seeking to extend, and which they
were ever endeavoring to curtail.
Leopold convened the diet at Pressburg. They had
a stormy session. Leopold had commenced some persecution of the Protestants in
the States of Austria. This excited the alarm of the Protestant nobles of
Hungary; and they had reason to dread the intolerance of the Roman Catholics,
more than the cimeter of the Turk. They
openly accused Leopold of commencing persecution, and declared that it was his
intention to reduce Hungary to the state to which Ferdinand II had reduced
Bohemia. They met all the suggestions of Leopold, for decisive action, with so
many provisos and precautions, that nothing could be done. It is dangerous to
surrender one's arms to a highway robber, or one whom we fear may prove such,
even if he does promise with them to aid in repelling a foe. The Catholics and
the Protestants became involved in altercation, and the diet was abruptly
dissolved.
The Turks eagerly watched their movements, and,
encouraged by these dissensions, soon burst into Hungary with an army of one
hundred thousand men. They crossed the Drave at Esseg,
and, ascending the valley of the Danube, directly north one hundred and fifty
miles, crossed that stream unopposed at Buda. Still ascending the stream, which
here flows from the west, they spread devastation everywhere around them, until
they arrived nearly within sight of the steeples of Vienna. The capital was in
consternation. To add to their terror and their peril, the emperor was
dangerously sick of the small-pox, a disease which had so often proved fatal to
members of the royal family. One of the imperial generals, near Presburg, in a strong position, held the invading army in
check a few days. The ministry, in their consternation, appealed to all the
powers of Christendom to hasten to the rescue of the cross, now so seriously
imperiled by the crescent. Forces flowed in, which for a time arrested the
further advance of the Moslem banners, and afforded time to prepare for more
efficient action.
CHAPTER XX.
LEOPOLD I.
From 1662 to 1697.
While Europe was rousing itself to repel this invasion
of the Turks, the grand vizier, leaving garrisons in the strong fortresses of
the Danube, withdrew the remainder of his army to prepare for a still more
formidable invasion the ensuing year. Most of the European powers seemed
disposed to render the emperor some aid. The pope transmitted to him about two
hundred thousand dollars. France sent a detachment of six thousand men. Spain,
Venice, Genoa, Tuscany and Mantua, forwarded important contributions of money
and military stores. Early in the summer the Turks, in a powerful and well
provided army, commenced their march anew. Ascending the valley of the Save,
where they encountered no opposition, they traversed Styria, that they might
penetrate to the seat of war through a defenseless frontier. The troops
assembled by Leopold, sixty thousand in number, under the renowned Prince Montecuculi, stationed themselves in a very strong position
at St. Gothard, behind the river Raab,
which flows into the Danube about one hundred miles below Vienna. Here they
threw up their intrenchments and prepared to resist the progress of
the invader.
The Turks soon arrived and spread themselves out in
military array upon the opposite side of the narrow but rapid stream. As the
hostile armies were preparing for an engagement, a young Turk, magnificently
mounted, and in gorgeous uniform, having crossed the stream with a party of
cavalry, rode in advance of the troop, upon the plain, and in the spirit of
ancient chivalry challenged any Christian knight to meet him in single combat.
The Chevalier of Lorraine accepted the challenge, and rode forth to the
encounter. Both armies looked silently on to witness the issue of the duel. It
was of but a few moments' duration. Lorraine, warding off every blow of his
antagonist, soon passed his sword through the body of the Turk, and he fell
dead from his horse. The victor returned to the Christian camp, leading in
triumph the splendid steed of his antagonist.
And now the signal was given for the general battle.
The Turks impetuously crossing the narrow stream, assailed the Christian camp
in all directions, with their characteristic physical bravery, the most common,
cheap and vulgar of all earthly virtues. A few months of military discipline
will make fearless soldiers of the most ignominious wretches who can be raked
from the gutters of Christian or heathen lands. The battle was waged with intense
fierceness on both sides, and was long continued with varying success. At last
the Turks were routed on every portion of the field, and leaving nearly twenty
thousand of their number either dead upon the plain or drowned in
the Raab, they commenced a precipitate flight.
Leopold was, for many reasons, very anxious for peace,
and immediately proposed terms very favorable to the Turks. The sultan was so
disheartened by this signal reverse that he readily listened to the
propositions of the emperor, and within nine days after the battle of St. Gothard, to the astonishment of all Europe, a truce was
concluded for twenty years. The Hungarians were much displeased with the terms
of this treaty; for in the first place, it was contrary to the laws of the kingdom
for the king to make peace without the consent of the diet, and in the second
place, the conditions he offered the Turks were humiliating to the Hungarians.
Leopold confirmed to the Turks their ascendency in Transylvania, and allowed
them to retain Great Wardein, and two other
important fortresses in Hungary. It was with no little difficulty that the
emperor persuaded the diet to ratify these terms.
Leopold is to be considered under the twofold light of
sovereign of Austria and Emperor of Germany. We have seen that his power as
emperor was quite limited. His power as sovereign of Austria, also varied
greatly in the different States of his widely extended realms. In the Austrian
duchies proper, upon the Danube, of which he was, by long hereditary descent,
archduke, his sway was almost omnipotent. In Bohemia he was powerful, though
much less so than in Austria, and it was necessary for him to move with caution
there, and not to disturb the ancient usages of the realm lest he should excite
insurrection. In Hungary, where the laws and customs were entirely different,
Leopold held merely a nominal, hardly a recognized sway. The bold Hungarian
barons, always steel-clad and mounted for war, in their tumultuous diets,
governed the kingdom. There were other remote duchies and principalities, too
feeble to stand by themselves, and ever changing masters, as they were
conquered or sought the protection of other powers, which, under the reign of
Leopold, were portions of wide extended Austria. Another large and vastly
important accession was now made to his realms. The Tyrol, which, in its
natural features, may be considered but an extension of Switzerland, is a
territory of about one hundred miles square, traversed through its whole extent
by the Alps. Lying just south of Austria it is the key to Italy, opening
through its defiles a passage to the sunny plains of the Peninsula; and through
those fastnesses, guarded by frowning castles, no foe could force his way, into
the valleys of the Tyrol. The most sublime road in Europe is that over Mount
Brenner, along the banks of the Adige. This province had long been in the hands
of members of the Austrian family.
On the 15th of June, 1665, Sigismond Francis,
Duke of Tyrol, and cousin of Leopold, died, leaving no issue, and the province
escheated with its million of inhabitants to Leopold,
as the next heir. This brought a large accession of revenue and of military
force, to the kingdom. Austria was now the leading power in Europe, and
Leopold, in rank and position, the most illustrious sovereign. Louis XIV had
recently married Maria Theresa, eldest daughter of Philip IV, King of Spain.
Philip, who was anxious to retain the crown of Spain in his own family,
extorted from Maria Theresa, and from her husband, Louis XIV, the renunciation
of all right of succession, in favor of his second daughter, Margaret, whom he
betrothed to Leopold. Philip died in September, 1665, leaving these two
daughters, one of whom was married to the King of France, and leaving also an
infant son, who succeeded to the throne under the regency of his mother, Ann,
daughter of Ferdinand III, of Austria. Margaret was then too young to be
married, but in a year from this time, in September, 1666, her nuptials were
celebrated with great splendor at Madrid. The ambitious French monarch, taking
advantage of the minority of the King of Spain, and of the feeble regency, and
in defiance of the solemn renunciation made at his marriage, resolved to annex
the Spanish provinces of the Low Countries to France, and invaded the kingdom,
leading himself an army of thirty thousand men. The Spanish court immediately
appealed to Leopold for assistance. But Leopold was so embarrassed by troubles
in Hungary, and by discontents in the empire that he could render no efficient
aid. England, however, and other powers of Europe, jealous of the
aggrandizement of Louis XIV combined, and compelled him to abandon a large
portion of the Netherlands, though he still retained several fortresses. The
ambition of Louis XIV was inflamed, not checked by this reverse, and all Europe
was involved again in bloody } wars. The aggressions of France, and the
devastations of Tarenne in the Palatinate,
roused Germany to listen to the appeals of Leopold, and the empire declared war
against France. Months of desolating war rolled on, decisive of no results,
except universal misery. The fierce conflict continued
with unintermitted fury until 1679, when the haughty monarch of
France, who was as sagacious in diplomacy as he was able in war, by bribes and
threats succeeded in detaching one after another from the coalition against
him, until Leopold, deserted by nearly all his allies, was also compelled to
accede to peace.
France, under Louis XIV, was now the dominant power in
Europe. Every court seemed to be agitated by the intrigues of this haughty
sovereign, and one becomes weary of describing the incessant fluctuations of
the warfare. The arrogance of Louis, his unblushing perfidy and his insulting
assumptions of superiority over all other powers, exasperated the emperor to
the highest pitch. But the French monarch, by secret missions and abounding
bribes, kept Hungary in continued commotion, and excited such jealousy in the
different States of the empire, that Leopold was compelled to submit in silent
indignation to wrongs almost too grievous for human nature to bear.
At length Leopold succeeded in organizing another
coalition to resist the aggressions of Louis XIV. The Prince of Orange, the
King of Sweden and the Elector of Brandenburg were the principal parties united
with the emperor in this confederacy, which was concluded, under the name of
the "League of Augsburg," on the 21st of June, 1686. An army of sixty
thousand men was immediately raised. From all parts of Germany troops were now
hurrying towards the Rhine. Louis, alarmed, retired from the Palatinate, which
he had overrun, and, to place a barrier between himself and his foes, ordered
the utter devastation of the unhappy country. The diabolical order was executed
by Turenne. The whole of the Palatinate was surrendered to pillage and
conflagration. The elector, from the towers of his castle at Mannheim, saw at
one time two cities and twenty-five villages in flames. He had no force
sufficient to warrant him to leave the walls of his fortress to oppose the foe.
He was, however, so moved to despair by the sight, that he sent a challenge to
Turenne to meet him in single combat. Turenne, by command of the king, declined
accepting the challenge. More than forty large towns, besides innumerable
villages, were given up to the flames. It was mid-winter. The fields were
covered with snow, and swept by freezing blasts. The wretched inhabitants,
parents and children, driven into the bleak plains without food or clothing or
shelter, perished miserably by thousands. The devastation of the Palatinate is
one of the most cruel deeds which war has ever perpetrated. For these woes,
which no imagination can gauge, Louis XIV is responsible. He has escaped any
adequate earthly penalty for the crime, but the instinctive sense of justice
implanted in every breast, demands that he should not escape the retributions
of a righteous God. “After death cometh the judgment.”
This horrible deed roused Germany. All Europe now
combined against France, except Portugal, Russia and a few of the Italian
States. The tide now turned in favor of the house of Austria. Germany was so
alarmed by the arrogance of France, that, to strengthen the power of the
emperor, the diet with almost perfect unanimity elected his son Joseph, though
a lad but eleven years of age, to succeed to the imperial throne. Indeed,
Leopold presented his son in a manner which seemed to claim the crown for him
as his hereditary right, and the diet did not resist that claim. France, rich
and powerful, with marvelous energy breasted her host of foes. All Europe was
in a blaze. The war raged on the ocean, over the marshes of Holland, along the
banks of the Rhine, upon the plains of Italy, through the defiles of the Alps
and far away on the steppes of Hungary and the shores
of the Euxine. To all these points the emperor was compelled to send his
troops. Year after year of carnage and woe rolled on, during which hardly a
happy family could be found in all Europe.
Man's inhumanity to man
Made countless millions mourn.
At last all parties became weary of the war, and none
of the powers having gained anything of any importance by these long
years of crime and misery, for which Louis XIV, as the aggressor, is mainly
responsible, peace was signed on the 30th of October, 1697. One important
thing, indeed, had been accomplished. The rapacious Louis XIV had been checked
in his career of spoliation. But his insatiate ambition was by no means
subdued. He desired peace only that he might more successfully prosecute his
plans of aggrandizement. He soon, by his system of robbery, involved Europe
again in war. Perhaps no man has ever lived who has caused more bloody deaths
and more widespread destruction of human happiness than Louis XIV. We wonder
not that in the French Revolution an exasperated people should have rifled his
sepulcher and spurned his skull over the pavements as a foot-ball.
Leopold, during the progress of these wars, by the aid
of the armies which the empire furnished him, recovered all of Hungary and
Transylvania, driving the Turks beyond the Danube. But the proud Hungarian
nobles were about as much opposed to the rule of the Austrian king as to that
of the Turkish sultan. The Protestants gained but little by the change, for the
Mohammedan was about as tolerant as the papist. They all suspected Leopold of
the design of establishing over them despotic power, and they formed a secret
confederacy for their own protection. Leopold, released from his warfare
against France and the Turks, was now anxious to consolidate his power in
Hungary, and justly regarding the Roman Catholic religion as the great bulwark
against liberty, encouraged the Catholics to persecute the Protestants.
Leopold took advantage of this conspiracy to march an
army into Hungary, and attacking the discontented nobles, who had raised an
army, he crushed them with terrible severity. No mercy was shown. He exhausted
the energies of confiscation, exile and the scaffold upon his foes; and then,
having intimidated all so that no one dared to murmur, declared the monarchy of
Hungary no longer elective but hereditary, like that of Bohemia. He even had
the assurance to summon a diet of the nobles to confirm this decree which
defrauded them of their time-honored rights. The nobles who were summoned,
terrified, instead of obeying, fled into Transylvania. The despot then issued
an insulting and menacing proclamation, declaring that the power he exercised
he received from God, and calling upon all to manifest implicit submission
under peril of his vengeance. He then extorted a large contribution of money
from the kingdom, and quartered upon the inhabitants thirty thousand troops to
awe them into subjection.
This proclamation was immediately followed by another,
changing the whole form of government of the kingdom, and establishing an
unlimited despotism. He then moved vigorously for the extirpation of the
Protestant religion. The Protestant pastors were silenced; courts were
instituted for the suppression of heresy; two hundred and fifty Protestant
ministers were sentenced to be burned at the stake, and then, as an act of
extraordinary clemency, on the part of the despot, their punishment was
commuted to hard labor in the galleys for life. All the nameless horrors of
inquisitorial cruelty desolated the land.
Catholics and Protestants were alike driven to despair
by these civil and religious outrages. They combined, and were aided both by
France and Turkey; not that France and Turkey loved justice and humanity, but
they hated the house of Austria, and wished to weaken its power, that they
might enrich themselves by the spoils. A noble chief, Emeric Tekeli, who had fled from Hungary to Poland, and who hated
Austria as Hannibal hated Rome, was invested with the command of the Hungarian
patriots. Victory followed his standard, until the emperor, threatened with
entire expulsion from the kingdom, offered to reestablish the ancient
laws which he had abrogated, and to restore to the Hungarians all those civil
and religious privileges of which he had so ruthlessly defrauded them.
But the Hungarians were no longer to be deceived by
his perfidious promises. They continued the war; and the sultan sent an army of
two hundred thousand men to cooperate with Tekeli.
The emperor, unable to meet so formidable an army, abandoned his garrisons,
and, retiring from the distant parts of the kingdom, concentrated his troops
at Pressburg. But with all his efforts, he was able to raise an army of
only forty thousand men. The Duke of Lorraine, who was entrusted with
the command of the imperial troops, was compelled to retreat precipitately
before outnumbering foes, and he fled upon the Danube, pursued by the combined
Hungarians and Turks, until he found refuge within the walls of Vienna. The
city was quite unprepared for resistance, its fortifications being dilapidated,
and its garrison feeble. Universal consternation seized the inhabitants. All
along the valley of the Danube the population fled in terror before the advance
of the Turks. Leopold, with his family, at midnight, departed ingloriously from
the city, to seek a distant refuge. The citizens followed the example of their
sovereign, and all the roads leading westward and northward from the city were
crowded with fugitives, in carriages, on horseback and on foot, and with all
kinds of vehicles laden with the treasures of the metropolis. The churches were
filled with the sick and the aged, pathetically imploring the protection of
Heaven.
The Duke of Lorraine conducted with great energy,
repairing the dilapidated fortifications, stationing in posts of peril the
veteran troops, and marshaling the citizens and the students to cooperate with
the garrison. On the 14th of July, 1682, the banners of the advance guard of
the Turkish army were seen from the walls of Vienna. Soon the whole mighty
host, like an inundation, came surging on, and, surrounding the city, invested
it on all sides. The terrific assault from innumerable batteries immediately
commenced. The besieged were soon reduced to the last extremity for want of
provisions, and famine and pestilence rioting within the walls, destroyed more
than the shot of the enemy. The suburbs were destroyed, the principal outworks
taken, several breaches were battered in the walls, and the terrified
inhabitants were hourly in expectation that the city would be taken by storm.
There cannot be, this side of the world of woe, anything more
terrible than such an event.
The emperor, in his terror, had dispatched envoys all
over Germany to rally troops for the defense of Vienna and the empire. He
himself had hastened to Poland, where, with frantic entreaties, he pressed
the king, the renowned John Sobieski, whose very name was a terror, to
rush to his relief. Sobieski left orders for a powerful army
immediately to commence their march. But, without waiting for their
comparatively slow movements, he placed himself at the head of three thousand
Polish horsemen, and, without incumbering himself with luggage, like
the sweep of the whirlwind traversed Silesia and Moravia, and reached Tulen, on the banks of the Danube, about twenty miles above
Vienna. He had been told by the emperor that here he would find an army
awaiting him, and a bridge constructed, by which he could cross the stream.
But, to his bitter disappointment, he found no army, and the bridge unfinished.
Indignantly he exclaimed,
“What does the emperor mean? Does he think me a mere
adventurer? I left my own army that I might take command of his. It is not for
myself that I fight, but for him.”
Notwithstanding this disappointment, he called into
requisition all his energies to meet the crisis. The bridge was pushed forward
to its completion. The loitering German troops were hurried on to the
rendezvous. After a few days the Polish troops, by forced marches, arrived,
and Sobieski found himself at the head of sixty thousand men,
experienced soldiers, and well supplied with all the munitions of war. On the
11th of September the inhabitants of the city were overjoyed, in descrying from
the towers of the city, in the distance, the approaching banners of the Polish and
German army. Sobieski ascended an elevation, and long and carefully
scrutinized the position of the besieging host. He then calmly remarked,
“The grand vizier has selected a bad position. I
understand him. He is ignorant of the arts of war, and yet thinks that he has
military genius. It will be so easy to conquer him, that we shall obtain no
honor from the victory.”
Early the next morning, the 12th of September, the
Polish and German troops rushed to the assault, with such amazing impetuosity,
and guided by such military skill, that the Turks were swept before them as by
a torrent. The army of the grand vizier, seized by a panic, fled so
precipitately, that they left baggage, tents, ammunition and provisions behind.
The garrison emerged from the city, and cooperated with the victors,
and booty of indescribable value fell into their hands.
As Sobieski took possession of the abandoned camp, stored with all
the wealth and luxuries of the East, he wrote, in a tone of pleasantry to his
wife,
“The grand vizier has left me his heir, and I inherit
millions of ducats. When I return home I shall not be met with the reproach of
the Tartar wives, ‘You are not a man, because you have come back without booty’.”
The inhabitants of Vienna flocked out from the city to
greet the king as an angel deliverer sent from heaven. The next morning the
gates of the city were thrown open, the streets were garlanded with flowers,
and the King of Poland had a triumphal reception in the streets of the
metropolis. The enthusiasm and gratitude of the people passed all ordinary
bounds. The bells rang their merriest peals; files of maidens lined his path,
and acclamations, bursting from the heart, greeted him every step of his way.
They called him their father and deliverer. They struggled to kiss his feet and
even to touch his garments. With difficulty he pressed through the grateful
crowd to the cathedral, where he prostrated himself before the altar, and
returned thanks to God for the signal victory. As he returned, after a public
dinner, to his camp, he said, “This is the happiest day of my life.”
Two days after this, Leopold returned, trembling and
humiliated to his capital. He was received in silence, and with undisguised
contempt. His mortification was intense, and he could not endure to hear the
praises which were everywhere lavished upon Sobieski. Jealousy rankled in
his heart, and he vented his spite upon all around him. It was necessary that
he should have an interview with the heroic king who had so nobly come to his
rescue. But instead of meeting him with a warm and grateful heart, he began to
study the punctilios of etiquette, that the dreaded interview might be rendered
as cold and formal as possible.
Sobieski was merely an elective monarch. Leopold
was a hereditary king and an emperor. Leopold even expressed some doubt whether
it were consistent with his exalted dignity to grant the Polish king the honor
of an audience. He inquired whether an elected monarch had ever been
admitted to the presence of an emperor; and if so, with what forms, in the
present case, the king should be received. The Duke of Lorraine, of whom he
made the inquiry, disgusted with the mean spirit of the emperor, nobly replied,
“With open arms.”
But the soulless Leopold had every movement
punctiliously arranged according to the dictates of his ignoble spirit. The
Polish and Austrian armies were drawn up in opposite lines upon the plain
before the city. At a concerted signal the emperor and the king emerged from
their respective ranks, and rode out upon the open plain to meet each
other. Sobieski, a man of splendid bearing, magnificently mounted, and
dressed in the brilliant uniform of a Polish warrior, attracted all eyes and
the admiration of all hearts. His war steed pranced proudly as if conscious of
the royal burden he bore, and of the victories he had achieved. Leopold was an
ungainly man at the best. Conscious of his inability to vie with the hero, in
his personal presence, he affected the utmost simplicity of dress and equipage.
Humiliated also by the cold reception he had met and by the consciousness of
extreme unpopularity in both armies, he was embarrassed and deject. The
contrast was very striking, adding to the renown of Sobieski, and sinking
Leopold still deeper in contempt.
The two sovereigns advanced, formally saluted each
other with bows, dismounted and embraced. A few cold words were exchanged, when
they again embraced and remounted to review the troops. But Sobieski,
frank, cordial, impulsive, was so disgusted with this reception, so different
from what he had a right to expect, that he excused himself, and rode to his
tent, leaving his chancellor Zaluski to
accompany the emperor on the review. As Leopold rode along the lines he was
received in contemptuous silence, and he returned to his palace in Vienna,
tortured by wounded pride and chagrin.
The treasure abandoned by the Turks was so abundant
that five days were spent in gathering it up. The victorious army then
commenced the pursuit of the retreating foe. About one hundred and fifty miles
below Vienna, where the majestic Danube turns suddenly from its eastern course
and flows toward the south, is situated the imperial city of Gran. Upon a high
precipitous rock, overlooking both the town and the river, there had stood for
centuries one of the most imposing fortresses which mortal hands have ever
reared. For seventy years this post had been in the hands of the Turks, and
strongly garrisoned by four thousand troops, had bid defiance to every assault.
Here the thinned and bleeding battalions of the grand vizier sought
refuge. Sobieski and the Duke of Lorraine, flushed with victory,
hurled their masses upon the disheartened foe, and the Turks were routed with
enormous slaughter. Seven thousand gory corpses of the dead strewed the plain.
Many thousands were driven into the river and drowned. The fortress was taken,
sword in hand; and the remnant of the Moslem army, in utter discomfiture, fled
down the Danube, hardly resting, by night or by day, till they were safe behind
the ramparts of Belgrade.
Both the German and the Polish troops were disgusted
with Leopold. Having reconquered Hungary for the emperor, they were not
disposed to remain longer in his service. Most of the German auxiliaries,
disbanding, returned to their own countries. Sobieski, declaring that he
was willing to fight against the Turks, but not against Tekeli and his Christian confederates, led back his
troops to Poland. The Duke of Lorraine was now left with the Austrian troops to
struggle against Tekeli with the Hungarian
patriots. The Turks, exasperated by the defeat, accused Tekeli of being the cause. By stratagem he was seized
and sent in chains to Constantinople. The chief who succeeded him turned
traitor and joined the imperialists. The cause of the patriots was ruined.
Victory now kept pace with the march of the Duke of Lorraine. The Turks were
driven from all their fortresses, and Leopold again had Hungary at his feet.
His vengeance was such as might have been expected from such a man.
Far away, in the wilds of northern Hungary, at the
base of the Carpathian, mountains, on the river Tarcza,
one of the tributaries of the Theiss, is the strongly fortified town
of Eperies. At this remote spot the diabolical
emperor established his revolutionary tribunal, as if he thought that the
shrieks of his victims, there echoing through the savage defiles of the
mountains, could not awaken the horror of civilized Europe. His armed bands
scoured the country and transported to Eperies every
individual, man, woman and child, who was even suspected of sympathizing with
the insurgents. There was hardly a man of wealth or influence in the kingdom
who was not dragged before this horrible tribunal, composed of ignorant,
brutal, sanguinary officers of the king. Their summary trial, without any forms
of justice, was an awful tragedy. They were thrown into dungeons; their
property confiscated; they were exposed to the most direful tortures which
human ingenuity could devise, to extort confession and to compel them to
criminate friends. By scores they were daily consigned to the scaffold. Thirty
executioners, with their assistants, found constant employment in beheading the
condemned. In the middle of the town, the scaffold was raised for this
butchery. The spot is still called “The Bloody Theater of Eperies.”
Leopold, having thus glutted his vengeance, defiantly
convoked a diet and crowned his son Joseph, a boy twelve years of age, as King
of Hungary, practically saying to the nobles, “Dispute his hereditary right
now, if you dare.” The emperor had been too often instructed in the
vicissitudes of war to feel that even in this hour of triumph he was perfectly
safe. He knew that other days might come; that other foes might rise; and that
Hungary could never forget the rights of which she had been defrauded. He
therefore exhausted all the arts of threats and bribes to induce the diet to
pass a decree that the crown was no longer elective but hereditary. It is
marvelous that in such an hour there could have been any energy left to resist
his will. But with all his terrors he could only extort from the diet their
consent that the succession to the crown should be confirmed in the males, but
that upon the extinction of the male line the crown, instead of being
hereditary in the female line, should revert to the nation, who should again
confer it by the right of election.
Leopold reluctantly yielded to this, as the most he
could then hope to accomplish. The emperor, elated by success, assumed such
imperious airs as to repel from him all his former allies. For several years
Hungary was but a battle field where Austrians and Turks met in incessant and
bloody conflicts. But Leopold, in possession of all the fortresses, succeeded
in repelling each successive invasion.
Both parties became weary of war. In November, 1697,
negotiations were opened at Carlovitz, and a
truce was concluded for twenty-five years. The Turks abandoned both Hungary and
Transylvania, and these two important provinces became more firmly than ever
before, integral portions of the Austrian empire. By the peace of Carlovitz the sultan lost one half of his possessions
in Europe. Austria, in the grandeur of her territory, was never more powerful
than at this hour: extending across the whole breadth of Europe, from the
valley of the Rhine to the Euxine sea, and from the Carpathian mountains to the
plains of Italy. A more heterogeneous conglomeration of States never existed,
consisting of kingdoms, archduchies, duchies, principalities, counties,
margraves, landgraves and imperial cities, nearly all with their hereditary
rulers subordinate to the emperor, and with their local customs and laws.
Leopold, though a weak and bad man, in addition to all
this power, swayed also the imperial scepter over all the States of Germany.
Though his empire over all was frail, and his vast dominions were liable at any
moment to crumble to pieces, he still was not content with consolidating the
realms he held, but was anxiously grasping for more. Spain was the prize now to
be won. Louis XIV., with the concentrated energies of the French kingdom, was
claiming it by virtue of his marriage with the eldest daughter of the deceased
monarch, notwithstanding his solemn renunciation of all right at his marriage
in favor of the second daughter. Leopold, as the husband of the second
daughter, claimed the crown, in the event, then impending, of the death of the
imbecile and childless king. This quarrel agitated Europe to its center, and
deluged her fields with blood. If the elective franchise is at times
the source of agitation, the law of hereditary succession most
certainly does not always confer tranquillity and
peace.
CHAPTER XXI
LEOPOLD I AND THE SPANISH SUCCESSION.
From 1697 to 1710
Charles II, King of Spain, was one of the most
impotent of men, in both body and mind. The law of hereditary descent had
placed this semi-idiot upon the throne of Spain to control the destinies of
twenty millions of people. The same law, in the event of his death without
heirs, would carry the crown across the Pyrenees to a little boy in the palace
of Versailles, or two thousand miles, to the banks of the Danube, to another
little boy in the gardens of Vienna. Louis XIV claimed the Spanish scepter in
behalf of his wife, the Spanish princess Maria Theresa, and her son. Leopold
claimed it in behalf of his deceased wife, Margaret, and her child. For many
years before the death of Philip II the envoys of France and Austria crowded
the court of Spain, employing all the arts of intrigue and bribery to forward
the interests of their several sovereigns. The different courts of Europe
espoused the claims of the one party or the other, accordingly as their
interests would be promoted by the aggrandizement of the house of Bourbon or
the house of Hapsburg.
Louis XIV prepared to strike a sudden blow by
gathering an army of one hundred thousand men in his fortresses near the
Spanish frontier, in establishing immense magazines of military stores, and in
filling the adjacent harbors with ships of war. The sagacious French monarch
had secured the cooperation of the pope, and of some of the most
influential Jesuits who surrounded the sick and dying monarch. Charles II had
long been harassed by the importunities of both parties that he should give the
influence of his voice in the decision. Tortured by the incessant vacillations
of his own mind, he was at last influenced, by the suggestions of his spiritual
advisers, to refer the question to the pope. He accordingly sent an embassage to
the pontiff with a letter soliciting counsel.
“Having no children,” he observed, “and being obliged
to appoint an heir to the Spanish crown from a foreign family, we find such
great obscurity in the law of succession, that we are unable to form a settled
determination. Strict justice is our aim; and, to be able to decide with that
justice, we have offered up constant prayers to God. We are anxious to act
rightly, and we have recourse to your holiness, as to an infallible
guide, intreating you to consult with the cardinals and divines, and,
after having attentively examined the testaments of our ancestors, to decide
according to the rules of right and equity.”
Pope Innocent XII was already prepared for this
appeal, and was engaged to act as the agent of the French court. The
hoary-headed pontiff, with one foot in the grave, affected the character of
great honesty and impartiality. He required forty days to examine the important
case, and to seek divine assistance. He then returned the following answer,
admirably adapted to influence a weak and superstitious prince:
“Being myself,” he wrote, “in a situation similar to
that of his Catholic majesty, the King of Spain, on the point of appearing at
the judgment-seat of Christ, and rendering an account to the sovereign pastor
of the flock which has been entrusted to my care, I am bound to give
such advice as will not reproach my conscience on the day of judgment. Your
majesty ought not to put the interests of the house of Austria in competition
with those of eternity. Neither should you be ignorant that the French
claimants are the rightful heirs of the crown, and no member of the Austrian
family has the smallest legitimate pretension. It is therefore your duty to
omit no precaution, which your wisdom can suggest, to render justice where
justice is due, and to secure, by every means in your power, the undivided
succession of the Spanish monarchy to the French claimants.”
Charles, as fickle as the wind, still remained
undecided, and his anxieties preying upon his feeble frame, already exhausted
by disease, caused him rapidly to decline. He was now confined to his chamber
and his bed, and his death was hourly expected. He hated the French, and all
his sympathies were with Austria. Some priests entered his chamber, professedly
to perform the pompous and sepulchral service of the church of Rome for the
dying. In this hour of languor, and in the prospect of immediate death, they
assailed the imbecile monarch with all the terrors of superstition. They
depicted the responsibility which he would incur should he entail on the
kingdom the woes of a disputed succession; they assured him that he could not,
without unpardonable guilt, reject the decision of the holy father of the
Church; and growing more eager and excited, they denounced upon him the
vengeance of Almighty God, if he did not bequeath the crown, now falling from
his brow, to the Bourbons of France.
The dying, half-delirious king, appalled by the
terrors of eternal damnation, yielded helplessly to their demands. A will was
already prepared awaiting his signature. With a hand trembling in death, the
king attached to it his name; but as he did so, he burst into tears,
exclaiming, “I am already nothing.” It was supposed that he could then survive
but a few hours. Contrary to all expectation he revived, and expressed the
keenest indignation and anguish that he had been thus beguiled to decide
against Austria, and in favor of France. He even sent a courier to the emperor,
announcing his determination to decide in favor of the Austrian claimant. The
flickering flame of life, thus revived for a moment, glimmered again in the
socket and expired. The wretched king died the 1st of November, 1699, in the
fortieth year of his age, and the thirty-sixth of his reign.
On the day of his death a council of State was
convened, and the will, the very existence of which was generally unknown, was
read. It declared the Dauphin of France, son of the Spanish princess Maria
Theresa, to be the successor to all the Spanish dominions; and required all
subjects and vassals of Spain to acknowledge him. The Austrian party were
astounded at this revelation. The French party were prepared to receive it
without any surprise. The son of Maria Theresa was dead, and the crown
consequently passed to her grandson Philip. Louis XIV immediately acknowledged
his title, when he was proclaimed king, and took quiet possession of the throne
of Spain on the 24th of November, 1700, as Philip V.
It was by such fraud that the Bourbons of France
attained the succession to the Spanish crown; a fraud as palpable as was ever
committed; for Maria Theresa had renounced all her rights to the throne; this
renunciation had been confirmed by the will of her father Philip IV, sanctioned
by the Cortes of Spain, and solemnly ratified by her husband, Louis XIV. Such
is “legitimacy—the divine right of kings.” All the great powers of Europe,
excepting the emperor, promptly acknowledged the title of Philip V.
Leopold, enraged beyond measure, dispatched envoys to
rouse the empire, and made the most formidable preparations for war. A force of
eighty thousand men was soon assembled. The war commenced in Italy. Leopold
sent down his German troops through the defiles of the Tyrol, and, in the
valley of the Adige, they encountered the combined armies of France, Spain and
Italy. Prince Eugene, who had already acquired great renown in the wars against
the Turks, though by birth a French noble, had long been in the Austrian
service, and led the Austrian troops. William, of England, jealous of the
encroachments of Louis XIV, and leading with him the States of Holland, formed
an alliance with Austria. This was pretty equally dividing the military power
of Europe, and a war of course ensued, almost unparalleled in its sanguinary
ferocity. The English nation supported the monarch; the House of Lords, in an
address to the king, declared that "his majesty, his subjects and his
allies, could never be secure till the house of Austria should be restored to
its rights, and the invader of the Spanish monarchy brought to reason."
Forty thousand sailors and forty thousand land troops were promptly voted for
the war.
William died on the 16th of March, in consequence of a
fall from his horse, and was succeeded by Anne, daughter of James II. She was,
however, but nominally the sovereign. The infamously renowned Duke of
Marlborough became the real monarch, and with great skill and energy prosecuted
the eleven years' war which ensued, which is known in history as the War of the
Spanish Succession. For many months the conflict raged with the usual
fluctuations, the Austrian forces being commanded on the Rhine by the Duke of
Marlborough, and in Italy by Prince Eugene. Portugal soon joined the Austrian
alliance, and Philip V and the French becoming unpopular in Spain, a small
party rose there, advocating the claims of the house of Austria. Thus
supported, Leopold, at Vienna, declared his son Charles King of Spain, and
crowned him as such in Vienna. By the aid of the English fleet he passed from
Holland to England, and thence to Lisbon, where a powerful army was assembled
to invade Spain, wrest the crown from Philip, and place it upon the brow of
Charles III.
And now Leopold began to reap the bitter consequences
of his atrocious conduct in Hungary. The Hungarian nobles embraced this
opportunity, when the imperial armies were fully engaged, to rise in a new and
formidable invasion. Francis Ragotsky, a
Transylvanian prince, led in the heroic enterprise. He was of one of the
noblest and wealthiest families of the realm, and was goaded to action by the
bitterest wrongs. His grandfather and uncle had been beheaded; his father
robbed of his property and his rank; his cousin doomed to perpetual
imprisonment; his father-in-law proscribed, and his mother driven into exile. The
French court immediately opened a secret correspondence with Ragotsky, promising him large supplies of men and money,
and encouraging him with hopes of the cooperation of the Turks. Ragotsky secretly assembled a band of determined
followers, in the savage solitudes of the Carpathian mountains, and suddenly
descended into the plains of Hungary, at the head of his wild followers,
calling upon his countrymen to rise and shake off the yoke of the detested
Austrian. Adherents rapidly gathered around his standard; several fortresses
fell into his hands, and he soon found himself at the head of twenty thousand well-armed
troops. The flame of insurrection spread, with electric rapidity, through all
Hungary and Transylvania.
The tyrant Leopold, as he heard these unexpected
tidings, was struck with consternation. He sent all the troops he could collect
to oppose the patriots, but they could make no impression upon an indignant
nation in arms. He then, in his panic, attempted negotiation. But the
Hungarians demanded terms both reasonable and honorable, and to neither of
these could the emperor possibly submit. They required that the monarchy should
no longer be hereditary, but elective, according to immemorial usage; that the
Hungarians should have the right to resist illegal power without the
charge of treason; that foreign officers and garrisons should be removed from
the kingdom; that the Protestants should be established in the free
exercise of their religion, and that their confiscated estates should be
restored. The despot could not listen for one moment to requirements so just;
and appalled by the advance of the patriots toward Vienna, he recalled the
troops from Italy.
About the same time the Duke of Bavaria, disgusted
with the arrogance and the despotism of Leopold, renounced allegiance to the
emperor, entered into an alliance with the French, and at the head of forty
thousand troops, French and Bavarians, commenced the invasion of Austria from
the west. Both Eugene and Marlborough hastened to the rescue of the emperor.
Combining their forces, with awful slaughter they mowed down the French and
Bavarians at Blenheim, and then overran all Bavaria. The elector fled with the
mutilated remnants of his army to France. The conquerors seized all the
fortresses, all the guns and ammunition; disbanded the Bavarian troops, took
possession of the revenues of the kingdom, and assigned to the heart-broken
wife of the duke a humble residence in the dismantled capital of the duchy.
The signal victory of Blenheim enabled Leopold to
concentrate his energies upon Hungary. It was now winter, and the belligerents,
during these stormy months, were active in making preparations for the campaign
of the spring. But Leopold's hour was now tolled. That summons came which
prince and peasant must alike obey, and the emperor, after a few months of
languor and pain, on the 5th of May, 1705, passed away to that tribunal where
each must answer for every deed done in the body. He was sixty-five years of
age, and had occupied the throne forty-six years. This is the longest reign
recorded in the Austrian annals, excepting that of Frederic III.
The reign of Leopold was eventful and woeful. It was
almost one continued scene of carnage. In his character there was a singular
blending of the good and the bad. In what is usually called moral character he
was irreproachable. He was a faithful husband, a kind father, and had no taste
for any sensual pleasures. In his natural disposition he was melancholy, and so
exceedingly reserved, that he lived in his palace almost the life of a recluse.
Though he was called the most learned prince of his age, a Jesuitical education
had so poisoned and debauched his mind, that while perpetrating the most
grievous crimes of perfidy and cruelty, he seemed sincerely to feel that he was
doing God service. His persecution of the Protestants was persistent,
relentless and horrible; while at the same time he was scrupulous in his devotions,
never allowing the cares of business to interfere with the prescribed duties of
the Church. The Church, the human church of popes, cardinals, bishops and
priests, was his guide, not the divine Bible. Hence his darkness of mind
and his crimes. Pope Innocent XI deemed him worthy of canonization. But an
indignant world must in justice inscribe upon his tomb, “Tyrant and Persecutor.”
He was three times married; first, to Margaret,
daughter of Philip IV of Spain; again, to Claudia, daughter of Ferdinand of Tyrol;
and a third time, to Eleonora, daughter of Philip, Elector Palatine. The
character and history of his third wife are peculiarly illustrative of the kind
of religion inculcated in that day, and of the beautiful spirit of piety often
exemplified in the midst of melancholy errors.
In the castle of her father, Eleonora was
taught, by priests and nuns, that God was only acceptably worshiped by
self-sacrifice and mortification. The devout child longed for the love of God
more than for anything else. Guided by the teachings of those who,
however sincere, certainly misunderstood the spirit of the gospel, she deprived
herself of every innocent gratification, and practiced upon her fragile frame
all the severities of an anchorite. She had been taught that celibacy was a
virtue peculiarly acceptable to God, and resolutely declined all solicitations
for her hand.
The emperor, after the death of his first wife,
sought Eleonora as his bride. It was the most brilliant match Europe
could offer. Eleonora, from religious scruples, rejected the offer,
notwithstanding all the importunities of her parents, who could not feel
reconciled to the loss of so splendid an alliance. The devout maiden, in the
conflict, exposed herself, bonnet-less, to sun and wind, that she might render
herself unattractive, tanned, sun burnt, and freckled, so that the emperor
might not desire her. She succeeded in repelling the suit, and the emperor
married Claudia of the Tyrol. The court of the Elector Palatine was brilliant
in opulence and gayety. Eleonora was compelled to mingle with the
festive throng in the scenes of pomp and splendor; but her thoughts, her
affections, were elsewhere, and all the vanities of princely life had no
influence in leading her heart from God. She passed several hours, every day,
in devotional reading and prayer. She kept a very careful register of her
thoughts and actions, scrutinizing and condemning with unsparing severity every
questionable emotion. Every sick bed of the poor peasants around, she visited
with sympathy and as a tender nurse. She groped her way into the glooms of
prison dungeons to convey solace to the prisoner. She wrought ornaments for the
Church, and toiled, even to weariness and exhaustion, in making garments for
the poor.
Claudia in three years died, and the emperor again was
left a widower. Again he applied for the hand of Eleonora. Her spiritual
advisers now urged that it was clearly the will of God that she should fill the
first throne of the universe, as the patroness and protectress of the
Catholic church. For such an object she would have been willing to sweep the
streets or to die in a dungeon. Yielding to these persuasions she married the
emperor, and was conveyed, as in a triumphal march, to the gorgeous palaces of
Vienna. But her character and her mode of life were not changed. Though she sat
at the imperial table, which was loaded with every conceivable luxury, she
condemned herself to fare as humble and abstemious as could be found in the hut
of the most impoverished peasant. It was needful for her at times to appear in
the rich garb of an empress, but to prevent any possible indulgence of pride,
she had her bracelets and jewelry so arranged with sharp brads as to keep her
in continued suffering by the laceration of the flesh.
She was, notwithstanding these austerities, which she
practiced with the utmost secrecy, indefatigable in the discharge of her duties
as a wife and an empress. She often attended the opera with the emperor, but
always took with her the Psalms of David, bound to resemble the books of the
performance, and while the tragic or the comic scenes of the stage were
transpiring before her, she was studying the devout lyrics of the Psalmist of
Israel. She translated all the Psalms into German verse; and also translated
from the French, and had printed for the benefit of her subjects, a devotional
work entitled, "Pious Reflections for every Day of the Month." During
the last sickness of her husband she watched with unwearied assiduity at his
bed-side, shrinking from no amount of exhaustion or toil, She survived her
husband fifteen years, devoting all this time to austerities,
self-mortification and deeds of charity. She died in 1720; and at her express
request was buried without any parade, and with no other inscription upon her tomb
than—
ELEONORA,
A POOR SINNER,
Died, January 17, 1720.
Joseph, the eldest son of Leopold, was twenty-five
years of age when, by the death of his father, he was called to the throne as
both king and emperor. He immediately and cordially cooperated with
the alliance his father had formed, and pressed the war against France, Spain
and Italy. Louis XIV was not a man, however, to be disheartened by disaster.
Though thousands of his choicest troops had found a grave at Blenheim, he
immediately collected another army of one hundred and sixty thousand men, and
pushed them forward to the seat of war on the Rhine and the Danube. Marlborough
and Eugene led Austrian forces to the field still more powerful. The whole
summer was spent in marches, countermarches and bloody battles on both sides of
the Rhine. Winter came, and its storms and snows drove the exhausted, bleeding
combatants from the bleak plains to shelter and the fireside. All Europe,
through the winter months, resounded with preparations for another campaign.
There was hardly a petty prince on the continent who was not drawn into the
strife—to decide whether Philip of Bourbon or Charles of Hapsburg, was entitled
by hereditary descent to the throne of Spain.
And now suddenly Charles XII of Sweden burst in upon
the scene, like a meteor amidst the stars of midnight. A more bloody apparition
never emerged from the sulphureous canopy of war. Having perfect
contempt for all enervating pleasures, with an iron frame and the abstemious
habits of a Spartan, he rushed through a career which has excited the wonder of
the world. He joined the Austrian party; struck down Denmark at a blow;
penetrated Russia in mid-winter, driving the Russian troops before him as dogs
scatter wolves; pressed on triumphantly to Poland, through an interminable
series of battles; drove the king from the country, and placed a new sovereign
of his own selection upon the throne; and then, proudly assuming to hold the
balance between the rival powers of France and Austria, made demands of Joseph
I, as if the emperor were but the vassal of the King of Sweden. France and
Austria were alike anxious to gain the cooperation of this energetic
arm.
Early in May, 1706, the armies of Austria and France,
each about seventy thousand strong, met in the Netherlands. Marlborough led the
allied Austrian troops; the Duke of Bavaria was in command of the French. The
French were again routed, almost as disastrously as at Blenheim, losing
thirteen thousand men and fifty pieces of artillery. On the Rhine and in Italy
the French arms were also in disgrace. Throughout the summer battle succeeded
battle, and siege followed siege. When the snows of another winter whitened the
plains of Europe, the armies again retired to winter quarters, the Austrian
party having made very decided progress as the result of the campaign.
Marlborough was in possession of most of the Netherlands, and was threatening
France with invasion. Eugene had driven the French out of Italy, and had
brought many of the Italian provinces under the dominion of Austria.
In Spain, also, the warfare was fiercely raging.
Charles III, who had been crowned in Vienna King of Spain, and who, as we have
mentioned, had been conveyed to Lisbon by a British fleet, joined by the King
of Portugal, and at the head of an allied army, marched towards the frontiers
of Spain. The Spaniards, though they disliked the French, hated virulently the
English and the Dutch, both of whom they considered heretics. Their national
pride was roused in seeing England, Holland and Portugal marching upon them to
place over Spain an Austrian king. The populace rose, and after a few
sanguinary conflicts drove the invaders from their borders. December's storms
separated the two armies, compelling them to seek winter quarters, with only
the frontier line between them. It was in one of the campaigns of this war, in
1704, that the English took the rock of Gibraltar, which they have held from
that day till this.
The British people began to remonstrate bitterly
against this boundless expenditure of blood and treasure merely to remove a
Bourbon prince, and place a Hapsburg prince upon the throne of Spain. Both were
alike despotic in character, and Europe had as much to fear from the
aggressions of the house of Austria as from the ambition of the King of France.
The Emperor Joseph was very apprehensive that the English court might be
induced to withdraw from the alliance, and fearing that they might sacrifice,
as the price of accommodation, his conquests in Italy, he privately concluded
with France a treaty of neutrality for Italy. This secured to him what he had
already acquired there, and saved France and Spain from the danger of losing
any more Italian States.
Though the allies were indignant, and remonstrated
against this transaction, they did not see fit to abandon the war. Immense
preparations were made to invade France from the Netherlands and from Piedmont,
in the opening of the spring of 1707. Both efforts were only successful in
spreading far and wide conflagration and blood. The invaders were driven from
the kingdom with heavy loss. The campaign in Spain, this year, was also
exceedingly disastrous to the Austrian arms. The heterogeneous army of Charles
III, composed of Germans, English, Dutch, Portuguese, and a few Spanish
refugees, were routed, and with the loss of thirteen thousand men were driven
from the kingdom. Joseph, however, who stood in great dread of so terrible an
enemy as Charles XII, succeeded in purchasing his neutrality, and this fiery
warrior marched off with his battalions, forty-three thousand strong, to drive
Peter I from the throne of Russia.
Joseph I, with exhausted resources, and embarrassed by
the claims of so wide-spread a war, was able to do but little for the
subjugation of Hungary. As the campaign of 1708 opened, two immense armies,
each about eighty thousand strong, were maneuvering near Brussels. After a long
series of marches and combinations a general engagement ensued, in which the
Austrian party, under Marlborough and Eugene, were decisively triumphant. The
French were routed with the loss of fifteen thousand in killed, wounded and
prisoners. During the whole summer the war raged throughout the Low Countries
with unabated violence. In Spain, Austria was not able to make any progress
against Philip and his forces.
Another winter came, and again the wearied combatants,
all of whom had received about as many blows as they had given, sought repose.
The winter was passed in fruitless negotiations, and as soon as the buds of
another spring began to swell, the thunders of war were again pealing over
nearly all the hills and valleys of Europe. The Austrian party had resolved, by
a gigantic effort, to send an army of one hundred thousand men to the gates of
Paris, there to dictate terms to the French monarch. On the 11th of September,
1709, the Austrian force, eighty thousand strong, with eighty pieces of cannon,
encountered the French, seventy thousand in number, with eighty pieces of cannon,
on the field of Malplaquet. The bloodiest battle
of the Spanish succession was then fought. The Austrian party, guided by
Marlborough and Eugene, justly claimed the victory, as they held the field. But
they lost twenty thousand in killed and wounded, and took neither prisoners nor
guns. The loss of the French was but ten thousand. All this slaughter seemed to
be accomplishing nothing. Philip still stood firm upon the Spanish throne, and
Charles could scarcely gain the slightest foothold in the kingdom which he
claimed. On the side of the Rhine and of Italy, though blood flowed like water,
nothing was accomplished; the plan of invading France had totally failed, and
again the combatants were compelled to retire to winter quarters.
For nine years this bloody war had now desolated
Europe. It is not easy to defend the cause of Austria and her allies in this
cruel conflict. The Spaniards undeniably preferred Philip as their king. Louis
XIV had repeatedly expressed his readiness to withdraw entirely from the conflict.
But the Austrian allies demanded that he should either by force or persuasion
remove Philip from Spain, and place the kingdom in the hands of the Austrian
prince. But Philip was now an independent sovereign who for ten years had
occupied the throne. He was resolved not to abdicate, and his subjects were
resolved to support him. Louis XIV said that he could not wage warfare against
his own grandson. The wretched old monarch, now feeble, childless, and woe
crushed, whose soul was already crimsoned with the blood of countless
thousands, was so dispirited by defeat, and so weary of the war, that though he
still refused to send his armies against his grandson, he even offered to pay a
monthly subsidy of two hundred thousand dollars (one million livres) to
the allied Austrian party, to be employed in the expulsion of Philip, if they
would cease to make war upon him. Even to these terms, after blood had been
flowing in torrents for ten years, Austria, England and Holland would not
accede. “If I must fight either Austria and her allies,” said Louis XIV, “or
the Spaniards, led by their king, my own grandson, I prefer to fight the
Austrians.”
The returning sun of the summer of 1710, found the
hostile armies again in the field. The allies of Austria, early in April,
hoping to surprise the French, assembled, ninety thousand in number, on the
Flemish frontiers of France, trusting that by an unexpected attack they might
break down the fortresses which had hitherto impeded their way. But the French
were on the alert to resist them, and the whole summer was again expended in
fruitless battles. These fierce conflicts so concentrated the energies of war
in the Netherlands, that but little was attempted in the way of invading Spain.
The Spanish nobles rallied around Philip, melted their plate to replenish his
treasury, and led their vassals to fight his battles. The ecclesiastics, as a
body, supported his cause. Philip was a zealous Catholic, and the priests
considered him as the defender of the Church, while they had no confidence in
Charles of Austria, whose cause was advocated by heretical England and Holland.
Charles III was now in Catalonia, on the Mediterranean
coast of Spain. He had landed at Barcelona, with a strong force of English and
Germans. He was a man of but little character, and his military operations were
conducted entirely by the English general Stanhope and the German general Staremberg. The English general was haughty and
domineering; the German proud and stubborn. They were in a continued quarrel
contesting the preeminence. The two rival monarchs, with forces about equal,
met in Catalonia a few miles from Saragossa, on the 24th of July, 1710. Though
the inefficient Charles was very reluctant to hazard a battle, the generals
insisted upon it. The Spaniards were speedily and totally routed. Philip fled
with a small body-guard to Lerida. His array was thoroughly dispersed. The
conquerors pressed on toward Madrid, crossed the Ebro at Saragossa, where they
again encountered, but a short distance from the city, an army strongly posted
upon some heights. Philip was already there. The conflict was short but bloody,
and the generals of Charles were again victorious. Philip, with a disheartened
remnant of his troops, retreated to Madrid. The generals dragged the timid and
reluctant Charles on to Madrid, where they arrived on the 28th of September.
There was no force at the capital to oppose them. They were received, however,
by the citizens of the metropolis as foreign conquerors. Charles rode through
the deserted streets, meeting only with sullen silence. A few who were hired to
shout, were pelted, by the populace, with mud, as traitors to their lawful
king. None flocked to his standard. Nobles, clergy, populace, all alike stood
aloof from him. Charles and his generals were embarrassed and perplexed. They
could not compel the nation to receive the Austrian king.
Philip, in the meantime, who had much energy and
popularity of character, was rapidly retrieving his losses, and troops were
flocking to his camp from all parts of Spain. He established his court at Valladolid,
about one hundred and fifty miles north-east from Madrid. His troops, dispersed
by the two disastrous battles, were reassembled at Lerida. The peasants rose in
large numbers and joined them, and cut off all communication between Charles at
Madrid and his ships at Barcelona. The Spanish grandees sent urgent messages to
France for succors. General Vendome, at the head of three thousand horse,
swept through the defiles of the Pyrenees, and, with exultant music and waving
banners, joined Philip at Valladolid. Universal enthusiasm was excited. Soon
thirty thousand infantry entered the camp, and then took positions on the
Tagus, where they could cut off any reinforcements which might attempt to march
from Portugal to aid the invaders.
Charles was apparently in a desperate situation.
Famine and consequent sickness were in his camp. His army was daily dwindling
away. He was emphatically in an enemy's country. Not a soldier could stray from
the ranks without danger of assassination. He had taken Madrid, and Madrid was
his prison.
CHAPTER XXII
JOSEPH I AND CHARLES VI.
From 1710 to 1717.
Generals Stanhope and Staremberg,
who managed the affairs of Charles, with but little respect for his judgment,
and none for his administrative qualities, were in great perplexity respecting
the course to be pursued. Some recommended the transference of the court from
Madrid to Saragossa, where they would be nearer to their supplies. Others urged
removal to Barcelona, where they would be under the protection of the British
fleet. It was necessary to watch over Charles with the utmost care, as he was
in constant danger of assassination. While in this state of uncertainty,
tidings reached Madrid that the Duke of Noailles was on the march, with fifteen
thousand men, to cut off the retreat of the Austrians, and at the same time
Philip was advancing with a powerful army from Valladolid. This intelligence
rendered instant action necessary. The Austrian party precipitately evacuated
Madrid, followed by the execrations of the people. As soon as the last
battalions had left the city, the ringing of bells, the firing of artillery,
and the shouts of the people, announced the popular exultation in view of the
departure of Charles, and the cordial greeting they were giving to his rival
Philip. The complications of politics are very curious. The British government
was here, through years of war and blood, endeavoring to drive from his throne
the acknowledged King of Spain. In less than a hundred years we find this same
government again deluging Europe in blood, to reseat upon the throne the
miserable Ferdinand, the lineal descendant of this Bourbon prince.
Charles put spurs to his horse, and accompanied by a
glittering cavalcade of two thousand cavaliers, galloped over the mountains to
Barcelona. His army, under the leadership of his efficient English general,
followed rapidly but cautiously on, hoping to press through the defiles of the
mountains which separated them from Arragon before
their passage could be obstructed by the foe. The troops were chagrined and
dispirited; the generals in that state of ill humor which want of success
generally engenders. The roads were bad, provisions scarce, the inhabitants of
the country bitterly hostile. It was the middle of November, and cold blasts
swept through the mountains. Staremberg led the van,
and Stanhope, with four thousand English troops, occupied the post of peril in
a retreat, the rear. As the people of the country would furnish them with no
supplies, the pillage of towns and villages became a necessity; but it none the
less added to the exasperation of the Spaniards.
A hurried march of about eighty miles brought the
troops to the banks of the Tagus. As General Staremberg,
at the head of the advance guard, pressed eagerly on, he left Stanhope at quite
a distance behind. They encamped for a night, the advance at Cifuentes, the
rear at Brihuega. The hostility of the natives was
such that almost all communication was cut off between the two sections of the
army. In the confusion of the hasty retreat, and as no enemy was apprehended in
that portion of the way, the importance of hourly communication was forgotten.
In the morning, as Stanhope put his troops again in motion, he was surprised
and alarmed in seeing upon the hills before him the banners of an opposing
host, far outnumbering his own, and strongly intrenched. The Earl of Stanhope
at once appreciated the nearly utter hopelessness of his position. He was cut
off from the rest of the army, had no artillery, but little ammunition, and was
almost entirely destitute of provision. Still he scorned to surrender. He threw
his troops behind a stone wall, and vigorously commenced fortifying his
position, hoping to be able to hold out until Staremberg,
hearing of his situation, should come to his release.
During the whole day he beat back the assaults of the
Spanish army. In the meantime Staremberg was pressing
on to Barcelona. In the evening of that day he heard of the peril of his rear
guard. His troops were exhausted; the night of pitchy blackness, and the miry
roads, cut to pieces by the heavy artillery and baggage wagons, were horrible.
Through the night he made preparations to turn back to aid his beleaguered
friends. It was, however, midday before he could collect his scattered troops,
from their straggling march, and commence retracing his steps. In a few hours
the low sun of a November day sunk below the hills. The troops, overtaken by
darkness, stumbling through the gloom, and apprehensive of a midnight attack,
rested upon their arms, waiting, through the weary hours, for the dawn of the
morning. The second day came, and the weary troops toiled through the mire,
while Stanhope, from behind his slight parapet, baffled all the efforts of his
foes.
The third morning dawned. Staremberg was within some fifteen miles of Briehuga. Stanhope
had now exhausted all his ammunition. The inhabitants of the town rose against
him and attacked him in the rear, while the foe pressed him in front. A large
number of his troops had already fallen, and no longer resistance was possible.
Stanhope and the remnant of his band were taken captive and conducted into the
town of Briehuga. Staremberg,
unaware of the surrender, pushed on until he came within a league of Briehuga. Anxiously he threw up signals, but could obtain
no response. His fears of the worst were soon confirmed by seeing the Spanish army,
in brilliant battle array, approaching to assail him. Philip himself was there
to animate them by his presence; and the heroic French general, the Duke of
Vendome, a descendant of Henry IV, led the charging columns.
Though the troops of Staremberg were inferior in number to those of the Spanish monarch, and greatly fatigued
by their forced marches, a retreat at that moment, in the face of so active an
enemy, was not to be thought of. The battle immediately commenced, with its
rushing squadrons and its thunder peals. The Spaniards, sanguine of success,
and inspired with the intensest hatred of
their heretical foes, charged with irresistible fury. The left wing
of Staremberg was speedily cut to pieces, and the
baggage taken. The center and the right maintained their ground until night
came to their protection. Staremberg’s army was now
reduced to nine thousand. His horses were either slain or worn out by fatigue.
He was consequently compelled to abandon all his artillery and most of his
baggage, as he again commenced a rapid retreat towards Barcelona. The enemy
pressed him every step of the way. But with great heroism and military skill he
baffled their endeavors to destroy him, and after one of the most arduous
marches on record, reached Barcelona with a feeble remnant of but seven
thousand men, ragged, emaciated and bleeding. Behind the walls of this
fortified city, and protected by the fleet of England, they found repose.
We must now turn back a few years, to trace the
progress of events in Hungary and Austria. Joseph, the emperor, had sufficient
intelligence to understand that the rebellious and anarchical state of Hungary
was owing to the cruelty and intolerance of his father. He saw, also, that
there could be no hope of permanent tranquillity but
in paying some respect to the aspirations for civil and religious liberty. The
troubles in Hungary distracted his attention, exhausted the energies of his
troops, and deprived him of a large portion of his political and military
power. He now resolved to try the effect of concessions. The opportunity was
propitious, as he could throw upon his father the blame of all past decrees. He
accordingly sent a messenger to the Hungarian nobles with the declaration that
during his father’s lifetime he had never interfered in the government, and
that consequently he was in no respect responsible for the persecution of which
they complained. And he promised, on the honor of a king, that instead of
attempting the enforcement of those rigorous decrees, he would faithfully fulfill
all the articles he had sworn to observe at his coronation; and that he
accordingly summoned a diet for the redress of their grievances and the
confirmation of all their ancient privileges. As proof of his sincerity, he
dismissed those ministers who had advised the intolerant decrees enacted by
Leopold, and appointed in their place men of more mild and lenient character.
But the Hungarians, deeming themselves now in a
position to enforce their claims by the energies of their army, feared to trust
to the promises of a court so often perjured. Without openly renouncing
allegiance to Austria, and declaring independence, they, through Ragotsky, summoned a diet to meet at Stetzim,
where their session would be protected by the Hungarian army. There was a large
gathering of all the first nobility of the realm. A spacious tent was spread
for the imposing assembly, and the army encircled it as with a sheltering
embrace. The session was opened with prayer and the administration of the
sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Will the time ever come when the members of the
United States Congress will meet as Christian brethren, at the table of our Saviour, as they commence their annual deliberations for
the welfare of this republic? The nobles formed a confederacy for the government
of the country. The legislative power was committed to a senate of twenty-four
nobles. Ragotsky was chosen military chief, with the
title of Dux, or leader. Four of the most illustrious nobles raised Ragotsky upon a buckler on their shoulders, when he took
the oath of fidelity to the government thus provisionally established, and then
administered the oath to his confederates. They all bound themselves solemnly
not to conclude any peace with the emperor, until their ancient rights, both
civil and religious, were fully restored.
In reply to the advances made by the emperor, they
returned the very reasonable and moderate demands that their chief, Ragotsky, should be reinstated in his ancestral realms of
Transylvania, that the claim of hereditary sovereignty should be
relinquished, and that there should be the restoration of those ancient civil
and religious immunities of which Leopold had defrauded them. Upon these
conditions they promised to recognize Joseph as their sovereign during his
lifetime; claiming at his death their time-honored right of choosing his
successor. Joseph would not listen for one moment to these terms, and the war
was renewed with fury.
The Hungarian patriots had seventy-five thousand men
under arms. The spirit of the whole nation was with them, and the Austrian
troops were driven from almost every fortress in the kingdom. The affairs of
Joseph seemed to be almost desperate, his armies struggling against
overpowering foes all over Europe, from the remotest borders of Transylvania to
the frontiers of Portugal. The vicissitudes of war are proverbial. An
energetic, sagacious general, Herbeville, with great
military sagacity, and aided by a peculiar series of fortunate events, marched
down the valley of the Danube to Buda; crossed the stream to Pesth; pushed
boldly on through the heart of Hungary to Great Waradin,
forced the defiles of the mountains, and entered Transylvania. Through a series
of brilliant victories he took fortress after fortress, until he subjugated the
whole of Transylvania, and brought it again into subjection to the Austrian
crown. This was in November, 1705.
But the Hungarians, instead of being intimidated by
the success of the imperial arms, summoned another diet. It was held in the
open field in accordance with ancient custom, and was thronged by thousands
from all parts of the kingdom. With great enthusiasm and public acclaim the
resolution was passed that Joseph was a tyrant and a usurper, animated by the
hereditary despotism of the Austrian family. This truthful utterance roused
anew the ire of the emperor. He resolved upon a desperate effort to bring
Hungary into subjection. Leaving his English and Dutch allies to meet the brunt
of the battle on the Rhine and in the Netherlands, he recalled his best troops,
and made forced levies in Austria until he had created an army sufficiently
strong, as he thought, to sweep down all opposition. These troops he placed
under the most experienced generals, and sent them into Hungary in the summer
of 1708. France, weakened by repeated defeats, could send the Hungarians no
aid, and the imperial troops, through bloody battles, victoriously traversed
the kingdom. Everywhere the Hungarians were routed and dispersed, until no
semblance of an army was left to oppose the victors. It seems that life in
those days, to the masses of the people, swept incessantly by these fiery
surges of war, could only have been a scene, from the cradle to the grave, of
blood and agony. For two years this dismal storm of battle howled over all the
Hungarian plains, and then the kingdom, like a victim exhausted, prostrate and
bleeding, was taken captive and firmly bound.
Ragotsky, denounced with the penalty of high treason, escaped to Poland. The
emperor, anxious no longer to exasperate, proposed measures of unusual
moderation. He assembled a convention; promised a general amnesty for all
political offenses, the restitution of confiscated property, the liberation of
prisoners, and the confirmation of all the rights which he had promised at his
coronation. Some important points were not touched upon; others were passed
over in vague and general terms. The Hungarians, helpless as a babe, had
nothing to do but to submit, whatever the terms might be. They were surprised
at the unprecedented lenity of the conqueror, and the treaty of peace and
subjection was signed in January, 1711.
In three months after the signing of this treaty,
Joseph I. died of the small-pox, in his palace of Vienna. He was but
thirty-three years of age. For a sovereign educated from the cradle to despotic
rule, and instructed by one of the most bigoted of fathers, he was an unusually
good man, and must be regarded as one of the best sovereigns who have swayed
the scepter of Austrian despotism.
The law of hereditary descent is frequently involved
in great embarrassment. Leopold, to obviate disputes which he foresaw were
likely to arise, had assigned Hungary, Bohemia, and his other hereditary
estates, to Joseph. To Charles he had assigned the vast Spanish inheritance. In
case Joseph should die without male issue he had decreed that the crown of the
Austrian dominions should also pass to Charles. In case Charles should also die
without issue male, the crown should then revert to the daughters of Joseph in
preference to those of Charles. Joseph left no son. He had two daughters, the
eldest of whom was but twelve years of age. Charles, who was now in Barcelona,
claiming the crown of Spain as Charles III., had no Spanish blood in his veins.
He was the son of Leopold, and of his third wife, the devout and lovely
Eleonora, daughter of the Elector Palatine. He was now but twenty-eight years
of age. For ten years he had been struggling for the crown which his father
Leopold had claimed, as succeeding to the rights of his first wife Margaret,
daughter of Philip IV.
Charles was a genteel, accomplished young man of
eighteen when he left his father's palace at Vienna, for England, where a
British fleet was to convey him to Portugal, and, by the energy of its fleet
and army, place him upon the throne of Spain. He was received at Portsmouth in
England, when he landed from Holland, with much parade, and was conducted by
the Dukes of Maryborough and Somerset to Windsor castle, where he had an
interview with Queen Anne. His appearance at that time is thus described by his
partial chroniclers:
“The court was very splendid and much thronged. The
queen's behavior toward him was very noble and obliging. The young king charmed
all who were present. He had a gravity beyond his age, tempered with much
modesty. His behavior in all points was so exact, that there was not a
circumstance in his whole deportment which was liable to censure. He paid an
extraordinary respect to the queen, and yet maintained a due greatness in it.
He had the art of seeming well pleased with everything, without so much as
smiling once all the while he was at court, which was only three days. He spoke
but little, and all he said was judicious and obliging.”
Young Charles was engaged to the daughter of the King
of Portugal; but the young lady died just before his arrival at Lisbon. As he
had never seen the infanta, his grief could not have been very deep, however
great his disappointment might have been. He made several attempts to penetrate
Spain by the Portuguese frontier, but being repelled in every effort, by the
troops of Philip, he again embarked, and with twelve thousand troops in an
English fleet, sailed around the Peninsula, entered the Mediterranean and
landed on the shores of Catalonia, where he had been led to believe that the
inhabitants in a body would rally around him. But he was bitterly disappointed.
The Earl of Peterborough, who was intrusted with the
command of this expedition, in a letter home gave free utterance to his
disappointment and chagrin.
“Instead of ten thousand men, and in arms,” he wrote, “to
cover our landing and strengthen our camp, we found only so many higglers and
sutlers flocking into it. Instead of finding Barcelona in a weak condition, and
ready to surrender upon the first appearance of our troops, we found a strong
garrison to oppose us, and a hostile army almost equal to our own.”
In this dilemma a council of war was held, and though
many were in favor of abandoning the enterprise and returning to Portugal, it
was at last determined, through the urgency of Charles, to remain and lay siege
to the city. Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, was then the principal
sea-port of the Spanish peninsula on the Mediterranean. It contained a
population of about one hundred and forty thousand. It was strongly fortified.
West of the city there was a mountain called Montjoy,
upon which there was a strong fort which commanded the harbor and the town.
After a short siege this fort was taken by storm, and the city was then forced
to surrender.
Philip soon advanced with an army of French and
Spaniards to retake the city. The English fleet had retired. Twenty-eight
French ships of war blockaded the harbor, which they could not enter, as it was
commanded by the guns of Montjoy. The siege was very
desperate both in the assault and the defense. The young king, Charles, was in
the most imminent danger of falling into the bands of his foes. There was no
possibility of escape, and it seemed inevitable that the city must either
surrender, or be taken by storm. The French and Spanish army numbered twenty
thousand men. They first attempted to storm Montjoy,
but were repulsed with great slaughter. They then besieged it, and by regular
approaches compelled its capitulation in three weeks.
This noble resistance enabled the troops in the city
greatly to multiply and increase their defenses. They thus succeeded in
protracting the siege of the town five weeks longer. Every day the beleagured troops from the crumbling ramparts watched the
blue expanse of the Mediterranean, hoping to see the sails of an English fleet
coming to their rescue. Two breaches were already effected in the walls. The
garrison, reduced to two thousand, and exhausted by superhuman exertions by day
and by night, were almost in the last stages of despair, when, in the distant
horizon, the long looked-for fleet appeared. The French ships, by no means able
to cope with such a force, spread their sails, and sought safety in flight.
The English fleet, amounting to fifty sail of the
line, and transporting a large number of land troops, triumphantly entered the
harbor on the 3rd of May, 1708. The fresh soldiers were speedily landed, and
marched to the ramparts and the breaches. This strong reinforcement annihilated
the hopes of the besiegers. Apprehensive of an immediate sally, they retreated
with such precipitation that they left behind them in the hospitals their sick
and wounded; they also abandoned their heavy artillery, and an immense quantity
of military stores.
Whatever energy Charles might have shown during the
siege, all seemed now to evaporate. When the shot of the foe were crumbling the
walls of Barcelona, he was in danger of the terrible doom of being taken a
captive, which would have been the annihilation of all his hopes. Despair
nerved him to effort. But now his person was no longer in danger; and his
natural inefficiency and dilatoriness returned. Notwithstanding the urgent entreaties
of the Earl of Peterborough to pursue the foe, he insisted upon first making a
pilgrimage to the shrine of the holy Virgin at Montserrat, twenty-four miles
from Barcelona.
This curious monastery consists of but a succession of
cloisters or hermitages hewn out of the solid rock. They are only accessible by
steps as steep as a ladder, which are also hewn upon the face of the almost
precipitous mountain. The highest of these cells, and which are occupied by the
youngest monks, are at an elevation of three or four thousand feet above the
level of the Mediterranean. Soon after Charles's pilgrimage to Montserrat, he made
a triumphal march to Madrid, entered the city, and caused himself to be
proclaimed king under the title of Charles III. But Philip soon came upon him
with such force that he was compelled to retreat back to Barcelona. Again, in
1710, he succeeded in reaching Madrid, and, as we have described, he was driven
back, with accumulated disaster, to Catalonia.
Three months after this defeat, when his affairs in
Spain were assuming the gloomiest aspect, a courier arrived at Barcelona, and
informed him that his brother Joseph was dead; that he had already been
proclaimed King of Hungary and Bohemia, and Archduke of Austria; and that it
was a matter of the most urgent necessity that he should immediately return to
Germany. Charles immediately embarked at Barcelona, and landed near Genoa on
the 27th of September. Rapidly pressing on through the Italian States, he
entered Milan on the 16th of October, where he was greeted with the joyful
intelligence that a diet had been convened under the influence of Prince Eugene,
and that by its unanimous vote he was invested with the imperial throne. He
immediately proceeded through the Tyrol to Frankfort, where he was crowned on
the 22d of December. He was now more than ever determined that the diadem of
Spain should be added to the other crowns which had been placed upon his brow.
In the incessant wars which for centuries had been
waged between the princes and States of Germany and the emperor, the States had
acquired virtually a constitution, which they called a capitulation. When
Charles was crowned as Charles VI., he was obliged to promise that he would
never assemble a diet or council without convening all the princes and States
of the empire; that he would never wage war, or conclude peace, or enter into
alliance with any nation without the consent of the States; that he would not,
of his own authority, put any prince under the ban of the empire; that
confiscated territory should never be conferred upon any members of his own
family, and that no successor to the imperial crown should be chosen during his
lifetime, unless absence from Germany or the infirmities of age rendered him
incapable of administering the affairs of the empire.
The emperor, invested with the imperial crown,
hastened to Vienna, and, with unexpected energy, entered upon the
administration of the complicated interests of his widespread realms. After
passing a few weeks in Vienna, he repaired to Prague, where, in May, he was,
with much pomp, crowned King of Hungary. He then returned to Vienna, and
prepared to press with new vigor the war of the Spanish succession.
Louis XIV was now suffering the earthly retribution
for his ill-spent life. The finances of the realm were in a state of hopeless
embarrassment; famine was filling the kingdom with misery; his armies were
everywhere defeated; the imprecations of a beggared people were rising around
his throne; his palace was the scene of incessant feuds and intrigues. His
children were dead; he was old, infirm, sick, the victim of insupportable
melancholy—utterly weary of life, and yet awfully afraid to die. France, in the
person of Louis XIV, who could justly say, "I am the State," was
humbled.
The accession of Charles to the throne of the empire,
and to that of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia, while at the same time he claimed
sovereignty over the vast realms of the Spanish kingdom, invested him with such
enormous power, that England, which had combined Europe against the colossal
growth of France, having humbled that power, was disposed to form a combination
against Austria. There was in consequence an immediate relaxation of
hostilities just at the time when the French batteries on the frontiers were
battered down, and when the allied army had apparently an unobstructed way
opened to the gates of Paris. In this state of affairs the British ministry
pressed negotiations for peace. The preliminaries were settled in London on the
8th of October, 1711. By this treaty Louis XIV agreed to make such a change in
the law of hereditary descent, as to render it impossible for any king to wear
at the same time the crowns of France and of Spain, and made various other
important concessions.
Charles, whose ambition was roused by his sudden and
unexpected elevation, exerted all his energies to thwart the progress of
negotiations, and bitterly complained that the allies were dishonorably
deserting the cause which they had espoused. The emperor dispatched circular
letters to all the courts of Europe, and sent Prince Eugene as a special
ambassador to London, to influence Queen Anne, if possible, to persevere in the
grand alliance. But he was entirely unsuccessful. The Duke of Marlborough was
disgraced, and dismissed from office. The peace party rendered Eugene so
unpopular that he was insulted in the streets of London. The Austrian party in
England was utterly defeated, and a congress was appointed to meet at Utrecht
to settle the terms of peace. But Charles was now so powerful that he resolved
to prosecute the war even though abandoned by England. He accordingly sent an
ambassador to Utrecht to embarrass the proceedings as much as possible, and, in
case the grand alliance should be broken up, to secure as many powers as
possible in fidelity to Austria.
The States of the Netherlands were still warmly with
Austria, as they dreaded so formidable a power as France directly upon their
frontier. The other minor powers of the alliance were also rather inclined to
remain with Austria. The war continued while the terms of peace were under
discussion. England, however, entered into a private understanding with France,
and the Duke of Ormond, who had succeeded Marlborough, received secret orders
not to take part in any battle or siege. The developments, upon fields of
battle, of this dishonorable arrangement, caused great indignation on the part
of the allies. The British forces withdrew, and the French armies, taking
advantage of the great embarrassments thus caused, were again gaining the
ascendency. Portugal soon followed the example of England and abandoned the
alliance. The Duke of Savoy was the next to leave. The alliance was evidently
crumbling to pieces, and on the 11th of April, 1713, all the belligerents,
excepting the emperor, signed the treaty of peace. Philip of Spain also acceded
to the same articles.
Charles was very indignant in being thus abandoned;
and unduly estimating his strength, resolved alone, with the resources which
the empire afforded him, to prosecute the war against France and Spain. Having
nothing to fear from a Spanish invasion, he for a time relinquished his
attempts upon Spain, and concentrating his armies upon the Rhine, prepared for
a desperate onset upon France. For two years the war raged between Austria and
France with war's usual vicissitudes of defeat and victory on either side. It
was soon evident that the combatants were too equally matched for either party
to hope to gain any decisive advantage over the other. On the 7th of September,
1714, France and Austria agreed to sheathe the sword. The war had raged for
fourteen years, with an expenditure of blood and treasure, and an accumulation
of misery which never can be gauged. Every party had lost fourfold more than it
had gained. “A war,” says Marshal Villers, “which had desolated the greater
part of Europe, was concluded almost on the very terms which might have been
procured at the commencement of hostilities.”
By this treaty of peace, which was signed at Baden, in
Switzerland, the States of the Netherlands were left in the hands of Austria;
and also the Italian States of Naples, Milan, Mantua and Sardinia. The thunders
of artillery had hardly ceased to reverberate over the marshes of Holland and
along the banks of the Rhine, ere the "blast of war's loud organ" and
the tramp of charging squadrons were heard rising anew from the distant
mountains of Sclavonia. The Turks, in violation of
their treaty of peace, were again on the march, ascending the Danube along its
southern banks, through the defiles of the Sclavonian mountains. In a motley mass of one hundred and fifty thousand men they had
passed Belgrade, crossed the Save, and were approaching Peterwarden.
Eugene was instantly dispatched with an efficient,
compact army, disciplined by twelve years of warfare, to resist the Moslem
invaders. The hostile battalions met at Karlowitz,
but a few miles from Peterwarden, on the 5th of
August, 1716. The tempest blazed with terrific fury for a few hours, when the
Turkish host turned and fled. Thirty thousand of their number, including the
grand vizier who led the host, were left dead upon the field. In their utter
discomfiture they abandoned two hundred and fifty pieces of heavy artillery,
and baggage, tents and military stores to an immense amount. Fifty Turkish
banners embellished the camp of the victors.
And now Eugene led his triumphant troops, sixty
thousand in number, down the river to lay siege to Belgrade. This fortress,
which the labor of ages had strengthened, was garrisoned by thirty thousand
troops, and was deemed almost impregnable. Eugene invested the place and
commenced the slow and tedious operations of a siege. The sultan immediately
dispatched an army of two hundred thousand men to the relief of his beleaguered
fortress. The Turks, arriving at the scene of action, did not venture an
assault upon their intrenched foes, but intrenched themselves on heights,
outside of the besieging camp, in a semicircle extending from the Danube to the
Save. They thus shut up the besiegers in the miasmatic marshes which surrounded
the city, cut off their supplies of provisions, and from their advancing
batteries threw shot into the Austrian camp. "A man," said Napoleon,
"is not a soldier." The Turks had two hundred
thousand men in their camp, raw recruits. Eugene had sixty thousand
veteran soldiers. He decided to drive off the Turks who annoyed him. It
was necessary for him to detach twenty thousand to hold in check the garrison
of Belgrade, who might sally to the relief of their companions. This left him
but forty thousand troops with whom to assail two hundred thousand strongly
intrenched. He did not hesitate in the undertaking.
CHAPTER XXIII
CHARLES VI.
From 1716 to 1727.
The enterprise upon which Eugene had resolved was bold
in the extreme. It could only be accomplished by consummate bravery aided by
equal military skill. The foe they were to attack were five to one, and were
protected by well-constructed redoubts, armed with the most formidable
batteries. They were also abundantly supplied with cavalry, and the Turkish
cavalry were esteemed the finest horsemen in the world. There was but one circumstance
in favor of Eugene. The Turks did not dream that he would have the audacity to
march from the protection of his intrenchments and assail them behind their own
strong ramparts. There was consequently but little difficulty in effecting a
surprise.
All the arrangements were made with the utmost
precision and secrecy for a midnight attack. The favorable hour came. The sun
went down in clouds, and a night of Egyptian darkness enveloped the armies. The
glimmer of innumerable camp-fires only pointed out the position of the foe,
without throwing any illumination upon the field. Eugene visited all the posts
of the army, ordered abundant refreshment to be distributed to the troops,
addressed them in encouraging words, to impress upon them the importance of the
enterprise, and minutely assigned to each battalion, regiment, brigade and
division its duty, that there might be no confusion. The whole plan was
carefully arranged in all its details and in all its grand combination. As the
bells of Belgrade tolled the hour of twelve at midnight, three bombs,
simultaneously discharged, put the whole Austrian army in rapid and noiseless
motion.
A dense fog had now descended, through which they
could with difficulty discern the twinkling lights of the Turkish camp. Rapidly
they traversed the intervening space, and in dense, solid columns, rushed over
the ramparts of the foe. Bombs, cannon, musketry, bayonets, cavalry, all were
employed, amidst the thunderings and the lightnings
of that midnight storm of war, in the work of destruction. The Turks, roused
from their slumber, amazed, bewildered, fought for a short time with maniacal
fury, often pouring volleys of bullets into the bosoms of their friends, and
with bloody cimeters smiting indiscriminately on the
right hand and the left, till, in the midst of a scene of confusion and horror
which no imagination can conceive, they broke and fled. Two hundred thousand
men, lighted only by the flash of guns which mowed their ranks, with thousands
of panic-stricken cavalry trampling over them, while the crash of musketry, the
explosions of artillery, the shouts of the assailants and the fugitives, and
the shrieks of the dying, blended in a roar more appalling than heaven's
heaviest thunders, presented a scene which has few parallels even in the horrid
annals of war.
The morning dawned upon a field of blood and death.
The victory of the Austrians was most decisive. The flower of the Turkish army
was cut to pieces, and the remnant was utterly dispersed. The Turkish camp,
with all its abundant booty of tents, provisions, ammunition and artillery,
fell into the hands of the conqueror. So signal was the victory, that the
disheartened Turks made no attempt to retrieve their loss. Belgrade was
surrendered to the Austrians, and the sultan implored peace. The articles were
signed in Passarovitz, a small town of Servia, in
July, 1718. By this treaty the emperor added Belgrade to his dominions, and
also a large part of Wallachia and Servia.
Austria and Spain were still in heart at war, as the
emperor claimed the crown of Spain, and was only delaying active hostilities
until he could dispose of his more immediate foes. Charles, soon after the
death of his cousin, the Portuguese princess, with whom he had formed a
matrimonial engagement, married Elizabeth Christina, a princess of Brunswick.
The imperial family now consisted of three daughters, Maria Theresa, Maria Anne
and Maria Amelia. It will be remembered that by the family compact established
by Leopold, the succession was entailed upon Charles in preference to the
daughters of Joseph, in case Joseph should die without male issue. But should
Charles die without male issue, the crown was to revert to the daughters of
Joseph in preference to those of Charles. The emperor, having three daughters
and no sons, with natural parental partiality, but unjustly, and with great
want of magnanimity, was anxious to deprive the daughters of Joseph of their
rights, that he might secure the crown for his own daughters. He accordingly
issued a decree reversing this contract, and settling the right of succession
first upon his daughters, should he die without sons, then upon the daughters
of Joseph, one of whom had married the Elector of Saxony and the other the
Elector of Bavaria. After them he declared his sister, who had married the King
of Portugal, and then his other sisters, the daughters of Leopold, to be in the
line of succession. This new law of succession Charles issued under the name of
the Pragmatic Sanction. He compelled his nieces, the daughters of Joseph, to
give their assent to this Sanction, and then, for the remainder of his reign,
made the greatest efforts to induce all the powers of Europe to acknowledge its
validity.
Charles VI was now, as to the extent of territory over
which he reigned and the population subject to his sway, decidedly the most
powerful monarch in Christendom. Three hundred princes of the German empire
acknowledged him as their elected sovereign. By hereditary right he claimed
dominion over Bohemia, Hungary, Transylvania, Wallachia, Servia, Styria,
Carinthia, Carniola, the Tyrol, and all the rich and populous States of the
Netherlands. Naples, Sicily, Mantua and Milan in Italy, also recognized his
sovereignty. To enlightened reason nothing can seem more absurd than that one man,
of very moderate capacities, luxuriating in his palace at Vienna, should
pretend to hold dominion over so many millions so widely dispersed. But the
progress of the world towards intelligent liberty has been very slow. When we
contrast the constitution of the United States with such a political condition,
all our evils and difficulties dwindle to utter insignificance.
Still the power of the emperor was in many respects
apparent rather than real. Each of these States had its own customs and laws.
The nobles were tumultuary, and ever ready, if their privileges were infringed,
to rise in insurrection. Military force alone could hold these turbulent realms
in awe; and the old feudal servitude which crushed the millions, was but
another name for anarchy. The peace establishment of the emperor amounted to
one hundred thousand men, and every one of these was necessary simply to
garrison his fortresses. The enormous expense of the support of such an army,
with all the outlays for the materiel of war, the cavalry, and the structure of
vast fortresses, exhausted the revenues of a kingdom in which the masses of the
people were so miserably poor that they were scarcely elevated above the beasts
of the field, and where the finances had long been in almost irreparable
disorder. The years of peace, however, were very few. War, a maelstrom which
ingulfs uncounted millions, seems to have been the normal state of Germany. But
the treasury of Charles was so constantly drained that he could never, even in
his greatest straits, raise more than one hundred and sixty thousand men; and
he was often compelled to call upon the aid of a foreign purse to meet the
expense which that number involved. Within a hundred years the nations have
made vast strides in wealth, and in the consequent ability to throw away
millions in war.
Charles VI commenced his reign with intense devotion
to business. He resolved to be an illustrious emperor, vigorously
superintending all the interests of the empire, legislative, judicial and
executive. For a few weeks he was busy night and day, buried in a hopeless mass
of diplomatic papers. But he soon became weary of this, and leaving all the
ordinary affairs of the State in the hands of agents, amused himself with his
violin and in chasing rabbits. As more serious employment, he gave pompous
receptions, and enveloped himself in imperial ceremony and the most approved
courtly etiquette. He still, however, insisted upon giving his approval to all
measures adopted by his ministers, before they were carried into execution. But
as he was too busy with his entertainments, his music and the chase, to devote
much time to the dry details of government, papers were accumulating in a
mountainous heap in his cabinet, and the most important business was neglected.
Charles XII was now King of Sweden; Peter the Great,
Emperor of Russia; George I, King of England; and the shameful regency had succeeded,
in France, the reign of Louis XIV. For eighteen years a bloody war had been
sweeping the plains of Poland, Russia and Sweden. Thousands had been torn to
pieces by the enginery of war, and trampled beneath iron hoofs. Millions of
women and children had been impoverished, beggared, and turned out houseless
into the fields to moan and starve and die. The claims of humanity must ever
yield to the requisitions of war. This fierce battle of eighteen years was
fought to decide which of three men, Peter of Russia, Charles of Sweden, or
Augustus of Poland, should have the right to exact tribute from Livonia. This
province was a vast pasture on the Baltic, containing about seventeen thousand
square miles, and inhabited by about five hundred thousand poor herdsmen and
tillers of the soil.
Peter the Great was in the end victorious in this long
conflict; and having attached large portions of Sweden to his territory, with a
navy upon the Baltic, and a disciplined army, began to be regarded as a
European power, and was quite disposed to make his voice heard in the diplomacy
of Europe. Queen Anne having died, leaving no children, the law of hereditary
descent carried the crown of England to Germany, and placed it upon the brow of
the Elector of Hanover, who, as grandson of James I, was the nearest heir, but
who could not speak a word of English, who knew nothing of constitutional law,
and who was about as well qualified to govern England as a Patagonian or
Esquimaux would have been. But obedience to this law of hereditary descent was
a political necessity. There were thousands of able men in England who could
have administered the government with honor to themselves and to the country.
But it is said in reply that the people of England, as a body, were not then, and
probably are not even now, sufficiently enlightened to be intrusted with the choice of their own rulers. Respect for the ballot-box is one of the
last and highest attainments of civilization. Recent developments in our own
land have led many to fear that barbarism is gaining upon the people. If
the ballot-box be overturned, the cartridge-box must take
its place. The great battle we have to fight is the battle against popular
ignorance. The great army we are to support is the army of teachers in the
schools and in the pulpit, elevating the mind to the highest possible
intelligence, and guiding the heart by the pure spirit of the gospel.
The emperor was so crowded with affairs of immediate
urgency, and it was so evident that he could not drive Philip from the throne,
now that he was recognized by all Europe, that he postponed the attempt for a
season, while he still adopted the title of King of Spain. His troops had
hardly returned from the brilliant campaign of Belgrade, ere the emperor saw a
cloud gathering in the north, which excited his most serious apprehension.
Russia and Sweden, irritated by some of the acts of the emperor, formed an
alliance for the invasion of the German empire. The fierce warriors of the
north, led by such captains as Charles XII. and Peter the Great, were foes not
to be despised. This threatened invasion not only alarmed the emperor, but
alarmed George I of England, as his electorate of Hanover was imperiled; and
also excited the fears of Augustus, the Elector of Saxony, who had regained the
throne of Poland. England and Poland consequently united with the emperor, and
formidable preparations were in progress for a terrible war, when one single
chance bullet, upon the field of Pultowa, struck
Charles XII, as he was looking over the parapet, and dispersed this cloud which
threatened the desolation of all Europe.
Austria was now the preponderating power in degenerate
Italy. Even those States which were not in subjection to the emperor, were
overawed by his imperious spirit. Genoa was nominally independent. The Genoese
arrested one of the imperial officers for some violation of the laws of the
republic. The emperor sent an army to the gates of the city, threatening it
with bombardment and utter destruction. They were thus compelled immediately to
liberate the officer, to pay a fine of three hundred thousand dollars, and to
send a senator to Vienna with humble expressions of contrition, and to implore
pardon.
The kingdom of Sardinia was at this time the most
powerful State in Italy, if we except those united Italian States which now
composed an integral part of the Austrian empire. Victor Asmedeus,
the energetic king, had a small but vigorous army, and held himself ready, with
this army, for a suitable remuneration, to engage in the service of any
sovereign, without asking any troublesome questions as to the righteousness of
the expedition in which he was to serve. The Sardinian king was growing rich,
and consequently ambitious. He wished to rise from the rank of a secondary to
that of a primary power in Europe. There was but one direction in which he
could hope to extend his territories, and that was by pressing into Lombardy.
He had made the remark, which was repeated to the emperor, “I must acquire
Lombardy piece by piece, as I eat an artichoke.” Charles, consequently, watched
Victor with a suspicious eye.
The four great powers of middle and southern Europe
were Austria, England, France, and Spain. All the other minor States,
innumerable in name as well as number, were compelled to take refuge, openly or
secretly, beneath one or another of these great monarchies.
In France, the Duke of Orleans, the regent during the
minority of Louis XV, whose court, in the enormous expenditures of vice,
exhausted the yearly earnings of a population of twenty millions, was anxious
to unite the Bourbon' branches of France and Spain in more intimate alliance.
He accordingly affianced the young sovereign of France to Mary Anne, daughter
of Philip V of Spain. At the same time he married his own daughter to the king's
oldest son, the Prince of Asturias, who was heir to the throne. Mary Anne, to
whom the young king was affianced, was only four years of age.
The personal history of the monarchs of Europe is,
almost without exception, a melancholy history. By their ambition and their
wars they whelmed the cottages in misery, and by a righteous retribution misery
also inundated the palace. Philip V. became the victim of the most
insupportable melancholy. Earth had no joy which could lift the cloud of gloom
from his soul. For months he was never known to smile. Imprisoning himself in
his palace he refused to see any company, and left all the cares of government
in the hands of his wife, Elizabeth Farnese.
Germany was still agitated by the great religious
contest between the Catholics and the Protestants, which divided the empire
into two nearly equal parties, bitterly hostile to each other. Various
fruitless attempts had been made to bring the parties together, into unity
of faith, by compromise. Neither party were reconciled to
cordial toleration, free and full, in which alone harmony can be obtained.
In all the States of the empire the Catholics and the Protestants were coming
continually into collision. Charles, though a very decided Catholic, was not
disposed to persecute the Protestants, as most of his predecessors had done,
for he feared to rouse them to despair.
England, France, Austria and Spain, were now involved
in an inextricable maze of diplomacy. Congresses were assembled and dissolved;
treaties made and violated; alliances formed and broken. Weary of the conflict
of arms, they were engaged in the more harmless squabbles of intrigue, each
seeking its own aggrandizement. Philip V., who had fought so many bloody
battles to acquire the crown of Spain, now, disgusted with the cares which that
crown involved, overwhelmed with melancholy, and trembling in view of the final
judgment of God, suddenly abdicated the throne in favor of his son Louis, and
took a solemn oath that he would never resume it again. This event, which
surprised Europe, took place on the 10th of February, 1724. Philip retired to
St. Ildefonso.
The celebrated palace of St. Ildefonso, which became
the retreat of the monarch, was about forty miles north of Madrid, in an
elevated ravine among the mountains of Gaudarruma. It
was an enormous pile, nearly four thousand feet above the level of the sea, and
reared by the Spanish monarchs at an expense exceeding thirty millions of
dollars. The palace, two stories high, and occupying three sides of a square,
presents a front five hundred and thirty feet in length. In this front alone
there are, upon each story, twelve gorgeous apartments in a suite. The interior
is decorated in the richest style of art, with frescoed ceilings, and splendid
mirrors, and tessellated floors of variegated marble. The furniture was embellished
with gorgeous carvings, and enriched with marble, jasper and verd-antique. The
galleries were filled with the most costly productions of the chisel and the
pencil. The spacious garden, spread out before the palace, was cultivated with
the utmost care, and ornamented with fountains surpassing even those of
Versailles.
To this magnificent retreat Philip V retired with his
imperious, ambitious wife. She was the step-mother of his son who had succeeded
to the throne. For a long time, by the vigor of her mind, she had dominated
over her husband, and had in reality been the sovereign of Spain. In the
magnificent palace of St. Ildefonso, she was by no means inclined to relinquish
her power. Gathering a brilliant court around her, she still issued her
decrees, and exerted a powerful influence over the kingdom. The young Louis,
who was but a boy, was not disposed to engage in a quarrel with his mother, and
for a time submitted to this interference; but gradually he was roused by his
adherents, to emancipate himself from these shackles, and to assume the
authority of a sovereign. This led to very serious trouble. The abdicated king,
in his moping melancholy, was entirely in subjection to his wife. There were
now two rival courts. Parties were organizing. Some were for deposing the son;
others for imprisoning the father. The kingdom was on the eve of a civil war,
when death kindly came to settle the difficulty.
The young King Louis, but eighteen years of age, after
a nominal reign of but eight months, was seized with that awful scourge the
small-pox, and, after a few days of suffering and delirium, was consigned to
the tomb. Philip, notwithstanding his vow, was constrained by his wife to
resume the crown, she probably promising to relieve him of all care. Such are
the vicissitudes of a hereditary government. Elizabeth, with woman's spirit,
now commanded the emperor to renounce the title of King of Spain, which he still
claimed. Charles, with the spirit of an emperor, declared that he would do no
such thing.
There was another serious source of difficulty between
the two monarchs, which has descended, generation after generation, to our own
time, and to this day is only settled by each party quietly persisting in his
own claim.
In the year 1430 Philip III, Duke of Burgundy,
instituted a new order of knighthood for the protection of the Catholic church,
to be called the order of the Golden Fleece. But twenty-four members were to be
admitted, and Philip himself was the grand master. Annual meetings were held to
fill vacancies. Charles V, as grand master, increased the number of knights to
fifty-one. After his death, as the Burgundian provinces and the Netherlands passed
under the dominion of Spain, the Spanish monarchs exercised the office of grand
master, and conferred the dignity, which was now regarded the highest order of
knighthood in Europe, according to their pleasure. But Charles VI, now in
admitted possession of the Netherlands, by virtue of that possession claimed
the office of grand master of the Golden Fleece. Philip also claimed it as the
inheritance of the kings of Spain. The dispute has never been settled. Both
parties still claim it, and the order is still conferred both at Vienna and
Madrid.
Other powers interfered, in the endeavor to promote
reconciliation between the hostile courts, but, as usual, only increased the
acrimony of the two parties. The young Spanish princess Mary Anne, who was
affianced to the Dauphin of France, was sent to Paris for her education, and
that she might become familiar with the etiquette of a court over which she was
to preside as queen. For a time she was treated with great attention, and child
as she was, received all the homage which the courtiers were accustomed to pay
to the Queen of France. But amidst the intrigues of the times a change arose,
and it was deemed a matter of state policy to marry the boy-king to another
princess. The French court consequently rejected Maria Anne and sent her back
to Spain, and married Louis, then but fifteen years of age, to Maria Lebrinsky, daughter of the King of Poland. The rejected
child was too young fully to appreciate the mortification. Her parents,
however, felt the insult most keenly. The whole Spanish court was roused to
resent it as a national outrage. The queen was so indignant that she tore from
her arm a bracelet which she wore, containing a portrait of Louis XV, and
dashing it upon the floor, trampled it beneath her feet. Even the king was
roused from his gloom by the humiliation of his child, and declared that no
amount of blood could atone for such an indignity.
Under the influence of this exasperation, the queen
resolved to seek reconciliation with Austria, that all friendly relations might
be abandoned with France, and that Spain and Austria might be brought into
intimate alliance to operate against their common foe. A renowned Spanish
diplomatist, the Baron of Ripperda, had been for some
time a secret agent of the queen at the court of Vienna, watching the progress
of events there. He resided in the suburbs under a fictitious name, and eluding
the vigilance of the ministry, had held by night several secret interviews with
the emperor, proposing to him, in the name of the queen, plans of
reconciliation. Letters were immediately dispatched to Ripperda urging him to come to an accommodation with the emperor upon almost any terms.
A treaty was soon concluded, early in the spring of
1725. The emperor renounced all claim to the Spanish crown, entered into an
alliance, both offensive and defensive, with Philip, and promised to aid, both
with men and money, to help recover Gibraltar from the English, which fortress
they had held since they seized upon it in the war of the Spanish succession.
In consideration of these great concessions Philip agreed to recognize the
right of the emperor to the Netherlands and to his acquisitions in Italy. He
opened all the ports of Spain to the subjects of the emperor, and pledged
himself to support the Pragmatic Sanction, which wrested the crown of Austria
from the daughters of Joseph, and transmitted it to the daughters of Charles.
It was this last clause which influenced the emperor, for his whole heart was
set upon the accomplishment of this important result, and he was willing to
make almost any sacrifice to attain it. There were also some secret articles
attached which have never been divulged.
The immediate demand of Spain for the surrender of the
rock of Gibraltar was the signal for all Europe to marshal itself for war—a war
which threatened the destruction of hundreds of thousands of lives, millions of
property, and which was sure to spread far and wide over populous cities and
extended provinces, carnage, conflagration, and unspeakable woe. The question
was, whether England or Spain should have possession of a rock seven miles long
and one mile broad, which was supposed, but very erroneously, to command the
Mediterranean. To the rest of Europe it was hardly a matter of the slightest
moment whether the flag of England or Spain waved over those granite cliffs. It
seems incredible that beings endowed with reason could be guilty of such
madness.
England, with great vigor, immediately rallied on her
side France, Hanover, Holland, Denmark and Sweden. On the other side were
Spain, Austria, Russia, Prussia and a large number of the minor States of
Germany. Many months were occupied in consolidating these coalitions, and in
raising the armies and gathering the materials for the war.
In the meantime Ripperda,
having so successfully, as he supposed, concluded his negotiations at Vienna,
in a high state of exultation commenced his journey back to Spain. Passing down
through the Tyrol and traversing Italy he embarked at Genoa and landed at
Barcelona. Here he boasted loudly of what he had accomplished.
“Spain and the emperor now united,” he said, “will
give the law to Europe. The emperor has one hundred and fifty thousand troops
under arms, and in six months can bring as many more into the field. France
shall be pillaged. George I. shall be driven both from his German and his
British territories.”
From Barcelona Ripperda traveled rapidly to Madrid, where he was received with almost regal honors by
the queen, who was now in reality the sovereign. She immediately appointed him
Secretary of State, and transferred to him the reins of government which she
had taken from the unresisting hands of her moping husband. Thus Ripperda became, in all but title, the King of Spain. He
was a weak man, of just those traits of character which would make him a
haughty woman's favorite. He was so elated with this success, became so
insufferably vain, and assumed such imperious airs as to disgust all parties.
He made the most extravagant promises of the subsidies the emperor was to furnish,
and of the powers which were to combine to trample England and France beneath
their feet. It was soon seen that these promises were merely the vain-glorious
boasts of his own heated brain. Even the imperial ambassador at Madrid was so
repelled by his arrogance, that he avoided as far as possible all social and
even diplomatic intercourse with him. There was a general combination of the
courtiers to crush the favorite. The queen, who, with all her ambition, had a
good share of sagacity, soon saw the mistake she had made, and in four months
after Ripperda’s return to Madrid, he was dismissed
in disgrace.
A general storm of contempt and indignation pursued
the discarded minister. His rage was now inflamed as much as his vanity had
been. Fearful of arrest and imprisonment, and burning with that spirit of
revenge which is ever strongest in weakest minds, he took refuge in the house
of the British ambassador, Mr. Stanhope. Hostilities had not yet commenced.
Indeed there had been no declaration of war, and diplomatic relations still
continued undisturbed. Each party was acting secretly, and watching the
movements of the other with a jealous eye.
Ripperda sought protection beneath the flag of England, and with the
characteristic ignominy of deserters and traitors, endeavored to ingratiate
himself with his new friends by disclosing all the secrets of his negotiations
at Vienna. Under these circumstances full confidence cannot be placed in his
declarations, for he had already proved himself to be quite unscrupulous in
regard to truth. The indignant queen sent an armed force, arrested the duke in
the house of the British ambassador, and sent him, in close imprisonment, to
the castle of Segovia. He, however, soon escaped from there and fled to
England, where he reiterated his declarations respecting the secret articles of
the treaty of Vienna. The most important of these declarations was, that Spain
and the emperor had agreed to drive George I. from England and to place the
Pretender, who had still many adherents, upon the British throne. It was also
asserted that marriage contracts were entered into which, by uniting the
daughters of the emperor with the sons of the Spanish monarch, would eventually
place the crowns of Austria and Spain upon the same brow. The thought of such a
vast accumulation of power in the hands of any one monarch, alarmed all the
rest of Europe. Both Spain and the emperor denied many of the statements made
by Ripperda. But as truth has not been
esteemed a diplomatic virtue, and as both Ripperda and the sovereigns he had served were equally tempted to falsehood, and were
equally destitute of any character for truth, it is not easy to decide which
party to believe.
England and France took occasion, through these
disclosures, to rouse the alarm of Europe. So much apprehension was excited in
Prussia, Bavaria, and with other princes of the empire, who were appalled at
the thought of having another Spanish prince upon the imperial throne, that the
emperor sent ambassadors to these courts to appease their anxiety, and issued a
public declaration denying that any such marriages were in contemplation; while
at the same time he was promising the Queen of Spain these marriages, to secure
her support. England and France accuse the emperor of deliberate, persistent,
unblushing falsehood.
The emperor seems now to have become involved in an
inextricable maze of prevarication and duplicity, striving in one court to
accomplish purposes which in other courts he was denying that he wished to
accomplish. His embarrassment at length became so great, the greater part of
Europe being roused and jealous, that he was compelled to abandon Spain, and
reluctantly to sign a treaty of amity with France and England. A general
armistice was agreed upon for seven years. The King of Spain, thus abandoned by
the emperor, was also compelled to smother his indignation and to roll back his
artillery into the arsenals. Thus this black cloud of war, which threatened all
Europe with desolation, was apparently dispelled. This treaty, which seemed to
restore peace to Europe, was signed in June, 1727. It was, however, a hollow
peace. The spirit of ambition and aggression animated every court; and each one
was ready, in defiance of treaties and in defiance of the misery of the world,
again to unsheath the sword as soon as any
opportunity should offer for the increase of territory or power.
CHAPTER XXIV
CHARLES VI AND THE POLISH WAR.
From 1727 to 1735.
The young King of France, Louis XV, from amidst the
orgies of his court which rivaled Babylon in corruption, was now seventeen
years of age, and was beginning to shake off the trammels of guardianship and
to take some ambitious part in government. The infamous regent, the Duke of
Orleans, died suddenly of apoplexy in 1723. Gradually the king's preceptor,
Fleury, obtained the entire ascendency over the mind of his pupil, and became
the chief director of affairs. He saw the policy of reuniting the Bourbons of
France and Spain for the support of each other. The policy was consequently
adopted of cultivating friendly relations between the two kingdoms. Cardinal
Fleury was much disposed to thwart the plans of the emperor. A congress of the
leading powers had been assembled at Soissons in June, 1728, to settle some
diplomatic questions. The favorite object of the emperor now was, to obtain
from the European powers the formal guarantee to support his decree of
succession which conveyed the crown of Austria to his daughters, in preference
to those of his brother Joseph.
The emperor urged the Pragmatic Sanction strongly upon
the congress, as the basis upon which he would enter into friendly relations
with all the powers. Fleury opposed it, and with such influence over the other
plenipotentiaries as to secure its rejection. The emperor was much irritated,
and intimated war. France and England retorted defiance. Spain was becoming
alienated from the emperor, who had abandoned her cause, and was again entering
into alliance with France. The emperor had promised his eldest daughter, Maria
Theresa, to Carlos, son of the Queen of Spain, and a second daughter to the
next son, Philip. These were as brilliant matches as an ambitious mother could
desire. But while the emperor was making secret and solemn promises to the
Queen of Spain, that these marriages should be consummated, which would secure
to the son of the queen the Austrian, as well as the Spanish crown, he was
declaring to the courts of Europe that he had no such plans in contemplation.
The Spanish queen, at length, annoyed, and goaded on
by France and England, sent an ambassador to Vienna, and demanded of the
emperor a written promise that Maria Theresa was to be the bride of Carlos. The
emperor was now brought to the end of his intrigues. He had been careful
heretofore to give only verbal promises, through his ministers. After his
reiterated public denials that any such alliance was anticipated, he did not
dare commit himself by giving the required document. An apologetic, equivocal
answer was returned which so roused the ire of the
queen, that, breaking off from Austria, she at once entered into a treaty of
cordial union with England and France.
It will readily be seen that all these wars and
intrigues had but little reference to the welfare of the masses of the people.
They were hardly more thought of than the cattle and the poultry. The only
purpose they served was, by unintermitted toil, to raise the wealth which
supported the castle and the palace, and to march to the field to fight
battles, in which they had no earthly interest. The written history of Europe
is only the history of kings and nobles—their ambitions, intrigues and war. The
unwritten history of the dumb, toiling millions, defrauded of their rights, doomed
to poverty and ignorance, is only recorded in the book of God's remembrance.
When that page shall be read, every ear that hears it will tingle.
The frail connection between Austria and Spain was now
terminated. England, France and Spain entered into an alliance to make vigorous
war against Charles VI if he manifested any hostility to any of the articles of
the treaty into which they had entered. The Queen of Spain, in her spite,
forbade the subjects of the emperor from trading at all with Spain, and granted
to her new allies the exclusive right to the Spanish trade. She went so far in
her reconciliation with England as to assure the king that he was quite welcome
to retain the rock of Gibraltar which he held with so tenacious a grasp.
In this treaty, with studied neglect, even the name of
the emperor was not mentioned; and yet the allies, as if to provoke a quarrel,
sent Charles VI a copy, peremptorily demanding assent to the treaty without his
having taken any part whatever in the negotiation.
This insulting demand fell like a bomb-shell in the
palace at Vienna. Emperor, ministers, courtiers, all were aroused to a frenzy
of indignation. “So insulting a message,” said Count Zinzendorf, “is
unparalleled, even in the annals of savages.” The emperor condescended to make
no reply, but very spiritedly issued orders to all parts of the empire, for his
troops to hold themselves in readiness for war.
And yet Charles was overwhelmed with anxiety, and was
almost in despair. It was a terrible humiliation for the emperor to be
compelled to submit, unavenged, to such an insult. But how could the emperor
alone, venture to meet in battle England, France, Spain and all the other
powers whom three such kingdoms could, either by persuasion or compulsion,
bring into their alliance? He pleaded with his natural allies. Russia had not
been insulted, and was unwilling to engage in so distant a war. Prussia had no
hope of gaining anything, and declined the contest. Sardinia sent a polite
message to the emperor that it was more for her interest to enter into an
alliance with her nearer neighbors, France, Spain and England, and that she had
accordingly done so. The treasury of Charles was exhausted; his States were
impoverished by constant and desolating wars. And his troops manifested but
little zeal to enter the field against so fearful a superiority of force. The
emperor, tortured almost beyond endurance by chagrin, was yet compelled to
submit.
The allies were quite willing to provoke a war with
the emperor; but as he received their insults so meekly, and made no movement
against them, they were rather disposed to march against him. Spain wanted
Parma and Tuscany, but France was not willing to have Spain make so great an
accession to her Italian power. France wished to extend her area north, through
the States of the Netherlands. But England was unwilling to see the French
power thus aggrandized. England had her aspirations, to which both France and
Spain were opposed. Thus the allies operated as a check upon each other.
The emperor found some little consolation in this
growing disunion, and did all in his power to foment it. Wishing to humble the
Bourbons of France and Spain, he made secret overtures to England. The offers
of the emperor were of such a nature, that England eagerly accepted them,
returned to friendly relations with the emperor, and, to his extreme joy,
pledged herself to support the Pragmatic Sanction.
It seems to have been the great object of the
emperor's life to secure the crown of Austria for his daughters. It was an
exceedingly disgraceful act. There was no single respectable reason to be
brought forward why his daughters should crowd from the throne the daughters of
his elder deceased brother, the Emperor Joseph. Charles was so aware of the
gross injustice of the deed, and that the ordinary integrity of humanity would
rise against him, that he felt the necessity of exhausting all the arts of
diplomacy to secure for his daughters the pledged support of the surrounding
thrones. He had now by intrigues of many years obtained the guarantee of the
Pragmatic Sanction from Russia, Prussia, Holland, Spain and England. France
still refused her pledge, as did also many of the minor States of the empire.
The emperor, encouraged by the success he had thus far met with, pushed his
efforts with renewed vigor, and in January, 1732, exulted that he had gained
the guarantee of the Pragmatic Sanction from all the Germanic body, with the
exception of Bavaria, Palatine and Saxony.
And now a new difficulty arose to embroil Europe in
trouble. When Charles XII, like a thunderbolt of war, burst upon Poland, he
drove Augustus II from the throne, and placed upon it Stanislaus Leczinski, a Polish noble, whom he had picked up by the
way, and whose heroic character secured the admiration of this semi-insane
monarch. Augustus, utterly crushed, was compelled by his eccentric victor to
send the crown jewels and the archives, with a letter of congratulation, to
Stanislaus. This was in the year 1706. Three years after this, in 1709, Charles
XII suffered a memorable defeat at Pultowa. Augustus
II, then at the head of an army, regained his kingdom, and Stanislaus fled in
disguise. After numerous adventures and fearful afflictions, the court of
France offered him a retreat in Wissembourg in Alsace.
Here the ex-king remained for six years, when his beautiful daughter Mary was
selected to take the place of the rejected Mary of Spain, as the wife of the
young dauphin, Louis XV.
In the year 1733 Augustus II died. In anticipation of
this event Austria had been very busy, hoping to secure the elective crown of
Poland for the son of Augustus who had inherited his father's name, and who had
promised to support the Pragmatic Sanction. France was equally busy in the
endeavor to place the scepter of Poland in the hand of Stanislaus, father of
the queen. From the time of the marriage of his daughter with Louis XV,
Stanislaus received a handsome pension from the French treasury, maintained a
court of regal splendor, and received all the honors due to a sovereign. All
the energies of the French court were now aroused to secure the crown for
Stanislaus. Russia, Prussia and Austria were in natural sympathy. They wished
to secure the alliance of Poland, and were also both anxious to destroy the
republican principle of electing rulers, and to introduce hereditary
descent of the crown in all the kingdoms of Europe. But an election by the
nobles was now indispensable, and the rival powers were, with all the arts
known in courts, pushing the claims of their several candidates. It was an
important question, for upon it depended whether warlike Poland was to be the
ally of the Austrian or of the French party. Poland was also becoming quite
republican in its tendencies, and had adopted a constitution which greatly limited
the power of the crown. Augustus would be but a tool in the hands of Russia,
Prussia and Austria, and would cooperate with them in crushing the spirit of
liberty in Poland. These three great northern powers became so roused upon the
subject, that they put their troops in motion, threatening to exclude
Stanislaus by force.
This language of menace and display of arms roused
France. The king, while inundating Poland with agents, and lavishing the
treasure of France in bribes to secure the election of Stanislaus, assumed an
air of virtuous indignation in view of the interference of the Austrian party,
and declared that no foreign power should interfere in any way with the freedom
of the election. This led the emperor to issue a counter-memorial inveighing against
the intermeddling of France.
In the midst of these turmoils the congress of Polish nobles met to choose their king. It was immediately
apparent that there was a very powerful party organized in favor of Stanislaus.
The emperor was for marching directly into the kingdom with an army which he
had already assembled in Silesia for this purpose, and with the bayonet make up
for any deficiency which his party might want in votes. Though Prussia
demurred, he put his troops in motion, and the imperial and Russian ambassadors
at Warsaw informed the marshal of the diet that Catharine, who was now Empress
of Russia, and Charles, had decided to exclude Stanislaus from Poland by force.
These threats produced their natural effect upon the
bold warrior barons of Poland. Exasperated rather than intimidated, they
assembled, many thousands in number, on the great plain of Wola,
but a few miles from Warsaw, and with great unanimity chose Stanislaus their
king. This was the 12th of September, 1733. Stanislaus, anticipating the
result, had left France in disguise, accompanied by a single attendant, to
undertake the bold enterprise of traversing the heart of Germany, eluding all
the vigilance of the emperor, and of entering Poland notwithstanding all the
efforts of Austria, Russia and Prussia to keep him away. It was a very
hazardous adventure, for his arrest would have proved his ruin. Though he
encountered innumerable dangers, with marvelous sagacity and heroism he
succeeded, and reached Warsaw on the 9th of September, just three days before
the election. In regal splendor he rode, as soon as informed of his election,
to the tented field where the nobles were convened. He was received with the
clashing of weapons, the explosions of artillery, and the acclamations of
thousands.
But the Poles were not sufficiently enlightened fully
to comprehend the virtue and the sacredness of the ballot-box. The Russian army
was now hastening to the gates of Warsaw. The small minority of Polish nobles
opposed to the election of Stanislaus seceded from the diet, mounted their
horses, crossed the Vistula, and joined the invading array to make war upon the
sovereign whom the majority had chosen. The retribution for such folly and
wickedness has come. There is no longer any Poland. They who despise the
authority of the ballot-box inevitably usher in the bayonets of despotism.
Under the protection of this army the minority held another diet at Kamien (on the 5th of October), a village just outside the
suburbs of Warsaw, and chose as the sovereign of Poland Augustus, son of the
deceased king. The minority, aided by the Russian and imperial armies, were too
strong for the majority. They took possession of Warsaw, and crowned their
candidate king, with the title of Augustus III. Stanislaus, pressed by an
overpowering force, retreated to Dantzic, at the
mouth of the Vistula, about two hundred miles from Warsaw. Here he was
surrounded by the Russian troops and held in close siege, while Augustus III
took possession of Poland. France could do nothing. A weary march of more than
a thousand miles separated Paris from Warsaw, and the French troops would be
compelled to fight their way through the very heart of the German empire, and
at the end of the journey to meet the united armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria
and Poland under her king, now in possession of all the fortresses.
Though Louis XV could make no effectual resistance, it
was not in human nature but that he should seek revenge. When shepherds
quarrel, they kill each other's flocks. When kings quarrel, they kill the poor
peasants in each other's territories, and burn their homes. France succeeded in
enlisting in her behalf Spain and Sardinia. Austria and Russia were upon the
other side. Prussia, jealous of the emperor's greatness, declined any active participation.
Most of the other powers of Europe also remained neutral. France had now no
hope of placing Stanislaus upon the throne; she only sought revenge, determined
to humble the house of Austria. The mercenary King of Sardinia, Charles
Emanuel, was willing to serve the one who would pay the most. He first offered
himself to the emperor, but upon terms too exorbitant to be accepted. France
and Spain immediately offered him terms even more advantageous than those he
had demanded of the emperor. The contract was settled, and the Sardinian army
marched into the allied camp.
The King of Sardinia, who was as ready to employ guile
as force in warfare, so thoroughly deceived the emperor as to lead him to
believe that he had accepted the emperor's terms, and that Sardinia was to be
allied with Austria, even when the whole contract was settled with France and
Spain, and the plan of the campaign was matured. So utterly was the emperor
deluded by a fraud so contemptible, in the view of every honorable mind, that he
sent great convoys of grain, and a large supply of shot, shells and artillery
from the arsenals of Milan into the Sardinian camp. Charles Emanuel, dead to
all sense of magnanimity, rubbed his hands with delight in the successful
perpetration of such fraud, exclaiming, "An virtus an dolos, quis ab hoste requirat."
So cunningly was this stratagem carried on, that the
emperor was not undeceived until his own artillery, which he had sent to
Charles Emanuel, were thundering at the gates of the city of Milan, and the
shot and shells which he had so unsuspectingly furnished were mowing down the
imperial troops. So sudden was the attack, so unprepared was Austrian Lombardy
to meet it, that in twelve weeks the Sardinian troops overran the whole
territory, seized every city and magazine, with all their treasures, leaving
the fortress of Mantua alone in the possession of the imperial troops. It was
the policy of Louis XV to attack Austria in the remote portions of her
widely-extended dominions, and to cut off province by province. He also made
special and successful efforts to detach the interests of the German empire
from those of Austria, so that the princes of the empire might claim
neutrality. It was against the possessions of Charles VI, not against the
independent States of the empire, that Louis XV urged war.
The storms of winter were now at hand, and both
parties were compelled to abandon the field until spring. But during the winter
every nerve was strained by the combatants in preparation for the strife which
the returning sun would introduce. The emperor established strong defenses
along the banks of the Rhine to prevent the passage of the French; he also sent
agents to all the princes of the empire to enlist them in his cause, and
succeeded, notwithstanding the remonstrances of many who claimed neutrality, in
obtaining a vote from a diet which he assembled, for a large sum of money, and
for an army of one hundred and twenty thousand men.
The loss of Lombardy troubled Charles exceedingly, for
it threatened the loss of all his Italian possessions. Notwithstanding the
severity of the winter he sent to Mantua all the troops he could raise from his
hereditary domains; and ordered every possible effort to be made to be prepared
to undertake the offensive in the spring, and to drive the Sardinians from
Lombardy. In the beginning of May the emperor had assembled within and around
Mantua, sixty thousand men, under the command of Count Merci. The hostile
forces soon met, and battle after battle thundered over the Italian plains. On
the 29th of June the two armies encountered each other in the vicinity of
Parma, in such numbers as to give promise of a decisive battle. For ten hours
the demoniac storm raged unintermitted. Ten thousand of the dead covered the
ground. Neither party had taken a single standard or a single prisoner, an
event almost unparalleled in the history of battles. From the utter exhaustion
of both parties the strife ceased. The Sardinians and French, mangled and
bleeding, retired within the walls of Parma. The Austrians, equally bruised and
bloody, having lost their leader, retired to Reggio. Three hundred and forty of
the Austrian officers were either killed or wounded.
The King of Sardinia was absent during this
engagement, having gone to Turin to visit his wife, who was sick. The morning
after the battle, however, he joined the army, and succeeded in cutting off an
Austrian division of twelve hundred men, whom he took prisoners. Both parties
now waited for a time to heal their wounds, repair their shattered weapons, get
rested and receive reinforcements. Ten thousand poor peasants, who had not the
slightest interest in the quarrel, had now met with a bloody death, and other
thousands were now to be brought forward and offered as victims on this altar of
kingly ambition. By the middle of July they were again prepared to take the
field. Both parties struggled with almost superhuman energies in the work of
mutual destruction; villages were burned, cities stormed, fields crimsoned with
blood and strewn with the slain, while no decisive advantage was gained. In the
desperation of the strife the hostile battalions were hurled against each other
until the beginning of January. They waded morasses, slept in drenching storms,
and were swept by freezing blasts. Sickness entered the camp, and was even more
fatal than the bullet of the foe. Thousands moaned and died in their misery,
upon pallets of straw, where no sister, wife or mother could soothe the dying
anguish. Another winter only afforded the combatants opportunity to nurse their
strength that they might deal still heavier blows in another campaign.
While the imperial troops were struggling against
Sardinia and France on the plains of Lombardy, a Spanish squadron landed a
strong military force of French and Spaniards upon the peninsula of southern
Italy, and meeting with no force sufficiently powerful to oppose them, speedily
overran Naples and Sicily. The Spanish troops silenced the forts which defended
the city of Naples, and taking the garrison prisoners, entered the metropolis
in triumphal array, greeted by the acclamations of the populace, who hated the
Austrians. After many battles, in which thousands were slain, the Austrians
were driven out of all the Neapolitan States, and Carlos, the oldest son of Philip
V of Spain, was crowned King of Naples, with the title of Charles III. The
island of Sicily was speedily subjugated and also attached to the Neapolitan
crown.
These losses the emperor felt most keenly. Upon the
Rhine he had made great preparations, strengthening fortresses and collecting
troops, which he placed under the command of his veteran general, Prince
Eugene. He was quite sanguine that here he would be abundantly able to repel
the assaults of his foes. But here again he was doomed to bitter
disappointment. The emperor found a vast disproportion between promise and
performance. The diet had voted him one hundred and twenty thousand troops;
they furnished twelve thousand. They voted abundant supplies; they furnished
almost none at all.
The campaign opened the 9th of April, 1734, the French
crossing the Rhine near Truerbuch, in three strong
columns, notwithstanding all the efforts of the Austrians to resist them.
Prince Eugene, by birth a Frenchman, reluctantly assumed the command. He had
remonstrated with the emperor against any forcible interference in the Polish
election, assuring him that he would thus expose himself, almost without
allies, to all the power of France. Eugene did not hesitate openly to express
his disapprobation of the war. “I can take no interest in this war,” he said; “the
question at issue is not important enough to authorize the death of a chicken.”
Eugene, upon his arrival from Vienna, at the Austrian
camp, found but twenty-five thousand men. They were composed of a motley
assemblage from different States, undisciplined, unaccustomed to act together
and with no confidence in each other. The commanders of the various corps were
quarreling for the precedence in rank, and there was no unity or subordination
in the army. They were retreating before the French, who, in numbers, in
discipline, and in the materiel of war, were vastly in the superiority. Eugene
saw at once that it would be folly to risk a battle, and that all he could hope
to accomplish was to throw such embarrassments as he might in the path of the
victors.
The young officers, ignorant, impetuous and reckless,
were for giving battle, which would inevitably have resulted in the destruction
of the army. They were so vexed by the wise caution of Eugene, which they
regarded as pusillanimity, that they complained to the emperor that the veteran
general was in his dotage, that he was broken both in body and mind, and quite
unfit to command the army. These representations induced the emperor to send a
spy to watch the conduct of Eugene. Though deeply wounded by these suspicions,
the experienced general could not be provoked to hazard an engagement. He
retreated from post to post, merely checking the progress of the enemy, till
the campaign was over, and the ice and snow of a German winter drove all to
winter quarters.
While recruiting for the campaign of 1735, Prince
Eugene wrote a series of most earnest letters to his confidential agent in
London, which letters were laid before George II, urging England to come to the
help of the emperor in his great extremity. Though George was eager to put the
fleet and army of England in motion, the British cabinet wisely refused to
plunge the nation into war for such a cause, and the emperor was left to reap
the bitter fruit of his despotism and folly. The emperor endeavored to frighten
England by saying that he was reduced to such an extremity that if the British
cabinet did not give him aid, he should be compelled to seek peace by giving
his daughter, with Austria in her hand as her dowry, to Carlos, now King of
Naples and heir apparent to the crown of Spain. He well knew that to prevent
such an acquisition of power on the part of the Spanish monarch, who was also
in intimate alliance with France, England would be ready to expend any amount
of blood and treasure.
Charles VI waited with great impatience to see the
result of this menace, hardly doubting that it would bring England immediately
to terms. Bitter was his disappointment and his despair when he received from
the court of St. James the calm reply, that England could not possibly take a
part in this war, and that in view of the great embarrassments in which the
emperor was involved, England would take no offense in case of the marriage of
the emperor’s second daughter to Carlos. England then advised the emperor to
make peace by surrendering the Netherlands.
The emperor was now greatly enraged, and inveighed
bitterly against England as guilty of the grossest perfidy. He declared that
England had been as deeply interested as he was in excluding Stanislaus from
the throne of Poland; that it was more important for England than for Austria
to curb the exorbitant power of France; that in every step he had taken against
Stanislaus, he had consulted England, and had acted in accordance with her
counsel; that England was reaping the benefit of having the father-in-law of
the French king expelled from the Polish throne; that England had solemnly
promised to support him in these measures, and now having derived all the
advantage, basely abandoned him. There were bitter charges, and it has never
been denied that they were mainly true. The emperor, in his indignation,
threatened to tell the whole story to the people of England. It is
strange that the emperor had found out that there were people in
England. In no other part of Europe was there anything
but nobles and peasants.
In this extraordinary letter, addressed to Count Kinsky, the imperial ambassador in London, the emperor
wrote:
“On the death of Augustus II, King of Poland, my first
care was to communicate to the King of England the principles on which I acted.
I followed, in every instance, his advice.... England has never failed to give
me promises, both before and since the commencement of the war, but instead of
fulfilling those promises, she has even favored my enemies.... Let the king
know that I never will consent to the plan of pacification now in agitation;
that I had rather suffer the worst of extremities than accede to such
disadvantageous proposals, and that even if I should not be able to prevent
them, I will justify my honor and my dignity, by publishing a circumstantial
account of all the transaction, together with all the documents which I have
now in possession.... If these representations fail, means must be taken to
publish and circulate throughout England our answer to the proposal of good
offices which was not made till after the expiration of nine months. Should the
court of London proceed so far as to make such propositions of peace as are
supposed to be in agitation, you will not delay a moment to circulate
throughout England a memorial, containing a recapitulation of all negotiations
which have taken place since 1710, together with the authentic documents,
detailing my just complaints, and reclaiming, in the most solemn manner, the
execution of the guaranties.”
One more effort the emperor made, and it was indeed a
desperate one. He dispatched a secret agent, an English Roman Catholic, by the
name of Strickland, to London, to endeavor to overthrow the ministry and bring
in a cabinet in favor of him. In this, of course, he failed entirely. Nothing
now remained for him but to submit, with the best grace he could, to the terms
exacted by his foes. In the general pacification great interests were at stake,
and all the leading powers of Europe demanded a voice in the proceedings. For
many months the negotiations were protracted. England and France became
involved in an angry dispute. Each power was endeavoring to grasp all it could,
while at the same time it was striving to check the rapacity of every other
power. There was a general armistice while these negotiations were pending. It
was, however, found exceedingly difficult to reconcile all conflicting
interests. New parties were formed; new combinations entered into, and all
parties began to aim for a renewal of the strife. England, exasperated against
France, in menace made an imposing display of her fleet and navy. The emperor
was delighted, and, trusting to gain new allies, exerted his skill of diplomacy
to involve the contracting parties in confusion and discord.
Thus encouraged, the emperor refused to accede to the
terms demanded. He was required to give up the Netherlands, and all his foreign
possessions, and to retire to his hereditary dominions. “What a severe
sentence,” exclaimed Count Zinzendorf, the emperor's ambassador, “have you
passed on the emperor. No malefactor was ever carried with so hard a doom to
the gibbet.”
The armies again took the field. Eugene, again, though
with great reluctance, assumed the command of the imperial forces. France had
assembled one hundred thousand men upon the Rhine. Eugene had but thirty
thousand men to meet them. He assured the emperor that with such a force he
could not successfully carry on the war. Jealous of his reputation, he said,
sadly, “to find myself in the same condition as last year, will be only
exposing myself to the censure of the world, which judges by appearance, as if
I were less capable, in my old age, to support the reputation of my former
successes” With consummate generalship, this small force held the whole French
army in check.
CHAPTER XXV
CHARLES VI AND THE TURKISH WAR RENEWED.
From 1735 to 1730.
The emperor being quite unable, either on the Rhine or
in Italy, successfully to compete with his foes, received blow after blow,
which exceedingly disheartened him. His affairs were in a desperate condition,
and, to add to his grief, dissensions filled his cabinet; his counsellors
mutually accusing each other of being the cause of the impending ruin. The
Italian possessions of the emperor had been thronged with Austrian nobles,
filling all the posts of office and of honor, and receiving rich salaries. A
change of administration, in the transference of these States to the dominion
of Spain and Sardinia, “reformed” all these Austrian office-holders out of
their places, and conferred these posts upon Spaniards and Sardinians. The
ejected Austrian nobles crowded the court of the emperor, with the most
passionate importunities that he would enter into a separate accommodation with
Spain, and secure the restoration of the Italian provinces by giving his eldest
daughter, Maria Theresa, to the Spanish prince, Carlos. This would seem to be a
very simple arrangement, especially since the Queen of Spain so earnestly
desired this match, that she was willing to make almost any sacrifice for its
accomplishment. But there was an inseparable obstacle in the way of any such
arrangement.
Maria Theresa had just attained her eighteenth year.
She was a young lady of extraordinary force of character, and of an imperial
spirit; and she had not the slightest idea of having her person disposed of as
a mere make-weight in the diplomacy of Europe. She knew that the crown of
Austria was soon to be hers; she understood the weakness of her father, and was
well aware that she was far more capable of wearing that crown than he had ever
been; and she was already far more disposed to take the reins of government
from her father’s hand, than she was to submit herself to his control. With
such a character, and such anticipations, she had become passionately attached
to the young Duke of Lorraine, who was eight years her senior, and who had for
some years been one of the most brilliant ornaments of her father’s court.
The duchy of Lorraine was one of the most extensive
and opulent of the minor States of the German empire. Admirably situated upon
the Rhine and the Meuse, and extending to the sea, it embraced over ten
thousand square miles, and contained a population of over a million and a half.
The duke, Francis Stephen, was the heir of an illustrious line, whose lineage
could be traced for many centuries. Germany, France and Spain, united, had not
sufficient power to induce Maria Theresa to reject Francis Stephen, the
grandson of her father’s sister, the playmate of her childhood, and now her
devoted lover, heroic and fascinating, for the Spanish Carlos, of whom she knew
little, and for whom she cared less. Ambition also powerfully operated on the
very peculiar mind of Maria Theresa. She had much of the exacting spirit of
Elizabeth, England's maiden queen, and was emulous of supremacy which no one
would share. She, in her own right, was to inherit the crown of Austria, and
Francis Stephen, high-born and noble as he was, and her recognized husband,
would still be her subject. She could confer upon him dignity and power,
retaining a supremacy which even he could never reach.
The emperor was fully aware of the attachment of his
daughter to Francis, of her inflexible character; and even when pretending to
negotiate for her marriage with Carlos, he was conscious that it was all a mere
pretense, and that the union could never be effected. The British minister at
Vienna saw very clearly the true state of affairs, and when the emperor was
endeavoring to intimidate England by the menace that he would unite the crowns
of Spain and Austria by uniting Maria and Carlos, the minister wrote to his
home government as follows:
“Maria Theresa is a princess of the highest spirit;
her father's losses are her own. She reasons already; she enters into affairs;
she admires his virtues, but condemns his mismanagement; and is of a temper so
formed for rule and ambition, as to look upon him as little more than her
administrator. Notwithstanding this lofty humor by day, she sighs and pines all
night for her Duke of Lorraine. If she sleeps, it is only to dream of him; if
she wakes, it is but to talk of him to the lady in waiting; so that there is no
more probability of her forgetting the very individual government, and the very
individual husband which she thinks herself born to, than of her forgiving the
authors of her losing either.”
The empress was cordially cooperating with her
daughter. The emperor was in a state of utter distraction. His affairs were
fast going to ruin; he was harassed by counter entreaties; he knew not which
way to turn, or what to do. Insupportable gloom oppressed his spirit. Pale and
haggard, he wandered through the rooms of his palace, the image of woe. At
night he tossed sleepless upon his bed, moaning in anguish which he then did
not attempt to conceal, and giving free utterance to all the mental tortures
which were goading him to madness. The queen became seriously alarmed lest his
reason should break down beneath such a weight of woe. It was clear that
neither reason nor life could long withstand such a struggle.
Thus in despair, the emperor made proposals for a
secret and separate accommodation with France. Louis XV promptly listened, and
offered terms, appallingly definite, and cruel enough to extort the last drop
of blood from the emperor's sinking heart. “Give me,” said the French king, “the
duchy of Lorraine, and I will withdraw my armies, and leave Austria to make the
best terms she can with Spain.”
How could the emperor wrest from his prospective
son-in-law his magnificent ancestral inheritance? The duke could not hold his
realms for an hour against the armies of France, should the emperor consent to
their surrender; and conscious of the desperation to which the emperor was
driven, and of his helplessness, he was himself plunged into the deepest dismay
and anguish. He held an interview with the British minister to see if it were
not possible that England might interpose her aid in his behalf. In frantic
grief he lost his self-control, and, throwing himself into a chair, pressed his
brow convulsively, and exclaimed, “Great God! will not England help me? Has not
his majesty with his own lips, over and over again, promised to stand by me?”
The French armies were advancing; shot and shell were
falling upon village and city; fortress after fortress was surrendering. “Give
me Lorraine,” repeated Louis XV, persistently, “or I will take all Austria.”
There was no alternative but for the emperor to drink to the dregs the bitter
cup which his own hand had mingled. He surrendered Lorraine to France. He,
however, succeeded in obtaining some slight compensation for the defrauded
duke. The French court allowed him a pension of ninety thousand dollars a year,
until the death of the aged Duke of Tuscany, who was the last of the Medici
line, promising that then Tuscany, one of the most important duchies of central
Italy, should pass into the hands of Francis. Should Sardinia offer any
opposition, the King of France promised to unite with the emperor in
maintaining Francis in his possession by force of arms. Peace was thus obtained
with France. Peace was then made with Spain and Sardinia, by surrendering to
Spain Naples and Sicily, and to Sardinia most of the other Austrian provinces
in Italy. Thus scourged and despoiled, the emperor, a humbled, woe-stricken
man, retreated to the seclusion of his palace.
While these affairs were in progress, Francis Stephen
derived very considerable solace by his marriage with Maria Theresa. Their
nuptials took place at Vienna on the 12th of February, 1736. The emperor made
the consent of the duke to the cession of Lorraine to France, a condition of
the marriage. As the duke struggled against the surrender of his paternal
domains, Cartenstein, the emperor’s confidential
minister, insultingly said to him, “Monseigneur, point de cession, point d'archiduchesse.” My lord, no cession, no
archduchess. Fortunately for Francis, in about a year after his marriage
the Duke of Tuscany died, and Francis, with his bride, hastened to his new home
in the palaces of Leghorn. Though the duke mourned bitterly over the loss of
his ancestral domains, Tuscany was no mean inheritance. The duke was absolute
monarch of the duchy, which contained about eight thousand square miles and a
population of a million. The revenues of the archduchy were some four millions
of dollars. The army consisted of six thousand troops.
Two months after the marriage of Maria Theresa, Prince
Eugene died quietly in his bed at the age of seventy-three. He had passed his
whole lifetime riding over fields of battle swept by bullets and plowed by
shot. He had always exposed his own person with utter recklessness, leading the
charge, and being the first to enter the breach or climb the rampart. Though
often wounded, he escaped all these perils, and breathed his last in peace upon
his pillow in Vienna.
His funeral was attended with regal honors. For three
days the corpse lay in state, with the coat of mail, the helmet and the
gauntlets which the warrior had worn in so many fierce battles, suspended over
his lifeless remains. His heart was sent in an urn to be deposited in the royal
tomb where his ancestors slumbered. His embalmed body was interred in the
metropolitan church in Vienna. The emperor and all the court attended the
funeral, and his remains were borne to the grave with honors rarely conferred
upon any but crowned heads.
The Ottoman power had now passed its culminating
point, and was evidently on the wane. The Russian empire was beginning to
arrest the attention of Europe, and was ambitious of making its voice heard in
the diplomacy of the European monarchies. Being destitute of any sea coast, it
was excluded from all commercial intercourse with foreign nations, and in its
cold, northern realm, “leaning,” as Napoleon once said, “against the North
Pole,” seemed to be shut up to barbarism. It had been a leading object of the
ambition of Peter the Great to secure a maritime port for his kingdom. He at
first attempted a naval depot on his extreme southern border, at the mouth of
the Don, on the sea of Azof. This would open to him the commerce of the
Mediterranean through the Azof, the Euxine and the Marmora. But the assailing
Turks drove him from these shores, and he was compelled to surrender the
fortresses he had commenced to their arms. He then turned to his western
frontier, and, with an incredible expenditure of money and sacrifice of life,
reared upon the marshes of the Baltic the imperial city of St. Petersburg.
Peter I. died in 1725, leaving the crown to his wife Catharine. She, however,
survived him but two years, when she died, in 1727, leaving two daughters. The
crown then passed to the grandson of Peter I., a boy of thirteen. In three
years he died of the small-pox. Anna, the daughter of the oldest brother of
Peter I, now ascended the throne, and reigned, through her favorites, with
relentless rigor.
It was one of the first objects of Anna's ambition to
secure a harbor for maritime commerce in the more sunny climes of southern
Europe. St. Petersburg, far away upon the frozen shores of the Baltic, where
the harbor was shut up with ice for five months in the year, presented but a
cheerless prospect for the formation of a merchant marine. She accordingly
revived the original project of Peter the Great, and waged war with the Turks
to recover the lost province on the shores of the Euxine. Russia had been
mainly instrumental in placing Augustus II. on the throne of Poland; Anna was
consequently sure of his sympathy and cooperation. She also sent to Austria to
secure the alliance of the emperor. Charles VI, though his army was in a state
of decay and his treasury empty, eagerly embarked in the enterprise. He was in
a continued state of apprehension from the threatened invasion of the Turks. He
hoped also, aided by the powerful arm of Russia, to be able to gain territories
in the east which would afford some compensation for his enormous losses in the
south and in the west.
While negotiations were pending, the Russian armies
were already on the march. They took Azof after a siege of but a fortnight, and
then overran and took possession of the whole Crimea, driving the Turks before
them. Charles VI was a very scrupulous Roman Catholic, and was animated to the
strife by the declaration of his confessor that it was his duty, as a Christian
prince, to aid in extirpating the enemies of the Church of Christ. The Turks
were greatly alarmed by these successes of the Russians, and by the formidable
preparations of the other powers allied against them.
The emperor hoped that fortune, so long adverse, was
now turning in his favor. He collected a large force on the frontiers of
Turkey, and entrusted the command to General Seckendorf.
The general hastened into Hungary to the rendezvous of the troops. He found the
army in a deplorable condition. The treasury being exhausted, they were but
poorly supplied with the necessaries of war, and the generals and contractors
had contrived to appropriate to themselves most of the funds which had been
furnished. The general wrote to the emperor, presenting a lamentable picture of
the destitution of the army.
“I can not,” he said, “consistently
with my duty to God and the emperor, conceal the miserable condition of the
barracks and the hospitals. The troops, crowded together without sufficient
bedding to cover them, are a prey to innumerable disorders, and are exposed to
the rain, and other inclemencies of the weather, from
the dilapidated state of the caserns, the roofs of which are in perpetual
danger of being overthrown by the wind. All the frontier fortresses, and even
Belgrade, are incapable of the smallest resistance, as well from the
dilapidated state of the fortifications as from a total want of artillery,
ammunition and other requisites. The naval armament is in a state of
irreparable disorder. Some companies of my regiment of Belgrade are thrust into
holes where a man would not put even his favorite hounds; and I cannot see the
situation of these miserable and half-starved wretches without tears. These
melancholy circumstances portend the loss of these fine kingdoms with the same
rapidity as that of the States of Italy.”
The bold Commander-in-chief also declared that many of
the generals were so utterly incapable of discharging their duties, that
nothing could be anticipated, under their guidance, but defeat and ruin. He
complained that the governors of those distant provinces, quite neglecting the
responsibilities of their offices, were spending their time in hunting and
other trivial amusements. These remonstrances roused the emperor, and decisive
reforms were undertaken. The main plan of the campaign was for the Russians,
who were already on the shores of the Black sea, to press on to the mouth of
the Danube, and then to march up the stream. The Austrians were to follow down
the Danube to the Turkish province of Wallachia, and then, marching through the
heart of that province, either effect a junction with the Russians, or inclose the Turks between the two armies. At the same time
a large Austrian force, marching through Bosnia and Servia, and driving the
Turks out, were to take military possession of those countries and join the
main army in its union on the lower Danube.
Matters being thus arranged, General Seckendorf took the command of the Austrian troops, with
the assurance that he should be furnished with one hundred and twenty-six
thousand men, provided with all the implements of war, and that he should
receive a monthly remittance of one million two hundred thousand dollars for
the pay of the troops. The emperor, however, found it much easier to make
promises than to fulfill them. The month of August had already arrived and Seckendorf, notwithstanding his most strenuous exertions,
had assembled at Belgrade but thirty thousand infantry and fifteen thousand
cavalry. The Turks, with extraordinary energy, had raised a much more
formidable and a better equipped army. Just as Seckendorf was commencing his march, having minutely arranged all the stages of the
campaign, to his surprise and indignation he received orders to leave the
valley of the Danube and march directly south about one hundred and fifty miles
into the heart of Servia, and lay siege to the fortress of Nissa.
The whole plan of the campaign was thus frustrated. Magazines, at great
expense, had been established, and arrangements made for floating the heavy
baggage down the stream. Now the troops were to march through morasses and over
mountains, without suitable baggage wagons, and with no means of supplying
themselves with provisions in so hostile and inhospitable a country.
But the command of the emperor was not to be
disobeyed. For twenty-eight days they toiled along, encountering innumerable
impediments, many perishing by the way, until they arrived, in a state of
extreme exhaustion and destitution, before the walls of Nissa.
Fortunately the city was entirely unprepared for an attack, which had not been
at all anticipated, and the garrison speedily surrendered. Here Seckendorf, having dispatched parties to seize the
neighboring fortress, and the passes of the mountains, waited for further
orders from Vienna. The army were so dissatisfied with their position and their
hardships, that they at last almost rose in mutiny, and Seckendorf,
having accomplished nothing of any moment, was compelled to retrace his steps
to the banks of the Danube, where he arrived on the 16th of October. Thus the
campaign was a total failure.
Bitter complaints were uttered both by the army and
the nation. The emperor, with the characteristic injustice of an ignoble mind,
attributed the unfortunate campaign to the incapacity of Seckendorf,
whose judicious plans he had so ruthlessly thwarted. The heroic general was
immediately disgraced and recalled, and the command of the army given to
General Philippi. The friends of General Seckendorf,
aware of his peril, urged him to seek safety in flight. But he, emboldened by
conscious innocence, obeyed the imperial commands and repaired to Vienna. Seckendorf was a Protestant. His appointment to the supreme
command gave great offense to the Catholics, and the priests, from their
pulpits, inveighed loudly against him as a heretic, whom God could not bless.
They arraigned his appointment as impious, and declared that, in consequence,
nothing was to be expected but divine indignation. Immediately upon his arrival
in Vienna the emperor ordered his arrest. A strong guard was placed over him,
in his own house, and articles of impeachment were drawn up against him. His
doom was sealed. Every misadventure was attributed to negligence, cupidity or
treachery. He could offer no defense which would be of any avail, for he was
not permitted to exhibit the orders he had received from the emperor, lest the
emperor himself should be proved guilty of those disasters which he was thus
dishonorably endeavoring to throw upon another. The unhappy Seckendorf,
thus made the victim of the faults of others, was condemned to the dungeon. He
was sent to imprisonment in the castle of Glatz, where he lingered in captivity
for many years until the death of the emperor.
Charles now, in accordance with the clamor of the
priests, removed all Protestants from command in the army and supplied their
places with Catholics. The Duke of Lorraine, who had recently married Maria
Theresa, was appointed generalissimo. But as the duke was young, inexperienced
in war, and, as yet, had displayed none of that peculiar talent requisite for
the guidance of armies, the emperor placed next to him, as the acting
commander, Marshal Konigsegg. The emperor also gave
orders that every important movement should be directed by a council of war,
and that in case of a tie the casting vote should be given, not by the Duke of
Lorraine, but by the veteran commander Konigsegg. The
duke was an exceedingly amiable man, of very courtly manners and winning
address. He was scholarly in his tastes, and not at all fond of the hardships
of war, with its exposure, fatigue and butchery. Though a man of perhaps more
than ordinary intellectual power, he was easily depressed by adversity, and not
calculated to brave the fierce storms of disaster.
Early in March the Turks opened the campaign by
sending an army of twenty thousand men to besiege Orsova,
an important fortress on an island of the Danube, about one hundred miles below
Belgrade. They planted their batteries upon both the northern and the southern
banks of the Danube, and opened a storm of shot and shell upon the fortress.
The Duke of Lorraine hastened to the relief of the important post, which quite
commanded that portion of the stream. The imperial troops pressed on until they
arrived within a few miles of the fortress. The Turks marched to meet them, and
plunged into their camp with great fierceness. After a short but desperate
conflict, the Turks were repulsed, and retreating in a panic, they broke up
their camp before the walls of Orsova and retired.
This slight success, after so many disasters, caused
immense exultation. The Duke of Lorraine was lauded as one of the greatest
generals of the age. The pulpits rang with his praises, and it was announced
that now, that the troops were placed under a true child of the Church,
Providence might be expected to smile. Soon, however, the imperial army, while
incautiously passing through a defile, was assailed by a strong force of the
Turks, and compelled to retreat, having lost three thousand men. The Turks
resumed the siege of Orsova; and the Duke of
Lorraine, quite disheartened, returned to Vienna, leaving the command of the
army to Konigsegg. The Turks soon captured the
fortress, and then, ascending the river, drove the imperial troops before them
to Belgrade. The Turks invested the city, and the beleaguered troops were
rapidly swept away by famine and pestilence. The imperial cavalry, crossing the
Save, rapidly continued their retreat. Konigsegg was
now recalled in disgrace, as incapable of conducting the war, and the command
was given to General Kevenhuller. He was equally
unsuccessful in resisting the foe; and, after a series of indecisive battles,
the storms of November drove both parties to winter quarters, and another
campaign was finished. The Russians had also fought some fierce battles; but
their campaign was as ineffective as that of the Austrians.
The court of Vienna was now in a state of utter
confusion. There was no leading mind to assume any authority, and there was
irremediable discordance of counsel. The Duke of Lorraine was in hopeless
disgrace; even the emperor assenting to the universal cry against him. In a
state almost of distraction the emperor exclaimed, “Is the fortune of my empire
departed with Eugene?”. The disgraceful retreat to Belgrade seemed to haunt him
day and night; and he repeated again and again to himself, as he paced the floor
of his apartment, “that unfortunate, that fatal retreat.” Disasters had been so
rapidly accumulating upon him, that he feared for every
thing. He expressed the greatest anxiety lest his daughter, Maria
Theresa, who was to succeed him upon the throne, might be intercepted, in the
case of his sudden death, from returning to Austria, and excluded from the
throne. The emperor was in a state of mind nearly bordering upon insanity.
At length the sun of another spring returned, the
spring of 1739, and the recruited armies were prepared again to take the field.
The emperor placed a new commander, Marshal Wallis, in command of the Austrian
troops. He was a man of ability, but overbearing and morose, being described by
a contemporary as one who hated everybody, and who was hated by everybody in
return. Fifty miles north of Belgrade, on the south bank of the Danube, is the
fortified town of Peterwardein, so called as the
rendezvous where Peter the Hermit marshaled the soldiers of the first crusade.
This fortress had long been esteemed one of the strongest of the Austrian
empire. It was appointed as the rendezvous of the imperial troops, and all the
energies of the now exhausted empire were expended in gathering there as large
a force as possible. But, notwithstanding the utmost efforts, in May but thirty
thousand men were assembled, and these but very poorly provided with the costly
necessaries of war. Another auxiliary force of ten thousand men was collected
at Temeswar, a strong fortress twenty-five miles
north of Peterwardein. With these forces Wallis was
making preparations to attempt to recover Orsova from
the Turks, when he received positive orders to engage the enemy with his whole
force on the first opportunity.
The army marched down the banks of the river,
conveying its baggage and heavy artillery in a flotilla to Belgrade, where it
arrived on the 11th of June. Here they were informed that the Turkish army was
about twenty miles below on the river at Crotzka. The
imperial army was immediately pressed forward, in accordance with the emperor's
orders, to attack the foe. The Turks were strongly posted, and far exceeded the
Austrians in number. At five o'clock on the morning of the 21st of July the
battle commenced, and blazed fiercely through all the hours of the day until
the sun went down. Seven thousand Austrians were then dead upon the plain. The
Turks were preparing to renew the conflict in the morning, when Wallis ordered
a retreat, which was securely effected during the darkness of the night. On the
ensuing day the Turks pursued them to the walls of Belgrade, and, driving them
across the river, opened the fire of their batteries upon the city. The Turks
commenced the siege in form, and were so powerful, that Wallis could do nothing
to retard their operations. A breach was ere long made in one of the bastions;
an assault was hourly expected which the garrison was in no condition to repel.
Wallis sent word to the emperor that the surrender of Belgrade was inevitable;
that it was necessary immediately to retreat to Peterwardein,
and that the Turks, flushed with victory, might soon be at the gates of Vienna.
Great was the consternation which pervaded the court
and the capital upon the reception of these tidings. The ministers all began to
criminate each other. The general voice clamored for peace upon almost any
terms. The emperor alone remained firm. He dispatched another officer, General Schmettan, to hasten with all expedition to the imperial
camp, and prevent, if possible, the impending disaster. He earnestly pressed
the hand of the general as he took his leave, and said—
“Use the utmost diligence to arrive before the retreat
of the army; assume the defense of Belgrade, and save it, if not too late, from
falling into the hands of the enemy.”
The energy of Schmettan arrested the retreat of Wallis, and revived the desponding hopes of the
garrison of Belgrade. Bastion after bastion was recovered. The Turks were
driven back from the advance posts they had occupied. A new spirit animated the
whole Austrian army, and from the depths of despair they were rising to
sanguine hopes of victory, when the stunning news arrived that the emperor had
sent an envoy to the Turkish camp, and had obtained peace by the surrender of Belgrade.
Count Neuperg having received full powers from the
emperor to treat, very imprudently entered the camp of the barbaric Turk,
without requiring any hostages for his safety. The barbarians, regardless of
the flag of truce, and of all the rules of civilized warfare, arrested Count Neuperg, and put him under guard. He was then conducted
into the presence of the grand vizier, who was arrayed in state, surrounded by
his bashaws. The grand vizier haughtily demanded the terms Neuperg was authorized to offer.
“The emperor, my master,” said Neuperg,
“has intrusted me with full powers to negotiate a
peace, and is willing, for the sake of peace, to cede the province of Wallachia
to Turkey provided the fortress of Orsova be
dismantled.”
The grand vizier rose, came forward, and deliberately
spit in the face of the Count Neuperg, and exclaimed,
“Infidel dog! thou provest thyself a spy, with all thy powers. Since thou hast brought no letter from the
Vizier Wallis, and hast concealed his offer to surrender Belgrade, thou shalt
be sent to Constantinople to receive the punishment thou deservest.”
Count Neuperg, after this
insult, was conducted into close confinement. The French ambassador,
Villeneuve, now arrived. He had adopted the precaution of obtaining hostages before
entrusting himself in the hands of the Turks. The grand vizier would not listen
to any terms of accommodation but upon the basis of the surrender of Belgrade.
The Turks carried their point in everything. The emperor surrendered Belgrade,
relinquished to them Orsova, agreed to demolish all
the fortresses of his own province of Media, and ceded to Turkey Servia and
various other contiguous districts. It was a humiliating treaty for Austria.
Already despoiled in Italy and on the Rhine, the emperor was now compelled to
abandon to the Turks extensive territories and important fortresses upon the
lower Danube.
General Schmettan, totally
unconscious of these proceedings, was conducting the defense of Belgrade with
great vigor and with great success, when he was astounded by the arrival of a
courier in his camp, presenting to him the following laconic note from Count Neuperg:
“Peace was signed this morning between the emperor,
our master, and the Porte. Let hostilities cease, therefore, on the receipt of
this. In half an hour I shall follow, and announce the particulars myself.
General Schmettan could
hardly repress his indignation, and, when Count Neuperg arrived, intreated that the surrender of Belgrade might be postponed until the
terms had been sent to the emperor for his ratification. But Neuperg would listen to no such suggestions, and, indignant
that any obstacle should be thrown in the way of the fulfillment of the treaty,
menacingly said,
“If you choose to disobey the orders of the emperor,
and to delay the execution of the article relative to Belgrade, I will
instantly dispatch a courier to Vienna, and charge you with all the misfortunes
which may result. I had great difficulty in diverting the grand vizier from the
demand of Sirmia, Sclavonia and the bannat of Temeswar;
and when I have dispatched a courier, I will return into the Turkish camp and
protest against this violation of the treaty.”
General Schmettan was
compelled to yield. Eight hundred janissaries took possession of one of the
gates of the city; and the Turkish officers rode triumphantly into the streets,
waving before them in defiance the banners they had taken at Crotzka. The new fortifications were blown up, and the
imperial army, in grief and shame, retired up the river to Peterwardein.
They had hardly evacuated the city ere Count Neuperg,
to his inexpressible mortification, received a letter from the emperor stating
that nothing could reconcile him to the idea of surrendering Belgrade but the
conviction that its defense was utterly hopeless; but that learning that this
was by no means the case, he intreated him on no account to think of the
surrender of the city. To add to the chagrin of the count, he also ascertained,
at the same time, that the Turks were in such a deplorable condition that they
were just on the point of retreating, and would gladly have purchased peace at
almost any sacrifice. A little more diplomatic skill might have wrested from
the Turks even a larger extent of territory than the emperor had so foolishly
surrendered to them.
CHAPTER XXVI
MARIA THERESA.
From 1739 to 1741.
Every intelligent man in Austria felt degraded by the
peace which had been made with the Turks. The tidings were received throughout
the ranks of the army with a general outburst of grief and indignation. The
troops intreated their officers to lead them against the foe, declaring that
they would speedily drive the Turks from Belgrade, which had been so
ignominiously surrendered. The populace of Vienna rose in insurrection, and
would have torn down the houses of the ministers who had recommended the peace but
for the interposition of the military. The emperor was almost beside himself
with anguish. He could not appease the clamors of the nation. He was also in
alliance with Russia, and knew not how to meet the reproaches of the court of
St. Petersburg for having so needlessly surrendered the most important fortress
on the Turkish frontier. In an interview which he held with the Russian
ambassador his embarrassment was painful to witness. To the Queen of Russia he
wrote in terms expressive of the extreme agony of his mind, and, with
characteristic want of magnanimity cast the blame of the very measures he had
ordered upon the agents who had merely executed his will.
“While I am writing this letter,” he said, “to your
imperial majesty, my heart is filled with the most excessive grief. I was much
less touched with the advantages gained by the enemy and the news of the siege
of Belgrade, than with the advice I have received concerning the shameful
preliminary articles concluded by Count Neuperg.
“The history of past ages exhibits no vestiges of such
an event. I was on the point of preventing the fatal and too hasty execution of
these preliminaries, when I heard that they were already partly executed, even
before the design had been communicated to me. Thus I see my hands tied by
those who ought to glory in obeying me. All who have approached me since that
fatal day, are so many witnesses of the excess of my grief. Although I have
many times experienced adversity, I never was so much afflicted as by this
event. Your majesty has a right to complain of some who ought to have obeyed my
orders; but I had no part in what they have done. Though all the forces of the
Ottoman empire were turned against me I was not disheartened, but still did all
in my power for the common cause. I shall not, however, fail to perform in due
time what avenging justice requires. In this dismal series of misfortunes I
have still one comfort left, which is that the fault cannot be thrown upon me.
It lies entirely on such of my officers as ratified the disgraceful
preliminaries without my knowledge, against my consent, and even contrary to my
express orders.”
This apologetic letter was followed by a circular to
all the imperial ambassadors in the various courts of Europe, which circular
was filled with the bitterest denunciation of Count Neuperg and Marshal Wallis. It declared that the emperor was not in any way implicated
in the shameful surrender of Belgrade. The marshal and the count, thus assailed
and held up to the scorn and execration of Europe, ventured to reply that they
had strictly conformed to their instructions. The common sense of the community
taught them that, in so rigorous and punctilious a court as that of Vienna, no
agent of the emperor would dare to act contrary to his received instructions.
Thus the infamous attempts of Charles to brand his officers with ignominy did
but rebound upon himself. The almost universal voice condemned the emperor and
acquitted the plenipotentiaries.
While the emperor was thus filling all the courts of
Europe with his clamor against Count Neuperg,
declaring that he had exceeded his powers and that he deserved to be hung, he
at the same time, with almost idiotic fatuity, sent the same Count Neuperg back to the Turkish camp to settle some items which
yet required adjustment. This proved, to every mind, the insincerity of
Charles. The Russians, thus forsaken by Austria, also made peace with the
Turks. They consented to demolish their fortress of Azof, to relinquish all
pretensions to the right of navigating the Black sea, and to allow a vast
extent of territory upon its northern shores to remain an uninhabited desert,
as a barrier between Russia and Turkey. The treaty being definitively settled,
both Marshal Wallis and Count Neuperg were arrested
and sent to prison, where they were detained until the death of Charles VI.
Care and sorrow were now hurrying the emperor to the
grave. Wan and haggard he moved about his palace, mourning his doom, and
complaining that it was his destiny to be disappointed in every cherished plan
of his life. All his affairs were in inextricable confusion, and his empire
seemed crumbling to decay. A cotemporary writer thus
describes the situation of the court and the nation:
“Every thing in this court
is running into the last confusion and ruin; where there are as visible signs
of folly and madness, as ever were inflicted upon a people whom Heaven is
determined to destroy, no less by domestic divisions, than by the more public
calamities of repeated defeats, defenselessness, poverty and plagues.”
Early in October, 1740, the emperor, restless, and
feverish in body and mind, repaired to one of his country palaces a few miles
distant from Vienna. The season was prematurely cold and gloomy, with frost and
storms of sleet. In consequence of a chill the enfeebled monarch was seized
with an attack of the gout, which was followed by a very severe fit of the
colic. The night of the 10th of October he writhed in pain upon his bed, while
repeated vomitings weakened his already exhausted
frame. The next day he was conveyed to Vienna, but in such extreme debility
that he fainted several times in his carriage by the way. Almost in a state of
insensibility he was carried to the retired palace of La Favourite in the vicinity of Vienna, and placed in his bed. It was soon evident that his
stormy life was now drawing near to its close. Patiently he bore his severe
sufferings, and as his physicians were unable to agree respecting the nature of
his disease, he said to them, calmly, “Cease your disputes. I shall soon be
dead. You can then open my body and ascertain the cause of my death.”
Priests were admitted to his chamber who performed the
last offices of the Church for the dying. With perfect composure, he made all
the arrangements relative to the succession to the throne. One after another
the members of his family were introduced, and he affectionately bade them
adieu, giving to each appropriate words of counsel. To his daughter, Maria
Theresa, who was not present, and who was to succeed him, he sent his earnest
blessing. With the Duke of Lorraine, her husband, he had a private interview of
two hours. On the 20th of October, 1740, at two o'clock in the morning, he
died, in the fifty-sixth year of his age, and the thirtieth of his reign. Weary
of the world, he willingly retired to the anticipated repose of the grave.
To die,—to sleep;—
To sleep! perchance to dream;—ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause."
By the death of Charles VI the male line of the house
of Hapsburg became extinct, after having continued in uninterrupted succession
for over four hundred years. His eldest daughter, Maria Theresa, who now
succeeded to the crown of Austria, was twenty-four years of age. Her figure was
tall, graceful and commanding. Her features were beautiful, and her smile sweet
and winning. She was born to command, combining in her character woman's power
of fascination with man's energy. Though so far advanced in pregnancy that she
was not permitted to see her dying father, the very day after his death she so
rallied her energies as to give an audience to the minister of state, and to
assume the government with that marvelous vigor which characterized her whole
reign.
Seldom has a kingdom been in a more deplorable
condition than was Austria on the morning when the scepter passed into the
hands of Maria Theresa. There were not forty thousand dollars in the treasury;
the state was enormously in debt; the whole army did not amount to more than
thirty thousand men, widely dispersed, clamoring for want of pay, and almost
entirely destitute of the materials for war. The vintage had been cut off by
the frost, producing great distress in the country. There was a famine in
Vienna, and many were starving for want of food. The peasants, in the
neighborhood of the metropolis, were rising in insurrection, ravaging the
fields in search of game; while rumors were industriously circulated that the
government was dissolved, that the succession was disputed, and that the Duke
of Bavaria was on the march, with an army, to claim the crown. The distant
provinces were anxious to shake off the Austrian yoke. Bohemia was agitated; and
the restless barons of Hungary were upon the point of grasping their arms, and,
under the protection of Turkey, of claiming their ancestral hereditary rights.
Notwithstanding the untiring endeavors of the emperor to obtain the assent of
Europe to the Pragmatic Sanction, many influential courts refused to recognize
the right of Maria Theresa to the crown. The ministers were desponding,
irresolute and incapable. Maria Theresa was young, quite inexperienced and in
delicate health, being upon the eve of her confinement. The English ambassador,
describing the state of affairs in Vienna as they appeared to him at this time,
wrote:
“To the ministers, the Turks seem to be already in
Hungary; the Hungarians in insurrection; the Bohemians in open revolt; the Duke
of Bavaria, with his army, at the gates of Vienna; and France the soul of all
these movements. The ministers were not only in despair, but that despair even
was not capable of rousing them to any desperate exertions.”
Maria Theresa immediately dispatched couriers to
inform the northern powers of her accession to the crown, and troops were
forwarded to the frontiers to prevent any hostile invasion from Bavaria. The
Duke of Bavaria claimed the Austrian crown in virtue of the will of Ferdinand
I, which, he affirmed, devised the crown to his daughters and their descendants
in case of the failure of the male line. As the male line was now extinct, by
this decree the scepter would pass to the Duke of Bavaria. Charles VI had
foreseen this claim, and endeavored to set it aside by the declaration that the
clause referred to in the will of Ferdinand I. had reference to legitimate
heirs, not male merely, and that, consequently, it did not set aside
female descendants. In proof of this, Maria Theresa had the will exhibited to
all the leading officers of state, and to the foreign ambassadors. It appeared
that legitimate heirs was the phrase. And now the question hinged
upon the point, whether females were legitimate heirs. In some kingdoms of
Europe they were; in others they were not. In Austria the custom had been
variable. Here was a nicely-balanced question, sufficiently momentous to divide
Europe, and which might put all the armies of the continent in motion. There
were also other claimants for the crown, but none who could present so
plausible a plea as that of the Duke of Bavaria.
Maria Theresa now waited with great anxiety for the
reply she should receive from the foreign powers whom she had notified of her
accession. The Duke of Bavaria was equally active and solicitous, and it was
quite uncertain whose claim would be supported by the surrounding courts. The
first response came from Prussia. The king sent his congratulations, and
acknowledged the title of Maria Theresa. This was followed by a letter from
Augustus of Poland, containing the same friendly recognition. Russia then sent
in assurances of cordial support. The King of England returned a friendly
answer, promising cooperation. All this was cheering. But France was then the
great power on the continent, and could carry with her one half of Europe in
almost any cause. The response was looked for from France with great anxiety.
Day after day, week after week passed, and no response came. At length the
French Secretary of State gave a cautious and merely verbal declaration of the
friendly disposition of the French court. Cardinal Fleury, the illustrious
French Secretary of State, was cold, formal and excessively polite. Maria
Theresa at once inferred that France withheld her acknowledgment, merely
waiting for a favorable opportunity to recognize the claims of the Duke of
Bavaria.
While matters were in this state, to the surprise of
all, Frederic, King of Prussia, drew his sword, and demanded large and
indefinite portions of Austria to be annexed to his territories. Disdaining all
appeal to any documentary evidence, and scorning to reply to any questionings
as to his right, he demanded vast provinces, as a highwayman demands one's
purse, with the pistol at his breast. This fiery young prince, inheriting the
most magnificent army in Europe, considering its discipline and equipments, was determined to display his gallantry as a
fighter, with Europe for the arena. As he was looking about to find some
suitable foe against which he could hurl his seventy-five thousand men, the
defenseless yet large and opulent duchy of Silesia presented itself as a
glittering prize worth the claiming by a royal highwayman.
The Austrian province of Silesia bordered a portion of
Prussia. "While treacherously professing friendship with the court of
Vienna, with great secrecy and sagacity Frederic assembled a large force of his
best troops in the vicinity of Berlin, and in mid-winter, when the snow lay
deep upon the plains, made a sudden rush into Silesia, and, crushing at a blow
all opposition, took possession of the whole duchy. Having accomplished this
feat, he still pretended great friendship for Maria Theresa, and sent an
ambassador to inform her that he was afraid that some of the foreign powers,
now conspiring against her, might seize the duchy, and thus wrest it from her;
that he had accordingly taken it to hold it in safety; and that since it was so
very important, for the tranquillity of his kingdom,
that Silesia should not fall into the hands of an enemy, he hoped that Maria
Theresa would allow him to retain the duchy as an indemnity for the expense he
had been at in taking it."
This most extraordinary and impertinent message was
accompanied by a threat. The ambassador of the Prussian king, a man haughty and
semi-barbaric in his demeanor, gave his message in a private interview with the
queen’s husband, Francis, the Duke of Lorraine. In conclusion, the ambassador
added, “No one is more firm in his resolutions than the King of Prussia. He
must and will take Silesia. If not secured by the immediate cession of that
province, his troops and money will be offered to the Duke of Bavaria.”
“Go tell your master,” the Duke of Lorraine replied
with dignity, “that while he has a single soldier in Silesia, we will rather
perish than enter into any discussion. If he will evacuate the duchy, we will
treat with him at Berlin. For my part, not for the imperial crown, nor even for
the whole world, will I sacrifice one inch of the queen's lawful possessions.”
While these negotiations were pending, the king
himself made an ostentatious entry into Silesia. The majority of the Silesians
were Protestants. The King of Prussia, who had discarded religion of all kinds,
had of course discarded that of Rome, and was thus nominally a Protestant. The
Protestants, who had suffered so much from the persecutions of the Catholic
church, had less to fear from the infidelity of Berlin than from the fanaticism
of Rome. Frederic was consequently generally received with rejoicings. The
duchy of Silesia was indeed a desirable prize. Spreading over a region of more
than fifteen thousand square miles, and containing a population of more than a
million and a half, it presented to its feudal lord an ample revenue and the
means of raising a large army. Breslau, the capital of the duchy, upon the
Oder, contained a population of over eighty thousand. Built upon several
islands of that beautiful stream, its situation was attractive, while in its
palaces and its ornamental squares, it vied with the finest capitals of Europe.
Frederic entered the city in triumph in January, 1741.
The small Austrian garrison, consisting of but three thousand men, retired
before him into Moravia. The Prussian monarch took possession of the revenues
of the duchy, organized the government under his own officers, garrisoned the
fortresses and returned to Berlin. Maria Theresa appealed to friendly courts
for aid. Most of them were lavish in promises, but she waited in vain for any
fulfillment. Neither money, arms nor men were sent to her. Maria Theresa, thus
abandoned and thrown upon her own unaided energies, collected a small army in
Moravia, on the confines of Silesia, and intrusted the command to Count Neuperg, whom she liberated from
the prison to which her father had so unjustly consigned him. But it was mid-winter.
The roads were almost impassable. The treasury of the Austrian court was so
empty that but meager supplies could be provided for the troops. A ridge of
mountains, whose defiles were blocked up with snow, spread between Silesia and
Moravia.
It was not until the close of March that Marshal Neuperg was able to force his way through these defiles and
enter Silesia. The Prussians, not aware of their danger, were reposing in their
cantonments. Neuperg hoped to take them by surprise
and cut them off in detail. Indeed Frederic, who, by chance, was at Jagerndorf inspecting a fortress, was nearly surrounded by
a party of Austrian hussars, and very narrowly escaped capture. The ground was
still covered with snow as the Austrian troops toiled painfully through the
mountains to penetrate the Silesian plains. Frederic rapidly concentrated his
scattered troops to meet the foe. The warlike character of the Prussian king
was as yet undeveloped, and Neuperg, unconscious of
the tremendous energies he was to encounter, and supposing that the Prussian
garrisons would fly in dismay before him, was giving his troops, after their
exhausting march, a few days of repose in the Vicinity of Molnitz.
On the 8th of April there was a thick fall of snow,
filling the air and covering the fields. Frederic availed himself of the storm,
which curtained him from all observation, to urge forward his troops, that he
might overwhelm the Austrians by a fierce surprise. While Neuperg was thus resting, all unconscious of danger, twenty-seven battalions,
consisting of sixteen thousand men, and twenty-nine squadrons of horse,
amounting to six thousand, were, in the smothering snow, taking their positions
for battle. On the morning of the 10th the snow ceased to fall, the clouds
broke, and the sun came out clear and bright, when Neuperg saw that another and a far more fearful storm had gathered, and that its
thunderbolts were about to be hurled into the midst of his camp.
The Prussian batteries opened their fire, spreading
death through the ranks of the Austrians, even while they were hastily forming
in line of battle. Still the Austrian veterans, accustomed to all the
vicissitudes of war, undismayed, rapidly threw themselves into columns and
rushed upon the foe. Fiercely the battle raged hour after hour until the middle
of the afternoon, when the field was covered with the dead and crimsoned with
blood. The Austrians, having lost three thousand in slain and two thousand in
prisoners, retired in confusion, surrendering the field, with several guns and
banners, to the victors. This memorable battle gave Silesia to Prussia, and
opened the war of the Austrian succession.
The Duke of Lorraine was greatly alarmed by the
threatening attitude which affairs now assumed. It was evident that France, Prussia,
Bavaria and many other powers were combining against Austria, to rob her of her
provinces, and perhaps to dismember the kingdom entirely. Not a single court as
yet had manifested any disposition to assist Maria Theresa. England urged the
Austrian court to buy the peace of Prussia at almost any price. Francis, Duke
of Lorraine, was earnestly for yielding, and intreated his wife to surrender a
part for the sake of retaining the rest. “We had better,” he said, “surrender
Silesia to Prussia, and thus purchase peace with Frederic, than meet the
chances of so general a war as now threatens Austria.”
But Maria Theresa was as imperial in character and as
indomitable in spirit as Frederic of Prussia. With indignation she rejected all
such counsel, declaring that she would never cede one inch of her territories
to any claimant, and that, even if her allies all abandoned her, she would
throw herself upon her subjects and upon her armies, and perish, if need be, in
defense of the integrity of Austria.
Frederic now established his court and cabinet at the
camp of Molnitz. Couriers were ever coming and going.
Envoys from France and Bavaria were in constant secret conference with him.
France, jealous of the power of Austria, was plotting its dismemberment, even
while protesting friendship. Bavaria was willing to unite with Prussia in
seizing the empire and in dividing the spoil. These courts seemed to lay no
claim to any higher morality than that of ordinary highwaymen. The doom of
Maria Theresa was apparently sealed. Austria was to be plundered. Other parties
now began to rush in with their claims, that they might share in the booty.
Philip V. of Spain put in his claim for the Austrian crown as the lineal
descendant of the Emperor Charles V. Augustus, King of Poland, urged the right
of his wife Maria, eldest daughter of Joseph. And even Charles Emanuel, King of
Sardinia, hunted up an obsolete claim, through the line of the second daughter
of Philip II.
At the camp of Molnitz the
plan was matured of giving Bohemia and Upper Austria to the Duke of Bavaria.
Frederic of Prussia was to receive Upper Silesia and Glatz. Augustus of Poland
was to annex to his kingdom Moravia and Upper Silesia. Lombardy was assigned to
Spain. Sardinia was to receive some compensation not yet fully decided upon.
The whole transaction was a piece of as unmitigated villainy as ever
transpired. One cannot but feel a little sympathy for Austria which had thus
fallen among thieves, and was stripped and bleeding. Our sympathies are,
however, somewhat alleviated by the reflection that Austria was just as eager
as any of the other powers for any such piratic expedition, and that, soon
after, she united with Russia and Prussia in plundering Poland. And when Poland
was dismembered by a trio of regal robbers, she only incurred the same doom
which she was now eager to inflict upon Austria. When pirates and robbers
plunder each other, the victims are not entitled to much sympathy. To the
masses of the people it made but little difference whether their life's blood
was wrung from them by Russian, Prussian or Austrian despots. Under whatever
rule they lived, they were alike doomed to toil as beasts of burden in the
field, or to perish amidst the hardships and the carnage of the camp.
These plans were all revealed to Maria Theresa, and
with such a combination of foes so powerful, it seemed as if no earthly wisdom
could avert her doom. But her lofty spirit remained unyielding, and she refused
all offers of accommodation based upon the surrender of any portion of her
territories. England endeavored to induce Frederic to consent to take the duchy
of Glogau alone, suggesting that thus his Prussian
majesty had it in his power to conclude an honorable peace, and to show his
magnanimity by restoring tranquillity to Europe.
“At the beginning of the war,” Frederic replied, “I
might perhaps have been contented with this proposal. At present I must have
four duchies. But do not,” he exclaimed, impatiently, “talk to me
of magnanimity. A prince must consult his own interests. I am not averse
to peace; but I want four duchies, and I will have them.”
Frederic of Prussia was no hypocrite. He was a highway
robber and did not profess to be anything else. His power was such that instead
of demanding of the helpless traveler his watch, he could demand of powerful
nations their revenues. If they did not yield to his demands he shot them down
without compunction, and left them in their blood. The British minister
ventured to ask what four duchies Frederic intended to take. No reply could be
obtained to this question. By the four duchies he simply meant that he intended
to extend the area of Prussia over every inch of territory he could possibly
acquire, either by fair means or by foul.
England, alarmed by these combinations, which it was
evident that France was sagaciously forming and guiding, and from the
successful prosecution of which plans it was certain that France would secure
some immense accession of power, granted to Austria a subsidy of one million
five hundred thousand dollars, to aid her in repelling her foes. Still the
danger from the grand confederacy became so imminent, that the Duke of Lorraine
and all the Austrian ministry united with the British ambassador, in entreating
Maria Theresa to try to break up the confederacy and purchase peace with
Prussia by offering Frederic the duchy of Glogau.
With extreme reluctance the queen at length yielded to these importunities, and
consented that an envoy should take the proposal to the Prussian camp at Molnitz. As the envoy was about to leave he expressed some
apprehension that the Prussian king might reject the proffer.
“I wish he may reject it,” exclaimed the queen,
passionately. “It would be a relief to my conscience. God only knows how I can
answer to my subjects for the cession of the duchy, having sworn to them never
to alienate any part of our country.”
Mr. Robinson, the British ambassador, as mediator,
took these terms to the Prussian camp. In the endeavor to make as good a
bargain as possible, he was first to offer Austrian Guelderland.
If that failed he was then to offer Limburg, a province of the Netherlands,
containing sixteen hundred square miles, and if this was not accepted, he was
authorized, as the ultimatum, to consent to the cession of the duchy of Glogau. The Prussian king received the ambassadors, on the
5th of August, in a large tent, in his camp at Molanitz.
The king was a blunt, uncourtly man, and the interview was attended with none
of the amenities of polished life. After a few desultory remarks, the British
ambassador opened the business by saying that he was authorized by the Queen of
Austria to offer, as the basis of peace, the cession to Prussia of Austrian Guelderland.
“What a beggarly offer,”exclaimed the king. “This is extremely impertinent. What! nothing but a paltry town for
all my just pretensions in Silesia!”
In this tirade of passion, either affected or real, he
continued for some time. Mr. Robinson waited patiently until this outburst was
exhausted, and then hesitatingly remarked that the queen was so anxious to
secure the peace of Europe, that if tranquility could not be restored on other
terms she was even willing to cede to Prussia, in addition, the province of
Limburg.
“Indeed!” said the ill-bred, clownish king,
contemptuously. “And how can the queen think of violating her solemn oath which
renders every inch of the Low Countries inalienable. I have no desire to obtain
distant territory which will be useless to me; much less do I wish to expend
money in new fortification. Neither the French nor the Dutch have offended me;
and I do not wish to offend them, by acquiring territory in the vicinity of
their realms. If I should accept Limburg, what security could I have that I
should be permitted to retain it?”
The ambassador replied, “England, Russia and Saxony,
will give their guaranty.”
“Guaranties,” rejoined the king, sneeringly. “Who, in
these times, pays any regard to pledges? Have not both England and France
pledged themselves to support the Pragmatic Sanction? Why do they not keep
their promises? The conduct of these powers is ridiculous. They only do what is
for their own interests. As for me, I am at the head of an invincible army. I
want Silesia. I have taken it, and I intend to keep it. What kind of a
reputation should I have if I should abandon the first enterprise of my reign?
No! I will sooner be crushed with my whole army, than renounce my rights in
Silesia. Let those who want peace grant me my demands. If they prefer to fight
again, they can do so, and again be beaten.”
Mr. Robinson ventured to offer a few soothing words to
calm the ferocious brute, and then proposed to give to him Glogau,
a small but rich duchy of about six hundred square miles, near the frontiers of
Prussia.
Frederic rose in a rage, and with loud voice and
threatening gestures, exclaimed,
“If the queen does not, within six weeks, yield to my
demands, I will double them. Return with this answer to Vienna. They who want
peace with me, will not oppose my wishes. I am sick of ultimatums; I will hear
no more of them. I demand Silesia. This is my final answer. I will give no
other.”
Then turning upon his heel, with an air of towering
indignation, he retired behind the inner curtain of his tent. Such was the man
to whom Providence, in its inscrutable wisdom, had assigned a throne, and a
highly disciplined army of seventy-five thousand men. To northern Europe he
proved an awful scourge, inflicting woes, which no tongue can adequately tell.
And now the storm of war seemed to commence in
earnest. The Duke of Bavaria issued a manifesto, declaring his right to the
whole Austrian inheritance, and pronouncing Maria Theresa a usurper. He
immediately marched an army into one of the provinces of Austria. At the same
time, two French armies were preparing to cross the Rhine to cooperate with the
Bavarian troops. The King of Prussia was also on the march, extending his
conquests. Still Maria Theresa remained inflexible, refusing to purchase peace
with Prussia by the surrender of Silesia.
“The resolution of the queen is taken," she said.
"If the House of Austria must perish, it is indifferent whether it
perishes by an Elector of Bavaria, or by an Elector of Brandenburg.”
While these all important matters were under
discussion, the queen, on the 13th of March, gave birth to a son, the Archduke
Joseph. This event strengthened the queen's resolution, to preserve, not only
for herself, but for her son and heir, the Austrian empire in its integrity.
From her infancy she had imbibed the most exalted ideas of the dignity and
grandeur of the house of Hapsburg. She had also been taught that her inheritance
was a solemn trust which she was religiously bound to preserve. Thus religious
principle, family pride and maternal love all now combined to increase the
inflexibility of a will which by nature was indomitable.
CHAPTER XXVII
MARIA THERESA.
From 1741 to 1743.
Maria Theresa, as imperial in spirit as in position,
was unwilling to share the crown, even with her husband. Francis officiated as
her chief minister, giving audience to foreign ambassadors, and attending to
many of the details of government, yet he had but little influence in the
direction of affairs. Though a very handsome man, of polished address, and well
cultivated understanding, he was not a man of either brilliant or commanding
intellect. Maria Theresa, as a woman, could not aspire to the imperial throne;
but all the energies of her ambitious nature were roused to secure that dignity
for her husband. Francis was very anxious to secure for himself the electoral
vote of Prussia, and he, consequently, was accused of being willing to cede
Austrian territory to Frederic to purchase his support. This deprived him of
all influence whenever he avowed sentiments contrary to those of the queen.
England, jealous of the vast continental power of
France, was anxious to strengthen Austria, as a means of holding France in
check. Seldom, in any of these courts, was the question of right or wrong
considered, in any transaction. Each court sought only its own aggrandizement
and the humiliation of its foes. The British cabinet, now, with very
considerable zeal, espoused the cause of Maria Theresa. Pamphlets were
circulated to rouse the enthusiasm of the nation, by depicting the wrongs of a
young and beautiful queen, so unchivalrously assailed by bearded monarchs in
overwhelming combination. The national ardor was thus easily kindled. On the
8th of August the King of England, in an animated speech from the throne, urged
Parliament to support Maria Theresa, thus to maintain the balance of
power in Europe. One million five hundred thousand dollars were immediately
voted, with strong resolutions in favor of the queen. The Austrian ambassador,
in transmitting this money and these resolutions to the queen, urged that no
sacrifice should be made to purchase peace with Prussia; affirming that the
king, the Parliament, and the people of England were all roused to enthusiasm
in behalf of Austria; and that England would spend its last penny, and shed its
last drop of blood, in defense of the cause of Maria Theresa. This encouraged
the queen exceedingly, for she was sanguine that Holland, the natural ally of
England, would follow the example of that nation. She also cherished strong
hopes that Russia might come to her aid.
It was the plan of France to rob Maria Theresa of all
her possessions excepting Hungary, to which distant kingdom she was to be
driven, and where she was to be left undisturbed to defend herself as she best
could against the Turks. Thus the confederates would have, to divide among
themselves, the States of the Netherlands, the kingdom of Bohemia, the Tyrol,
the duchies of Austria, Silesia, Moravia, Carinthia, Servia and various other
duchies opulent and populous, over which the vast empire of Austria had
extended its sway.
The French armies crossed the Rhine and united with
the Bavarian troops. The combined battalions marched, sweeping all opposition
before them, to Lintz, the capital of upper Austria.
This city, containing about thirty thousand inhabitants, is within a hundred
miles of Vienna, and is one of the most beautiful in Germany. Here, with much
military and civic pomp, the Duke of Bavaria was inaugurated Archduke of the
Austrian duchies. A detachment of the army was then dispatched down the river
to Polten, within twenty-four miles of Vienna; from whence a summons was sent
to the capital to surrender. At the same time a powerful army turned its steps
north, and pressing on a hundred and fifty miles, over the mountains and
through the plains of Bohemia, laid siege to Prague, which was filled with
magazines, and weakly garrisoned. Frederic, now in possession of all Silesia,
was leading his troops to cooperate with those of France and Bavaria.
The cause of Maria Theresa was now, to human vision,
desperate. Immense armies were invading her realms. Prague was invested; Vienna
threatened with immediate siege; her treasury was empty; her little army
defeated and scattered; she was abandoned by her allies, and nothing seemed to
remain for her but to submit to her conquerors. Hungary still clung firmly to
the queen, and she had been crowned at Presburg with
boundless enthusiasm. An eyewitness has thus described this scene:—
“The coronation was magnificent. The queen was all
charm. She rode gallantly up the Royal Mount, a hillock in the vicinity of Presburg, which the new sovereign ascends on horseback, and
waving a drawn sword, defied the four corners of the world, in a manner to show
that she had no occasion for that weapon to conquer all who saw her. The
antiquated crown received new graces from her head; and the old tattered robe
of St. Stephen became her as well as her own rich habit, if diamonds, pearls
and all sorts of precious stones can be called clothes”.
She had but recently risen from the bed of confinement
and the delicacy of her appearance added to her attractions. A table was spread
for a public entertainment, around which all the dignitaries of the realm were
assembled—dukes who could lead thousands of troops into the field, bold barons,
with their bronzed followers, whose iron sinews had been toughened in
innumerable wars. It was a warm summer day, and the cheek of the youthful queen
glowed with the warmth and with the excitement of the hour. Her beautiful hair
fell in ringlets upon her shoulders and over her full bosom. She sat at the
head of the table all queenly in loveliness, and imperial in character. The
bold, high-spirited nobles, who surrounded her, could appreciate her position,
assailed by half the monarchies of Europe, and left alone to combat them all.
Their chivalrous enthusiasm was thus aroused.
The statesmen of Vienna had endeavored to dissuade the
queen from making any appeal to the Hungarians. When Charles VI. made an effort
to secure their assent to the Pragmatic Sanction, the war-worn barons replied
haughtily, “We are accustomed to be governed by men, not by women.” The
ministers at Vienna feared, therefore, that the very sight of the queen,
youthful, frail and powerless, would stir these barons to immediate
insurrection, and that they would scorn such a sovereign to guide them in the
fierce wars which her crown involved. But Maria Theresa better understood human
nature. She believed that the same barons, who would resist the demands of the
Emperor Charles VI, would rally with enthusiasm around a defenseless woman,
appealing to them for aid. The cordiality and ever-increasing glow of ardor
with which she was greeted at the coronation and at the dinner encouraged her
hopes.
She summoned all the nobles to meet her in the great
hall of the castle. The hall was crowded with as brilliant an assemblage of
rank and power as Hungary could furnish. The queen entered, accompanied by her
retinue. She was dressed in deep mourning, in the Hungarian costume, with the
crown of St. Stephen upon her brow, and the regal cimiter at her side. With a majestic step she traversed the apartment, and ascended the
platform or tribune from whence the Kings of Hungary were accustomed to address
their congregated lords. All eyes were fixed upon her, and the most solemn
silence pervaded the assemblage.
The Latin language was then, in Hungary, the language
of diplomacy and of the court. All the records of the kingdom were preserved in
that language, and no one spoke, in the deliberations of the diet, but in the
majestic tongue of ancient Rome. The queen, after a pause of a few moments,
during which she carefully scanned the assemblage, addressing them in Latin,
said:—
“The disastrous situation of our affairs has moved us
to lay before our dear and faithful States of Hungary, the recent invasion of
Austria, the danger now impending over this kingdom, and a proposal for the
consideration of a remedy. The very existence of the kingdom of Hungary, of our
own person, of our children and our crown, is now at stake. Forsaken by all, we
place our sole resource in the fidelity, arms and long tried valor of the
Hungarians; exhorting you, the states and orders, to deliberate without delay
in this extreme danger, on the most effectual measures for the security of our
person, of our children and of our crown, and to carry them into immediate
execution. In regard to ourself, the faithful states and orders of Hungary
shall experience our hearty cooperation in all things which may promote the
pristine happiness of this ancient kingdom, and the honor of the people.”
(Some may feel interested in reading this speech in
the original Latin, as it is now found recorded in the archives of Hungary. It
is as follows:
"Allocutio Reginæ Hungariæ Mariæ Theresiæ, anno 1741. Afflictus rerum nostrarum status nos movit, ut fidelibus perchari regni Hungariæ statibus de hostili provinciæ nostræ hereditariæ, Austriæ invasione, et imminente regno huic periculo, adeoque de considerando remedio propositionem scrïpto facíamus. Agitur de regno Hungarïa, de
persona nostrâ, prolibus nostris, et coronâ, ab omnibus derelictï, unice ad inclytorum statuum fidelitatem, arma, et Hungarorum priscam virtutem confugimus, ímpense hortantes, velint status et ordines in hoc maximo periculo de securitate personæ nostræ, prolium, coronæ, et regni quanto ocius consulere,
et ea in effectum etiam deducere. Quantum ex parte nostra est, quæcunque pro pristina regni hujus felicïtate, et gentis decore forent,
in iis omnibus benignitatem et clementiam nostram regiam fideles status et ordines
regni experturi sunt.")
The response was instantaneous and emphatic. A
thousand warriors drew their sabers half out of their scabbards, and then
thrust them back to the hilt, with a clangor like the clash of swords on the
field of battle. Then with one voice they shouted, “Moriamur pro nostra rege, Maria Theresa”—We will die for
our sovereign, Maria Theresa.
The queen, until now, had preserved a perfectly calm
and composed demeanor. But this outburst of enthusiasm overpowered her, and
forgetting the queen, she pressed her handkerchief to her eyes and burst into a
flood of tears. No manly heart could stand this unmoved. Every eye was
moistened, every heart throbbed with admiration and devotion, and a scene of
indescribable enthusiasm ensued. Hungary was now effectually roused, and Maria
Theresa was queen of all hearts. Every noble was ready to march his vassals and
to open his purse at her bidding. All through the wide extended realm, the
enthusiasm rolled like an inundation. The remote tribes on the banks of the
Save, the Theiss, the Drave, and the lower Danube flocked to her standards.
They came, semi-savage bands, in uncouth garb, and speaking unintelligible
tongues—Croats, Pandours, Sclavonians, Warusdinians and Tolpaches.
Germany was astounded at the spectacle of these wild, fierce men, apparently as
tameless and as fearless as wolves. The enthusiasm spread rapidly all over the
States of Austria. The young men, and especially the students in the
universities, espoused the cause of the queen with deathless fervor. Vienna was
strongly fortified, all hands engaging in the work. So wonderful was this
movement, that the allies were alarmed. They had already become involved in
quarrels about the division of the anticipated booty.
Frederic of Prussia was the first to implore peace.
The Elector of Bavaria was a rival sovereign, and Frederic preferred seeing
Austria in the hands of the queen, rather than in the hands of the elector. He
was, therefore, anxious to withdraw from the confederacy, and to oppose the
allies. The queen, as anxious as Frederic to come to an accommodation, sent an
ambassador to ascertain his terms. In laconic phrase, characteristic of this
singular man, he returned the following answer:—
“All lower Silesia; the river Neiss for the boundary. The town of Neiss as well as Glatz.
Beyond the Oder the ancient limits to continue between the duchies of Brieg and Oppelon. Breslau for
us. The affairs of religion in statu quo. No dependence on Bohemia; a cession forever. In return we will proceed
no further. We will besiege Neiss for form. The
commandant shall surrender and depart. We will pass quietly into winter
quarters, and the Austrian army may go where they will. Let the whole be
concluded in twelve days.”
These terms were assented to. The king promised never
to ask any further territory from the queen, and not to act offensively against
the queen or any of her allies. Though the queen placed not the slightest
confidence in the integrity of the Prussian monarch, she rejoiced in this
treaty, which enabled her to turn all her attention to her other foes. The
allies were now in possession of nearly all of Bohemia and were menacing
Prague.
The Duke of Lorraine hastened with sixty thousand men
to the relief of the capital. He had arrived within nine miles of the city,
when he learned, to his extreme chagrin, that the preceding night Prague had
been taken by surprise. That very day the Elector of Bavaria made a triumphal
entry into the town, and was soon crowned King of Bohemia. And now the
electoral diet of Germany met, and, to the extreme disappointment of Maria
Theresa, chose, as Emperor of Germany, instead of her husband, the Elector of
Bavaria, whom they also acknowledged King of Bohemia. He received the imperial
crown at Frankfort on the 12th of February, 1742, with the title of Charles
VII.
The Duke of Lorraine having been thus thwarted in his
plan of relieving Prague, and not being prepared to assail the allied army in
possession of the citadel, and behind the ramparts of the city, detached a part
of his army to keep the enemy in check, and sent General Kevenhuller,
with thirty thousand men, to invade and take possession of Bavaria, now nearly
emptied of its troops. By very sagacious movements the general soon became
master of all the defiles of the Bavarian mountains. He then pressed forward,
overcoming all opposition, and in triumph entered Munich, the capital of
Bavaria, the very day Charles was chosen emperor. Thus the elector, as he
received the imperial crown, dropped his own hereditary estates from his hand.
This triumph of the queen’s arms alarmed Frederic of
Prussia. He reposed as little confidence in the honesty of the Austrian court
as they reposed in him. He was afraid that the queen, thus victorious, would
march her triumphant battalions into Silesia and regain the lost duchy. He
consequently, in total disregard of his treaty, and without troubling himself
to make any declaration of war, resumed hostilities. He entered into a treaty
with his old rival, the Elector of Bavaria, now King of Bohemia, and Emperor of
Germany. Receiving from the emperor large accessions of territory, Frederic
devoted his purse and array to the allies. His armies were immediately in
motion. They overran Moravia, and were soon in possession of all of its most
important fortresses. All the energies of Frederic were consecrated to any
cause in which he enlisted. He was indefatigable in his activity. With no sense
of dishonor in violating a solemn treaty, with no sense of shame in conspiring
with banded despots against a youthful queen, of whose youth, and feebleness
and feminine nature they wished to take advantage that they might rob her of
her possessions, Frederic rode from camp to camp, from capital to capital, to
infuse new vigor into the alliance. He visited the Elector of Saxony at
Dresden, then galloped to Prague, then returned through Moravia, and placed
himself at the head of his army. Marching vigorously onward, he entered upper
Austria. His hussars spread terror in all directions, even to the gates of
Vienna.
The Hungarian troops pressed forward in defense of the
queen. Wide leagues of country were desolated by war, as all over Germany the
hostile battalions swept to and fro. The Duke of
Lorraine hastened from Moravia for the defense of Vienna, while detached
portions of the Austrian army were on the rapid march, in all directions, to
join him. On the 16th of May, 1742, the Austrian army, under the Duke of
Lorraine, and the Prussian army under Frederic, encountered each other, in
about equal numbers, at Chazleau. Equal in numbers,
equal in skill, equal in bravery, they fought with equal success. After several
hours of awful carnage, fourteen thousand corpses strewed the ground. Seven
thousand were Austrians, seven thousand Prussians. The Duke of Lorraine retired
first, leaving a thousand prisoners, eighteen pieces of artillery and two
standards, with the foe; but he took with him, captured from the Prussians, a
thousand prisoners, fourteen cannon, and two standards. As the duke left
Frederic in possession of the field, it was considered a Prussian victory. But
it was a victory decisive of no results, as each party was alike crippled.
Frederic was much disappointed. He had anticipated the annihilation of the
Austrian army, and a triumphant march to Vienna, where, in the palaces of the
Austrian kings, he intended to dictate terms to the prostrate monarchy.
The queen had effectually checked his progress, new
levies were crowding to her aid, and it was in vain for Frederic, with his
diminished and exhausted regiments, to undertake an assault upon the ramparts
of Vienna. Again he proposed terms of peace. He demanded all of upper as well
as lower Silesia, and the county of Glatz, containing nearly seven hundred
square miles, and a population of a little over sixty thousand. Maria Theresa,
crowded by her other enemies, was exceedingly anxious to detach a foe so
powerful and active, and she accordingly assented to the hard terms. This new
treaty was signed at Breslau, on the 11th of June, and was soon ratified by
both sovereigns. The Elector of Saxony was also included in this treaty and
retired from the contest.
The withdrawal of these forces seemed to turn the tide
of battle in favor of the Austrians. The troops from Hungary fought with the
most romantic devotion. A band of Croats in the night swam across a river, with
their sabers in their mouths, and climbing on each other's shoulders, scaled
the walls of the fortress of Piseck, and made the
garrison prisoners of war. The Austrians, dispersing the allied French and
Bavarians in many successful skirmishes, advanced to the walls of Prague. With
seventy thousand men, the Duke of Lorraine commenced the siege of this capital,
so renowned in the melancholy annals of war. The sympathies of Europe began to
turn in favor of Maria Theresa. It became a general impression, that the
preservation of the Austrian monarchy was essential to hold France in check,
which colossal power seemed to threaten the liberties of Europe. The cabinet of
England was especially animated by this sentiment, and a change in the ministry
being effected, the court of St. James sent assurances to Vienna of their readiness
to support the queen with the whole power of the British empire. Large supplies
of men and money were immediately voted. Sixteen thousand men were landed in
Flanders to cooperate with the Austrian troops. Holland, instigated by the
example of England, granted Maria Theresa a subsidy of eight hundred and forty
thousand florins. The new Queen of Russia, also, Elizabeth, daughter of Peter
the Great, adopted measures highly favorable to Austria.
In Italy affairs took a singular turn in favor of the
Austrian queen. The King of Sardinia, ever ready to embark his troops in any
enterprise which gave him promise of booty, alarmed by the grasping ambition of
France and Spain, who were ever seizing the lion's share in all plunder, seeing
that he could not hope for much advantage in his alliance with them, proposed
to the queen that if she would cede to him certain of the Milanese provinces,
he would march his troops into her camp. This was a great gain for Maria
Theresa. The Sardinian troops guarding the passes of the Alps, shut out the
French, during the whole campaign, from entering Italy. At the same time the
Sardinian king, with another portion of his army, aided by the Austrian troops,
overran the whole duchy of Modena, and drove out the Spaniards. The English
fleet in the Mediterranean cooperated in this important measure. By the threat
of a bombardment they compelled the King of Naples to withdraw from the French
and Spanish alliance. Thus Austria again planted her foot in Italy. This
extraordinary and unanticipated success created the utmost joy and exultation
in Vienna. The despondency of the French court was correspondingly great. A few
months had totally changed the aspect of affairs. The allied troops were
rapidly melting away, with none to fill up the dwindling ranks. The proud army
which had swept over Germany, defying all opposition, was now cooped up within
the walls of Prague, beleaguered by a foe whom victory had rendered sanguine.
The new emperor, claiming the crown of Austria, had lost his own territory of
Bavaria; and the capital of Bohemia, where he had so recently been enthroned,
was hourly in peril of falling into the hands of his foes.
Under these circumstances the hopes of the Duke of
Bavaria sank rapidly into despair. The hour of disaster revealed a meanness of
spirit which prosperity had not developed. He sued for peace, writing a
dishonorable and cringing letter, in which he protested that he was not to
blame for the war, but that the whole guilt rested upon the French court, which
had inveigled him to present his claim and commence hostilities. Maria Theresa
made no other reply to this humiliating epistle than to publish it, and give it
a wide circulation throughout Europe. Cardinal Fleury, the French minister of
state, indignant at this breach of confidence, sent to the cabinet of Vienna a
remonstrance and a counter statement. This paper also the queen gave to the
public.
Marshal Belleisle was in
command of the French and Bavarian troops, which were besieged in Prague. The
force rapidly gathering around him was such as to render retreat impossible.
The city was unprepared for a siege, and famine soon began to stare the
citizens and garrison in the face. The marshal, reduced to the last extremity,
offered to evacuate the city and march out of Bohemia, if he could be permitted
to retire unmolested, with arms, artillery and baggage. The Duke of Lorraine,
to avoid a battle which would be rendered sanguinary through despair, was ready
and even anxious to assent to these terms. His leading generals were of the
same opinion, as they wished to avoid a needless effusion of blood.
The offered terms of capitulation were sent to Maria
Theresa. She rejected them with disdain. She displayed a revengeful spirit,
natural, perhaps, under the circumstances, but which reflects but little honor
upon her character.
“I will not,” she replied, in the presence of the
whole court; “I will not grant any capitulation to the French army. I will
listen to no terms, to no proposition from Cardinal Fleury. I am astonished
that he should come to me now with proposals for peace; he who
endeavored to excite all the princes of Germany to crush me. I have acted with
too much condescension to the court of France. Compelled by the necessities of
my situation I debased my royal dignity by writing to the cardinal in terms
which would have softened the most obdurate rock. He insolently rejected my
entreaties; and the only answer I obtained was that his most Christian majesty
had contracted engagements which he could not violate. I can prove, by
documents now in my possession, that the French endeavored to excite sedition
even in the heart of my dominions; that they attempted to overturn the
fundamental laws of the empire, and to set all Germany in a flame. I will
transmit these proofs to posterity as a warning to the empire.”
The ambition of Maria Theresa was now greatly roused.
She resolved to retain the whole of Bavaria which she had taken from the
elector. The duchy of Lorraine, which had been wrested from her husband, was
immediately to be invaded and restored to the empire. The dominions which had
been torn from her father in Italy were to be reannexed to the Austrian crown,
and Alsace upon the Rhine was to be reclaimed. Thus, far from being now
satisfied with the possessions she had inherited from her father, her whole soul
was roused, in these hours of triumph, to conquer vast accessions for her
domains. She dreamed only of conquest, and in her elation parceled out the
dominions of France and Bavaria as liberally and as unscrupulously as they had
divided among themselves the domain of the house of Austria.
The French, alarmed, made a great effort to relieve
Prague. An army, which on its march was increased to sixty thousand men, was
sent six hundred miles to cross rivers, to penetrate defiles of mountains
crowded with hostile troops, that they might rescue Prague and its garrison
from the besiegers. With consummate skill and energy this critical movement was
directed by General Mallebois. The garrison of the
city were in a state of great distress. The trenches were open and the siege
was pushed with great vigilance. All within the walls of the beleaguered city
were reduced to extreme suffering. Horse flesh was considered a delicacy which
was reserved for the sick. The French made sally after sally to spike the guns
which were battering down the walls. As Mallebois,
with his powerful reinforcement, drew near, their courage rose. The Duke of
Lorraine became increasingly anxious to secure the capitulation before the
arrival of the army of relief, and proposed a conference to decide upon terms,
which should be transmitted for approval to the courts of Vienna and of Paris.
But the imperious Austrian queen, as soon as she heard of this movement, quite
regardless of the feelings of her husband, whom she censured as severely as she
would any corporal in the army, issued orders prohibiting, peremptorily, any
such conference.
“I will not suffer,” she said “any council to be held
in the army. From Vienna alone are orders to be received. I disavow and forbid
all such proceedings, let the blame fall where it may.”
She knew full well that it was her husband who had
proposed this plan; and he knew, and all Austria knew, that it was the Duke of
Lorraine who was thus severely and publicly reprimanded. But the husband of
Maria Theresa was often reminded that he was but the subject of the queen. So
peremptory a mandate admitted of no compromise. The Austrians plied their
batteries with new vigor, the wan and skeleton soldiers fought perseveringly at
their embrasures; and the battalions of Mallebois, by
forced marches, pressed on through the mountains of Bohemia, to the eventful
arena. A division of the Austrian army was dispatched to the passes of Satz and Caden, which it would be necessary for the French
to thread, in approaching Prague. The troops of Mallebois,
when they arrived at these defiles, were so exhausted by their long and forced
marches, that they were incapable of forcing their way against the opposition
they encountered in the passes of the mountains. After a severe struggle, Mallebois was compelled to relinquish the design of
relieving Prague, and storms of snow beginning to incumber his path, he retired
across the Danube, and throwing up an intrenched camp, established himself in
winter quarters. The Austrian division, thus successful, returned to Prague,
and the blockade was resumed. There seemed to be now no hope for the French,
and their unconditional surrender was hourly expected. Affairs were in this
state, when Europe was astounded by the report that the French general, Belleisle, with a force of eleven thousand foot and three
thousand horse, had effected his escape from the battered walls of the city and
was in successful retreat.
It was the depth of winter. The ground was covered
with snow, and freezing blasts swept the fields. The besiegers were compelled
to retreat to the protection of their huts. Taking advantage of a cold and
stormy night, Belleisle formed his whole force into a
single column, and, leaving behind him his sick and wounded, and every
unnecessary incumbrance, marched noiselessly but rapidly from one of the gates
of the city. He took with him but thirty cannon and provisions for twelve days.
It was a heroic but an awful retreat. The army, already exhausted and emaciate
by famine, toiled on over morasses, through forests, over mountains, facing
frost and wind and snow, and occasionally fighting their way against their
foes, until on the twelfth day they reached Egra on
the frontiers of Bavaria, about one hundred and twenty miles east from Prague.
Their sufferings were fearful: They had nothing to eat
but frozen bread, and at night they sought repose, tentless, and upon the
drifted snow. The whole distance was strewed with the bodies of the dead. Each
morning mounds of frozen corpses indicated the places of the night's bivouac.
Twelve hundred perished during this dreadful march. Of those who survived,
many, at Egra, were obliged to undergo the amputation
of their frozen limbs. General Belleisle himself,
during the whole retreat, was suffering from such a severe attack of
rheumatism, that he was unable either to walk or ride. His mind, however, was
full of vigor and his energies unabated. Carried in a sedan chair he reconnoitred the way, pointed out the roads, visited every
part of the extended line of march, encouraged the fainting troops, and
superintended all the minutest details of the retreat. “Notwithstanding the
losses of his army,” it is recorded, “he had the satisfaction of preserving the
flower of the French forces, of saving every cannon which bore the arms of his
master, and of not leaving the smallest trophy to grace the triumph of the
enemy.”
In the citadel of Prague, Belleisle had left six thousand troops, to prevent the eager pursuit of the Austrians.
The Prince Sobcuitz, now in command of the besieging
force, mortified and irritated by the escape, sent a summons to the garrison
demanding its immediate and unconditional surrender. Chevert,
the gallant commander, replied to the officer who brought the summons,—
“Tell the prince that if he will not grant me the
honors of war, I will set fire to the four corners of Prague, and bury myself
under its ruins.”
The destruction of Prague, with all its treasures of
architecture and art, was too serious a calamity to be hazarded. Chevert was permitted to retire with the honors of war, and
with his division he soon rejoined the army at Egra.
Maria Theresa was exceedingly chagrined by the escape of the French, and in the
seclusion of her palace she gave vent to the bitterness of her anguish. In
public, however, she assumed an attitude of triumph and great exultation in
view of the recovery of Prague. She celebrated the event by magnificent
entertainments. In imitation of the Olympic games, she established chariot
races, in which ladies alone were the competitors, and even condescended
herself, with her sister, to enter the lists.
All Bohemia, excepting Egra,
was now reclaimed. Early in the spring Maria Theresa visited Prague, where, on
the 12th of May, 1743, with great splendor she was crowned Queen of Bohemia.
General Belleisle, leaving a small garrison at Egra, with the remnant of his force crossed the Rhine and
returned to France. He had entered Germany a few months before, a conqueror at
the head of forty thousand men. He retired a fugitive with eight thousand men in
his train, ragged, emaciate and mutilated.
CHAPTER XXVIII
MARIA THERESA.
From 1743 to 1748.
The cause of Maria Theresa, at the commencement of the
year 1743, was triumphant all over her widely extended domains. Russia was
cordial in friendship. Holland, in token of hostility to France, sent the queen
an efficient loan of six thousand men, thoroughly equipped for the field. The
King of Sardinia, grateful for his share in the plunder of the French and
Spanish provinces in Italy, and conscious that he could retain those spoils
only by the aid of Austria, sent to the queen, in addition to the cooperation
of his armies, a gift of a million of dollars. England, also, still anxious to
check the growth of France, continued her subsidy of a million and a half, and
also with both fleet and army contributed very efficient military aid. The
whole force of Austria was now turned against France. The French were speedily
driven from Bavaria; and Munich, the capital, fell into the hands of the
Austrians. The emperor, in extreme dejection, unable to present any front of
resistance, sent to the queen entreating a treaty of neutrality, offering to
withdraw all claims to the Austrian succession, and consenting to leave his
Bavarian realm in the hands of Maria Theresa until a general peace. The
emperor, thus humiliated and stripped of all his territories, retired to
Frankfort.
On the 7th of September Egra was captured, and the queen was placed in possession of all her hereditary
domains. The wonderful firmness and energy which she had displayed, and the
consummate wisdom with which she had conceived and executed her measures, excited
the admiration of Europe. In Vienna, and throughout all the States of Austria,
her popularity was unbounded. After the battle of Dettingen,
in which her troops gained a decisive victory, as the queen was returning to
Vienna from a water excursion, she found the banks of the Danube, for nine
miles, crowded with her rejoicing subjects. In triumph she was escorted into
the capital, greeted by every demonstration of the most enthusiastic joy.
Austria and England were now prepared to mature their
plans for the dismemberment of France. The commissioners met at Hanau, a small
fortified town, a few miles east of Frankfort. They met, however, only to
quarrel fiercely. Austrian and English pride clashed in instant collision. Lord
Stair, imperious and irritable, regarded the Austrians as outside barbarians
whom England was feeding, clothing and protecting. The Austrian officers
regarded the English as remote islanders from whom they had hired money and
men. The Austrians were amazed at the impudence of the English in assuming the
direction of affairs. The British officers were equally astounded that the
Austrians should presume to take the lead. No plan of cooperation could be
agreed upon, and the conference broke up in confusion,
The queen, whose heart was still fixed upon the
elevation of her husband to the throne of the empire, was anxious to depose the
emperor. But England was no more willing to see Austria dominant over Europe
than to see France thus powerful. Maria Theresa was now in possession of all
her vast ancestral domains, and England judged that it would endanger the
balance of power to place upon the brow of her husband the imperial crown. The
British cabinet consequently espoused the cause of the Elector of Bavaria, and
entered into a private arrangement with him, agreeing to acknowledge him as
emperor, and to give him an annual pension that he might suitably support the
dignity of his station. The wealth of England seems to have been inexhaustible,
for half the monarchs of Europe have, at one time or other, been fed and
clothed from her treasury. George II. contracted to pay the emperor, within
forty days, three hundred thousand dollars, and to do all in his power to
constrain the queen of Austria to acknowledge his title.
Maria Theresa had promised the King of Sardinia large
accessions of territory in Italy, as the price for his cooperation. But now,
having acquired those Italian territories, she was exceedingly reluctant to
part with any one of them, and very dishonorably evaded, by every possible pretense,
the fulfillment of her agreement. The queen considered herself now so strong
that she was not anxious to preserve the alliance of Sardinia. She thought her
Italian possessions secure, even in case of the defection of the Sardinian
king. Sardinia appealed to England, as one of the allies, to interpose for the
execution of the treaty. To the remonstrance of England the queen peevishly
replied:
“It is the policy of England to lead me from one
sacrifice to another. I am expected to expose my troops for no other end than
voluntarily to strip myself of my possessions. Should the cession of the
Italian provinces, which the King of Sardinia claims, be extorted from me, what
remains in Italy will not be worth defending, and the only alternative left is
that of being stripped either by England or France.”
While the queen was not willing to give as much as she
had agreed to bestow, the greedy King of Sardinia was grasping at more than she
had promised. At last the king, in a rage threatened, that if she did not
immediately comply with his demands, he would unite with France and Spain and
the emperor against Austria. This angry menace brought the queen to terms, and
articles of agreement satisfactory to Sardinia were signed. During the whole of
this summer of 1743, though large armies were continually in motion, and there
were many sanguinary battles, and all the arts of peace were destroyed, and
conflagration, death and woe were sent to ten thousand homes, nothing effectual
was accomplished by either party. The strife did not cease until winter drove
the weary combatants to their retreats.
For the protection of the Austrian possessions against
the French and Spanish, the queen agreed to maintain in Italy an army of thirty
thousand men, to be placed under the command of the King of Sardinia, who was
to add to them an army of forty-five thousand. England, with characteristic
prodigality, voted a million of dollars annually, to aid in the payment of
these troops. It was the object of England, to prevent France from
strengthening herself by Italian possessions. The cabinet of St. James took
such an interest in this treaty that, to secure its enactment, one million five
hundred thousand dollars were paid down, in addition to the annual subsidy.
England also agreed to maintain a strong squadron in the Mediterranean to coöperate with Sardinia and Austria.
Amidst these scenes of war, the usual dramas of
domestic life moved on. Prince Charles of Lorraine, had long been ardently
attached to Mary Anne, younger sister of Maria Theresa. The young prince had
greatly signalized himself on the field of battle. Their nuptials were attended
in Vienna with great splendor and rejoicings. It was a union of loving hearts.
Charles was appointed to the government of the Austrian Netherlands. One short
and happy year passed away, when Mary Anne, in the sorrows of child-birth,
breathed her last.
The winter was passed by all parties in making the
most vigorous preparations for a new campaign. England and France were now
thoroughly aroused, and bitterly irritated against each other. Hitherto they
had acted as auxiliaries for other parties. Now they summoned all their
energies, and became principals in the conflict. France issued a formal
declaration of war against England and Austria, raised an army of one hundred
thousand men, and the debauched king himself, Louis XV, left his Pare Aux Cerfs and placed himself at the head of the army.
Marshal Saxe was the active commander. He was provided with a train of
artillery superior to any which had ever before appeared on any field. Entering
the Netherlands he swept all opposition before him.
The French department of Alsace, upon the Rhine,
embraced over forty thousand square miles of territory, and contained a
population of about a million. While Marshal Saxe was ravaging the Netherlands,
an Austrian army, sixty thousand strong, crossed the Rhine, like a torrent
burst into Alsace, and spread equal ravages through the cities and villages of
France. Bombardment echoed to bombardment; conflagration blazed in response to
conflagration; and the shrieks of the widow, and the moans of the orphan which
rose from the marshes of Burgundy, were reechoed in an undying wail along the
valleys of the Rhine.
The King of France, alarmed by the progress which the
Austrians were making in his own territories, ordered thirty thousand troops,
from the army in the Netherlands, to be dispatched to the protection of Alsace.
Again the tide was turning against Maria Theresa. She had become so arrogant
and exacting, that she had excited the displeasure of nearly all the empire.
She persistently refused to acknowledge the emperor, who, beyond all dispute,
was legally elected; she treated the diet contemptuously; she did not disguise
her determination to hold Bavaria by the right of conquest, and to annex it to
Austria; she had compelled the Bavarians to take the oath of allegiance to her;
she was avowedly meditating gigantic projects in the conquest of France and
Italy; and it was very evident that she was maturing her plans for the
reconquest of Silesia. Such inordinate ambition alarmed all the neighboring
courts. Frederic of Prussia was particularly alarmed lest he should lose
Silesia. With his accustomed energy he again drew his sword against the queen,
and became the soul of a new confederacy which combined many of the princes of
the empire whom the haughty queen had treated with so much indignity. In this
new league, formed by Frederic, the Elector Palatine and the King of Sweden
were brought into the field against Maria Theresa. All this was effected with
the utmost secrecy, and the queen had no intimation of her danger until the
troops were in motion. Frederic published a manifesto in which he declared that
he took up arms “to restore to the German empire its liberty, to the emperor
his dignity, and to Europe repose.”
With his strong army he burst into Bohemia, now
drained of its troops to meet the war in the Netherlands and on the Rhine. With
a lion's tread, brushing all opposition away, he advanced to Prague. The
capital was compelled to surrender, and the garrison of fifteen thousand troops
became prisoners of war. Nearly all the fortresses of the kingdom fell into his
hands. Establishing garrisons at Tabor, Budweiss, Frauenberg, and other important posts, he then made an irruption
into Bavaria, scattered the Austrian troops in all directions, entered Munich
in triumph, and reinstated the emperor in the possession of his capital and his
duchy. Such are the fortunes of war. The queen heard these tidings of
accumulated disaster in dismay. In a few weeks of a summer's campaign, when she
supposed that Europe was almost a suppliant at her feet, she found herself
deprived of the Netherlands, of the whole kingdom of Bohemia, the brightest
jewel in her crown, and of the electorate of Bavaria.
But the resolution and energy of the queen remained
indomitable. Maria Theresa and Frederic were fairly pitted against each other.
It was Greek meeting Greek. The queen immediately recalled the army from
Alsace, and in person repaired to Presburg, where she
summoned a diet of the Hungarian nobles. In accordance with an ancient custom,
a blood-red flag waved from all the castles in the kingdom, summoning the
people to a levy en masse, or, as it was then
called, to a general insurrection. An army of nearly eighty thousand men was
almost instantly raised. A contemporary historian, speaking of this event,
says:
“This amazing unanimity of a people so divided amongst
themselves as the Hungarians, especially in point of religion, could only be
effected by the address of Maria Theresa, who seemed to possess one part of the
character of Elizabeth of England, that of making every man about her a hero.”
Prince Charles re-crossed the Rhine, and, by a
vigorous march through Suabia, returned to Bohemia.
By surprise, with a vastly superior force, he assailed the fortresses
garrisoned by the Prussian troops, gradually took one after another, and ere
long drove the Prussians, with vast slaughter, out of the whole kingdom. Though
disaster, in this campaign, followed the banners of Maria Theresa in the
Netherlands and in Italy, she forgot those reverses in exultation at the
discomfiture of her great rival Frederic. She had recovered Bohemia, and was
now sanguine that she soon would regain Silesia, the loss of which province
ever weighed heavily upon her heart. But in her character woman's weakness was
allied with woman's determination. She imagined that she could rouse the
chivalry of her allies as easily as that of the Hungarian barons, and that
foreign courts, forgetful of their own grasping ambition, would place
themselves as pliant instruments in her hands.
In this posture of affairs, the hand of Providence was
again interposed, in an event which removed from the path of the queen a
serious obstacle, and opened to her aspiring mind new visions of grandeur. The
Emperor Charles VII, an amiable man, of moderate abilities, was quite crushed
in spirit by the calamities accumulating upon him. Though he had regained his
capital, he was in hourly peril of being driven from it again. Anguish so
preyed upon his mind, that, pale and wan, he was thrown upon a sick bed. While
in this state he was very injudiciously informed of a great defeat which his
troops had encountered. It was a death-blow to the emperor. He moaned, turned
over in his bed, and died, on the 20th of January, 1745.
The imperial crown was thus thrown down among the
combatants, and a scramble ensued for its possession such as Europe had never
witnessed before. Every court was agitated, and the combinations of intrigue
were as innumerable as were the aspirants for the crown. The spring of 1745
opened with clouds of war darkening every quarter of the horizon. England
opened the campaign in Italy and the Netherlands, her whole object now being to
humble France. Maria Theresa remained uncompromising in her disposition to
relinquish nothing and to grasp everything. The cabinet of England, with far
higher views of policy, were anxious to detach some of the numerous foes
combined against Austria; but it was almost impossible to induce the queen to
make the slightest abatement of her desires. She had set her heart upon
annexing all of Bavaria to her realms. That immense duchy, now a kingdom, was
about the size of the State of South Carolina, containing over thirty thousand
square miles. Its population amounted to about four millions. The death of the
Emperor Charles VII, who was Elector of Bavaria, transmitted the sovereignty of
this realm to his son, Maximilian Joseph.
Maximilian was anxious to withdraw from the strife. He
agreed to renounce all claim to the Austrian succession, to acknowledge the
validity of the queen's title, to dismiss the auxiliary troops, and to give his
electoral vote to the Duke of Lorraine for emperor. But so eager was the queen
to grasp the Bavarian dominions, that it was with the utmost difficulty that
England could induce her to accede even to these terms.
It is humiliating to record the readiness of these old
monarchies to sell themselves and their armies to any cause which would pay the
price demanded. For seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars England purchased
the alliance of Poland, and her army of thirty thousand men. Before the treaty
was formally ratified, the Emperor Charles VII died, and there were indications
that Bavaria would withdraw from the French alliance. This alarmed the French
ministry, and they immediately offered Poland a larger sum than England had
proffered, to send her army to the French camp. The bargain was on the point of
being settled, when England and Austria again rushed in, and whispered in the
ear of Augustus that they intended to chastise the King of Prussia thoroughly,
and that if Poland would help them, Poland should be rewarded with generous
slices of the Prussian territory. This was a resistless bribe, and the Polish
banners were borne in the train of the Austrian alliance.
The Duke of Lorraine was much annoyed by the imperial
assumption of his wife. She was anxious to secure for him the crown of Germany,
as adding to her power and grandeur. But Francis was still more anxious to
attain that dignity, as his position in the court, as merely the docile subject
of his wife, the queen, was exceedingly humiliating. The spring of 1745 found
all parties prepared for the renewal of the fight. The drama was opened by the
terrible battle of Fontenoy in the Netherlands. On
the 11th of May eighty thousand French met the Austrian allied army of fifty
thousand. After a few hours of terrific slaughter the allies retreated, leaving
the French in possession of the field. In Italy, also, the tide of war set
against the queen. The French and Spaniards poured an army of seventy thousand
men over the Alps into Italy. The queen, even with the aid of Sardinia, had no
force capable of resisting them. The allies swept the country. The King of
Sardinia was driven behind the walls of his capital. In this one short campaign Tortona, Placentia, Parma, Pavia, Cazale and Aste were wrested from the Austrians, and the
citadels of Alexandria and Milan were blockaded.
The queen had weakened her armies both in the
Netherlands and Italy that she might accumulate a force sufficient to recover Silesia,
and to crush, if possible, her great antagonist Frederic. Maria Theresa was
greatly elated by her success in driving the Prussians from Bavaria, and
Frederic was mortified and irritated by this first defeat of his arms. Thus
animated, the one by hope, the other by vengeance, Maria and Frederic gathered
all their resources for a trial of strength on the plains of Silesia. France,
fully occupied in the Netherlands and in Italy, could render Frederic no
assistance. His prospects began to look dark. War had made sad ravages in his
army, and he found much difficulty in filling up his wasted battalions. His
treasury was exhausted. Still the indomitable monarch indulged in no emotions
of dejection.
Each party was fully aware of the vigilance and energy
of its antagonist. Their forces were early in the field. The month of April was
passed in stratagems and skirmishes, each endeavoring in vain to obtain some
advantage over the other in position or combinations. Early in May there was a
pretty severe conflict, in which the Prussians gained the advantage. They
feigned, however, dejection and alarm, and apparently commenced a retreat. The
Austrians, emboldened by this subterfuge, pursued them with indiscreet haste.
Prince Charles pressed the retiring hosts, and followed closely after them
through the passes of the mountains to Landshut and Friedburg.
Frederic fled as if in a panic, throwing no obstacle in the path of his
pursuers, seeming only anxious to gain the ramparts of Breslau. Suddenly the
Prussians turned—the whole army being concentrated in columns of enormous
strength. They had chosen their ground and their hour. It was before the break
of day on the 3d of June, among the hills of Hohenfriedberg.
The Austrians were taken utterly by surprise. For seven hours they repelled the
impetuous onset of their foes. But when four thousand of their number were
mangled corpses, seven thousand captives in the hands of the enemy, seventy-six
standards and sixty-six pieces of artillery wrested from them, the broken bands
of the Austrians turned and fled, pursued and incessantly pelted by Frederic
through the defiles of the mountains back to Bohemia. The Austrians found no
rest till they had escaped beyond the Riesengeberg,
and placed the waves of the Elbe between themselves and their pursuers. The
Prussians followed to the opposite bank, and there the two armies remained for
three months looking each other in the face.
Frederic, having gained so signal a victory, again
proposed peace. England, exceedingly desirous to detach from the allies so
energetic a foe, urged the queen, in the strongest terms, to accede to the
overtures. The queen, however, never dismayed by adversity, still adhered to
her resolve to reconquer Silesia. The English cabinet, finding Maria Theresa
deaf to all their remonstrances and entreaties, endeavored to intimidate her by
the threat of withdrawing their subsidies.
The English ambassador, Sir Thomas Robinson, with this
object in view, demanded an audience with the queen. The interview, as he has
recorded it, is worthy of preservation.
“England,” said the ambassador to the queen, “has this
year furnished five million, three hundred and ninety-three thousand seven
hundred and sixty-five dollars. The nation is not in a condition to maintain a
superiority over the allies in the Netherlands, Italy and Silesia. It is,
therefore, indispensable to diminish the force of the enemy. France cannot be
detached from the alliance. Prussia can be and must be. This concession England
expects from Austria. What is to be done must be done immediately. The King of
Prussia cannot be driven from Bohemia this campaign. By making peace with him,
and thus securing his voluntary withdrawal, your majesty can send troops to the
Netherlands, and check the rapid progress of the French, who now threaten the
very existence of England and Holland. If they fall, Austria must inevitably
fall also. If peace can be, made with Prussia France can be checked, and the
Duke of Lorraine can be chosen emperor.”
“I feel exceedingly grateful,” the queen replied, “to
the king and the English nation, and am ready to show it in every way in my
power. Upon this matter I will consult my ministers and acquaint you with my
answer. But whatever may be the decision, I cannot spare a man from the
neighborhood of the King of Prussia. In peace, as well as in war, I need them
all for the defense of my person and family.”
“It is affirmed,” Sir Thomas Robinson replied, “that
seventy thousand men are employed against Prussia. From such a force enough
might be spared to render efficient aid in Italy and in the Netherlands.”
“I cannot spare a man,” the queen abruptly replied.
Sir Thomas was a little touched, and with some spirit
rejoined, “If your majesty can not spare her troops for the general cause,
England will soon find it necessary to withdraw her armies also, to be employed
at home.”
This was a home thrust, and the queen felt it, and
replied, “But why may we not as well detach France from the alliance, as
Prussia?”
“Because Prussia,” was the reply, “can be more easily
induced to accede to peace, by allowing her to retain what she now has, than
France can be induced to yield, by surrendering, as she must, large portions of
her present acquisitions.”
“I must have an opportunity,” Maria Theresa continued,
“to strike Prussia another blow. Prince Charles has still enough men to give
battle.”
“But should he be the victor in the battle,” Sir
Thomas replied, “Silesia is not conquered. And if the battle be lost, your
majesty is well-nigh ruined.”
“If I had determined,” said the queen, “to make peace
with Frederic to-morrow, I would give him battle tonight. But why in such a
hurry? Why this interruption of operations which are by no means to be
despaired of? Give me only to October, and then you may do as you please.”
“October will close this campaign,” was the answer. “Our
affairs are going so disastrously, that unless we can detach Prussia, by that
time France and Prussia will be able to dictate terms to which we shall be
compelled to accede.”
“That might be true,” the queen replied, tartly, “if I
were to waste my time, as you are urging me to do, in marching my troops from
Bohemia to the Rhine, and from the Rhine to the Netherlands. But as for my
troops, I have not a single general who would condescend to command such
merely machinery armies. As for the Duke of Lorraine, and my brother,
Prince Charles, they shall not thus degrade themselves. The great duke is not
so ambitious of an empty honor, much less to enjoy it under the patronage of
Prussia. You speak of the imperial dignity! Is it compatible with the loss of
Silesia? Great God! give me only till October. I shall then at least be able to
secure better conditions.”
The English ambassador now ventured, in guarded
phrase, but very decisively, to inform the queen that unless she could accede
to these views, England would be constrained to withdraw her assistance, and,
making the best terms she could for herself with the enemy, leave Austria to
fight her own battles; and that England requested an immediate and a specific
answer. Even this serious menace did not move the inflexible will of the queen.
She, with much calmness, replied,
“It is that I might, with the utmost promptness,
attend to this business, that I have given you so expeditious an audience, and
that I have summoned my council to meet so early. I see, however, very clearly,
that whatever may be my decisions, they will have but little influence upon
measures which are to be adopted elsewhere.”
The queen convened her council, and then informed
England, in most courteous phrase, that she could not accede to the
proposition. The British cabinet immediately entered into a private arrangement
with Prussia, guaranteeing to Frederic the possession of Silesia, in
consideration of Prussia's agreement not to molest England's Hanoverian
possessions.
Maria Theresa was exceedingly indignant when she
became acquainted with this treaty. She sent peremptory orders to Prince
Charles to prosecute hostilities with the utmost vigor, and with great energy
dispatched reinforcements to his camp. The Hungarians, with their accustomed
enthusiasm, flocked to the aid of the queen; and Frederic, pressed by superior
numbers, retreated from Bohemia back to Silesia, pursued and pelted in his turn
by the artillery of Prince Charles. But Frederic soon turned upon his foes, who
almost surrounded him with double his own number of men. His army was compact
and in the highest state of discipline. A scene of terrible carnage ensued, in
which the Austrians, having lost four thousand in killed and two thousand taken
prisoners, were utterly routed and scattered. The proud victor, gathering up
his weakened battalions, one fourth of whom had been either killed or wounded
in this short, fierce storm of war, continued his retreat unmolested.
While Maria Theresa, with such almost superhuman
inflexibility, was pressing her own plans, the electoral diet of Germany was
assembled at Frankfort, and Francis, Duke of Lorraine, was chosen emperor, with
the title of Francis I. The queen was at Frankfort when the diet had assembled,
and was plying all her energies in favor of her husband, while awaiting, with
intense solicitude, the result of the election. When the choice was announced
to her, she stepped out upon the balcony of the palace, and was the first to
shout, “Long live the emperor, Francis I.” The immense concourse assembled in the
streets caught and reechoed the cry. This result was exceedingly gratifying to
the queen; she regarded it as a noble triumph, adding to the power and the
luster of her house.
The duke, now the emperor, was at Heidelberg, with an
army of sixty thousand men. The queen hastened to him with her congratulations.
The emperor, no longer a submissive subject, received his queenly spouse with
great dignity at the head of his army. The whole host was drawn up in two
lines, and the queen rode between, bowing to the regiments on the right hand
and the left, with majesty and grace which all admired.
Though the queen's treasury was so exhausted that she
had been compelled to melt the church plate to pay her troops, she was now so
elated that, regardless of the storms of winter, she resolved to send an army
to Berlin, to chastise Frederic in his own capital, and there recover long lost
Silesia. But Frederic was not thus to be caught napping. Informed of the plan,
he succeeded in surprising the Austrian army, and dispersed them after the
slaughter of five thousand men. The queen's troops, who had entered Silesia,
were thus driven pell-mell back to Bohemia. The Prussian king then invaded
Saxony, driving all before him. He took possession of the whole electorate, and
entered Dresden, its capital, in triumph. This was a terrible defeat for the
queen. Though she had often said that she would part with her last garment
before she would consent to the surrender of Silesia, she felt now compelled to
yield. Accepting the proffered mediation of England, on the 25th of December,
1745, she signed the treaty of Dresden, by which she left Silesia in the hands
of Frederic. He agreed to withdraw his troops from Saxony, and to acknowledge
the imperial title of Francis I.
England, in consequence of rebellion at home, had been
compelled to withdraw her troops from the Netherlands; and France, advancing
with great vigor, took fortress after fortress, until nearly all of the Low
Countries had fallen into her hands. In Italy, however, the Austrians were
successful, and Maria Theresa, having dispatched thirty thousand troops to
their aid, cherished sanguine hopes that she might recover Milan and Naples.
All the belligerent powers, excepting Maria Theresa, weary of the long war,
were anxious for peace. She, however, still clung, with deathless tenacity, to
her determination to recover Silesia, and to win provinces in Italy. England
and France were equally desirous to sheathe the sword. France could only attack
England in the Netherlands; England could only assail France in her marine.
They were both successful. France drove England from the continent; England
drove France from the ocean.
Notwithstanding the most earnest endeavors of the
allies, Maria Theresa refused to listen to any terms of peace, and succeeded in
preventing the other powers from coming to any accommodation. All parties,
consequently, prepared for another campaign. Prussia entered into an alliance
with Austria, by which she agreed to furnish her with thirty thousand troops.
The queen made gigantic efforts to drive the French from the Netherlands.
England and Holland voted an army of forty thousand each. The queen furnished
sixty thousand; making an army of one hundred and forty thousand to operate in
the Netherlands. At the same time the queen sent sixty thousand men to Italy,
to be joined by forty-five thousand Sardinians. All the energies of the English
fleet were also combined with these formidable preparations. Though never
before during the war had such forces been brought into the field, the campaign
was quite disastrous to Austria and her allies. Many bloody battles were
fought, and many thousands perished in agony; but nothing of any importance was
gained by either party. When winter separated the combatants, they retired
exhausted and bleeding.
Again France made overtures for a general
pacification, on terms which were eminently honorable. England was disposed to
listen to those terms. But the queen had not yet accomplished her purposes, and
she succeeded in securing the rejection of the proposals. Again the
belligerents gathered their resources, with still increasing vigor, for another
campaign. The British cabinet seemed now to be out of all patience with Maria
Theresa. They accused her of not supplying the contingents she had promised,
they threatened to withhold their subsidies, many bitter recriminations passed,
but still the queen, undismayed by the contentions, urged forward her
preparations for the new campaign, till she was thunderstruck with the tidings
that the preliminaries of peace were already signed by England, France and
Holland.
Maria Theresa received the first formal notification
of the terms agreed to by the three contracting powers, from the English
minister, Sir Thomas Robinson, who urged her concurrence in the treaty. The
indignant queen could not refrain from giving free vent to her displeasure.
Listening for a moment impatiently to his words, she overwhelmed him with a
torrent of reproaches.
“You, sir,” she exclaimed, “who had such a share in
the sacrifice of Silesia; you, who contributed more than any one in procuring
the cessions to Sardinia, do you still think to persuade me? No! I am neither a
child nor a fool! If you will have an instant peace, make it. I can negotiate
for myself. Why am I always to be excluded from transacting my own business? My
enemies will give me better conditions than my friends. Place me where I was in
Italy before the war; but your King of Sardinia must have all,
without one thought for me. This treaty was not made for me, but for him, for
him singly. Great God, how have I been used by that court! There is your
King of Prussia! Indeed these circumstances tear open too many old wounds and
create too many new ones. Agree to such a treaty as this!" she exclaimed
indignantly. "No, no, I will rather lose my head.”
CHAPTER XXIX
MARIA THERESA.
From 1748 to 1759.
Notwithstanding the bitter opposition of Maria Theresa
to peace, the definitive treaty was signed at Aix-la-Chapelle on the 18th of
October, 1748, by France, England and Holland. Spain and Sardinia soon also
gave in their adhesion. The queen, finding it impossible to resist the
determination of the other powers, at length reluctantly yielded, and accepted
the terms, which they were ready unitedly to enforce should she refuse to
accede to them. By this treaty all the contracting powers gave their assent to
the Pragmatic Sanction. The queen was required to surrender her conquests in
Italy, and to confirm her cessions of Silesia to Prussia. Thus terminated this
long and cruel war. Though at the commencement the queen was threatened with
utter destruction, and she had come out from the contests with signal honor,
retaining all her vast possessions, excepting Silesia and the Italian
provinces, still she could not repress her chagrin. Her complaints were loud
and reiterated. When the British minister requested an audience to congratulate
her upon the return of peace, she snappishly replied, “A visit of condolence
would be more proper, under these circumstances, than one of congratulation.
The British minister will oblige me by making no allusion whatever to so
disagreeable a topic.”
The queen was not only well aware that this peace
could not long continue, but was fully resolved that it should not be
permanent. Her great rival, Frederic, had wrested from her Silesia, and she was
determined that there should be no stable peace until she had regained it. With
wonderful energy she availed herself of this short respite in replenishing her
treasury and in recruiting her armies. Frederic himself has recorded the
masculine vigor with which she prepared herself for the renewal of war.
“Maria Theresa,” he says, “in the secrecy of her cabinet,
arranged those great projects which she afterwards carried into execution. She
introduced an order and economy into the finances unknown to her ancestors; and
her revenues far exceeded those of her father, even when he was master of
Naples, Parma, Silesia and Servia. Having learned the necessity of introducing
into her army a better discipline, she annually formed camps in the provinces,
which she visited herself that she might animate the troops by her presence and
bounty. She established a military academy at Vienna, and collected the most
skillful professors of all the sciences and exercises which tend to elucidate
or improve the art of war. By these institutions the army acquired, under Maria
Theresa, such a degree of perfection as it had never attained under any of her
predecessors; and a woman accomplished designs worthy of a great man.”
The queen immediately organized a standing army of one
hundred and eight thousand men, who were brought under the highest state of
discipline, and were encamped in such positions that they could, at any day, be
concentrated ready for combined action. The one great object which now seemed
to engross her mind was the recovery of Silesia. It was, of course, a subject
not to be spoken of openly; but in secret conference with her ministers she
unfolded her plans and sought counsel. Her intense devotion to political
affairs, united to a mind of great activity and native strength, soon placed
her above her ministers in intelligence and sagacity; and conscious of superior
powers, she leaned less upon them, and relied upon her own resources. With a
judgment thus matured she became convinced of the incapacity of her cabinet,
and with great skill in the discernment of character, chose Count Kaunitz, who was then her ambassador at Paris, prime
minister. Kaunitz, son of the governor of Moravia,
had given signal proof of his diplomatic abilities, in Rome and in Paris. For
nearly forty years he remained at the head of foreign affairs, and, in
conjunction with the queen, administered the government of Austria.
Policy had for some time allied Austria and England,
but there had never been any real friendship between the two cabinets. The high
tone of superiority ever assumed by the court of St. James, its offensive
declaration that the arm of England alone had saved the house of Austria from
utter ruin, and the imperious demand for corresponding gratitude, annoyed and
exasperated the proud court of Vienna. The British cabinet were frequently
remonstrated with against the assumption of such airs, and the employment of
language so haughty in their diplomatic intercourse. But the British government
has never been celebrated for courtesy in its intercourse with weaker powers.
The chancellor Kaunitz entreated them, in their
communications, to respect the sex and temper of the queen, and not to irritate
her by demeanor so overbearing. The emperor himself entered a remonstrance
against the discourtesy which characterized their intercourse. Even the queen,
unwilling to break off friendly relations with her unpolished allies,
complained to the British ambassador of the arrogant style of the English
documents.
“They do not,” said the queen, “disturb me, but they
give great offense to others, and endanger the amity existing between the two
nations. I would wish that more courtesy might mark our intercourse.”
But the amenities of polished life, the rude islanders
despised. The British ambassador at Vienna, Sir Robert Keith, a gentlemanly
man, was often mortified at the messages he was compelled to communicate to the
queen. Occasionally the messages were couched in terms so peremptory and
offensive that he could not summon resolution to deliver them, and thus he more
than once incurred the censure of the king and cabinet, for his sense of
propriety and delicacy. These remonstrances were all unavailing, and at length
the Austrian cabinet began to reply with equal rancor.
This state of things led the Austrian cabinet to turn
to France, and seek the establishment of friendly relations with that court.
Louis XV., the most miserable of debauchees, was nominally king. His mistress,
Jeanette Poisson, who was as thoroughly polluted as her regal paramour,
governed the monarch, and through him France. The king had ennobled her with
the title of Marchioness of Pompadour. Her power was so boundless and
indisputable that the most illustrious ladies of the French court were happy to
serve as her waiting women. Whenever she walked out, one of the highest nobles
of the realm accompanied her as her attendant, obsequiously bearing her shawl
upon his arm, to spread it over her shoulders in case it should be needed.
Ambassadors and ministers she summoned before her, assuming that air of royalty
which she had purchased with her merchantable charms. Voltaire, Diderot,
Montesquieu, waited in her ante-chambers, and implored her patronage. The
haughty mistress became even weary of their adulation.
“Not only,” said she one day, to the Abbé de Bernis, “have I all the nobility at my feet, but even my
lap-dog is weary of their fawning.”
With many apologies for requiring of the high-minded
Maria Theresa a sacrifice, Kaunitz suggested to her
the expediency of cultivating the friendship of Pompadour. Silesia was engraved
upon the heart of the queen, and she was prepared to do anything which could
aid her in the reconquest of that duchy. She stooped so low as to write a
letter with her own hand to the marchioness, addressing her as “our dear friend
and cousin.”
This was a new triumph for Pompadour, and it delighted
her beyond measure. To have the most illustrious sovereign of Europe, combining
in her person the titles of Queen of Austria and Empress of Germany, solicit
her friendship and her good offices, so excited the vanity of the mistress,
that she became immediately the warm friend of Maria Theresa, and her all
powerful advocate in the court of Versailles. England was now becoming
embroiled with France in reference to the possessions upon the St. Lawrence and
Ohio in North America. In case of war, France would immediately make an attack
upon Hanover. England was anxious to secure the Austrian alliance, that the
armies of the queen might aid in the protection of Hanover. But Austria, being
now in secret conference with France, was very reserved. England coaxed and
threatened, but could get no definite or satisfactory answer. Quite enraged,
the British cabinet sent a final declaration that, “should the empress decline
fulfilling the conditions required, the king can not take any measures in cooperation with Austria, and the present system of
European policy must be dissolved.”
The reply of the empress queen develops the feelings
of irritation and bitterness which at that time existed between the two
cabinets of Austria and England.
“The queen,” Maria Theresa replied, “has never had the
satisfaction of seeing England do justice to her principles. If the army of
Austria were merely the hired soldiers of England, the British cabinet could
not more decisively assume the control of their movements than it now does, by
requiring their removal from the center of Austria, for the defense of England
and Hanover. We are reproached with the great efforts England has made in
behalf of the house of Austria. But to these efforts England owes its present
greatness. If Austria has derived useful succors from England, she has purchased
those succors with the blood and ruin of her subjects; while England has been
opening to herself new sources of wealth and power. We regret the necessity of
uttering these truths in reply to unjust and unceasing reproaches. Could any
consideration diminish our gratitude towards England, it would be thus
diminished by her constant endeavor to represent the aid she has furnished us
as entirely gratuitous, when this aid has always been and always will be
dictated by her own interests.”
Such goading as this brought back a roar. The British
envoy was ordered to demand an explicit and categorical reply to the following
questions:
1. If the French attack Hanover, will the queen render
England assistance?
2. What number of troops will she send; and how soon will
they be in motion to join the British and Hanoverian troops?
The Austrian minister, Kaunitz,
evaded a reply, coldly answering, “Our ultimatum has been given. The queen
deems those declarations as ample as can be expected in the present posture of
affairs; nor can she give any further reply till England shall have more fully
explained her intentions.”
Thus repulsed, England turned to Prussia, and sought
alliance with the most inveterate enemy of Austria. Frederic, fearing an
assault from united Russia and Austria, eagerly entered into friendly relations
with England, and on the 16th of January, 1756, entered into a treaty with the
cabinet of Great Britain for the defense of Hanover.
Maria Theresa was quite delighted with this
arrangement, for affairs were moving much to her satisfaction at Versailles.
Her “dear friend and cousin” Jeanette Poisson, had dismissed all the ministers
who were unfriendly to Austria, and had replaced them with her own creatures
who were in favor of the Austrian alliance. A double motive influenced the
Marchioness of Pompadour. Her vanity was gratified by the advances of Maria
Theresa, and revenge roused her soul against Frederic of Prussia, who had
indulged in a cutting witticism upon her position and character.
The marchioness, with one of her favorites, Cardinal Bernis, met the Austrian ambassador in one of the private
apartments of the palace of the Luxembourg, and arranged the plan of the
alliance between France and Austria. Maria Theresa, without the knowledge of
her ministers, or even of her husband the emperor, privately conducted these
negotiations with the Marchioness du Pompadour. M. Kaunitz was the agent employed by the queen in this transaction. Louis XV, sunk in the
lowest depths of debauchery, consented to any arrangements his mistress might
propose. But when the treaty was all matured it became necessary to present it
to the Council of State. The queen, knowing how astounded her husband would be
to learn what she had been doing, and aware of the shock it would give the
ministry to think of an alliance with France, pretended to entire ignorance of
the measures she had been so energetically prosecuting.
In very guarded and apologetic phrase, Kaunitz introduced the delicate subject. The announcement
of the unexpected alliance with France struck all with astonishment and
indignation. Francis, vehemently moved, rose, and smiting the table with his
hand, exclaimed, "Such an alliance is unnatural and impracticable—it never
shall take place." The empress, by nods and winks, encouraged her
minister, and he went on detailing the great advantages to result from the
French alliance. Maria Theresa listened with great attention to his arguments,
and was apparently convinced by them. She then gave her approbation so decisively
as to silence all debate. She said that such a treaty was so manifestly for the
interest of Austria, that she was fearful that France would not accede to it.
Since she knew that the matter was already arranged and settled with the French
court, this was a downright lie, though the queen probably regarded it as a
venial fib, or as diplomacy.
Thus curiously England and Austria had changed their
allies. George II and Frederic II, from being rancorous foes became friends,
and Maria Theresa and Louis XV unfurled their flags together. England was
indignant with Austria for the French alliance, Austria was indignant with
England for the Prussian alliance. Each accused the other of being the first to
abandon the ancient treaty. As the British ambassador reproached the queen with
this abandonment, she replied,
“I have not abandoned the old system, but Great
Britain has abandoned me and that system, by concluding the Prussian treaty,
the first intelligence of which struck me like a fit of apoplexy. I and the
King of Prussia are incompatible. No consideration on earth shall induce me to
enter into any engagement to which he is a party. Why should you be surprised
if, following your example in concluding a treaty with Prussia, I should enter
into an engagement with France?”
“I have but two enemies,” Maria Theresa said again, “whom
I have to dread—the King of Prussia and the Turks. And while I and the Empress
of Russia continue on the same good terms as now subsist between us, we shall,
I trust, be able to convince Europe that we are in a condition to defend
ourselves against those adversaries, however formidable”
The queen still kept her eye anxiously fixed upon
Silesia, and in secret combination with the Empress of Russia made preparation
for a sudden invasion. With as much secrecy as was possible, large armies were
congregated in the vicinity of Prague, while Russia was cautiously
concentrating her troops upon the frontiers of Livonia. But Frederic was on the
alert, and immediately demanded of the empress queen the significance of these
military movements.
“In the present crisis,” the queen replied, “I deem it
necessary to take measures for the security of myself and my allies, which tend
to the prejudice of no one.”
So vague an answer was of course unsatisfactory, and
the haughty Prussian king reiterated his demand in very imperious tones.
“I wish,” said he, “for an immediate and categorical
answer, not delivered in an oracular style, ambiguous and inconclusive,
respecting the armaments in Bohemia, and I demand a positive assurance that the
queen will not attack me either during this or the following year.”
The answer returned by the queen to this demand was
equally unsatisfactory with the first, and the energetic Prussian monarch,
wasting no more words, instantly invaded Saxony with a powerful army, overran
the duchy, and took possession of Dresden, its capital. Then wheeling his
troops, with twenty-four thousand men he marched boldly into Bohemia. The queen
dispatched an army of forty thousand to meet him. The fierce encounter took
place at Lowositz, near the banks of the Elbe. The
military genius of Frederic prevailed, and the Austrians were repulsed, though
the slaughter was about equal on each side, six thousand men, three thousand
upon each side, being left in their blood. Frederic took possession of Saxony
as a conquered province. Seventeen thousand soldiers, whom he made prisoners,
he forced into his own service. Eighty pieces of cannon were added to his
artillery train, and the revenues of Saxony replenished his purse.
The anger of Maria Theresa, at this humiliation of her
ally, was roused to the highest pitch, and she spent the winter in the most
vigorous preparations for the campaign of the spring. She took advantage of
religious fanaticism, and represented, through all the Catholic courts of
Europe, that there was a league of the two heretical powers, England and
Prussia, against the faithful children of the Church. Jeanette Poisson,
Marchioness of Pompadour, who now controlled the destinies of France, raised,
for the service of Maria Theresa, an army of one hundred and five thousand men,
paid all the expenses of ten thousand Bavarian troops, and promised the queen
an annual subsidy of twelve millions of imperial florins. The emperor,
regarding the invasion of Saxony as an insult to the empire, roused the States
of Germany to cooperate with the queen. Europe was again ablaze with war.
It was indeed a fearful combination now prepared to
make a rush upon the King of Prussia. France had assembled eighty thousand men
on the Rhine. The Swedes were rallying in great numbers on the frontiers of
Pomerania. The Russians had concentrated an army sixty thousand strong on the
borders of Livonia. And the Queen of Austria had one hundred and fifty thousand
men on the march, through Hungary and Bohemia, to the frontiers of Silesia.
Frederic, with an eagle eye, was watching all these movements, and was
employing all his amazing energies to meet the crisis. He resolved to have the
advantage of striking the first blow, and adopted the bold measure of marching
directly into the heart of the Austrian States. To deceive the allies he
pretended to be very much frightened, and by breaking down bridges and
establishing fortresses seemed intent upon merely presenting a desperate
defense behind his ramparts.
Suddenly, in three strong, dense columns, Frederic
burst into Bohemia and advanced, with rapid and resistless strides, towards
Prague. The unprepared Austrian bands were driven before these impetuous
assailants as chaff is dispersed by the whirlwind. With great precipitation the
Austrian troops, from all quarters, fled to the city of Prague and rallied
beneath its walls. Seventy thousand men were soon collected, strongly
intrenched behind ramparts, thrown up outside of the city, from which ramparts,
in case of disaster, they could retire behind the walls and into the citadel.
The king, with his army, came rushing on like the
sweep of the tornado, and plunged, as a thunderbolt of war, into the camp of
the Austrians. For a few hours the battle blazed as if it were a strife of
demons—hell in high carnival. Eighteen thousand Prussians were mowed down by
the Austrian batteries, before the fierce assailants could scale the ramparts.
Then, with cimeter and bayonet, they took a bloody
revenge. Eight thousand Austrians were speedily weltering in blood. The shriek
of the battle penetrated all the dwellings in Prague, appalling every ear, like
a wail from the world of woe. The routed Austrians, leaving nine thousand
prisoners, in the hands of Frederic, rushed through the gates into the city,
while a storm of shot from the batteries on the walls drove back the pursuing
Prussians.
Prague, with the broken army thus driven within its
walls, now contained one hundred thousand inhabitants. The city was totally
unprepared for a siege. All supplies of food being cut off, the inhabitants
were soon reduced to extreme suffering. The queen was exceedingly anxious that
the city should hold out until she could hasten to its relief. She succeeded in
sending a message to the besieged army, by a captain of grenadiers, who
contrived to evade the vigilance of the besiegers and to gain entrance to the
city.
“I am concerned,” said the empress, “that so many
generals, with so considerable a force, must remain besieged in Prague, but I
augur favorably for the event. I cannot too strongly impress upon your minds
that the troops will incur everlasting disgrace should they not effect what the
French in the last war performed with far inferior numbers. The honor of the
whole nation, as well as that of the imperial aims, is interested in their
present behavior. The security of Bohemia, of my other hereditary dominions,
and of the German empire itself, depends on a gallant defense and the
preservation of Prague.
“The army under the command of Marshal Daun is daily strengthening, and will soon be in a
condition to raise the siege. The French are approaching with all diligence.
The Swedes are marching to my assistance. In a short space of time affairs
will, under divine Providence, wear a better aspect.”
The scene in Prague was awful. Famine strode through
all the streets, covering the pavements with the emaciate corpses of the dead.
An incessant bombardment was kept up from the Prussian batteries, and shot and
shell were falling incessantly, by day and by night, in every portion of the
city. Conflagrations were continually blazing; there was no possible place of
safety; shells exploded in parlors, in chambers, in cellars, tearing limb from
limb, and burying the mutilated dead beneath the ruins of their dwellings. The
booming of the cannon, from the distant batteries, was answered by the thunder
of the guns from the citadel and the walls, and blended with all this uproar
rose the uninterrupted shrieks of the wounded and the dying. The cannonade from
the Prussian batteries was so destructive, that in a few days one quarter of
the entire city was demolished.
Count Daun, with sixty
thousand men, was soon advancing rapidly towards Prague. Frederic, leaving a
small force to continue the blockade of the city, marched with the remainder of
his troops to assail the Austrian general. They soon met, and fought for some
hours as fiercely as mortals can fight. The slaughter on both sides was awful.
At length the fortune of war turned in favor of the Austrians, though they laid
down nine thousand husbands, fathers, sons, in bloody death, as the price of
the victory. Frederic was almost frantic with grief and rage as he saw his
proud battalions melting away before the batteries of the foe. Six times his
cavalry charged with the utmost impetuosity, and six times they were as
fiercely repulsed. Frederic was finally compelled to withdraw, leaving fourteen thousand of his troops either slain or prisoners.
Twenty-two Prussian standards and forty-three pieces of artillery were taken by
the Austrians.
The tidings of this victory elated Maria Theresa
almost to delirium. Feasts were given, medals struck, presents given, and the
whole empire blazed with illuminations, and rang with all the voices of joy.
The queen even condescended to call in person upon the Countess Daun to congratulate her upon the great victory attained by
her husband. She instituted, on the occasion, a new military order of merit,
called the order of Maria Theresa. Count Daun and his
most illustrious officers were honored with the first positions in this new
order of knighthood.
The Prussians were compelled to raise the siege of
Prague, and to retreat with precipitation. Bohemia was speedily evacuated by
the Prussian troops. The queen was now determined to crush Frederic entirely,
so that he might never rise again. His kingdom was to be taken from him, carved
up, and apportioned out between Austria, Sweden, Poland and Russia.
The Prussians retreated, in a broken band of but
twenty-five thousand men, into the heart of Silesia, to Breslau, its beautiful
and strongly fortified capital. This city, situated upon the Oder, at its
junction with the Ohlau, contained a population of
nearly eighty thousand. The fugitive troops sought refuge behind its walls,
protected as they were by batteries of the heaviest artillery. The Austrians,
strengthened by the French, with an army now amounting to ninety thousand,
followed closely on, and with their siege artillery commenced the cannonade of
the city. An awful scene of carnage ensued, in which the Austrians lost eight
thousand men and the Prussians five thousand, when the remnant of the Prussian
garrison, retreating by night through a remote gate, left the city in the hands
of the Austrians.
It was now mid-winter. But the iron-nerved Frederic,
undismayed by these terrible reverses, collected the scattered fragments of his
army, and, finding himself at the head of thirty thousand men, advanced to
Breslau in the desperate attempt to regain his capital. His force was so
inconsiderable as to excite the ridicule of the Austrians. Upon the approach of
Frederic, Prince Charles, disdaining to hide behind the ramparts of the city on
the defensive, against a foe thus insulting him with inferior numbers, marched
to meet the Prussians. The interview between Prince Charles and Frederic was
short but very decisive, lasting only from the hour of dinner to the going down
of a December's sun. The twilight of the wintry day had not yet come when seven
thousand Austrians were lying mangled in death on the blood-stained snow.
Twenty thousand were made prisoners. All the baggage of the Austrian army, the
military chest, one hundred and thirty-four pieces of cannon, and fifty-nine
standards fell into the hands of the victors. For this victory Frederic paid
the price of five thousand lives; but life to the poor Prussian
soldier must have been a joyless scene, and death must have been a relief.
Frederic now, with triumphant banners, approached the
city. It immediately capitulated, surrendering nearly eighteen thousand
soldiers, six hundred and eighty-six officers and thirteen generals as
prisoners of war. In this one storm of battle, protracted through but a few
days, Maria Theresa lost fifty thousand men. Frederic then turned upon the
Russians, and drove them out of Silesia. The same doom awaited the Swedes, and
they fled precipitately to winter quarters behind the cannon of Stralsund. Thus
terminated the memorable campaign of 1757, the most memorable of the Seven
Years’ War. The Austrian army was almost annihilated; but the spirit of the
strife was not subdued in any breast.
The returning sun of spring was but the harbinger of
new woes for war-stricken Europe. England, being essentially a maritime power,
could render Frederic but little assistance in troops; but the cabinet of St.
James was lavish in voting money. Encouraged by the vigor Frederic had shown,
the British cabinet, with enthusiasm, voted him an annual subsidy of three
million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
Austria was so exhausted in means and in men, that
notwithstanding the most herculean efforts of the queen, it was not until April
of the year 1758 that she was able to concentrate fifty thousand men in the
field, with the expensive equipments which war
demands. Frederic, aided by the gold of England, was early on the move, and had
already opened the campaign by the invasion of Moravia, and by besieging Olmutz.
The summer was passed in a series of incessant
battles, sweeping all over Germany, with the usual vicissitudes of war. In the
great battle of Hockkirchen Frederic encountered a woeful
defeat. The battle took place on the 14th of October, and lasted five hours.
Eight thousand Austrians and nine thousand Prussians were stretched lifeless
upon the plain. Frederic was at last compelled to retreat, abandoning his
tents, his baggage, one hundred and one cannon, and thirty standards. Nearly every
Prussian general was wounded. The king himself was grazed by a ball; his horse
was shot from under him, and two pages were killed at his side.
Again Vienna blazed with illuminations and rang with
rejoicing, and the queen liberally dispensed her gifts and her congratulations.
Still nothing effectual was accomplished by all this enormous expenditure of
treasure, this carnage and woe; and again the exhausted combatants retired to
seek shelter from the storms of winter. Thus terminated the third year of this
cruel and wasting war.
The spring of 1759 opened brightly for Maria Theresa.
Her army, flushed by the victory of the last autumn, was in high health and
spirits. All the allies of Austria redoubled their exertions; and the Catholic
States of Germany with religious zeal rallied against the two heretical
kingdoms of Prussia and England. The armies of France, Austria, Sweden and
Russia were now marching upon Prussia, and it seemed impossible that the king
could withstand such adversaries. More fiercely than ever the storm of war
raged. Frederic, at the head of forty thousand men, early in June met eighty
thousand Russians and Austrians upon the banks of the Oder, near Frankfort. For
seven hours the action lasted, and the allies were routed with enormous slaughter;
but the king, pursuing his victory too far with his exhausted troops, was
turned upon by the foe, and was routed himself in turn, with the slaughter of
one half of his whole army. Twenty-four thousand of
the allies and twenty thousand Prussians perished on that bloody day.
Frederic exposed his person with the utmost
recklessness. Two horses were shot beneath him; several musket balls pierced
his clothes; he was slightly wounded, and was rescued from the foe only by the
almost superhuman exertions of his hussars. In the darkness of the night the
Prussians secured their retreat.
We have mentioned that at first Frederic seemed to
have gained the victory. So sanguine was he then of success that he dispatched
a courier from the field, with the following billet to the queen at Berlin:—
“We have driven the enemy from their intrenchments; in
two hours expect to hear of a glorious victory.”
Hardly two hours had elapsed ere another courier was
sent to the queen with the following appalling message:—
“Remove from Berlin with the royal family. Let the
archives be carried to Potsdam, and the capital make conditions with the enemy.”
In this terrible battle the enemy lost so fearfully
that no effort was made to pursue Frederic. Disaster never disheartened the
Prussian king. It seemed but to rouse anew his energies. With amazing vigor he
rallied his scattered forces, and called in reinforcements. The gold of England
was at his disposal; he dismantled distant fortresses and brought their cannon
into the field, and in a few days was at the head of twenty-eight thousand men,
beneath the walls of his capital, ready again to face the foe.
The thunderings of battle
continued week after week, in unintermitted roar throughout nearly all of
Germany. Winter again came. Frederic had suffered awfully during the campaign,
but was still unsubdued. The warfare was protracted even into the middle of the
winter. The soldiers, in the fields, wading through snow a foot deep, suffered
more from famine, frost and sickness than from the bullet of the foe. In the
Austrian army four thousand died, in sixteen days of December, from the
inclemency of the weather. Thus terminated the campaign of 1759.
CHAPTER XXX
MARIA THERESA.
From 1759 to 1780.
The spring of 1760 found all parties eager for the
renewal of the strife, but none more so than Maria Theresa. The King of Prussia
was, however, in a deplorable condition. The veteran army, in which he had
taken so much pride, was now annihilated. With despotic power he had assembled
a new army; but it was composed of peasants, raw recruits, but poorly prepared
to encounter the horrors of war. The allies were marching against him with two
hundred and fifty thousand men. Frederic, with his utmost efforts, could muster
but seventy-five thousand, who, to use his own language, “were half peasants,
half deserters from the enemy, soldiers no longer fit for service, but only for
show.”
Month after month passed away, during which the whole
of Prussia presented the aspect of one wide field of battle. Frederic fought
with the energies of desperation. Villages were everywhere blazing, squadrons
charging, and the thunders of an incessant cannonade deafened the ear by night
and by day. On the whole the campaign terminated in favor of Frederic; the
allies being thwarted in all their endeavors to crush him. In one battle Maria
Theresa lost twenty thousand men.
During the ensuing winter all the continental powers
were again preparing for the resumption of hostilities in the spring, when the
British people, weary of the enormous expenditures of the war, began to be
clamorous for peace. The French treasury was also utterly exhausted. France
made overtures to England for a cessation of hostilities; and these two powers,
with peaceful overtures, addressed Maria Theresa. The queen, though fully resolved
to prosecute the war until she should attain her object, thought it not prudent
to reject outright such proposals, but consented to the assembling of a
congress at Augsburg. Hostilities were not suspended during the meeting of the
congress, and the Austrian queen was sanguine in the hope of being speedily
able to crush her Prussian rival. Every general in the field had experienced
such terrible disasters, and the fortune of war seemed so fickle, now lighting
upon one banner and now upon another, that all parties were wary, practicing
the extreme of caution, and disposed rather to act upon the defensive. Though
not a single pitched battle was fought, the allies, outnumbering the Prussians,
three to one, continually gained fortresses, intrenchments and positions, until
the spirit even of Frederic was broken by calamities, and he yielded to
despair. He no longer hoped to be able to preserve his empire, but proudly
resolved to bury himself beneath its ruins. His despondency could not be
concealed from his army, and his bravest troops declared that they could fight
no longer.
Maria Theresa was elated beyond measure. England was
withdrawing from Prussia. Frederic was utterly exhausted both as to money and
men; one campaign more would finish the work, and Prussia would lie helpless at
the feet of Maria Theresa, and her most sanguine anticipations would be
realized. But the deepest laid plans of man are often thwarted by apparently
the most trivial events. One single individual chanced to be taken sick and
die. That individual was Elizabeth, the Empress of Russia. On the 5th of
January, 1762, she was lying upon her bed an emaciate suffering woman, gasping
in death. The departure of her last breath changed the fate of Europe.
Paul III, her nephew, who succeeded the empress,
detested Maria Theresa, and often inveighed bitterly against her haughtiness
and her ambition. On the contrary, he admired the King of Prussia. He had
visited the court of Berlin, where he had been received with marked attention;
and Frederic was his model of a hero. He had watched with enthusiastic
admiration the fortitude and military prowess of the Prussian king, and had
even sent to him many messages of sympathy, and had communicated to him secrets
of the cabinet and their plans of operation. Now, enthroned as Emperor of
Russia, without reserve he avowed his attachment to Frederic, and ordered his
troops to abstain from hostilities, and to quit the Austrian army. At the same
time he sent a minister to Berlin to conclude an alliance with the hero he so
greatly admired. He even asked for himself a position in the Prussian army as
lieutenant under Frederic.
The Swedish court was so intimately allied with that
of St. Petersburg, that the cabinet of Stockholm also withdrew from the
Austrian alliance, and thus Maria Theresa, at a blow, lost two of her most
efficient allies. The King of Prussia rose immediately from his despondency,
and the whole kingdom shared in his exultation and his joy. The Prussian
troops, in conjunction with the Russians, were now superior to the Austrians,
and were prepared to assume the offensive. But again Providence interposed. A
conspiracy was formed against the Russian emperor, headed by his wife whom he
had treated with great brutality, and Paul III lost both his crown and his
life, in July 1762, after a reign of less than six months.
Catharine II, wife of Paul III, with a bloody hand
took the crown from the brow of her murdered husband and placed it upon her own
head. She immediately dissolved the Prussian alliance, declared Frederic an
enemy to the Prussian name, and ordered her troops, in cooperation with those
of Austria, to resume hostilities against Frederic. It was an instantaneous
change, confounding all the projects of man. The energetic Prussian king,
before the Russian troops had time so to change their positions as to cooperate
with the Austrians, assailed the troops of Maria Theresa with such impetuosity
as to drive them out of Silesia. Pursuing his advantage Frederic overran
Saxony, and then turning into Bohemia, drove the Austrians before him to the
walls of Prague. Influenced by these disasters and other considerations,
Catharine decided to retire from the contest. At the same time the Turks,
excited by Frederic, commenced anew their invasion of Hungary. Maria Theresa
was in dismay. Her money was gone. Her allies were dropping from her. The Turks
were advancing triumphantly up the Danube, and Frederic was enriching himself
with the spoils of Saxony and Bohemia. Influenced by these considerations she
made overtures for peace, consenting to renounce Silesia, for the recovery of
which province she had in vain caused Europe to be desolated with blood for so
many years. A treaty of peace was soon signed, Frederic agreeing to evacuate
Saxony; and thus terminated the bloody Seven Years' War.
Maria Theresa's eldest son Joseph was now twenty-three
years of age. Her influence and that of the Emperor Francis was such, that they
secured his election to succeed to the throne of the empire upon the death of
his father. The emperor elect received the title of King of the Romans. The
important election took place at Frankfort, on the 27th of May, 1764. The
health of the Emperor Francis I., had for some time been precarious, he being
threatened with apoplexy. Three months after the election of his son to succeed
him upon the imperial throne, Francis was at Innsbruck in the Tyrol, to attend
the nuptials of his second son Leopold, with Maria Louisa, infanta of Spain. He
was feeble and dejected, and longed to return to his home in Vienna. He
imagined that the bracing air of the Tyrol did not agree with his health, and
looking out upon the summits which tower around Innsbruck exclaimed,
“Oh! if I could but once quit these mountains of the
Tyrol.”
On the morning of the 18th of August, his symptoms
assumed so threatening a form, that his friends urged him to be bled. The
emperor declined, saying,
“I am engaged this evening to sup with Joseph, and I
will not disappoint him; but I will be blooded tomorrow.”
The evening came, and as he was preparing to go and
sup with his son, he dropped instantly dead upon the floor. Fifty-eight years
was his allotted pilgrimage—a pilgrimage of care and toil and sorrow. Even when
elevated to the imperial throne, his position was humiliating, being ever
overshadowed by the grandeur of his wife. At times he felt this most keenly,
and could not refrain from giving imprudent utterance to his mortification.
Being at one time present at a levee, which the empress was giving to her
subjects, he retired, in chagrin, from the imperial circle into a corner of the
saloon, and took his seat near two ladies of the court. They immediately, in
accordance with regal etiquette, rose.
“Do not regard me,” said the emperor bitterly, and yet
with an attempt at playfulness, “for I shall remain here until
the court has retired, and shall then amuse myself in contemplating
the crowd.”
One of the ladies replied, “As long as your imperial
majesty is present the court will be here.”
“You are mistaken,” rejoined the emperor, with a
forced smile; “the empress and my children are the court. I am here only as a
private individual.”
Francis I, though an impotent emperor, would have made
a very good exchange broker. He seemed to be fond of mercantile life,
establishing manufactories, and letting out money on bond and mortgage. When
the queen was greatly pressed for funds he would sometimes accept her paper,
always taking care to obtain the most unexceptionable security. He engaged in a
partnership with two very efficient men for farming the revenues of Saxony. He
even entered into a contract to supply the Prussian army with forage,
when that army was expending all its energies, during the Seven Years’ War,
against the troops of Maria Theresa. He judged that his wife was capable of
taking care of herself. And she was. Notwithstanding these traits of character,
he was an exceedingly amiable and charitable man, distributing annually five
hundred thousand dollars for the relief of distress. Many anecdotes are related
illustrative of the emperor's utter fearlessness of danger, and of the kindness
of his heart. There was a terrible conflagration in Vienna. A saltpeter
magazine was in flames, and the operatives exposed to great danger. An
explosion was momentarily expected, and the firemen, in dismay, ventured but
little aid. The emperor, regardless of peril, approached near the fire to give
directions. His attendants urged him not thus to expose his person.
“Do not be alarmed for me,” said the emperor, “think
only of those poor creatures who are in such danger of perishing.”
At another time a fearful inundation swept the valley
of the Danube. Many houses were submerged in isolated positions, all but their
roofs. In several cases the families had taken refuge on the tops of the
houses, and had remained three days and three nights without food. Immense
blocks of ice, swept down by the flood, seemed to render it impossible to
convey relief to the sufferers. The most intrepid boatmen of the Danube dared
not venture into the boiling surge. The emperor threw himself into a boat,
seized the oars, and saying, “My example may at least influence others,” pushed
out into the flood and successfully rowed to one of the houses. The boatmen
were shamed into heroism, and the imperiled people were saved.
Maria Theresa does not appear to have been very deeply
afflicted by the death of her husband; or we should, perhaps, rather say that
her grief assumed the character which one would anticipate from a person of her
peculiar frame of mind. The emperor had not been faithful to his kingly spouse,
and she was well acquainted with his numerous infidelities. Still she seems
affectionately to have cherished the memory of his gentle virtues. With her own
hands she prepared his shroud, and she never after laid aside her weeds of
mourning. She often descended into the vault where his remains were deposited,
and passed hours in prayer by the side of his coffin.
Joseph, of course, having been preselected,
immediately assumed the imperial crown. Maria Theresa had but little time to
devote to grief. She had lost Silesia, and that was a calamity apparently far
heavier than the death of her husband. Millions of treasure, and countless
thousands of lives had been expended, and all in vain, for the recovery of that
province. She now began to look around for territory she could grasp in
compensation for her loss. Poland was surrounded by Austria, Russia and
Prussia. The population consisted of two classes—the nobles who possessed all
the power, and the people who were in a state of the most abject
feudal vassalage. By the laws of Poland every person was a noble who was not
engaged in any industrial occupation and who owned any land, or who had
descended from those who ever had held any land. The government was what may
perhaps be called an aristocratic republic. The masses were mere slaves. The
nobles were in a state of political equality. They chose a chieftain whom they called king,
but whose power was a mere shadow. At this time Poland was in a state of
anarchy. Civil war desolated the kingdom, the nobles being divided into
numerous factions, and fighting fiercely against each other. Catharine, the
Empress of Russia, espoused the cause of her favorite, Count Poniatowski, who was one of the candidates for the crown of
Poland, and by the influence of her money and her armies placed him upon the
throne and maintained him there. Poland thus, under the influence of the
Russian queen, became, as it were, a mere province of the Russian empire.
Poniatowski, a proud man, soon felt galled by the chains which Catharine threw
around him. Frederic of Prussia united with Catharine in the endeavor to make Poniatowski subservient to their wishes. Maria Theresa
eagerly put in her claim for influence in Poland. Thus the whole realm became a
confused scene of bloodshed and devastation. Frederic of Prussia, the great
regal highwayman, now proposed to Austria and Russia that they should settle all
the difficulty by just dividing Poland between them. To their united armies
Poland could present no resistance. Maria Theresa sent her dutiful son Joseph,
the emperor, to Silesia, to confer with Frederic upon this subject. The
interview took place at Neiss, on the 25th of August,
1769. The two sovereigns vied with each other in the interchange of courtesies,
and parted most excellent friends. Soon after, they held another interview at
Neustadt, in Moravia, when the long rivalry between the houses of Hapsburg and
Brandenburg seemed to melt down into most cordial union. The map of Poland was
placed before the two sovereigns, and they marked out the portion of booty to
be assigned to each of the three imperial highwaymen. The troops of Russia,
Austria and Prussia were already in Poland. The matter being thus settled
between Prussia and Austria, the Prussian king immediately conferred with
Catharine at St. Petersburg. This ambitious and unprincipled woman snatched at
the bait presented, and the infamous partition was agreed to. Maria Theresa was
very greedy, and demanded nearly half of Poland as her share. This exorbitant
claim, which she with much pertinacity adhered to, so offended the two other
sovereigns that they came near fighting about the division of the spoil. The
queen was at length compelled to lower her pretensions. The final treaty was
signed between the three powers on the 5th of August, 1772.
The three armies were immediately put in motion, and
each took possession of that portion of the Polish territory which was assigned
to its sovereign. In a few days the deed was done. By this act Austria received
an accession of twenty-seven thousand square miles of the richest of the Polish
territory, containing a population of two million five hundred thousand souls.
Russia received a more inhospitable region, embracing forty-two thousand square
miles, and a population of one million five hundred thousand. The share of
Frederic amounted to thirteen thousand three hundred and seventy-five square
miles, and eight hundred and sixty thousand souls.
Notwithstanding this cruel dismemberment, there was
still a feeble Poland left, upon which the three powers were continually
gnawing, each watching the others, and snarling at them lest they should get
more than their share. After twenty years of jealous watchings the three powers decided to finish their infamous work, and Poland was blotted
from the map of Europe. In the two divisions Austria received forty-five
thousand square miles and five million of inhabitants. Maria Theresa was now
upon the highest pinnacle of her glory and her power. She had a highly
disciplined army of two hundred thousand men; her treasury was replenished, and
her wide-spread realms were in the enjoyment of peace. Life had been to her,
thus far, but a stormy sea, and weary of toil and care, she now hoped to close
her days in tranquillity.
The queen was a stern and stately mother. While
pressed by all these cares of state, sufficient to have crushed any ordinary
mind, she had given birth to sixteen children. But as each child was born it
was placed in the hands of careful nurses, and received but little of parental caressings. It was seldom that she saw her children more
than once a week. Absorbed by high political interests, she contented herself
with receiving a daily report from the nursery. Every morning her physician,
Van Swieter, visited the young imperial family, and
then presented a formal statement of their condition to the strong-minded
mother. Yet the empress was very desirous of having it understood that she was
the most faithful of parents. Whenever any foreign ambassador arrived at
Vienna, the empress would contrive to have an interview, as it were by
accident, when she had collected around her her interesting family. As the illustrious stranger retired the children also
retired to their nursery.
One of the daughters, Josepha, was betrothed to the
King of Naples. A few days before she was to leave Vienna the queen required
her, in obedience to long established etiquette, to descend into the tomb of
her ancestors and offer up a prayer. The sister-in-law, the Emperor Joseph's
wife, had just died of the small-pox, and her remains, disfigured by that awful
disease, had but recently been deposited in the tomb. The timid maiden was
horror-stricken at the requirement, and regarded it as her death doom. But an
order from Maria Theresa no one was to disobey. With tears filling her eyes,
she took her younger sister, Maria Antoinette, upon her knee, and said,
“I am about to leave you, Maria, not for Naples, but
to die. I must visit the tomb of our ancestors, and I am sure that I shall take
the small-pox, and shall soon be buried there.” Her fears were verified. The
disease, in its most virulent form, seized her, and in a few days her remains
were also consigned to the tomb.
In May, 1770, Maria Antoinette, then but fifteen years
of age, and marvelously beautiful, was married to the young dauphin of France,
subsequently the unhappy Louis XVI. As she left Vienna, for that throne from
which she was to descend to the guillotine, her mother sent by her hand the
following letter to her husband:
“Your bride, dear dauphin, is separated from me. As
she has ever been my delight so will she be your happiness. For this purpose
have I educated her; for I have long been aware that she was to be the
companion of your life. I have enjoined upon her, as among her highest duties,
the most tender attachment to your person, the greatest attention to every thing that can please or make you happy. Above all, I
have recommended to her humility towards God, because I am convinced that it is
impossible for us to contribute to the happiness of the subjects confided to
us, without love to Him who breaks the scepters and crushes the thrones of
kings according to His own will.”
In December, 1777, the Duke of Bavaria died without
male issue. Many claimants instantly rose, ambitious of so princely an
inheritance. Maria Theresa could not resist the temptation to put in her claim.
With her accustomed promptness, she immediately ordered her troops in motion,
and, descending from Bohemia, entered the electorate. Maria Theresa had no one
to fear but Frederic of Prussia, who vehemently remonstrated against such an
accession of power to the empire of Austria. After an earnest correspondence
the queen proposed that Bavaria should be divided between them as they had
partitioned Poland. Still they could not agree, and the question was submitted
to the cruel arbitrament of battle. The young Emperor Joseph was much pleased
with this issue, for he was thirsting for military fame, and was proud to
contend with so renowned an antagonist. The death of hundreds of thousands of
men in the game of war, was of little more moment to him than the loss of a few
pieces in a game of chess.
The Emperor Joseph was soon at the head of one hundred
thousand men. The King of Prussia, with nearly an equal force, marched to meet
him. Both commanders were exceedingly wary, and the whole campaign was passed
in maneuvers and marchings, with a few unimportant
battles. The queen was weary of war, and often spoke, with tears in her eyes,
of the commencement of hostilities. Without the knowledge of her son, who
rejoiced in the opening strife, she entered into a private correspondence with
Frederic, in which she wrote, by her secret messenger, M. Thugut:
“I regret exceedingly that the King of Prussia and
myself, in our advanced years, are about to tear the gray hairs from each
other's heads. My age, and my earnest desire to maintain peace are well known.
My maternal heart is alarmed for the safety of my sons who are in the army. I
take this step without the knowledge of my son the emperor, and I entreat that
you will not divulge it. I conjure you to unite your efforts with mine to reestablish
harmony.”
The reply of Frederic was courteous and beautiful. “Baron
Thugut,” he wrote, “has delivered me your majesty’s letter, and no one is, or
shall be acquainted with his arrival. It was worthy of your majesty to give
such proofs of moderation, after having so heroically maintained the
inheritance of your ancestors. The tender attachment you display for your son
the emperor, and the princes of your blood, deserves the applause of every
heart, and augments, if possible, the high consideration I entertain for your
majesty. I have added some articles to the propositions of M. Thugut, most of
which have been allowed, and others which, I hope, will meet with little
difficulty. He will immediately depart for Vienna, and will be able to return
in five or six days, during which time I will act with such caution that your
imperial majesty may have no cause of apprehension for the safety of any part
of your family, and particularly of the emperor, whom I love and esteem,
although our opinions differ in regard to the affairs of Germany.”
But the Emperor Joseph was bitterly opposed to peace,
and thwarted his mother's benevolent intentions in every possible way. Still
the empress succeeded, and the articles were signed at Teschen, the 13th day of
May, 1779. The queen was overjoyed at the result, and was often heard to say
that no act of her administration had given her such heartfelt joy. When she
received the news she exclaimed, “My happiness is full. I am not partial to
Frederic, but I must do him the justice to confess that he has acted nobly and
honorably. He promised me to make peace on reasonable terms, and he has kept
his word. I am inexpressibly happy to spare the effusion of so much blood.”
The hour was now approaching when Maria Theresa was to
die. She had for some time been failing from a disease of the lungs, and she
was now rapidly declining. Her sufferings, as she took her chamber and her bed,
became very severe; but the stoicism of her character remained unshaken. In one
of her seasons of acute agony she exclaimed, “God grant that these sufferings
may soon terminate, for, otherwise, I know not if I can much longer endure
them.”
Her son Maximilian stood by her bed-side. She raised
her eyes to him and said, “I have been enabled thus far to bear these pangs
with firmness and constancy. Pray to God, my son, that I may preserve my tranquillity to the last.”
The dying hour, long sighed for, came. She partook of
the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and then, assembling her family around her,
addressed to them her last words.
“I have received the sacraments,” said she, “and feel
that I am now to die.” Then addressing the emperor, she continued, “My son, all
my possessions after my death revert to you. To your care I commend my
children. Be to them a father. I shall die contented, you giving me that
promise.” Then looking to the other children she added, “Regard the emperor as
your sovereign. Obey him, respect him, confide in him, and follow his advice in
all things, and you will secure his friendship and protection.”
Her mind continued active and intensely occupied with
the affairs of her family and of her kingdom, until the very last moment.
During the night succeeding her final interview with her children, though
suffering from repeated fits of suffocation, she held a long interview with the
emperor upon affairs of state. Her son, distressed by her evident exhaustion,
entreated her to take some repose; but she replied,
“In a few hours I shall appear before the
judgment-seat of God; and would you have me lose my time in sleep?"
Expressing solicitude in behalf of the numerous
persons dependent upon her, who, after her death, might be left friendless, she
remarked, “I could wish for immortality on earth, for no other reason than for
the power of relieving the distressed”
She died on the 29th of November, 1780, in the
sixty-fourth year of her age and the forty-first of her reign.
This illustrious woman had given birth to six sons and
ten daughters. Nine of these children survived her. Joseph, already emperor,
succeeded her upon the throne of Austria, and dying childless, surrendered the
crown to his next brother Leopold. Ferdinand, the third son, became governor of
Austrian Lombardy. Upon Maximilian was conferred the electorate of Cologne.
Mary Anne became abbess of a nunnery. Christina married the Duke of Saxony.
Elizabeth entered a convent and became abbess. Caroline married the King of
Naples, and was an infamous woman. Her sister Joanna, was first betrothed to
the king, but she died of small-pox; Josepha was then destined to supply her
place; but she also fell a victim to that terrible disease. Thus the situation
was vacant for Caroline. Maria Antoinette married Louis the dauphin, and the
story of her woes has filled the world.
The Emperor Joseph II., who now inherited the crown of
Austria, was forty years of age, a man of strong mind, educated by observation
and travel, rather than by books. He was anxious to elevate and educate his
subjects, declaring that it was his great ambition to rule over freemen. He had
many noble traits of character, and innumerable anecdotes are related
illustrative of his energy and humanity. In war he was ambitious of taking his
full share of hardship, sleeping on the bare ground and partaking of the
soldiers' homely fare. He was exceedingly popular at the time of his accession
to the throne, and great anticipations were cherished of a golden age about to
dawn upon Austria. “His toilet,” writes one of his eulogists, “is that of a
common soldier, his wardrobe that of a sergeant, business his recreation, and
his life perpetual motion.”
The Austrian monarchy now embraced one hundred and
eighty thousand square miles, containing twenty-four millions of inhabitants.
It was indeed a heterogeneous realm, composed of a vast number of distinct
nations and provinces, differing in language, religion, government, laws,
customs and civilization. In most of these countries the feudal system existed
in all its direful oppression. Many of the provinces of the Austrian empire,
like the Netherlands, Lombardy and Suabia, were
separated by many leagues from the great central empire. The Roman Catholic
religion was dominant in nearly all the States, and the clergy possessed
enormous wealth and power. The masses of the people were sunk in the lowest
depths of poverty and ignorance. The aristocratic few rejoiced in luxury and
splendor.
CHAPTER XXXI
JOSEPH II AND LEOPOLD II.
From 1780 to 1792.
When Joseph ascended the throne there were ten
languages, besides several dialects, spoken in Austria—the German, Hungarian, Sclavonian, Latin, Wallachian, Turkish, modern Greek,
Italian, Flemish and French. The new king formed the desperate resolve to fuse
the discordant kingdom into one homogeneous mass, obliterating all distinctions
of laws, religion, language and manners. It was a benevolent design, but one
which far surpassed the power of man to execute. He first attempted to
obliterate all the old national landmarks, and divided the kingdom into
thirteen States, in each of which he instituted the same code of laws. He
ordered the German language alone to be used in public documents and offices;
declared the Roman Catholic religion to be dominant. There were two thousand
convents in Austria. He reduced them to seven hundred, and cut down the number
of thirty-two thousand idle monks to twenty-seven hundred; and nobly issued an
edict of toleration, granting to all members of Protestant churches the free
exercise of their religion. All Christians, of every denomination, were
declared to be equally eligible to any offices in the State.
These enlightened innovations roused the terror and
rage of bigoted Rome. Pope Pius VI was so much alarmed that he took a journey
to Vienna, that he might personally remonstrate with the emperor. But Joseph
was inflexible, and the Pope returned to Rome chagrined and humiliated that he
had acted the part of a suppliant in vain.
The serfs were all emancipated from feudal vassalage,
and thus, in an hour, the slavery under which the peasants had groaned for ages
was abolished. He established universities, academies and public schools;
encouraged literature and science in every way, and took from the priests their
office of censorship of the press, an office which they had long held. To
encourage domestic manufactures he imposed a very heavy duty upon all articles
of foreign manufacture. New roads were constructed at what was called enormous
expense, and yet at expense which was as nothing compared with the cost of a
single battle.
Joseph, soon after his coronation, made a visit to his
sister Maria Antoinette in France, where he was received with the most profuse
hospitality, and the bonds of friendship between the two courts were much
strengthened. The ambition for territorial aggrandizement seems to have been an
hereditary disease of the Austrian monarchs. Joseph was very anxious to attach
Bavaria to his realms. Proceeding with great caution he first secured, by
diplomatic skill, the non-intervention of France and Russia. England was too
much engaged in the war of the American Revolution to interfere. He raised an
army of eighty thousand men to crush any opposition, and then informed the Duke
of Bavaria that he must exchange his dominions for the Austrian Netherlands. He
requested the duke to give him an answer in eight days, but declared
peremptorily that in case he manifested any reluctance, the emperor would be
under the painful necessity of compelling him to make the exchange.
The duke appealed to Russia, France and Prussia for
aid. The emperor had bought over Russia and France. Frederic of Prussia, though
seventy-four years of age, encouraged the duke to reject the proposal, and promised
his support. The King of Prussia issued a remonstrance against this despotic
act of Austria, which remonstrance was sent to all the courts of Europe.
Joseph, on encountering this unexpected obstacle, and finding Europe combining
against him, renounced his plan and published a declaration that he had never
intended to effect the exchange by force. This disavowal, however, deceived no
one. A confederacy was soon formed, under the auspices of Frederic of Prussia,
to check the encroachments of the house of Austria. This Germanic League was
almost the last act of Frederic. He died August 17, 1786, after a reign of
forty-seven years, in the seventy-fifth year of his age.
The ambitious Empress of Russia, having already
obtained the Crimea, was intent upon the subversion of the Ottoman empire, that
she might acquire Constantinople as her maritime metropolis in the sunny south.
Joseph was willing to allow her to proceed unobstructed in the dismemberment of
Turkey, if she would not interfere with his plans of reform and aggrandizement
in Germany.
In January, 1787, the Empress of Russia set out on a
pleasure excursion of two thousand miles to the Crimea; perhaps the most
magnificent pleasure excursion that was ever attempted. She was accompanied by
all the court, by the French, English and Austrian ministers, and by a very
gorgeous retinue. It was mid-winter, when the imperial party, wrapped in furs,
and in large sledges richly decorated, and prepared expressly for the journey,
commenced their sleigh ride of a thousand miles. Music greeted them all along
the way; bonfires blazed on every hill; palaces, brilliant with illuminations
and profusely supplied with every luxury, welcomed them at each stage where
they stopped for refreshment or repose. The roads were put in perfect order;
and relays of fresh horses every few miles being harnessed to the sledges, they
swept like the wind over the hills and through the valleys.
The drive of a few weeks, with many loiterings for pleasure in the cities on the way, took them
to Kief on the Dnieper. This ancient city, the residence of the grand dukes of
Russia, contained a population of about twenty-six thousand. Here the imperial
court established itself in the ducal palaces, and with music, songs and dances
beguiled the days until, with the returning spring, the river opened. In the
meantime an immense flotilla of imperial barges had been prepared to drift down
the stream, a thousand miles, to its mouth at Kherson, where the river flows
into the Black sea. These barges were of magnificent dimensions, floating
palaces, containing gorgeous saloons and spacious sleeping apartments. As they
were constructed merely to float upon the rapid current of the stream, impelled
by sails when the breeze should favor, they could easily be provided with all
the appliances of luxury. It is difficult to conceive of a jaunt which would
present more of the attractions of pleasure, than thus to glide in saloons of
elegance, with imperial resources and surrounded by youth, beauty, genius and
rank, for a thousand miles down the current of one of the wildest and most
romantic streams of Europe.
It was a beautiful sunny morning of May, when the
regal party, accompanied by the music of military bands, and with floating
banners, entered the barges. The river, broad and deep, rolls on with majestic
flow, now through dense forests, black and gloomy, where the barking of the
bear is heard and wolves hold their nightly carousals; now it winds through
vast prairies hundreds of miles in extent; again it bursts through mountain
barriers where cliffs and crags rise sublimely thousands of feet in the air;
here with precipitous sides of granite, bleak and scathed by the storms of
centuries, and there with gloomy firs and pines rising to the clouds, where
eagles soar and scream and rear their young. Flocks and herds now graze upon
the banks; here lies the scattered village, and its whole population, half
civilized men, and matrons and maidens in antique, grotesque attire, crowd the
shores. Now the pinnacles and the battlements of a great city rise to view.
Armies were gathered at several points to entertain the imperial pleasure-party
with all the pomp and pageantry of war. At Pultowa they witnessed the maneuverings of a battle, with its thunderings and uproar and apparent carnage—the exact representation of the celebrated
battle of Pultowa, which Peter the Great gained on
the spot over Charles XII of Sweden.
The Emperor Joseph had been invited to join this
party, and, with his court and retinue, was to meet them at Kherson, near the
mouth of the Dneister, and accompany the empress to
the Crimea. But, perhaps attracted by the splendor of the water excursion, he
struck across the country in a north-east direction, by the way of Lemberg,
some six hundred miles, to intercept the flotilla and join the party on the
river. But the water of the river suddenly fell, and some hundred miles above
Kherson, the flotilla ran upon a sand bar and could not be forced over. The
empress, who was apprised of the approach of the emperor, too proud to be found
in such a situation, hastily abandoned the flotilla, and taking the carriages
which they had with them, drove to meet Joseph. The two imperial suites were
soon united, and they swept on, a glittering cavalcade, to Kherson. Joseph and
Catharine rode in a carriage together, where they had ample opportunity of
talking over all their plans of mutual aggrandizement. As no one was permitted
to listen to their conversations, their decisions can only be guessed at.
They entered the city of Kherson, then containing
about sixty thousand inhabitants, surrounded by all the magnificence which
Russian and Austrian opulence could exhibit. A triumphal arch spanned the gate,
upon which was inscribed in letters of gold, "The road to Byzantium."
Four days were passed here in revelry. The party then entered the Crimea, and
continued their journey as far as Sevastopol, where the empress was delighted
to find, within its capacious harbor, many Russian frigates at anchor. Immense
sums were expended in furnishing entertainments by the way. At Batcheseria, where the two sovereigns occupied the ancient
palace of the khans, they looked out upon a mountain in a blaze of
illumination, and apparently pouring lava floods from its artificial volcanic
crater.
Joseph returned to Vienna, and immediately there was
war—Austria and Russia against Turkey. Joseph was anxious to secure the
provinces of Bosnia, Servia, Moldavia and Wallachia, and to extend his empire
to the Dneister. With great vigor he made his
preparations, and an army of two hundred thousand men, with two thousand pieces
of artillery, were speedily on the march down the Danube. Catharine was equally
energetic in her preparations, and all the north of Europe seemed to be on the
march for the overthrow of the Ottoman empire.
Proverbially fickle are the fortunes of war. Joseph
commenced the siege of Belgrade with high hopes. He was ignominiously defeated,
and his troops were driven, utterly routed, into Hungary, pursued by the Turks,
who spread ruin and devastation widely around them. Disaster followed disaster.
Disease entered the Austrian ranks, and the proud army melted away. The emperor
himself, with about forty thousand men, was nearly surrounded by the enemy. He
attempted a retreat by night. A false alarm threw the troops into confusion and
terror. The soldiers, in their bewilderment fired upon each other, and an awful
scene of tumult ensued. The emperor, on horseback, endeavored to rally the
fugitives, but he was swept away by the crowd, and in the midnight darkness was
separated from his suite. Four thousand men perished in this defeat, and much
of the baggage and several guns were lost. The emperor reproached his
aides-de-camp with having deserted him. One of them sarcastically replied,
“We used our utmost endeavors to keep up with your
imperial majesty, but our horses were not so fleet as yours.”
Seventy thousand Austrians perished in this one campaign.
The next year, 1789, was, however, as prosperous as this had been adverse. The
Turks at Rimnik were routed with enormous slaughter,
and their whole camp, with all its treasures, fell into the hands of the
victors. Belgrade was fiercely assailed and was soon compelled to capitulate.
But Joseph was now upon his dying bed. The tidings of these successes revived
him for a few hours, and leaving his sick chamber he was conveyed to the church
of St. Stephen, where thanksgivings were offered to God. A festival of three
days in Vienna gave expression to the public rejoicing.
England was now alarmed in view of the rapid strides
of Austria and Russia, and the cabinet of St. James formed a coalition with
Holland and Prussia to assist the Turks. France, now in the midst of her
revolutionary struggle, could take no part in these foreign questions. These
successes were, however, but a momentary gleam of sunshine which penetrated the
chamber of the dying monarch. Griefs innumerable clustered around him. The
inhabitants of the Netherlands rose in successful rebellion and threw off the
Austrian yoke. Prussia was making immense preparations for the invasion of
Austria. The Hungarians were rising and demanding emancipation from the court
of Vienna. These calamities crushed the emperor. He moaned, and wept and died.
In his last hours he found much solace in religious observances, devoutly
receiving the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and passing much of his time in
prayer. He died on the 20th of February, 1790, in the forty-ninth year of his
age, and the tenth of his reign.
Joseph had been sincerely desirous of promoting the
best interests of his realms; but had been bitterly disappointed in the result
of most of his efforts at reform. Just before he died, he said, “I would have engraven on my tomb, ‘Here lies the sovereign who, with the
best intentions, never carried a single project into execution’.” He was
married twice, but both of his wives, in the prime of youth, fell victims to
the small-pox, that awful disease which seems to have been a special scourge in
the Austrian royal family. As Joseph II died without children, the crown passed
to his next brother, Leopold, who was then Grand Duke of Tuscany.
Leopold II, at his accession to the throne, was
forty-three years of age. He hastened to Vienna, and assumed the government. By
prudent acts of conciliation he succeeded in appeasing discontents, and soon
accomplished the great object of his desire in securing the election to the
imperial throne. He was crowned at Frankfort, October 9, 1790. With frankness
very unusual in the diplomacy of kings, he sought friendly relations with all
the neighboring powers. To Frederic William, who was now King of Prussia, he
wrote:
“In future, I solemnly protest, no views of
aggrandizement will ever enter into my political system. I shall doubtless
employ all the means in my possession to defend my country, should I
unfortunately be driven to such measures; but I will endeavor to give no
umbrage. To your majesty in particular, I will act as you act towards me, and
will spare no efforts to preserve perfect harmony.”
To these friendly overtures, Frederic William
responded in a similar spirit; but still there were unsettled points of dispute
between the two kingdoms which threatened war, and large armies were gathered
on their respective frontiers in preparation for the commencement of
hostilities. In 1790, after much correspondence, they came to terms, and
articles of peace were signed. At the same time an armistice was concluded with
the Turks.
The spirit of liberty which had emancipated the
colonies of North America from the aristocratic sway of England, shivering the
scepter of feudal tyranny in France, had penetrated Hungary. Leopold was
endeavoring to rivet anew the shackles of despotism, when he received a manly
remonstrance from an assembly of Hungarians which had been convened as Pest. In
the following noble terms they addressed the king.
“The fame, august sovereign, which has preceded you,
has declared you a just and gracious prince. It says that you forget not that
you are a man; that you are sensible that the king was made for the people, not
the people for the king. From the rights of nations and of man, and from that
social compact whence states arose, it is incontestable that the sovereignty
originates from the people. This axiom, our parent Nature has impressed on the
hearts of all. It is one of those which a just prince (and such we trust your
majesty ever will be) cannot dispute. It is one of those inalienable
imprescriptible rights which the people cannot forfeit by neglect or disuse.
Our constitution places the sovereignty jointly in the king and people, in such
a manner that the remedies necessary to be applied according to the ends of
social life, for the security of persons and property, are in the power of the
people.
“We are sure, therefore, that at the meeting of the
ensuing diet, your majesty will not confine yourself to the objects mentioned
in your rescript, but will also restore our freedom to us, in like manner as to
the Belgians, who have conquered theirs with the sword. It would be an example
big with danger, to teach the world that a people can only protect or regain
their liberties by the sword and not by obedience.”
But Leopold, trembling at the progress which freedom
was making in France, determined to crush this spirit with an iron heel. Their
petition was rejected with scorn and menace.
With great splendor Leopold entered Pressburg, and was
crowned King of Hungary on the 10th of November, 1790. Having thus silenced the
murmurs in Hungary, and established his authority there, he next turned his
attention to the recovery of the Netherlands. The people there, breathing the
spirit of French liberty, had, by a simultaneous rising, thrown off the
detestable Austrian yoke. Forty-five thousand men were sent to effect their subjugation. On the 20th of November, the army
appeared before Brussels. In less than one year all the provinces were again
brought under subjection to the Austrian power.
Leopold, thus successful, now turned his attention to
France. Maria Antoinette was his sister. He had another sister in the infamous
Queen Caroline of Naples. The complaints which came incessantly from Versailles
and the Tuilleries filled his ear, touched his
affections, and roused his indignation. Twenty-five millions of people had
ventured to assert their rights against the intolerable arrogance of the French
court. Leopold now gathered his armies to trample those people down, and to
replace the scepter of unlimited despotism in the hands of the Bourbons. With
sleepless zeal Leopold cooperated with nearly all the monarchs in Europe, in
combining a resistless force to crush out from the continent of Europe the
spirit of popular liberty. An army of ninety thousand men was raised to cooperate
with the French emigrants and all the royalists in France. The king was to
escape from Paris, place himself at the head of the emigrants, amounting to
more than twenty thousand, rally around his banners all the advocates of the
old regime, and then, supported by all the powers of combined Europe, was to
march upon Paris, and take a bloody vengeance upon a people who dared to wish
to be free. The arrest of Louis XVI at Varennes deranged this plan. Leopold,
alarmed not only by the impending fate of his sister, but lest the principles
of popular liberty, extending from France, should undermine his own throne,
wrote as follows to the King of England:
“I am persuaded that your majesty is not unacquainted
with the unheard of outrage committed by the arrest of the King of France, the
queen my sister and the royal family, and that your sentiments accord with mine
on an event which, threatening more atrocious consequences, and fixing the seal
of illegality on the preceding excesses, concerns the honor and safety of all
governments. Resolved to fulfill what I owe to these considerations, and to my
duty as chief of the German empire, and sovereign of the Austrian dominions, I
propose to your majesty, in the same manner as I have proposed to the Kings of
Spain, Prussia and Naples, as well as to the Empress of Russia, to unite with
them, in a concert of measures for obtaining the liberty of the king and his
family, and setting bounds to the dangerous excesses of the French Revolution.”
The British people nobly sympathized with
the French in their efforts at emancipation, and the British government dared
not then shock the public conscience by assailing the patriots in
France. Leopold consequently turned to Frederic William of Prussia, and held a
private conference with him at Pilnitz, near Dresden,
in Saxony, on the 27th of August, 1791. The Count d'Artois,
brother of Louis XVI, and who subsequently ascended the French throne as
Charles X, joined them in this conference. In the midst of these agitations and
schemes Leopold II was seized with a malignant dysentery, which was aggravated
by a life of shameless debauchery, and died on the 1st of March, 1792, in the
forty-fifth year of his age, and after a reign of but two years.
Leopold has the reputation of having been, on the
whole, a kind-hearted man, but his court was a harem of unblushing profligacy.
His broken-hearted wife was compelled to submit to the degradation of daily
intimacy with the mistress of her husband. Upon one only of these mistresses
the king lavished two hundred thousand dollars in drafts on the bank of Vienna.
The sums thus infamously squandered were wrested from the laboring poor. His
son, Francis II, who succeeded him upon the throne, was twenty-two years of
age. In most affecting terms the widowed queen entreated her son to avoid those
vices of his father which had disgraced the monarchy and embittered her whole
life.
The reign of Francis II was so eventful, and was so
intimately blended with the fortunes of the French Revolution, the Consulate
and the Empire, that the reader must be referred to works upon those subjects
for the continuation of the history. During the wars with Napoleon Austria lost
forty-five thousand square miles, and about three and a half millions of
inhabitants. But when at length the combined monarchs of Europe triumphed over
Napoleon, the monarch of the people's choice, and, in the carnage of Waterloo,
swept constitutional liberty from the continent, Austria received again nearly
all she had lost.
Size in Square Miles …..Inhabitants
The hereditary States of Austria 76,199 9,843,490
The duchy of Styria 8,454 780,100
Tyrol 11,569 738,000
Bohemia 20,172 3,380,000
Moravia 10,192 1,805,500
The duchy of Auschnitz in
Galicia 1,843 335,190
Illyria 9,132 897,000
Hungary 125,105 10,628,500
Dalmatia 5,827 320,000
The Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom 17,608 4,176,000
Galicia 32,272 4,075,000
Thus the whole Austrian monarchy contains 256,399
square miles, and a population which now probably exceeds forty millions. The
standing army of this immense monarchy, in time of peace, consists of 271,400
men, which includes 39,000 horse and 17,790 artillery. In time of war this
force can be increased to almost any conceivable amount.
Thus slumbers this vast despotism, in the heart of
central Europe, the China of the Christian world. The utmost vigilance is
practiced by the government to seclude its subjects, as far as possible, from
all intercourse with more free and enlightened nations. The government is in
continual dread lest the kingdom should be invaded by those liberal opinions
which are circulating in other parts of Europe. The young men are prohibited,
by an imperial decree, from leaving Austria to prosecute their studies in
foreign universities. "Be careful," said Francis II. to the
professors in the university at Labach, “not to teach
too much. I do not want learned men in my kingdom; I want good subjects, who
will do as I bid them.” Some of the wealthy families, anxious to give their
children an elevated education, and prohibited from sending them abroad,
engaged private tutors from France and England. The government took the alarm,
and forbade the employment of any but native teachers. The Bible, the great
chart of human liberty, all despots fear and hate. In 1822 a decree was issued
by the emperor prohibiting the distribution of the Bible in any part of the
Austrian dominions.
The censorship of the press is rigorous in the
extreme. No printer in Austria would dare to issue the sheet we now write, and
no traveler would be permitted to take this book across the frontier. Twelve
public censors are established at Vienna, to whom every book published within
the empire, whether original or reprinted, must be referred. No newspaper or
magazine is tolerated which does not advocate despotism. Only those items of
foreign intelligence are admitted into those papers which the emperor is
willing his subjects should know. The freedom of republican America
is carefully excluded. The slavery which disgraces our land is ostentatiously
exhibited in harrowing descriptions and appalling engravings, as a specimen of
the degradation to which republican institutions doom the laboring class.
A few years ago, an English gentleman dined with
Prince Metternich, the illustrious prime minister of Austria, in his beautiful
castle upon the Rhine. As they stood after dinner at one of the windows of the
palace, looking out upon the peasants laboring in the vineyards, Metternich, in
the following words, developed his theory of social order:
“Our policy is to extend all
possible material happiness to the whole population; to administer
the laws patriarchally; to prevent their tranquility from being disturbed. Is
it not delightful to see those people looking so contented, so much in the
possession of what makes them comfortable, so well fed, so well clad, so quiet,
and so religiously observant of order? If they are injured in persons or
property, they have immediate and unexpensive redress before our tribunals, and
in that respect, neither I, nor any nobleman in the land, has the smallest
advantage over a peasant.”
But volcanic fires are heaving beneath the foundations
of the Austrian empire, and dreadful will be the day when the eruption shall
burst forth.
THE END
