The Empire of Austria; Its Rise and Present Power | Page 8

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 coöperation. 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