The Truce of God / A Tale of the Eleventh Century

e trump an

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d the shout, "The

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against their old enemy, and the princes unanimously advised the new monarch to march against his competitor, who had been recently again anathematized by the Papal legates. Rodolph, burning to retrieve his defeat and to save Suabia from furth

a shout that attested the eagerness of his soldiers for the fray. Already the clang of arms, the cries of the living, and the groans of the dying were heard along the line. The army of Rodolph was drawn up in two divisions-one commanded by the king, the other by the valiant Otto of Nordheim. As the division of Otto was a little in the rear, that of the monarch was for a time exposed alone to the overwhelming numbers of the enemy. But nobly indeed was the brunt of the battle borne. Rodolph waited not the onset, but led on his columns to the charge. Then Suabian and Saxon darted forward shoulder to shoulder, and the lords of Hers and Stramen, side by side, shouted their battle-cries and hurled their followers upon the opposing ranks. Such was the ardor inspired by Rodolph that, at the first shock, two of Henry's c

almost superhuman exertion, had preserved his front still unbrok

this vigorous assault, the pursuing column fell back in confusion, and were routed with great slaughter. Rodolph, having rallied his men, rushed on to where the imperial standard was waving, and with his own hand cut down the banner of his rival. A cry now arose: "Henr

his victory, reentered Merseburg in triumph; and Henry, unwilling to

he waters of the Strewe, as they glided carelessly

ht in August, and, stripping off his armor, he threw himself upon a couch, and gazed languidly but steadily at the flickering watch fires. He had been knighted on the field by the king, and had nobly worn his spurs, but his thoughts were evidently not running o

himself sufficiently to listen, the gallant retainer began to relate all that had occurred at the lordship of Stramen. Gilbert listened mute and breathless until informed of the Lady Margaret's safe arrival and princely receptio

ur arrival at Tübing

ected upon the danger of her position, even at Tübingen,

tly we were furiously assaulted on all sides. But the defences were complete and completely manned, and they fell back foiled at every point. For three long days we held the barbican against their united efforts

overed from her fright and

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the c

ned walls a

cried the young knight,

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the doorway, told the miscreants they must pass over his body. He would have fallen a victim to his ze

is Herm

voring to procure them food and shelter, and exhortin

d Stramen

se than y

rch?" contin

poiled a

rtain of the tent was

ood befo

s to heaven and repeated, in a clear, steady voice, those sublime words: "The

st to the youngest, the old man bent his head upon his breast, and, pressing his hands to his face, we

that God is beginning

essengers to the Pope to give him the intelligence,

r respect for his sanctity. His was an age of transition. The great question was still undecided: Shall liberty or tyranny prevail-barbarism or civilization? This question depended upon the answer to another: Shall the Church of God be free or become the creature of temporal power? Already William the Conquer

The Emperor of Austria had sworn to depose him, the Italians promised to assist his antagonist. With scarce a footing in Germany or Italy, cooped up on a barren peak, he wrestled with the haughty conqueror of England, humbled the pride of Nicephorus Botoniates who had usurped from Michael Paripinasses the empire of the East, and deposed Guibert the guilty Bishop of Ravenna. Yet amid these cares, such as human should

not his actions been so grievously misstated, and his aims so ungenerously misinterp

d have recourse to his mediation after his defeat. He was again disappointed. His very friends now began to desert him, upbraiding him with ingratitude and coldness. The Saxons addressed him several epistles in which they threatened to abandon him. But less moved by their threats than their entreaties, the Pontiff accused them of weakness and insolence. There was another reason sufficient to deter him from confirming the

which should be convened to judge between him and his rival. This was the pacific adjustment to which the Pontiff looked. But Henry remained deaf to all these remonstrances, constantly declaring that the sword alone must de

o act as a reserve. It was a bitter cold day in January, and a thick mist had canopied the river. Under cover of this, Henry, by a retrograde movement, gained the rear of his adversary. Rodolph, unconscious of this, was anxiously listening for the din of battle as the fog partially obscured his view. Gilbert had never seen the new king's noble brow so calm an

s side, "and bid him charge at once." Before Rodolph had a

antages of his position, and says he will not

our country. Soldiers!" he said, mingling among his troops, "there are the Bohemians who butchered your wives and families!" As the whole body clamored for the signal to begin, Rodolph gave the word, and the chivalry and yeomanry of Suabia swept rapidly down the hill. They were met at the base by the whole army of Henry. Still, nothing daunted, Rodolph displayed his impetuous valor, the lords of Hers and Stramen rushed on the destroyers of thei

Rodolph, calmly. "Had not his friends been so fleet

beginning to retreat, when Otto of Nordheim, true to his w

discomfited foe staggering before this unexpected and vigorous attack.

and Stramen and Gilbert, was posted upon a little knoll, watching the progr

ch, "your cunning rival there has profited by this

asked t

ver unperceived and surprise it. Give me five hundred men, a

he guard. No quarter was given there; scarce a hostile soldier escaped. Sir Albert bade his men spare not the cowards whose swords were red with the blood of babes and mothers. Sir Sandrit, at the top of his voice, shouted, "Remember the castle!" Henry and Gilbert unrelentingly pursued the terror-stricken fugitives. When they returned to the captured camp, every article of luxury was gone. The vessels of gold and silver, which the Patriarch of Aquileia and many of the other nobles had brought to grace the revels of their king, were now in the hands of their rough

Henry had fled, and the Bohemians were routed with prodigious slaughter. The fugitives rallied under the walls

as the fog vanished before a strong north wind. That day was like his life, most brilliant at its close. Otto now advanced, and t

ssed his army, and Rodolph again solic

y Rodolph's success. She was now incapable of relishing revenge. The feudal antipathies so long nourished and so early instilled as to be almost a part of her existence, were entirely, eradicated. From the evening of her interview with Father Omehr, before the no

he Lady Margaret's eye, and the blush on her cheek mingled not so freely with the pure white in which it was cradled. Perhaps her head was not so erect-perhaps the line of the back had lost in firmness what it gained in grace. Already the men and women of Montfort had learned to love and bless her, and as she passed among them serenely and silently, like a spirit of light, and as they marked the strange transparency of her features, they would salut

f more than earthly beauty! See if the