XV. 1229-1250. was fully alive to the danger. Unable himself to face CHAP. the Tartars on the Danube, harassed by the ceaseless wiles of his Papal enemy, he still did his best for the Empire. On the 3rd of July Frederick sent forth a circular, addressed to the Kings and nations who made up the Christian commonwealth. He described the dreadful outrages perpetrated by the Mongol hordes; the heathen seemed bent on the destruction of mankind. Delay only increased the danger, since it improved the condition of the foe. Let Christendom combine, although the Pope was striving to effect her ruin by preaching a Crusade against the Advocate of the Church. The Tartars were well informed by their spies of the unhappy divisions raging in the Empire. Let each Sovereign furnish his contingent of soldiers against the reckless invaders, who were already looking upon themselves as masters of the world. But we,' says Frederick, trust in Christ, that these Tartars are to be driven back to their own Tartarus. Satan has lured them hither to die before the conquering Eagles of Imperial Europe, when Germany frantic and burning for war, France the mother and nurse of a gallant soldiery, Spain warlike and daring, England rich, mighty in men, and shielded by her fleet, Almayne full of eager warriors, Denmark famed for shipping, Italy untamed, Burgundy that knows not peace, Apulia restless, together with the piratical and unconquered isles of the Greek, Adriatic, and Tuscan seas, Crete, Cyprus, Sicily, with the isles and countries that border on the Ocean, bloodthirsty Ireland with nimble Wales, marshy Scotland, icy Norway, and every noble realm of the West shall send forth their picked soldiery 6 CHAP. under the banner of the Cross, which strikes awe XV. into rebels, aye, and into opposing Devils.' 1229-1250. A special letter was sent to the King of Hungary, stating the weighty reasons that kept the Emperor in Italy, and advising Bela to join his forces to those of King Conrad, until the full strength of the Empire could be put forth. Every Prince in Germany called upon his neighbour for help. Even the French did not feel themselves safe; Queen Blanche burst into tears at the sad tidings from the East. St. Louis soothed his mother by saying; 'We must look to Heaven for comfort. If the Tartars should come here, we will either send them to Tartarus, or they shall send us to Paradise."* The Archbishop of Mayence, who was well fitted to take the lead in Germany, and who was still the chief adviser of Conrad, called a Council at Erfurth. A Crusade against the Tartars was preached, and the Bishops took upon themselves in the present crisis to absolve from excommunication even those men, whose cases should have been decided by the Pope alone. An indulgence of forty days was granted to all who would come to the preaching of the Crusade. The Church would even wink at usury, if the holy object was to be furthered. The clergy were entrusted with unusual discretionary powers. A Diet was held at Esslingen, where Conrad, in order to establish peace throughout Germany, decreed the murder of a Crusader to be a crime punishable with death and infamy. Special prayers were ordered; and the Psalm, O God, the heathen are come up into thine inheritance,' was recommended as peculiarly suitable. The parish priests were em * M. Paris. XV. 1229-1250. powered to bestow the Cross on the volunteers, and CHAP. it was to be worn up to Christmas Day. The Spiritual Lords and Secular Judges agreed to enforce the enrolment of their vassals. Prisoners, outlaws, debtors, and their sureties, were not to be harassed, if they took the Cross, under pain of excommunication denounced against their persecutors. Old and young, rich and poor, hale and sick, men and women, clergy and laity, all alike were called upon to join the Crusade. No one was to be allowed to wear costly apparel; the money ought to be spent in buying horses and arms. The Crusade was preached, but the zeal of the faithful is said to have waxed cold. What could the people do without their Prince ? * He remained afar off, but sent his orders for the Tartar campaign to the German leaders. They were not to risk a battle in the open plains, but were to keep on the defensive. They were to provide crossbowmen. No beer was to be brewed, but the corn was to be stored up. Victuals were to be brought to the points of defence contemplated, and were not to be diverted to the Rhine, which was far from the probable theatre of the war. Every man who had an income of three marks was to equip himself with a shield. Taverns and costly apparel were to be put down. On the 13th of May, Conrad took the Cross at Esslingen for seven months, and appointed the 1st of July for his army to meet at Nuremberg, thence to go forth against the Tartar dogs. Frederick of Austria, who was quite in his element, rejoiced to hear that the young King was about to head the German levies. The Duke sent word that * Gesta Arch. Trevir. CHAP. XV. 1229–1250. the barbarians had ravaged the North of Hungary, and had done great damage in Bohemia. They had even crossed the borders of Austria, but had been driven back with the loss of three hundred men. He advised that Conrad should be followed only by the Bavarians, Franconians, Suabians, and Alsatians, since provisions would run short if too large an army were poured into Austria. Let the Saxons, Misnians, and Thuringians march through Bohemia, and join the Southern forces in an attack upon the Mongols, who, after uniting all their different divisions, were busied in building Castles in Hungary, and who would be dangerous neighbours to the Empire, if allowed to establish themselves. So strong was the enemy, as the Duke could tell by experience, that the Kings of France, Spain, and England should be summoned forthwith to withstand the whirlwind. If the barbarians, who had already ruined forty Kingdoms, could be rooted out, twenty other Kingdoms might be raised to honour and wealth.* Conrad however did not advance further than Nuremberg. King Bela wrote from Chazma early in the next year, calling for a reinforcement of Venetian crossbowmen, to prevent the savages from crossing the Danube. His uncle the Patriarch of Aquileia undertook a journey to Apulia in the vain hope of arousing the Emperor. In the summer, the Tartars suddenly besieged the town of Neustadt in Austria, an ancient stronghold where the Duke had once found refuge. Fifty knights and twenty crossbowmen made up the whole garrison; but the siege was See the letters quoted among Conrad's Regesta for 1241. † Ric. San Germano. many. raised on the approach of the forces of Eastern Ger- The Shortly after the first appearance of these marauders, a sudden and inexplicable change took place in German politics. Siffrid von Eppstein, the Archbishop of Mayence, had been for eleven years the unswerving partizan of the Kaiser. He had gone on more than one journey into Italy, in the interest of his patron, had served at the siege of Brescia, had been unmoved by the curses of Albert von Beham, and had acted as guardian to Conrad. But in the autumn of 1241, the Archbishop turned round, went over to the Papal side, and welcomed Albert von Beham as an ally. He could not apparently have chosen a worse moment for his revolt; Gregory the Ninth had just expired; Frederick was at the height of his power; and the Mongols were still on the borders of the Empire. It is possible that Siffrid may have been disgusted at the slackness of the Kaiser, who was prowling around the walls of Rome at the * See the Paterine's letter in M. Paris. Raynaldus for 1244. His first letter to the Legate bears date the 1st of October, 1241. CHAP. XV. 1229-1250. |