Page:Lectures on The Historians of Bohemia by Count Lutzow (1905).djvu/57

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II]
LAWRENCE OF BŘEZOV
45

the church of St. Pankrace, he drew his sword and waved it in the air, thus calling on the garrison of the Vyšehrad to make a sortie against the Praguers, because he with a large force, which they could not see, was also preparing to attack the men of Prague.

‘But as the king had by the grace of God missed the time fixed by the agreement[1], the captains of the Vyšehrad secured the gates of the citadel, allowing no one to attack the city of Prague, though some of the men who were Germans wished to do so. The nobles in the royal army, seeing that the men of the Vyšehrad did not intend to help the king, and that the Praguers were strongly entrenched, advised him to desist from the attack on Prague; he would thus avert great damage from his army. But the king said: “Avaunt from me. I must assuredly fight with these peasants to-day.” Then Lord Henry of Plumlov[2] speaking affably said: “Know, lord king, that you will incur great loss to-day; for my part, I fear the fighting-flails of these peasants.” The king answered, “I know that you Moravians are cowardly and unfaithful to me.” Then the said Lord Henry with the other barons of Moravia immediately leapt from their horses, and he said: “We are prepared to go where thou sendest us, and we shall be there where thou, O king, wilt not be.” Then the king assigned to them the most perilous spot, ordering them to attack the Praguers in the low grounds near the river, where there are many morasses and fishponds. The Hungarians he ordered to march

  1. The agreement between the citizens of Prague and the garrison, stipulating that the latter should capitulate if not relieved before a certain time.
  2. The leader of the Moravians.