army,[1] that the Silesians were besieging the town of Nachod on the Bohemian frontier, and that he hoped that with God’s aid everything would be well. A letter of Hans Stallbogner, commander of the Nürnberg contingent,[2] is also written in a somewhat hopeful spirit, but he alludes to the dissensions among the crusaders. He writes that “the Duke of Saxony is at the head of a force of 20,000 men, and he should join us, but he wishes rather than we should join him; but this our Lord of Trier (the archbishop) and the princes will not do; they wish rather to march to the aid of castles (of the Roman Catholic nobles) in the district of Plzeň.”
The discord among the Germans to which Stallbogner alluded soon became very serious. Some of the crusaders, among others the Bishop of Augsburg and the commander of the forces of the Suabian league, were already preparing to return to Germany. Wishing to act in agreement with the elector of Brandenburg, the Archbishop of Trier invited him to a conference, and suggested the former monastery of Tepl, situated between Žlutice and Plan, as a meeting place. When, however, the Archbishop of Trier, who was accompanied by Duke Otho of Brunswick, reached Tepl it was ascertained that the Elector of Brandenburg had not arrived there. This news seems to have caused great depression in the ranks of the crusaders. One of the captains of the Suabian troops wrote: “It would have been better if we had never come here.” Those who were not absorbed by the thought of the dangers which menaced the army seem to have been in a state of complete indifference.[3] The crusaders had also greatly over-rated the value of the aid which they hoped to obtain from the owners of the neighbouring Bohemian castles who were
- ↑ The chronicler Andrew of Regensburg, who publishes this letter, adds the characteristic remark: “Hic [Albert of Austria] isto tempore nunquam venit in campum. Vide hic quomodo etiam principes falluntur.”
- ↑ Palacký Urkundliche Beiträge, etc., Vol. I. pp. 527—528.
- ↑ Dr. Juritsch writes: “Es herrschte bei den Herrn in Plan eine grenzenlose Sorglosigkeit; sie scheinen sich hinter dem Bierkruge ausserordentlich wohl zu befinden und ganz vergessen zu haben was der Krieg erheischt.”
