e counts of Freiburg, Neuburg, and
Montfort. But he secured a still more powerful partisan in Henry, Duke
of Lower Bavaria, by fomenting the disputes between him and his
brother the Count Palatine, and by ceding to him Scharding and other
places wrested from Bavaria by the Duke of Austria.

When summoned by Rudolph to do homage for his fiefs, according to the
custom of the empire, he returned a haughty answer, treating him as
Count of Hapsburg; a second summons was received with silent contempt;
on a third he sent his ambassador, the Bishop of Seccan, to the Diet
of Augsburg; and his example was followed by Henry of Bavaria. These
ministers were, however, only deputed to raise a feigned contest
relative to the vote of Henry and to protest against the election of
Rudolph. The ambassador of Henry urged the protest with moderation and
respect; but the Bishop of Seccan delivered a virulent invective
against the chief of the empire, in a style conformable to the spirit
and character of his powerful and haughty master. He declared that the
assembly in which Rudolph had been chosen was illegal; that the
arbitration of Louis of Bavaria was unprecedented; that a man
excommunicated by the Pope for plundering churches and convents was
ineligible to the imperial throne, and that his sovereign, who held
his dominions by an indisputable title, owed no homage to the Count of
Hapsburg.

As he spoke in the Latin tongue, the Emperor interrupted him with a
dignified rebuke. "Bishop," he said, "if you were to harangue in an
ecclesiastical consistory, you might use the Latin tongue; but when
discoursing upon your rights and the rights of the princes of the
empire, why do you employ a language which the greater part of those
who are present do not comprehend?" The rebuke of the sovereign justly
roused the indignation of the assembly; the princes, and particularly
the Elector Palatine, started from their seats, and were scarcely
prevented from employing violence, even by the interposition of
Rudolph; and the ambassadors, quitting the assembly, retired from
Augsburg.

The diet, irritated by this insult, passed a decree asserting the
unanimity of Rudolph's election; they declared Ottocar guilty of
contumacy; required him to restore Austria, Carinthia, and Carniola,
which he had usurped, and to do homage for the remainder of his
dominions. In case of refusal the ban of the empire was denounced
against him, and supplies of men and money were