e, after having described the contest and the resolution
displayed by both parties either to conquer or die, he adds: "At
length our troops prevailing drove the Bohemians into the neighboring
river, and almost all were either cut to pieces, drowned, or taken
prisoners. Ottocar, however, after seeing his army discomfited and
himself left alone, still would not submit to our conquering
standards, but, fighting with the strength and spirit of a giant,
defended himself with wonderful courage, until he was unhorsed and
mortally wounded by some of our soldiers. Then that magnanimous
monarch lost his life at the same time with the victory, and was
overthrown, not by our power and strength, but by the right hand of
the Most High."

The body of Ottocar, deformed with seventeen wounds, was borne to
Vienna, and, after being exposed to the people, was embalmed, covered
with a purple pall, the gift of the Queen of the Romans, and buried in
a Franciscan convent.

The plunder of the camp was immense, and Rudolph, apprehensive lest
the disputes of the booty and the hope of new spoils should occasion a
contest between his followers and the Hungarians, dismissed his
warlike but barbarous allies with acknowledgments for their services,
and pursued the war with his own forces. He took possession of Moravia
without opposition, and advanced into Bohemia as far as Colin.

The recent wars, the total defeat of the army, and the death of
Ottocar had rendered that country a scene of rapine and desolation.
Wenceslaus, his only son, was scarcely eight years of age; and the
Queen Cunegunda, a foreign princess, was without influence or power;
the turbulent nobles, who had scarcely submitted to the vigorous
administration of Ottocar, being without check or control, gave full
scope to their licentious spirit; the people were unruly and
rebellious, and not a single person in the kingdom possessed
sufficient authority to assume and direct the reins of government. In
this dreadful situation Cunegunda appealed to the compassion of
Rudolph, and offered to place her infant son and the kingdom under his
protection. In the midst of these transactions Otho, Margrave of
Brandenburg and nephew of Ottocar, marched into Bohemia at the head of
a considerable army, took charge of the royal treasures, secured the
person of Wenceslaus, and advanced against the King of the Romans.

Rudolph, weakened by the departure of the Hungarians and thwarted by
the princes of