. It happened that Andrew, Bishop of Prague, was one of
those didactic prelates who insisted on all the little things the Papacy
was out for--immunity for his clerics from the temporal law-courts, from
taxes, and so on. Above all, Andrew was strong on the right of
conferring ecclesiatical office, albeit he had himself accepted
investiture at the hands of Ottokar. This led to quite a hearty quarrel
in which Andrew got the worst of it; he had to seek refuge in Rome,
whence he let off all the customary fulminations, declaring Bohemia to
be under interdict and so on. Nobody in Bohemia took the least notice of
Andrew's little efforts; Church and people went solidly with their King
on this occasion, and carried on their devotional exercises as before.

We have to thank Ottokar for several picturesque flashes which brighten
up the gloomy picture of this period. So for instance, he took a trip to
Maintz, where he was solemnly crowned as King. No doubt Prague would
have been a more suitable setting for this function, but Ottokar had so
timed his arrangements as to come in for a double event, for Philip of
Suabia with assistance from Bohemia's ruler, secured the German crown at
the same time. Then again this thoughtful P[vr]emysl Ottokar provided
Bohemia with yet another patron saint of the blood royal, and not by the
old-fashioned family method of killing a relative. Ottokar had married
Constance of Hungary, and it was their daughter Agnes who next joined
the distinguished and hallowed company of Ludmilla and Wenceslaus.
Agnes, educated by St. Hedwig, early distinguished herself by refusing
to marry Emperor Frederick II. She decided to become a bride of heaven
instead, founded the Order of Clarissa, entered it herself and
eventually died as abbess in the odour of sanctity. Frederick consoled
himself with one wife after another (a wife seems to have lasted no time
in those days), his third and last being Isabella, daughter of King John
of England, whose son, Richard of Cornwall, also comes into the story a
little farther on in this chapter. St. Agnes was held in great reverence
by the citizens of Bruex, is still so held, I hope, for she did them a
good turn in 1424. The Pragers had been indulging in a feud with the
Bruexers, and had taken a bad beating on one occasion. The former
prepared a surprise attack and marched on Bruex hoping to take it by a
midnight assault. St. Agnes happened to be watching while the fat
burghers slept;