orge Podiebrad,
Charles IV, P[vr]emysl Ottokar II, Libu[vs]a, and I will even include
that Frankish adventurer, Samo. But Waldstein had to reckon with a
Habsburg Emperor, King of Bohemia. The negotiations that his
generalissimo had undoubtedly been carrying on with the French and the
Swedes had roused the suspicions of Emperor Ferdinand, so Albrecht of
Waldstein, Duke of Friedland, was rendered harmless; he was murdered by
his own officers one night at Cheb (Eger,) a place you passed through on
your way from Paris to Prague.
There is a quaint old-world atmosphere that clings about the Mala
Strana, in its narrow streets and under its red roofs and dormer
windows, an atmosphere that suggests all sorts of good deeds done in a
quiet sort of way, of simple piety and a general steady level of
intellectual effort. In this, I am glad to report, some English people,
or rather Britons, took part. I have already mentioned Elizabeth Weston
and her epitaph in the church dedicated to St. Thomas. This church has
also been restored by the Jesuits; it was probably high time, for it had
been dedicated in 1316, and was occasionally the scene of a "certain
liveliness" which is likely to make repairs necessary. Apart from Swedes
who used to come round pillaging, this church seems to have had its
private, as it were parochial, troubles, a serious one in 1510, for
instance, when a fracas arose one day during service between some
Bohemians and some Hungarians. A fracas was always conducted with
rapiers and daggers in those days, and must have been a picturesque, if
inconvenient, event. It was all about a lady too, which sounds quite
likely: it was said that she was not worth all the pother: this is the
sort of thing some people would say. As a consequence of this fracas
several Bohemians were executed for robbery with violence, which sheds a
different light on the incident, but I do not think it matters much at
this distance of time.
There was a monastery attached to St. Thomas's Church, or perhaps the
other way about, and the monks had a fine library. When the Swedes,
quite uninvited, called at Prague and occupied the Mala Strana in 1648,
their commander, Koenigsmark, sent his chaplain, Master John Klee, to
pick up the library of St. Thomas's: the Swedes were great collectors of
books. Klee remained unmoved by all the entreaties of the good monks
until one of them showed him some silver spoons. Klee began to waver;
some one brought out a
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