ed,
sued for a truce, that they might negotiate terms of peace. Rhodolph
consented, and encamped his followers.

He was asleep in his tent, when a messenger entered at midnight, awoke
him, and informed him that he was elected Emperor of Germany. The
previous emperor, Richard, had died two years before, and after an
interregnum of two years of almost unparalleled anarchy, the electors
had just met, and, almost to their own surprise, through the
fluctuations and combinations of political intrigue, had chosen Rhodolph
of Hapsburg as his successor. Rhodolph himself was so much astonished at
the announcement, that for some time he could not be persuaded that the
intelligence was correct.

To wage war against the Emperor of Germany, who could lead almost
countless thousands into the field, was a very different affair from
measuring strength with the comparatively feeble Count of Hapsburg. The
news of his election flew rapidly. Basle threw open her gates, and the
citizens, with illuminations, shouts, and the ringing of bells, greeted
the new emperor. The bishop was so chagrined at the elevation of his
foe, that he smote his forehead, and, looking to heaven, profanely said,

"Great God, take care of your throne, or Rhodolph of Hapsburg will take
it from you!"

Rhodolph was now fifty-five years of age. Alphonso, King of Castile, and
Ottocar, King of Bohemia, had both been candidates for the imperial
crown. Exasperated by the unexpected election of Rhodolph, they both
refused to acknowledge his election, and sent ambassadors with rich
presents to the pope to win him also to their side. Rhodolph, justly
appreciating the power of the pope, sent him a letter couched in those
terms which would be most palatable to the pontiff.

"Turning all my thoughts to Him," he wrote, "under whose authority we
live, and placing all my expectations on you alone, I fall down before
the feet of your Holiness, beseeching you, with the most earnest
supplication, to favor me with your accustomed kindness in my present
undertaking; and that you will deign, by your mediation with the Most
High, to support my cause. That I may be enabled to perform what is most
acceptable to God and to His holy Church, may it graciously please your
Holiness to crown me with the imperial diadem; for I trust I am both
able and willing to undertake and accomplish whatever you and the holy
Church shall think proper to impose upon me."

Gregory X. was a humane and sagaci