r to the emperor. Rhodolph returned a dignified answer
and prepared for war. Ottocar, now better understanding the power of his
foe, made the most formidable preparations for the strife, and soon took
the field with an army which he supposed would certainly triumph over
any force which Rhodolph could raise. He even succeeded in drawing Henry
of Bavaria into an alliance; and many of the German princes, whom he
could not win to his standard, he bribed to neutrality. Numerous
chieftains, lured to his camp by confidence of victory, crowded around
him with their followers, from Poland, Bulgaria, Pomerania, Magdeburg,
and from the barbaric shores of the Baltic. Many of the fierce nobles of
Hungary had also joined the standard of Ottocar.

Thus suddenly clouds gathered around Rhodolph, and many of his friends
despaired of his cause. He appealed to the princes of the German empire,
and but few responded to his call. His sons-in-law, the Electors of
Palatine and of Saxony, ventured not to aid him in an emergence when
defeat seemed almost certain, and where all who shared in the defeat
would be utterly ruined. In June, 1275, Ottocar marched from Prague, met
his allies at the appointed rendezvous, and threading the defiles of the
Bohemian mountains, approached the frontiers of Austria. Rhodolph was
seriously alarmed, for it was evident that the chances of war were
against him. He could not conceal the restlessness and agitation of his
spirit as he impatiently awaited the arrival of troops whom he summoned,
but who disappointed his hopes.

"I have not one," he sadly exclaimed, "in whom I can confide, or on
whose advice I can depend."

The citizens of Vienna perceiving that Rhodolph was abandoned by his
German allies, and that they could present no effectual resistance to so
powerful an army as was approaching, and terrified in view of a siege,
and the capture of the city by storm, urged a capitulation, and even
begged permission to choose a new sovereign, that they might not be
involved in the ruin impending over Rhodolph. This address roused
Rhodolph from his despondency, and inspired him with the energies of
despair. He had succeeded in obtaining a few troops from his provinces
in Switzerland. The Bishop of Basle, who had now become his confessor,
came to his aid, at the head of a hundred horsemen, and a body of expert
slingers. Rhodolph, though earnestly advised not to undertake a battle
with such desperate odds, marched from