Ottakar, his descendant, brought the fame of Bohemia to its highest pitch, for he possessed himself of the dukedom of Austria, and became lord of all the territories now included in the Austrian Empire on the western side, with the exception of the Tyrol. Mr. James Bryce, in his _Holy Roman Empire_, speaks of him as “the rampart of Christianity, a lion in bravery, an eagle in goodness.” Ottakar was offered the dignity of Emperor when it became vacant, but refused, and Rudolph of Hapsburg, whose domains lay in Switzerland, and who until that time had been comparatively unknown, was chosen instead. Curiously enough this man was to found a dynasty ruling not only over all the lands held by Ottakar, but also over Hungary, which had not even acknowledged his lordship. It seems almost as if Ottakar must have had some intuitive dread of this new candidate for the high honour, for he protested violently against his election, basing his protest on the ground that he himself, though an elector, had not cast his vote. He appealed to the Pope, but was overruled on the ground that even had he cast it he would have been in a minority. His fears were quickly justified, for Rudolph was no sooner in firm possession of the Imperial dignity than he attacked Ottakar, claiming that Austria, Styria, Carniola, and Carinthia should be restored to the German Empire, of which they had formerly been a part. When his claims were refused he made war on Ottakar, and quickly got the best of it, using the forces of the German confederation to enforce his claim. Ottakar was compelled to yield up his latest acquired provinces on condition of being allowed to keep his older dominions of Bohemia and Moravia, and Rudolph made the Austrian lands hereditary in his own family, even though they had been won at German expense. Rudolph had a numerous family of daughters, and he was accustomed to cement peace or buy over a foe by offering one of them in marriage as a prize. As Ottakar had already been married more than once, his present wife being a daughter of the King of Hungary, it was on behalf of his son, then a child, that the bribe was offered. It seemed for a while as if peace might be secured, but not so; there was between the two men a deadly and ineradicable antipathy, and it was not long before the smouldering flame burst out again. With the fire of despair Ottakar collected his troops and flung himself into a contest with the conqueror and was slain at the battle of Marchfeld.