The unhappy monarch was at his wits' end. Yet many of his subjects were still loyal. The bulk of the middle and lower classes, the burghers, artisans, and country-folk, looked on him as their best friend; and when he appeared at the fair of Ringsted, a thousand strong arms were raised, and a thousand lusty voices swore fealty to Christian, the peasants' King. Copenhagen was strongly fortified, and as long as he stayed there he was safe from his foes. But an unaccountable panic seized him. Whether, as in the case of Lodovico Sforza, whom he resembled in so many ways, remorse for past crimes enfeebled his will, or whether his nerves gave way, he could not summon up courage to meet his foes, and decided to fly. A fleet of twenty ships was equipped, fully supplied with arms and ammunition, and laden with the crown jewels, archives, and treasures. The Queen and her young children--the five-year-old Prince John, the two little Princesses, Dorothea and Christina (a babe of fifteen months)--went on board the finest vessel of the fleet, the _Great Mary_, and Mother Sigebritt was hidden in a chest to save her from the fury of the people, who regarded her as the chief cause of the King's unpopularity. But the greatest compassion was felt for Isabella and her innocent babes; and even the usurper Frederic wrote to beg the Queen to remain in Denmark, assuring her that she and her children would be perfectly safe. On the 14th of April the fleet set sail. An immense crowd assembled on the ramparts to see the last of the royal family. The King made a farewell speech, exhorting the garrison to remain loyal to his cause, and promising to return in three months with reinforcements. Then the ships weighed anchor, and neither Isabella nor her children ever saw the shores of Denmark again. FOOTNOTES: [17] Le Glay, ii. 336. [18] De Reiffenberg, "Histoire de l'Ordre de la Toison d'Or," 307. [19] Le Glay, ii. 337. [20] L. Van Bergh, "Correspondance de M. d'Autriche," ii. 135. [21] Ulmann, ii. 510. [22] Hubertus Leodius Thomas, "Spiegel des Humors grosser Potentaten," 79. E. Moeller, "Éléonore d'Autriche," 307. [23] Moeller, 327. L. Mignet, "Rivalité de Francis I. et Charles V.," i. 140. [24] Calendar of State Papers, Henry VIII., ii. 2, 1151. H. Baumgarten, "Geschichte Karl V.," i. 58. [25] Henne. ii. 249. [26] Archives du Royaume: Bruxelles Régistre des Revenus et Dépenses de Charles V., ii. 72. [27] J. Altmeyer, 46. [28] F. Dahlmann, "Geschichte von Dänemark," iii. 359. [29] M. Conway, "Literary Remains of Albert Dürer," 124. [30] Venetian State Papers, iii. 139. [31] Calendar of State Papers, Henry VIII., iii. 2, 555, 561, 582. [32] Calendar of State Papers, Henry VIII., iii. 2, 614. [33] Venetian State Papers, iii. 162. [34] Calendar of State Papers, Henry VIII., iii. 2, 576. [35] Altmeyer, 23. Reedtz Manuscripts, xiii. 28. [36] Calendar of State Papers, Henry VIII., ii. 191. [37] Altmeyer, "Isabelle d'Autriche," 23.