He had for Empress a sister of Burggraf Friedrich's; which high lady,
unknown to us otherwise, except by her tomb at Heidelberg, we remember
for her brother's sake. Kaiser Rupert--great-grandson of that Kur-Pfalz
who was Kaiser Ludwig's elder brother--is the culminating point of the
Electors Palatine; the highest that Heidelberg produced. Ancestor of
those famed Protestant "Palatines"; of all the Palatines or Pfalzes that
reign in these late centuries. Ancestor of the present Bavarian Majesty;
Kaiser Ludwig's race having died out. Ancestor of the unfortunate
Winterkoenig, Friedrich, King of Bohemia, who is too well known in
English history--ancestor also of Charles XII of Sweden, a highly
creditable fact of the kind to him. Fact indisputable: a cadet of
Pfalz-Zweibrueck (Deux-Ponts), direct from Rupert, went to serve in
Sweden in his soldier business; distinguished himself in soldiering; had
a sister of the great Gustaf Adolf to wife; and from her a renowned son,
Karl Gustaf (Christiana's cousin), who succeeded as King; who again had
a grandson made in his own likeness, only still more of iron in his
composition. Enough now of Rupert Smith's-vise; who died in 1410, and
left the Reich again vacant.
Rupert's funeral is hardly done, when, over in Preussen, far off in the
Memel region, place called Tannenberg, where there is still "a
church-yard to be seen," if little more, the Teutsch Ritters had,
unexpectedly, a terrible defeat; consummation of their Polish
miscellaneous quarrels of long standing; and the end of their high
courses in this world. A ruined Teutsch Ritterdom, as good as ruined,
ever henceforth. Kaiser Rupert died May 18th; and on July 15th, within
two months, was fought that dreadful "Battle of Tannenburg," Poland and
Polish King, with miscellany of savage Tartars and revolted Prussians,
versus Teutsch Ritterdom; all in a very high mood of mutual rage; the
very elements, "wild thunder, tempest and rain deluges," playing chorus
to them on the occasion. Ritterdom fought lion-like, but with
insufficient strategic and other wisdom, and was driven nearly
distracted to see its pride tripped into the ditch by such a set. Vacant
Reich could not in the least attend to it; nor can we further at
present.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account