CHARACTERS. 



307 



sen. He allowed no repose to this 

 right reverend prelate during his 

 life; and, after his death, intimi- 

 dated his successor Henry to such a 

 degree, that he gladly consented to 

 surrender the grant. 



Hartman the elder, of Kyhurg, 

 soon after this, sent a pressing mes- 

 sage to Rudolph, to solicit his aid 

 against the burghers of Winterthur, 

 who, in a sudden insurrection, had 

 attacked and nearly demolished his 

 tower near their walls. Rudolph 

 was hastening to his assistance, 

 when news were brought him that 

 Hartman, the last count of Ky- 

 burg and landgrave of Thurgau, 

 had closed his illustrious line. All 

 the nobles of the county of Ky- 

 hurg,* and from Baden, Thurgau, 

 and the Gaster, who owed allegi- 

 ance to this house ; the magistrates 

 of the several towns and cities, and 

 the heads of the many convents 

 that had been founded or patronized 

 either by his ancestors or by him- 

 self, met hereupon at a general as- 

 sembly ; and count Hartman was 

 entombed with his shield and hel- 

 met. Rudolph received the ho- 

 mage of the assembly, and pardoned 

 the insult offered by the burghers 

 of Winterthur. The house of Haps- 

 burg had on no former occasion re- 

 ceived so great an accession of 

 power and dominion ; but Ru- 

 dolph, while he was listening to 

 the congratulations of his friends 

 and subjects, was little aware what 

 far greater honours were yet reser- 

 ved for him by his auspicious des- 

 tiny. 



Rudolph was high in stature, and 

 of a graceful figure and deport- 

 ment : he was bald, his complec- 



tion pale, his nose aquiline ; his 

 mien was grave, but so engaging 

 as to command the confidence of 

 allthosewhoapproachedhim. Both 

 at the time when, with scanty 

 means, he performed eminent 

 achievements, and when, in his ex- 

 alted station, a multitude of public 

 concerns claimed incessant atten- 

 tion, he preserved a gay and tran- 

 quil mind, and a disposition to 

 facetious mirth. His manners were 

 simple and unassuming : his diet was 

 plain ; and he was still more tempe- 

 rate in the use of .spirituous liquors. 

 He once in the field appeased his 

 hunger with raw turnips : he usu- 

 ally wore a plain blue coat ; and 

 his soldiers had often seen him darn 

 his doublet with the same hand that 

 grasped his conquering sword in 

 fourteen battles. It is recorded, 

 that he ever preserved his conjugal 

 fidelity to his consort Gertrude, who 

 bore him ten children. He enjoyed 

 pleasures withou t being subservient 

 to them ; and hence did he never 

 want either time for labour or re- 

 laxation, or in old age, health, and 

 vigour for powerful exertions. 



Rudolph, in aU his wars, treated 

 the prelates, who were less tena- 

 cious of their spiritual dignity than 

 of their temporal concerns, not as 

 preachers of the gospel of peace, 

 l)ut in a manner conformable to the 

 law of arms : on the other hand, he 

 is reported to have shewn great de- 

 ference to the clergy, and a zealous 

 devotion to the sacred rites. One 

 day while hunting, he met, near an 

 overflowing brook, a parish priest, 

 who was bearing the host to a dying 

 patient : he compelled him to 

 mount his horse; and expressed 



• This county appears in 1299, to have contained forty-four parishes, and above 

 one hundred castles. 



