363 HELV 
Strafburg ; ancU in order to preclude all further impor¬ 
tunities from this intf’nfive nephew, he made his grant 
irrevocable. In a coiiteft with the bifnop .of Bafil, 
Rodolph approaclied with forces, and burnt the convent 
of the Penitent Sifters in one of the fub.urbs of that 
city ; for which facrilegious deed, he, and all his adhe¬ 
rents, were put under a fevere interdict. He then 
(perhaps as an atonement to the church) engaged with 
Ottocarus king of Bohemia, in the cfufade again ft the 
infidels of Praia, who were contending with the Teu¬ 
tonic knights for the'gods'and the freedom of their 
anceftors. His fortunes, which his rafhnefs more fre¬ 
quently obftrudted than promoted, took a more favour¬ 
able turn, as foon as adverfity . had- tempered the 
impetuofity of his unruly paffions. .. k'- A 
His mother Hedwig lived to fee him reconciled to her 
family, and to witnefs an alliance contracted between 
Hapfburg and Kyburg. Godffied of LaufFenburg alfo 
became his friend. The days of the old count of Ky¬ 
burg drawing near to a conclufton, Rodolph fought,: 
both by perfuafion and kind offices, to induce the. bifhop 
of Strafburg to relinquifh the hafty grant ot Hartman. 
In this however he failed ; and thenceforth he efpoufed 
the caufe of the citizens of Strafburg. againft their 
bifhop, and feizedonthe towns of Colmar and Mul- 
haufen. He allowed no repofe to this right reverend 
prelate during his life ; and, after his death, intimidated 
his fucceflor Henry to fuch a degree, that he gladly 
confented to furrender the grant. 
Hartman the eider of Kyburg, foon after this, fent a 
preffing mefiage to Rodolph, to folicit his aid againft 
the burghers of Winterthur, who, in a fudden infur- 
tection, had attacked and nearly demolilhed his tower 
near their walls. Rodolph was haftening to hia affift- 
ance, when news were brought him that Hartman, the 
laft count of Kyburg and Landgrave of Thurgau, had 
clofed hisilluftrious line. All the nobles of the county 
of Kyburg, and from Baden', Thurgau, and the Gafter, 
•who owed allegiance to this houfe ; the magiftrates ot 
the feveral towns and cities, and the heads.ot the many 
convents that had been founded or patronized either by 
his anceftors or by himfelf; met hereupon at a general 
afTembly; and count Hartman was entombed with his 
fhield and helmet. Rodolph received the homage ot 
the aifembly, and pardoned the infult offered by the 
burghers of Winterthur. The houfe of Hapfburg had 
on no former occafion received fo great an acceflion of 
power and dominions; but Rodolph, while he was lif- 
tening to the congratulations of his friends and fubjeCts, 
was little aware what far greater honours were yet re¬ 
ferred for him by his aufpicious deftiny. 
Rodolph was high in ftature, and of a graceful figure 
and deportment : he was bald, his complexion pale, his 
nofe aquiline; his mien w.as grave, but fo engaging as 
to command the confidence of all thofe who approach¬ 
ed him. Both at the time when, with fcanty means, 
he performed eminent achievements, and when, in his 
exalted ftation, a multitude of public concerns claimed 
iriceflant attention, he preferved a gay and tranquil 
mind, and a difpofition to facetious mirth. His man¬ 
ners were fimple and uhaffiiming; his diet was plain; 
and he was ffill more temperate in the life of ftrong 
liquors. He once in the field appeafed his hunger with 
raw turnips. He ufually wore a plain blue coat; and 
his foldiers have often feen him darn his doublet with 
the fame hand that grafped his conquering fword in 
fourteen battles. It is recorded, that he ever-preferved 
his conjugal fidelity to his confort Gertrude, who bore 
him fourteen children. He enjoyed pleafures without 
being fubfervlen.t to them; and hence did he never 
want either time for labour or relaxation, or, in old age, 
health and vigour for powerful exertions. 
Rodolph, in all his wars, treated fuch prelates as were 
lefs tenacious of their fpiritual dignity than of their 
temporal concerns, not as preachers of the gofpel of 
E T I A. 
peace* but in a manner conformable to tlve law of arms; 
on the- other hand, he is reported to have ffiown great 
deference to the clergy, and a zealous devotion to the 
facred .rites. One day, while hunting, he met, near an 
overflowing.brook, a parifli-prieft, who was bearing the 
holt to a dying patient; he compelled him to mount his 
horfe; and expreffed with fervour his lowly veneration 
for the Supreme Being, to whom he owed all his many 
bleffings, and the great profperify he enjoyed. His 
piety was highly extolled at Zurich, when at a folemu 
feftival he exhibited to the aff’embled multitude many 
relics of the crucifixion. The new Auguftin hermits 
whom he eftablifiled in this city, and many other reli¬ 
gious orders on whom lie conferred ample donatives, 
lpread the fame of his godlinefs throughout the.land. 
Efpoufing the caufe of the nobles of B.afil againft the 
burghers and bifhop of that city, Rodolph had brought 
both the latter to fubmit to his own terms. But Bafil 
did not long enjoy the tranquillity it had obtained by 
the pacification. Factions arofe among the citizens ; and 
the bifhop being tardy in difcharging the contributions 
lie had promifed count Rodolph, the latter afl’embled his 
forces,’ and returned to the liege of this diftraCted city. 
The refiftance he met with was miote obftinate than he 
had ever yet experienced ; and his foldiers, weary of 
inceflant repulfes and reciprocal attacks, were relaxing 
’ in their ardour, when Henry of Pappenheim, hereditary 
marfiial of the empire, and foon after him Frederic of 
Hohenzollern, burgrave of Nuremberg, came from 
Frankfort on the Maine, and brought the tidings, that 
Louis count palatine of the .Rhine and duke of Bavaria, 
had, at an aifembly and in the name of the electors, 
proclaimed Rodolph count of Hapfburg, in confidera- 
tion of his great wifdom and eminent virtues, King of 
the Roman Empire in Germany. This intelligence fur- 
prifed Rodolph more than it did thofe who attended 
him. While all his friends and retainers in the Argau 
were, with inexprefiible joy, haftening to Bruck, to con¬ 
gratulate his confort on this unexpected exaltation ; 
and the dillinguifhed perfons of all his towns and pro¬ 
vinces, who had honoured him in his more humble fta¬ 
tion, came tovifit him, in his unlooked-for fplendour ; 
the citizens of Bafil requefted that he-and his troops 
would enter their city. The new king granted them 
a full amnefty, releafed all "the prifoners, and pro¬ 
claimed a general pacification. He then repaired to 
Brifach, where he met his queen, and the principal no¬ 
bility of the empire ; and, with them, proceeded to Aix 
la Chapelle, where he received, from the hands of the 
archbilhapof Cologne, the crown once worn by Charle¬ 
magne. This happened in the year 1273. The molt 
important of the fubfequent adtions of Rodolph miift 
be fought for in tire annals of Germany; the province 
of this hiltory being merely to relate what he achieved 
within the confines of Helvetia, in favour of the people, 
for his own intereft, and for the advantage of his pro¬ 
geny. He fat eighteen years on a throne, which, during 
twenty-three years preceding, none had been able to 
maintain. See the article German y, vol. viii. p. 482. 
He reftored public tranquillity ; governed with pater¬ 
nal lenity ; but at the head of his forces ftill manifefted 
his wonted fpirit and intrepidity. In his private life he 
preferved all the fi'mpl'icity of his native manners ; he 
was acceftible to all; and laid to his furrcMinding guards, 
who prevented a poof man's approach, “ Becaufe I am a 
king, am I to be fecluded ?” He gave ItriCt charge to 
the toll-gatherers to take jio more than their dues, and 
to abftain from violence : “ Know ye,” he declared to all 
his officers, “that I am bent on re-eftabliftiing peace and 
equity, themoft precious gifts of heaven.” He proteCt- 
ed the city of Zurich, which depended immediately on 
the empire, with fo much folicitude, that, to prevent 
any progrelfive abufe of power, he regulaily changed 
the imperial commilfary every other year. He conferred 
on the citizens the important privilege, without which 
neither 
