“Tell Rhodolph that he may rule over the territories of the empire, but he shall have no dominion over mine.  It is a disgrace to Germany, that a petty count of Hapsburg should have been preferred to so many powerful sovereigns.”

War, and a fearful one, was now inevitable.  Ottocar was a veteran soldier, a man of great intrepidity and energy, and his pride was thoroughly roused.  By a long series of aggressions he had become the most powerful prince in Europe, and he could lead the most powerful armies into the field.  His dominions extended from the confines of Bavaria to Raab in Hungary, and from the Adriatic to the shores of the Baltic.  The hereditary domains of the Count of Hapsburg were comparatively insignificant, and were remotely situated at the foot of the Alps, spreading through the defiles of Alsace and Suabia.  As emperor, Rhodolph could call the armies of the Germanic princes into the field; but these princes moved reluctantly, unless roused by some question of great moment to them all.  And when these heterogeneous troops of the empire were assembled, there was but a slender bond of union between them.

But Rhodolph possessed mental resources equal to the emergence.  As cautious as he was bold, as sagacious in council as he was impetuous in action, he calmly, and with great foresight and deliberation, prepared for the strife.  To a monarch in such a time of need, a family of brave sons and beautiful daughters, is an inestimable blessing.  Rhodolph secured the Duke of Sclavonia by making him the happy husband of one of his daughters.  His son Albert married Elizabeth, daughter of the Count of Tyrol, and thus that powerful and noble family was secured.  Henry of Bavaria he intimidated, and by force of arms compelled him to lead his troops to the standard of the emperor; and then, to secure his fidelity, gave his daughter Hedwige to Henry’s son Otho, in marriage, promising to his daughter as a dowry a portion of Austria, which was then a feeble duchy upon the Danube, but little larger than the State of Massachusetts.

Ottocar was but little aware of the tremendous energies of the foe he had aroused.  Regarding Rhodolph almost with contempt, he had by no means made the arrangements which his peril demanded, and was in consternation when he heard that Rhodolph, in alliance with Henry of Bavaria, had already entered Austria, taken possession of several fortresses, and, at the head of a force of a thousand horsemen, was carrying all before him, and was triumphantly marching upon Vienna.  Rhodolph had so admirably matured his plans, that his advance seemed rather a festive journey than a contested conquest.  With the utmost haste Ottocar urged his troops down through the defiles of the Bohemian mountains, hoping to save the capital.  But Rhodolph was at Vienna before him, where he was joined by others of his allies, who were to meet him at that rendezvous.  Vienna, the capital, was a fortress of great strength.