Page:Gregor The story of Bohemia.pdf/103

 grandizement. They found such a prince in Rudolph, the Count of Hapsburg, who, having some small possessions in Switzerland and Suabia, was too weak to assume any great authority over his constituents, and, moreover, agreed to wrest from the kingdom of Bohemia its recently acquired territories—Austria, Styria, and Carinthia. While this election was going on, Ottokar was out of the country engaged in another war with the Hungarians; but his office of elector was usurped by Louis of Bavaria, his most inveterate enemy. As soon as he learned of the election of Rudolph, he made peace with the enemy, and hastened home, and at once entered his protest against the election as being unlawful, since he, one of the rightful electors, was not present. For some time he was sustained in this by the Pope; but Rudolph, being a man of much diplomacy, soon succeeded in winning that prelate to his side. The Bohemian king was cited to appear before the newly-elected emperor to explain why he had not already come to swear his allegiance. Premysl Ottokar refusing to obey the summons, Rudolph declared his possessions as falling to the empire, and himself as being the sovereign lord of Bohemia and Moravia.

Premysl Ottokar now found himself surrounded by the greatest difficulties. His nobles, instead of standing by him in the hour of need, basely deserted him, rejoicing that now had come the time when they could satisfy their own private desire for revenge. They had never forgiven him for depriving them of the illegally obtained crown lands. Then, too, Premysl’s State policy constantly aimed at centralization of power, which was directly opposed to the inter-