Page:Gregor The story of Bohemia.pdf/129

 In 1333, three years after the death of Gueen Hlizabeth, a new day seemed to dawn for the poor, beggared kingdom of Bohemia. King John, betaking himself to his county of Luxemburg, sent into Bohemia his son Charles, then seventeen years of age, to be his regent.

Charles, although young in years, was old in wisdom and experience. The French court, which to his father had been but the theater for the display of his chivalric qualities, proved to the son a school where he learned political economy and statecraft. Grief for the loss of his mother, whom he tenderly loved, and from whom he had been so cruelly separated, doubtless had considerable influence in softening his character and making him grave and thoughtful far beyond his years.

His dignified bearing and conversation soon won the hearts of the people, and this time their confidence was not misplaced.

The first thing that he did was to set in order the royal housekeeping. Like the regents before him, he was still obliged to send a great deal of money to his father; nevertheless he was able, out of the special subsidy granted him by the Diet, to redeem several of the crown estates; and in two years, by dint of great economy, he redeemed ten estates with their fortresses in Bohemia, and six in Moravia. In these he established courts for the regular administration of justice to people of the adjacent territory. He undertook long journeys through the land, often in disguise, diligently seeking to make himself acquainted with the condition and needs of the people.

The palace of Hradschin having been destroyed by fire a few years before, King John, instead of making