Page:The Hussite wars, by the Count Lützow.djvu/227

 as far as it was in their power, according to the laws of our Lord Jesus Christ, the dear holy apostles, the dear holy fathers, and the other saints.

These negotiations were certainly a strange prelude to the new crusade. The Elector of Brandenburg had for some time been on very bad terms with King Sigismund, and for reasons with which I have not to deal here, war between the two princes for a time appeared to be imminent. The elector, therefore, may not have considered so great a victory for the house of Luxemburg-Habsburg as the submission of Bohemia would have been favourable to his own far-reaching plans, and it is at least not impossible that the first Hohenzollern who became prominent in history may already have coveted the Bohemian crown.

By the end of June the main army of the crusaders had assembled at Nürnberg, though many cities had not yet sent their contingents, who started on their march slowly and reluctantly. There was no enthusiasm, and never perhaps has the term “crusade” been so grossly misused. On July 9,