LIBRARY 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 SANTA BARBARA 
 
 FROM THE LIBRARY 
 OF F. VON BOSCHAN
 
 UCSB LIBRARY
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein
 
 All rightt reserved
 
 Otto Schmid. Vienna 
 Effigy of Oswald von Wolkenstein in the Cathedral Cloister, 
 Brixen.
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 A Memoir of the 
 Last Minnesinger of Tirol 
 
 By 
 
 Signora Linda Villari 
 
 With Many Illustrations 
 
 London 1901 
 
 J. M. Dent @> Co. 
 
 Aldine House, W.C.
 
 BY GRACIOUS PERMISSION 
 
 THIS MEMOIR OF THE 
 LAST MINNESINGER OF TIROL IS 
 
 DEDICATED 
 
 WITH DEEPEST RESPECT 
 TO 
 
 HER IMPERIAL MAJESTY 
 
 THE EMPRESS FREDERICK OF GERMANY 
 QUEEN OF PRUSSIA 
 
 FLORENCE. January 1901.
 
 Principal Authorities Consulted 
 
 History of the House of Austria, WILLIAM COXE (Bohn). 
 
 Die Gedichte Oswald's von Wolkenstein, BEDA WEBER, Ed. 
 (Innsbruck, 1847). 
 
 Oswald -von Wolkenstein und Herzog Friednch, BEDA WEBER, 
 Ed. (Innsbruck, 1847). 
 
 Geschichte von der Bozenergegend, BEDA WEBER, Ed. 
 (Innsbruck, 1847). 
 
 Der IVolkenstein-Hauensteinische Erbschafts-streit, VON AN TON 
 NOGGLER (1891). 
 
 Walther von der Vogcl<wcide, VON ANTON SCHSNBACH (Berlin, 
 1895). 
 
 Walther von der Vogeliveide, VON EDWARD SAMHABER 
 (Laibach, 1884). 
 
 An Etsch und Eisack, VON WOLFGANG BRACHVOGEL (Miinchen, 
 1888).
 
 Preface 
 
 LONG ago, in a Tirolese mountain resort 
 facing the Rosengarten and the Schlern, I 
 first made acquaintance with Oswald von 
 Wolkenstein in the pages of a History of 
 Bozen, and, fascinated by the romance of his 
 life, determined to write a short paper on it. 
 
 But years passed ; other subjects filled my 
 thoughts, until at last, in Tirol once more, I 
 recurred to the half-forgotten theme and began 
 to hunt up authorities. Then, so much material 
 fell in my way and roused so keen an interest 
 in my hero's poems and times, that the work 
 grew in my hands to its present proportions. 
 
 For Oswald cannot be properly studied apart 
 from his times, and the well-rewarded labour of 
 reading his verses in his own vernacular using 
 the modernised version as a book of reference, 
 impelled me to try to give some faint idea of his 
 value as a poet. Pursuing the work in another
 
 Preface 
 
 country, due research would have been im- 
 possible but for the kindness of learned friends. 
 So I take this opportunity of expressing my 
 warmest gratitude to Professor Semper of 
 Innsbruck, to Baron Salvador! of Trent, and 
 to Dr C. Fasola of Florence for their precious 
 and indispensable aid. 
 
 LINDA VILLARI. 
 
 FLORENCE, December 1900.
 
 List of Illustrations 
 
 EFFIGY OF OSWALD VON WOLKENSTEIN . Frontispiece 
 
 THE TROSTBURG, OVER WAIDBRUCK . To face page 5 
 KASTELRUTH . . . . . 15 
 
 DUKE FRIEDRICH OF AUSTRIA, COUNT OF 
 
 TIROL ..... 26 
 
 EMPEROR SIGISMUND ....,,,, 39 
 
 RUINS OF HAUENSTEIN . . . 56 
 CASTLE OF GREIFENSTEIN . . . 65 
 CASTLE OF FORST, NEAR MERAN . . ,, 89 
 INNSBRUCK . . . . . . ,,,,112 
 
 RUINED KEEP OF HAUENSTEIN . . 125
 
 OSWALD VON WOLKENSTEIN 
 
 I 
 
 REGARDING most of the Minnesingers who 
 played so picturesque a part in old German 
 life and literature, few personal details are 
 known. It is hard to learn what manner 
 of men they were when the main facts of 
 their history are either left untold or vaguely 
 traced through a mist of fantastic legend. 
 Unsubstantial, though often luminous shapes, 
 they flit before our eyes in court and camp; 
 we hear their songs, see their graceful forms, 
 but their feet scarcely touch the earth they 
 have no "tactile values "- they never clasp 
 our hands with a human grip. 
 
 Certain things we know, of course : how 
 some of these poets are skilled masters of lute 
 and harp, and sing their verses to melodies of 
 their own composition, while others are voice- 
 
 A *
 
 2 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 less and have to employ attendant musicians to 
 render their works. We see golden goblets, 
 rich robes, and ladies' smiles showered on these 
 shadows as they come and go ; but, sometimes, 
 hard blows and insults are their guerdon if their 
 rhymes chance to fret sore spots, or betray 
 over-ardent devotion to other men's wives. 
 
 Now and then we can build up an image of 
 the singer from his written words. In the case 
 of minstrels of illustrious birth, some outlines 
 of their career may be gleaned from history; 
 but, usually, bare outlines without the living 
 touches required to give them flesh and blood. 
 
 For instance, in spite of persevering research, 
 the birthplace of Walter von der Vogelweide, 
 the greatest and best known of the Minne- 
 singers, is still a disputed point, although the 
 weight of evidence is in favour of a certain sun- 
 kissed slope above Waidbruck in Tirol. Yet 
 Walter's works live, for their poetic grace 
 and lofty patriotism belong to all time. 
 
 Fortunately for us, Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 was an autobiographical poet. This last of the 
 Minnesingers was likewise a political personage,
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 3 
 
 took a very active part in the events of his 
 time, and led so restless and adventurous a 
 life that one marvels how he found time to 
 learn, much less to practise, all the quaint 
 devices and precepts of the minstrel's art. 
 
 That special school of poetry was already 
 on the wane, but although, later on, Oswald 
 discarded its stricter conventions, he never 
 adopted the artificialities of the rising Meister- 
 singers, but evolved a style of his own, roughly 
 dramatic, spontaneous, realistic, and pulsing with 
 the life of his mountain people. 
 
 But as our first concern is with the personal 
 life of this remarkable man, detailed mention 
 of his works must be deferred to a future 
 chapter. 
 
 Born in 1367, two centuries later than 
 Walter von der Vogelweid, he probably 
 uttered his first cry in the family castle of 
 Trostburg, at a short distance from his great 
 predecessor's birthplace across the valley. 
 
 Oswald was the second son of Friedrich 
 von Wolkenstein and {Catherine von Villanders. 
 His parents' marriage had united two branches
 
 4 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 of the same stock, and his mother, as sole 
 heiress of Eckhart von Villanders, added much 
 territory, including the fief of Trostburg, to 
 her husband's possessions. The Wolkensteins 
 were already feudal lords of the Grodnerthal, 
 and their lands spread southwards up to 
 Kastelruth and Seis at the foot of the 
 Schlern. 
 
 Their earliest stronghold stood on the moun- 
 tain side guarding their hamlet of Wolkenstein 
 at the mouth of the Langethal a romantic 
 avenue of peaks that branches off from the 
 head of the Grodner valley near the giant 
 Dolomites of the Sella and Lang-Kofel groups. 
 Local tradition has it that the founder of the 
 line was an Italian chieftain who, driven from 
 his own country by Attila's hordes, sought 
 refuge in this remote spot, and mastering its 
 few inhabitants built his eyrie on the flank of 
 the Stevia. But, according to more authentic 
 authorities, the Wolkensteins were a branch 
 of the Villanders of Villanders near Klausen 
 on the Eisach and only obtained the Langethal 
 Castle by purchase, in 1309, from its original
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 5 
 
 owners the Maulrappen. A ruined tower, 
 scarcely distinguishable from the yellow preci- 
 pice to which it clings, is all that remains 
 of this Wolkenstein nest, for the bulk of the 
 building was buried under a landslip centuries 
 ago. 
 
 In any case the family had risen to prosperity 
 and power long before the days of Knight 
 Oswald, and Grodnerthal chroniclers proudly 
 maintain that he was born at Schloss Wolken- 
 stein. It is a poetic belief, for there could be 
 no fitter cradle for a minstrel knight-errant than 
 this wildly beautiful valley where daring peaks 
 stand like flashing golden swords against the 
 sky, and u forests perilous " darkly frame flower- 
 gemmed meads and crystal streams. The ques- 
 tion could be settled had the month of his birth 
 been recorded, for his parents only used the 
 mountain fortress as a summer abode. So there 
 are many chances to one that Oswald first saw 
 the light in the warm panelled chambers of the 
 Trostburg. 
 
 This grand old castle still in Wolkenstein 
 hands perched on a crag above Waidbruck in
 
 6 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 the Eisack valley and commanding the narrow 
 jaws of the Grodnerthal, formed a fine point of 
 vantage. Its lords could keep an eye on their 
 vassals in both valleys, while near enough to 
 Bozen and Meran to be in touch with public 
 events and the court life of Tirol. 
 
 This, then, was the Wolkenstein home, and 
 here three sturdy boys and two girls were 
 reared in the happy-go-lucky style of the time, 
 with much freedom and scanty instruction. 
 
 The young Oswald, destined to become "the 
 most perfect representative of the spirit of his 
 age " was a specially quick-witted, daring child, 
 and when little beyond babyhood had one of his 
 eyes shot out by a crossbow in some riotous 
 carnival frolic. 
 
 The children's education of a very ele- 
 mentary kind was confided to the family 
 chaplain, a meek ecclesiastic totally unequal 
 to the task of keeping his turbulent pupils 
 in order. As for their father, the sole lesson 
 he cared to enforce was the daily recital of a 
 catechism expounding the rights and privileges 
 of the Tirolese nobility in general and of the
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 7 
 
 Wolkensteins in particular. These teachings 
 naturally fired all three boys with an inordinate 
 pride of birth, while Oswald, whose precocious 
 brain was already crammed with the romances 
 of chivalry and minstrel lays so constantly 
 heard in his music-loving home, was seized 
 with a premature ambition to win his spurs 
 as a knight. All too soon his opportunity 
 came. 
 
 In 1377 Duke Albert III. of Austria pro- 
 claimed a crusade against the heathen of Prussia 
 and Lithuania, whereupon the Teutonic Order 
 of knights of the Holy Cross, whose mission it 
 was to fight the infidel and inculcate Christianity 
 at the sword's point, called to arms a contingent 
 of Tirolese knights, and our little ten years' old 
 hero resolved to join the band. 
 
 In his autobiographical poem, entitled " Early 
 Youth," he tells us : 
 
 " So it fell out that, aged ten, 
 I was fain to see the shape of the world ; 
 A crust of bread and three pence 
 In pouch for all my travel store." 
 
 His amazing parents seem to have made no
 
 8 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 objection to their son's early start in life, and 
 we know that a favourite maxim of theirs was 
 that " Who hath ne'er suffered hurt, knoweth 
 not how to swallow herbs." 
 
 The crusading expedition probably halted at 
 Trostburg by the way, for it comprised, among 
 other good friends of the Wolkenstein house, 
 the Count von Montfort of Bregenz, a noble of 
 high standing, and his son Hugo. And as the 
 latter, although a mere stripling of eighteen 
 years, had already made his mark as a 
 Minnesinger, it is probable that his presence 
 had some share in deciding little Oswald's 
 vocation. At any rate, when the knights 
 resumed their march with standards flying, 
 shining harness and fluttering mantles broidered 
 with the black, lily-pointed cross of their order, 
 they had a very small boy in their train. But a 
 great-hearted boy, so full of enthusiasm for the 
 duties of knighthood that he gladly groomed 
 horses, scrubbed armour, did any menial task, 
 as a fitting preparation for the vigil at arms. 
 Naturally, severe hardships fell to his share ; 
 he was always roughly treated, often half-
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 9 
 
 starved. But the urchin's courage never drooped. 
 Alert, observant, full of fun, he made the best 
 of his novel life, while his pretty voice and 
 talent for fiddling were highly appreciated in 
 camp and bivouac. Probably, too, young Count 
 Hugo was kind to him, for this warrior-poet 
 had no musical gift and required a minstrel 
 to sing his lays and fit them with appropriate 
 melodies. So Oswald may have exercised his 
 childish treble on the Count's verses and picked 
 up some useful hints on the art of making 
 poetry. In after years, Montfort's career 
 touched his own path at various times and 
 was almost equally adventurous. History is 
 silent as to any tie of friendship between the 
 two, but they must have been often thrown 
 together. But during this first crusade, Oswald 
 gained a friend for life in a princeling of about 
 his own age, the son of Kaiser Charles IV. 
 This Prince Sigismund, soon to be Mark- 
 graf of Brandenburg, then King of Hungary, 
 and best known to fame as Emperor of 
 Germany, never forgot his child-comrade and 
 became his staunchest protector.
 
 io Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 The crusading expedition did not achieve 
 any great result. After various raids on 
 heathen border-tribes, with the usual accom- 
 paniments of pillage and bloodshed, the pre- 
 mature severity of the season brought the 
 campaign to a sudden end. 
 
 But the Tirolese contingent returned home 
 without our Oswald. He remained behind in 
 a Commandery of the Teutonic Order, served 
 eight years as a common soldier in Prussia, 
 Lithuania, Poland, and Red-Russia, went 
 through many strange experiences, was 
 severely wounded, and was once taken captive 
 by the foe. But, wherever he might be, he 
 seized every opportunity of gaining know- 
 ledge, picked up ten languages and spoke 
 Sclavonic like a native. We next find him 
 on the Baltic, noting the wonderful com- 
 mercial enterprise of the Hansa towns and 
 apparently in their employ, seeing that he 
 visited all their principal depots, at Novgorod, 
 Bergen, Bruges, and even London. He also 
 went to Denmark, where he served as a volun- 
 teer in Queen Margaret's war with Sweden.
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 1 1 
 
 In 1388 he crossed the seas to England, and 
 his travel-notes in the Wolkenstein archives 
 show that what most fascinated him in our 
 country was the legend of King Arthur and 
 the Holy Grail! 
 
 Maybe it was his dream of emulating the 
 pure and perfect knight that drew him to 
 Scotland when Robert II. was at war with 
 the English? For, according to Beda Weber, 
 he joined in the clash of arms and fought 
 in the Scottish ranks on the field where 
 Douglas fell. 
 
 After a flying visit to Ireland, he returned 
 to Germany in 1389, and joining a company 
 of traders travelled to Poland and the Black 
 Sea. While among the Venetians and Genoese 
 established in the Crimea, he found that his 
 Grodnerthal dialect enabled him to under- 
 stand at once the lingua franca of the 
 market. 
 
 But energy and accomplishments notwith- 
 standing, fortune still frowned on our vagabond 
 poet. " Clothed in rags and always afoot," 
 he could barely earn his daily bread. Once,
 
 12 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 indeed, he looted a horse and galloped away 
 feeling every inch a knight. 
 
 "But the ride went ill and punishment was 
 mine." 
 
 Willing to turn his hand to anything : 
 "neither too proud nor too good to be mes- 
 senger or cook and thoroughly in my element 
 as a groom," he shipped on a merchant vessel 
 as cook and oarsman. Wrecked near Trebi- 
 zonde, he got safely to shore clinging to a cask, 
 and together with another survivor wandered 
 through Armenia and Persia. Before long, 
 he turned again to the sea and seems to 
 have had plenty of fighting, for, as he says, 
 " through friends and foes I shed much blood." 
 The record of his wanderings is left unfinished, 
 but on returning to Europe, there is reason 
 to believe that he served against the Turks, 
 in a position suited to his rank, under the 
 banner of his old friend Sigismund, now king 
 of Hungary; and in 1392, finally returned to 
 Tirol after fifteen years' absence. Certainly 
 too, neither penniless nor in rags, for his 
 renown as a minstrel had preceded him and
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 13 
 
 he was known to have won distinction in 
 battlefields. 
 
 Even his own mother, Dame Katherine, must 
 have had some difficulty in identifying her 
 long-lost boy. The curly-headed, impish, hare- 
 brained knight-errant of ten was now a grave- 
 faced gentleman of twenty-five years, of broad-set 
 and powerful frame. His bright curls had turned 
 grey, but his luxuriant beard was of golden 
 hue. Although under middle height and blind 
 of one eye, he had a commanding presence, a 
 flashing glance, and a physiognomy that varied 
 with his moods ; now soft, dreamy or seductive, 
 now stern, morose, furious or repellent. The 
 ten languages at the tip of his tongue included 
 Russian, Arabic, Latin and Provengal; he was 
 a masterly performer on as many instruments, 
 the trumpet among others had a grand 
 tenor voice, a store of miscellaneous knowledge, 
 and a large experience of mankind. 
 
 His home-coming made a noise throughout 
 South Tirol, for the Wolkensteins and their 
 kin were spread far and wide about the land 
 in various valleys, and right up to the roots
 
 14 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 of the great mountain ranges. Besides, in 
 addition to family feeling and the prestige of 
 personal merit, there were other reasons to 
 increase the warmth of his welcome, for his 
 presence was urgently needed at this juncture 
 to promote certain arrangements in which im- 
 portant family interests were at stake.
 
 II 
 
 FOR many years before our hero's birth his 
 astute grandsire, Eckhart von Villanders, had 
 been steadily enlarging his domains on all sides, 
 either by purchase or violence, according to 
 circumstances. Bit by bit the Trostburg 
 boundaries had been pushed up to Kastelruth, 
 Seis and the Seiser Alp, and bit by bit the 
 impoverished lords of Hauenstein in the forest 
 region at the foot of the Schlern had sold 
 most of their lands to their wealthy neighbour, 
 only reserving the family castle with the home 
 woods and pastures. So they were hemmed in 
 on all sides by Wolkenstein ground, save where 
 the bare pinnacles of the Schlern soared above 
 their ancestral towers. But old Villanders 
 coveted even those towers and still more the 
 splendid timber of the forest encircling them. 
 The Hauensteins being prolific as well as poor, 
 in course of time both castle and precincts
 
 1 6 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 were jointly owned by twelve descendants. 
 Several of the latter dying off in rapid succes- 
 sion, Ulrich von Hauenstein gladly sold his 
 share of the property, i.e. one-third of the 
 castle, with the proportion of vassals, rights 
 and privileges comprised in that share, to the 
 acquisitive lord of Villanders. The deed of 
 sale was signed in 1367, the very year of 
 Oswald's birth, and Knight Eckhart settled 
 the property on his new-born grandson as a 
 christening present. Hinc illae lacbrymae ! 
 No wicked fairy could have endowed the 
 babe with a more fatal gift than this lonely 
 manor in the forest of the Schlern. Before 
 long, and after buying more scraps of land 
 on either side, Eckhart usurped all feudal 
 rights appertaining to Hauenstein. For now 
 every direct male heir save one at a distance 
 was dead, and even the Kastelruth branch 
 of the family was extinct. 
 
 When Knight Eckhart's aggressive life pre- 
 sently ended, all his possessions, save Hauen- 
 stein already settled on Oswald fell to his 
 daughter and her husband Friedrich von Wol-
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 17 
 
 kenstein. Some years later, in 1393, Heinrich, 
 the last of the Hauensteins passed away, and 
 his sister Barbara, the wife of Martin Jager, 
 a petty noble of Tisens beyond Bozen, remained 
 sole heiress of two-thirds of Hauenstein and 
 its feudal rights. The powerful Wolkensteins 
 with strongholds on every hill, vassals in every 
 valley, paid no heed to Barbara's claims, never 
 dreaming that so insignificant a person would 
 dare to contest the law of the strongest. But 
 the lady and her husband proved stubborn 
 antagonists. They brought their case to the 
 notice of Duke Albert of Austria, who 
 referred it to the Court of Heinrich von 
 Rottenburg, Captain of the Etsch. Proceed- 
 ings were instituted; but trial of the case 
 was continually postponed, now by political 
 emergencies, then by devices of the defendants, 
 who meanwhile lorded it at Hauenstein and 
 felled timber wholesale. Very probably Hein- 
 rich of Rottenburg had little wish to give 
 judgment against such firm friends and allies 
 as his Wolkenstein neighbours and still less 
 when a prospect dawned of settling the dis-
 
 1 8 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 pute in an amicable way. For Barbara Jager 
 possessed a beautiful young daughter of eighteen 
 years, and when Oswald reappeared in Tirol, 
 the name of the lovely Sabina was on all 
 men's lips and deeply graven in many hearts. 
 Perhaps, at this time, the Wolkensteins were 
 already trying to placate their opponents by 
 friendly overtures. At any rate the young man 
 and young maid were speedily brought together 
 and both fell in love at first sight. She was 
 beautiful and bewitching; he, though grey- 
 haired and one-eyed had much personal charm, 
 together with the prestige of daring deeds 
 and versatile talents. His verses, his music, 
 his romantic adventures captivated the girl's 
 imagination. It flattered her vanity to see 
 this travelled paladin at her feet, while other 
 women sighed for him in vain. But Sabina 
 soon tired of her conquest. Oswald's passionate 
 adoration became wearisome ; his songs lost 
 their charm. After playing fast and loose 
 with him for some time, always finding fresh 
 excuses for delaying the wedding, she finally 
 professed doubts of his love and declared she
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 19 
 
 could not possibly marry him until he had 
 proved the strength of his constancy by a 
 pilgrimage to the Holy Land. 
 
 By a significant coincidence, she came to this 
 decision in 1397, exactly when the Bishop of 
 Brixen had pronounced verdict for the plaintiffs 
 in the great Hauenstein versus Wolkenstein 
 case. The Jagers were to be re-instated in 
 two-thirds of the Hauenstein estate, and they 
 also claimed 1,000 gulden as compensation for 
 damages to forest and farm. 
 
 Accordingly the ambitious Sabina now hoped 
 to find a better market for her charms than 
 marriage with a younger son who could only 
 offer her a share of her own lawful inheritance. 
 But Oswald never doubted his lady's good faith. 
 In those days, pilgrimage to Palestine was a 
 common test of knightly love. So it was in a 
 spirit of piety and chivalrous submission that 
 our Minnesinger donned pilgrim garb and, staff 
 in hand, trudged off to Italy on his way to the 
 East. During the first stages of the journey he 
 vented his passion in ardent lays to his mistress, 
 but then, with a sudden change of mood, he
 
 20 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 discarded his palmer's robe and scallop shell, 
 took ship from Genoa to Egypt in proper 
 soldierly array and traversed Arabia by caravan. 
 That he showed prowess in some crusade is plain 
 from the reward bestowed on him in Jerusalem 
 where he was dubbed Knight of the Holy 
 Sepulchre. 
 
 According to his amplest biographer, Beda 
 Weber, Oswald's thoughts, deeds, and verses at 
 this period "all bore the stamp of love-madness " 
 (Liebeswahnsinri). After an absence of three 
 years, he turned his steps homewards, visiting 
 the chief cities of Italy by the way, and on 
 Christmas Eve, 1400, re-entered the gates of 
 Trostburg. 
 
 It was a terrible home-coming. His father 
 lay unconscious in the agony of death and 
 expired the same night. His mother fell 
 dangerously ill from prolonged anxiety and 
 grief; and when Oswald asked news of his 
 Sabina he learnt that she had betrayed him and 
 was already the wife of Hans Hausmann of Hall. 
 Adding insult to injury his false love had 
 brutally declared that a rich old burgher was a
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 2 1 
 
 better mate than a one-eyed pilgrim-minstrel. 
 His home desolate, his dearest hopes shattered, 
 Oswald was utterly crushed for a time and gave 
 way to frenzies of despair. But the artistic 
 temperament is elastic ; so before many months 
 had elapsed Ritter Oswald sought consolation 
 in riotous gaiety as the intimate friend and 
 boon-companion of the youthful heir of Tirol, 
 Duke Friedrich of Austria, generally known 
 as " Friedl of the empty purse." 
 
 At this time that spendthrift princeling lived 
 only for pleasure. Music, women, and wine 
 were his chief delights. Accompanied by 
 Oswald and other wild sprigs of nobility, he 
 roamed the country, feasting, carousing and 
 making love to every pretty face in cottage or 
 castle. Sometimes, indulging too freely in the 
 strong red wine of Tirol, the Duke had to be 
 pulled from under the table and put to bed by 
 less tipsy comrades, and Oswald commemorates 
 one of these festive bouts in his graphic verses 
 on "A Tavern Night-Scene." Our minstrel's 
 songs and ballads were already famed through- 
 out the length and breadth of the land, and
 
 22 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 his personal popularity equalled that of his 
 works. 
 
 So life whirled on merrily down to the year 
 1406. Then, however, Friedrich assumed the 
 reins of government as sovereign Count of 
 Tirol and brought the reckless fun to an 
 unexpectedly serious end. After having as- 
 sociated with his nobles on a footing of 
 perfect equality, without caring to assume 
 even the leadership of their pranks, now 
 Friedrich suddenly awoke to the responsibilities 
 of his station and showed his resolve to be 
 master, and not merely nominal lord of the land. 
 
 The Tirolese nobles had bitterly resented 
 the cession l of their country to Austria by their 
 last native ruler, Margaret " Maultasche," and, 
 during the subsequent reigns of absentee 
 counts, had gradually usurped power at the 
 expense of their titular over-lord, encroaching 
 on his prerogative at every turn, refusing to 
 acknowledge his authority, and, while professing 
 
 1 For particulars of this cession, vide Coxe's History of 
 the House of Austria (vol. i.) and Zingerle's Schililereien 
 aus Tirol,
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 23 
 
 steadfast allegiance to their suzerain the Em- 
 peror, always striving for the virtual independ- 
 ence of Tirol, or, in point of fact, for the 
 absolute independence of their own caste. 
 And the Kaiser looked on their proceedings 
 with an indulgent eye. In' his jealousy for 
 his own imperial rights, he saw the ad- 
 vantage of these dissensions in Tirol. The 
 arrogance of provincial barons could do him 
 no harm, whereas he had much to dread 
 from the encroachments of subject princes and 
 rejoiced to see their power restricted. 
 
 So young Duke Friedrich stood between two 
 fires and saw that the Empire would give him 
 no help in asserting his prerogative. In his 
 roistering, hare-brained days he had willingly 
 joined the "Elephant League," an association of 
 nobles to which all his comrades belonged, and 
 probably this intimacy enabled him to measure 
 the impossibility of reconciling their claims with 
 his rights as sovereign Count of Tirol. His 
 eyes were opened to their preposterous assump- 
 tions, to their inborn and carefully fostered 
 creed that their caste owed allegiance to the
 
 24 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 Kaiser alone, and that the Count of Tirol 
 was a mere figure-head bound to leave their 
 power untouched. He also knew that the 
 virtual ruler of the land was Heinrich von 
 Rottenburg, chief of the League and captain 
 of the Etsch. Once, when the young Duke 
 was strolling through the Bozen streets with 
 some festive companions, he saw Heinrich riding 
 into the town in full harness with a brilliant 
 retinue of attendant lords. 
 
 "Do you know who that man is?" he asked, 
 laughingly. 
 
 " Who but Rottenburg, captain of the 
 Etsch," answered one of his friends, amazed 
 by the question. 
 
 "Not at all," retorted Friedrich. "He is 
 the Regent of Tirol. I'm not worth a brass 
 farthing compared with him." 
 
 Another time, when Rottenburg appeared in 
 state array, the prince pushed through the 
 crowd of obsequious attendants and drawing 
 his sword presented it to the Captain as in 
 act of tendering homage, whereupon Rotten- 
 burg exclaimed, laughing at the jest
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 25 
 
 "Fritz, Fritz! when wilt thou learn wisdom?" 
 
 " When thou hast lost it ! " was the prompt 
 reply. 
 
 The jest was turned to deadly earnest, at 
 a later time when Rottenburg's power was 
 shattered by the Duke. 
 
 Meanwhile, when roaming about the country 
 in disguise like Haroun el Raschid, though un- 
 like him, for purposes of amusement, Friedrich 
 not only discovered the monstrous tyranny 
 practised by his nobles, but learnt to appreciate 
 his sturdy mountain folk, and foresaw that both 
 peasants and burghers would give him valiant 
 support in case of conflict with their oppressors. 
 This, too, regardless of the fact that the 
 Tirolese prelates being likewise temporal lords 
 were all on the nobles' side. 
 
 To give a full account of Friedrich's long 
 struggle with his rebellious barons would lead 
 us too far from our special theme ; but certain 
 details and episodes in which Oswald was con- 
 cerned demand some preliminary words in order 
 to explain the character of the prince and his 
 change of front towards our poet.
 
 Ill 
 
 FRIEDRICH IV. was the youngest son of Duke 
 Leopold of Austria and Virida Visconti of Milan. 
 He was neither a man of first-class ability nor 
 of high moral worth, but after the reckless 
 period of his minority and the first troublous, 
 blundering years of his reign, he developed 
 excellent qualities as a ruler. Really solicitous 
 for the welfare of his people, physically brave 
 and of genial temper, he could strike hard on 
 emergency, but seldom showed rancour, and, 
 even when coarsened by sensual excess, re- 
 mained susceptible to impulses of generosity 
 and mercy. During the prolonged and haras- 
 sing strife with his nobles he acted both with 
 military skill and political insight, and in spite 
 of early extravagance, was so successful in re- 
 organising the finances of the State that his 
 successor Duke Sigismund gained the merited 
 designation of "Sigismund the Wealthy."
 
 Grail. Innsbruck. 
 Duke Friedrich of Austria, Count of Tirol.
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 27 
 
 In his madcap, early days, he had felt a 
 passion of admiration for Oswald von Wolken- 
 stein his elder by a year or so looked up 
 to him in all things, and made him his prime 
 favourite. This versatile wanderer, whose 
 sword was no less keen than his intellect, 
 this fertile poet, wittiest of boon companions, 
 sweetest of singers, not only pleased his taste 
 but captivated his imagination. His other 
 associates seemed of dullest clay beside this 
 golden-tongued Wolkenstein with all those 
 thrilling tales of Eastern adventure and scraps 
 of strange lore gleaned from all parts of the 
 globe. 
 
 Accordingly, when the smouldering discon- 
 tent of the nobles burst into flame, his 
 favourite's desertion roused him to the bitterest 
 resentment. From the moment that Oswald 
 joined the hostile Adelsbund League into which 
 the jovial Association of the Elephant had 
 developed, Friedrich's love turned to hate, 
 and his hardest blows were aimed at his 
 quondam friend. 
 
 Nevertheless, Oswald had a real affection for
 
 28 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 his prince, and there is good reason to believe 
 that overrating his own influence at Court- 
 he originally adhered to the League for the 
 purpose of acting as mediator between his 
 fellow-nobles and the Duke. But, naturally 
 enough, this attempt to serve two masters was 
 regarded with suspicion by both, and he was 
 presently caught in the current of party strife. 
 His brothers Michael and Leonhard, his kins- 
 men the Lichtensteins of Karneid, his friends 
 the Starkenbergs of Greifenstein, the Spaurs of 
 Nonthal, Heinrich von Rottenburg and Nicholas 
 Vintler were all in the revolt, and his interests, 
 in the main, coincided with theirs. So, after 
 much hesitation and certain futile attempts 
 towards reconciliation, which only excited sus- 
 picion of his motives on either side, he threw 
 himself heart and soul into the cause of the 
 Bund. 
 
 This was the turning-point of his life, the 
 opening of so strenuous and agitated a career, 
 that, at first sight, one is surprised that the 
 gentle art of verse-making should not have 
 been crushed out of him. But, a born realist,
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 29 
 
 the impulse of outer events was as life-blood to 
 his muse, and so much of his poetry is auto- 
 biographical, that it is necessary to sketch the 
 course of those events, as well as the private 
 history of our minstrel knight, before turning 
 our attention to his works. 
 
 As we have said, the old " Elefantenbund," 
 in which Friedrich himself was enrolled, was 
 dissolved in 1406 and reconstituted as the 
 " Adelsbund an der Etsch" This new league 
 comprised one hundred and thirty-five nobles 
 pledged to defend their " good Tirolese rights " 
 against all assailants, not excepting their own 
 sovereign, in case of necessity. Heinrich 
 von Rottenburg, "Captain of the Etsch," was 
 at the head of the Bund and Oswald von 
 Wolkenstein was its leading spirit. The latter's 
 intellectual superiority, and his known influence 
 with the Emperor were of the utmost value to 
 the rebel lords. For Sigismund, being assured 
 of these barons' loyalty to the Empire, had no 
 wish to discountenance any scheme that might 
 cramp the energies of his too ambitious kinsman 
 Duke Friedrich. At first, however, Oswald
 
 30 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 clung to the hope of inducing the prince to 
 make important concessions and continued his 
 vain efforts at mediation. Thus, before the 
 Bund broke into open rebellion there was a 
 period of sullen opposition and secret ferment 
 in Tirol, and Friedrich profited by the delay to 
 deal his enemies one or two unexpected blows. 
 
 His chief difficulty being the lack of gold 
 that had won him the nickname of " Friedl of 
 the empty pouch," the first thing to be done 
 was to replenish his treasury. To effect this, it 
 was indispensable to get rid of Nicholas Vintler 
 the great banker of Bozen, who had all the 
 revenues of the State in his hands. Vintler was 
 a member of the League in virtue of his rank, 
 but took little interest in its schemes. His 
 personal tastes were artistic and literary, and all 
 his spare time was spent in decorating his beauti- 
 ful castle of Runggelstein and giving sumptuous 
 entertainments in its frescoed halls. A wealthy 
 merchant and banker, he had filled for many 
 years the post of " Receiver General " of Tirol. 
 He held all the mortgages and title deeds of 
 State property, and the feudal nobility had to
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 31 
 
 pay into his hands all tithes and taxes due to 
 their over-lord on their fiefs. 
 
 It is uncertain whether Vintler made un- 
 lawful profits by these transactiohs or not ; but 
 at any rate the taxes he levied on his fellow- 
 nobles were based on old calculations by no 
 means corresponding with the increased value 
 of their lands. When first appointed to his 
 office by Friedrich's father Duke Leopold, he 
 had been granted a special patent exempting 
 him from the duty of submitting his accounts to 
 examination. 
 
 Accordingly he was deaf to all remonstrance, 
 and while professing devoted loyalty to his 
 sovereign, refused to make any change in his 
 system of taxation. So after much ineffectual 
 discussion, Friedrich lost patience, captured 
 Vintler's luxurious castle by sudden assault and 
 proclaimed its owner as a rebel. The banker 
 had already fled to the stronghold of a fellow- 
 member of the Bund and presently, with diplo- 
 matic caution, opened peaceful negotiations with 
 the irritated prince. Matters were finally patched 
 up; Vintler not only recovered his beautiful
 
 32 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 Runggelstein but obtained compensation for 
 damages inflicted by Friedrich's men-at-arms. 
 Nevertheless the prince had scored a victory, 
 for the seizure of all Vintler's papers and 
 accounts enabled him to master the financial 
 situation. Taxation was now rearranged on 
 a juster basis; money began to flow into the 
 coffers of the State, and the first blow was dealt 
 at the power of the nobles. 
 
 We must not forget to mention that Vintler 
 was an intimate friend and admirer of Oswald 
 von Wolkenstein who often played a prominent 
 part in the contests of minstrelsy for which 
 Runggelstein was famed. Having overthrown 
 the Receiver-General, Friedrich followed up this 
 success by active measures against various other 
 members of the Bund. The Lichstensteins of 
 Karneid and other kinsmen and friends of the 
 powerful Wolkensteins were the next to feel 
 the weight of his hand. The Wolkensteins' 
 turn was to come later. 
 
 Meanwhile Oswald's false love, Sabina Hauss- 
 man, had lost her elderly husband, and being 
 free to use his wealth to forward her ambitions,
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 33 
 
 was now an established power at the court of 
 Tirol. Her dazzling beauty had speedily en- 
 slaved Friedrich's too susceptible fyeart, and she 
 was employing her wiles to inflame his wrath 
 against her rejected lover in order to press her 
 claims for compensation as heiress of Hauenstein. 
 She coolly valued her share of the Jager estate 
 at 6,000 gulden, and demanded that Oswald 
 should either pay this preposterous sum, or be 
 forced to make restitution of the castle and 
 lands. 
 
 As we have already explained, the Wolken- 
 steins had taken full possession of Hauenstein 
 before Oswald's birth. Therefore, in accord- 
 ance with the creed and custom of the time, 
 our hero was not only devoid of responsibility 
 for his predecessors' deeds however irregular 
 they may have been but bound to preserve 
 his inheritance intact. Besides, he had the 
 completest belief in the soundness of his title. 
 His grandfather had purchased Hauenstein from 
 the Jagers and given it to him at his birth. 
 What could be clearer ? His dearest ambition 
 
 had been to make Sabina its chatelaine as his 
 
 c
 
 34 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 wife. Thus she would have been mistress of 
 all. Her claim such as it was to a share of 
 the estate had been forfeited by her own act, 
 when she had broken faith with him in favour 
 of the burgher of Hall. Let her rave ! Not 
 a scrap of Hauenstein soil, not a single gold 
 piece would he yield ! 
 
 Nevertheless, Oswald soon found it advisable 
 to go abroad for a while. Things were at a 
 deadlock in Tirol ; fresh plans must be hatched 
 to strengthen the nobles' cause. Also, there 
 was another and still more pressing reason for 
 flight. In spite of Sabina's virulent enmity, he 
 was always thinking of her, always haunted by 
 her too seductive image and shrank from meeting 
 her face to face. A word, a smile, and he would 
 be again at her feet ! 
 
 So, in 1408, he started for Spain, to take 
 part in a crusade against the Moors about to 
 be waged by King John of Portugal. At most 
 critical moments, the mediaeval side of Oswald's 
 nature always regained the mastery, and to do 
 battle for the faith seemed the best means of 
 safety from temptations of the flesh.
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 35 
 
 But on the way through Germany he turned 
 aside to visit the castle 1 of his old friend 
 Ulrich II. of Schwangau on the Lech. The 
 two were kindred spirits as regarded the art 
 of minstrelsy, as well as sterner themes, and 
 the Schwangau line boasted of more than 
 one Minnesinger. Here Oswald found his 
 good genius in the person of Ulrich's young 
 daughter Margaret, a slender maid of sixteen, 
 already fired with eager enthusiasm for the 
 Tirolese poet whose songs she had sung ever 
 since she was a child. This angelic vision of 
 girlhood quickly freed our hero from Sabina's 
 lurid spells, and in spite of his physical defects 
 and his forty - two years, he soon won the 
 maiden's heart. They were duly betrothed ; 
 but the marriage was to be deferred until 
 Oswald's return from the war to which he 
 was pledged. So once more he loved and 
 rode away. And, strangely enough, he showed 
 no haste to secure his bride, even when the 
 
 1 This castle is the now ruined tower of Hinter-Hohen 
 Schwangau in Bavaria, close to the well-known Schwanstein 
 and Hohen Schwangau built by the mad King Ludwig.
 
 36 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 crusade had ended in triumph. Possibly the 
 tender love-ditties inscribed to his Margaret 
 during this absence deadened the pain of 
 separation, but, in all probability, some more 
 potent attraction was accountable for his 
 neglect. 
 
 We know that the Portuguese sovereign 
 and his English queen (a daughter of John 
 of Gaunt) showed the warmest appreciation of 
 Oswald's versatile powers, and that their sons 
 Peter and Ferdinand, who led the crusade, were 
 knights of his own stamp. After taking a 
 prominent part in the campaign and in that 
 brilliant feat of arms, the storming of Ceuta, 
 until then an impregnable stronghold of the 
 Barbary pirates, he returned to Portugal with 
 the victors and tarried long at their court. 
 He next visited the Moorish king of Grenada, 
 where his gift of minstrelsy won him fresh 
 laurels, and then journeyed slowly through 
 Castile and Provence, everywhere acclaimed 
 as the king of Minnesingers. 
 
 According to Beda Weber, the minute though 
 too often incorrect chronicler of our hero's
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 37 
 
 life, Oswald's absence was prokmged to 1413, 
 when startled by ill tidings from the Bund, he 
 hastened to join the Emperor Sigismund in 
 Lombardy and accepted a secret mission to 
 Tirol in furtherance of the imperial schemes. 
 But Herr Anton Noggler's discoveries in 
 the Wolkenstein archives prove that Oswald 
 returned to his country at least two years 
 earlier, and was apparently again in good 
 favour at Court. For early in 1411 a suit 
 brought against him by the Bishop of Brixen 
 came to trial and Duke Friedrich gave a verdict 
 for the defendant. Also, certain allusions in 
 the Wolkenstein papers lead Herr Noggler to 
 believe that about this time Oswald was again 
 bewitched by Sabina's charms, offered her his 
 hand for the second time and was rejected 
 anew. If this were the case, Oswald's neglect 
 of his Margaret is explained, so too the long 
 break in his autograph note-books on which 
 Weber's narrative is based. Humiliation and 
 let us hope some touch of remorse may 
 well have driven him back to Spain, to seek 
 forgetfulness in music and song.
 
 38 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 However this may be he was undoubtedly 
 in South Tirol in 1413, and, dismayed by the 
 success of Friedrich's acts of repression, applied 
 his energies to the task of obtaining the 
 Kaiser's active help for the Bund. 
 
 Indeed, as matters stood, the sole hope of 
 the Tirolese barons lay in the recognition of 
 their status as vassals of the Empire alone and 
 their consequent independence of the Count of 
 Tirol. So they looked forward eagerly to the 
 approaching Council of Constance as the means 
 of securing that recognition and reducing their 
 too vigorous sovereign to the position of a lay 
 figure. They had a fair chance of success, for 
 besides other causes of friction, the Kaiser was 
 specially enraged against Friedrich on account 
 of his adherence to the schismatic Pope, 
 John XXIII. 1 Accordingly Oswald was sent 
 to Constance as the representative of the 
 Adelsbund. 
 
 1 Vide Coxe's History of the House of Austria, vol. i., p. 
 194 and/o//.
 
 Gratl Innsbruck. 
 
 Emperor Sigismund.
 
 IV 
 
 ALL Europe indeed was represented at Con- 
 stance. This solemn gathering of princes and 
 potentates convened by Sigismund l to end the 
 schism in the Church appealed to all sorts and 
 conditions of men. In the shadowy background 
 of that brilliant scene hundreds of political 
 schemers were busily weaving their webs, 
 while in front of the stage passed endless 
 processions of sightseers and pleasure-seekers 
 of every degree. Country bumpkins, stout 
 burghers, steel-clad knights, noble ladies, men- 
 at-arms, friars, priests, pedlars, pickpockets, 
 pilgrims, jugglers, mimes and musicians all 
 jostled one another in the city by the lake. 
 
 1 Carlyle gives a passage from his inaugural speech : 
 " * Right Reverend Fathers, date operam ut ilia nefanda 
 schisma eradicctur ' to which a cardinal mildly remark- 
 ing : ' Domine, schisma tst generis neutrius,' Sigismund 
 loftily replies : ' Ego sum Rex Romanus et super gram- 
 mat team.' " ( Vide History of Frederick II. of Prussia, 
 vol. i., by Thomas Carlyle.) 
 
 39
 
 4O Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 Towards the close of 1414 no less than fifty 
 thousand foreigners were gathered in Constance, 
 as many visitors from adjacent parts, and about 
 thirty thousand horses. The official contingent 
 furnished by the Church ran up to eighteen 
 thousand persons. Twenty-nine cardinals headed 
 the list, next came thirty-three archbishops, one 
 hundred and fifty bishops, one hundred abbots, 
 fifty arch-priests, three hundred doctors of 
 canonical law, with the requisite train of lay 
 functionaries and hangers-on. It is also said 
 that, in addition to the throng of official person- 
 ages and spectators, seven hundred musicians and 
 players, and an equal number of public women 
 pursued their respective callings in the town. 
 
 Our observant poet was much interested 
 by the stir and turmoil of this world's fair 
 although he seems to have had some un- 
 comfortable moments. Naturally, prices were 
 high, even for privileged members of the 
 Council, and the numerous poor gentlefolk 
 scattered through the suburbs were cruelly 
 squeezed by extortionate inn-keepers. Oswald 
 relates in verse how the best of everything
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 41 
 
 was reserved for spiritual palates, while lay- 
 men were left to starve. He gives comic 
 instances of the cost of food and of hosts who 
 would confiscate the very wheels of your coach, 
 should your purse fail to satisfy their greed. 
 Nevertheless, even hungry guests found abun- 
 dant amusement in the overflowing city. Danc- 
 ing, singing and fiddling went on all day and 
 nearly all night in its streets. There were public 
 diversions of every kind : grand tournaments, 
 miracle plays, Tirolese peasant dramas, wild- 
 beast shows and fights, excursions to pleasure 
 gardens by the lake and convivial meetings on all 
 sides. Female society of every class could be 
 freely enjoyed. Ladies of high degree flocked to 
 the festivities in Constance, gladly escaping for a 
 while from the dulness of home life in isolated 
 castles. Many valiant knights, Oswald among 
 them, boasted of having their beards torn out 
 in the scrimmage and confusion of the dance; 
 while some bemoaned the loss of precious jewels 
 and seals snatched by light fingers in the crowd. 
 So, for the general public, life at Constance at 
 this period was a whirl of perpetual gaiety.
 
 42 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 Music was discussed no less than theology, 
 for the last, melodious minstrel lays and the 
 new, pedantic strains of the Meistersingers 
 mingled with the debates of prelates in Council. 
 Also many weddings were solemnized, owing 
 to a belief in the supreme efficacy of nuptial 
 benedictions pronounced by fathers of the 
 Church. Nor was the clash of arms unheard, 
 for the soldiery and retainers of the different 
 " nations " assembled, frequently came to blows 
 over their cups. It was also noted that much 
 land in Tirol changed hands about this time, 
 for titled owners in need of cash for their 
 pleasures gladly struck bargains with thrifty 
 peasants. 
 
 But while taking their share of the fun, 
 many prominent Tirolese nobles were anxiously 
 watching the proceedings of the Council and 
 looking to the discomfiture of their sovereign 
 through the verdict of the empire and the 
 Church. 
 
 In the midst of all these mundane excite- 
 ments Oswald was suddenly recalled to tenderer 
 feelings. At some great festival he came, un-
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 43 
 
 expectedly, face to face with his neglected 
 betrothed. She had come to Constance with 
 her father or brother, and the errant lover seems 
 to have had little difficulty in making his peace 
 with the beautiful girl. Perhaps the songs 
 written for her during his wanderings pleaded 
 in his favour, for her image certainly inspired 
 some of the very best of his work. Few 
 German poets of any age have produced love 
 poems of equal tenderness and descriptive 
 force. In one of the " Margaret " series his 
 " proud Swabian " is a truly living figure. We 
 behold her perfections of face and form ; hear 
 her speak and sing. She stands before us a 
 radiant vision, " nobly planned " with soft, dark 
 eyes, waving light hair, delicate nose, smiling 
 lips, shell-like ears and tiny feet. So, we can 
 imagine how she listened to Oswald's prayers 
 and quickly granted the mercy craved. We may 
 be sure that he pressed his suit ardently enough ; 
 for the simple, blushing child from whom he 
 had parted so lightly five years before, had 
 now blossomed into a stately young lady whose 
 beauty was enhanced by the gauds of festival
 
 44 Oswald von Wolken stein 
 
 attire. During all these years of waiting she 
 had been constant to her beloved poet, and 
 although constancy may have been easy in her 
 tranquil home-life, the lesson of mercy could not 
 have been so easily learned save from exceptional 
 sweetness of nature. 
 
 As will be seen later on, her attitude towards 
 Oswald in spite of his age was invariably one 
 of quasi maternal indulgence. 
 
 It would be interesting to know whether she 
 had heard of her poet's recent doings at Inns- 
 bruck and how forgetful of his vows he 
 had again worshipped at the shrine of his false 
 goddess. News travelled slowly in those days, 
 and Schwangau was a sheltered retreat ; but in 
 any case, the gentle Margaret forgave everything 
 to the man of her choice, her first and only 
 love. In fact she seems always to have regarded 
 her Oswald's faults as the unavoidable "defects 
 of his qualities." 
 
 Even the notorious Wolkenstein temper 
 caused her no alarm, and after prolonged 
 experience of it in the seclusion of Hauenstein, 
 she was still able to say with a cheerful smile,
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 45 
 
 that " the Wolkenstein fury was a good- 
 natured thing and did no harm." 
 
 Matters went smoothly now ; the lovers met 
 frequently and all preliminaries for the marriage 
 had been arranged, when suddenly public 
 events interposed to delay the wedding. 
 
 Being an Imperial envoy, with a yearly 
 stipend of 300 "red Hungarian gulden," 
 Oswald was not his own master. It was his 
 duty to watch public events, to fly hither and 
 thither as required, and now, all at once, he 
 received orders to accompany the Emperor to 
 Perpignan. 
 
 Accordingly, Margaret was left behind with 
 her family in Constance, and even her sweet 
 endurance must have been tried by this fresh 
 parting, and by dread of the new temptations to 
 which her volatile betrothed would be exposed. 
 
 The object of the journey was serious 
 enough, for Sigismund was bent on complet- 
 ing the work of the Council, and as a sequel to 
 the forced abdication of Pope John XXIII. and 
 voluntary withdrawal of Gregory XII. procur- 
 ing the renunciation of Benedict XII. who had
 
 46 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 taken refuge at the Aragonese court. But, of 
 course, the Imperial visitor was welcomed with 
 due pomp, and at all the festivities held in his 
 honour his minstrel envoy played a very con- 
 spicuous part. We have no record of Margaret's 
 ideas on the subject, but we know what any 
 loving girl must have felt, especially, when the 
 promised bridegroom was so very apt to be 
 carried away by artistic excitement. 
 
 Throughout the Middle Ages the court of 
 Aragon was renowned for its enlightened 
 patronage of music and poetry, and the 
 Queen Margarita who showered favours on 
 our Tirolese singer was the wife of King 
 Ferdinand. In a poem entitled "Am Minne- 
 hof" (At the Court of Love) Oswald de- 
 scribes his reception at the palace, how he 
 paid homage to the fair Queen by offering her 
 his beard, how she rewarded him by stringing 
 a jewelled ring on it with her own white hands, 
 and the whispered command, "never to unloose 
 it " (non may plus disligaides') ; and next, how 
 the gracious lady pierced his ears with a steel 
 needle and fixed other two rings in them.
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 47 
 
 One is not surprised to learn that King 
 Sigismund was much startled by his friend's 
 adornments, thought he had gone mad, and 
 anxiously asked if the rings did not pain him ! 
 
 At all the fetes given for the Kaiser, Oswald 
 was lionized to his heart's content. His fine 
 voice, his compositions, his playing were praised 
 to the skies, and the general enthusiasm reached 
 its climax at a court ball when, announced as 
 the " Viscount of Turkey," he made his appear- 
 ance in a gorgeous Arabian costume, performed 
 Moorish dances, sang Moorish songs "as per- 
 fectly as any prince of Grenada," and was 
 unanimously acclaimed a "royal poet." 
 
 Sigismund's visit to France, although barren 
 of political results, was carried out with an 
 imperial splendour ill suited to the state of the 
 imperial exchequer. 
 
 We read that he rode into Paris with a train 
 of eight hundred knights in full armour, and 
 several hundred men. The Kaiser was bare- 
 headed ; he wore the grey cross of his newly 
 instituted Order of the Dragon, and he kissed 
 his hand to all the ladies thronging windows
 
 48 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 and balconies. Wolkenstein rode at his heels, 
 arrayed in his Moorish dress, bearing a zither 
 in one hand, a naked sword in the other, and 
 many glittering decorations across his breast. 
 In fact, according to his diary, he attracted 
 almost as much admiration as his master, the 
 Emperor. 
 
 Did he write in this strain to his patient love, 
 and relate all the mad frolics at Court, as well 
 as his legitimate triumphs as a poet ? 
 
 In the midst of these Paris gaieties, disquiet- 
 ing news came from Constance. Duke Friedrich 
 of Tirol had made his escape. So Sigismund 
 hastily left France, and our hero was restored to 
 his expectant bride.
 
 V 
 
 A FEW words of explanation are now required 
 concerning the miserable condition to which 
 Duke Friedrich had been reduced and why 
 he had been obliged to seek safety in flight. 
 Without entering upon the tangled tale of 
 his relations with Switzerland and consequent 
 friction with the Empire, it may be well to 
 remind our readers that he had strongly 
 opposed Sigismund's election, had given still 
 worse offence by refusing to do homage to him 
 for his territories, and then, accepting the over- 
 tures of John XXIII. , had come to the Council 
 of Constance as the standard-bearer and ad- 
 herent of that schismatic Pope. There, as 
 we all know, John was forced by the Council : 
 " to promise to abdicate the Papal chair as a 
 sacrifice to the peace of the Church. At the 
 same time Friedrich being summoned by the 
 
 1 Vide Coxe's History of the House of Austria^ vol. i., 
 p. 195 and/o//. 
 
 D
 
 50 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 Emperor to do homage, reluctantly complied, 
 and received the investiture of his fiefs." But 
 fearing that Sigismund would support the 
 claims of the bishops of Trent, Brixen, and 
 Coire whom he had attacked and despoiled, 
 the Duke promoted the escape of Pope John 
 who hoped by his flight to dissolve the 
 Council. Accordingly Friedrich invited all the 
 great world of Constance to a magnificent 
 tournament outside the city, and while it was 
 going on the Pope fled in disguise to Friedrich's 
 castle at Schaffhausen, where he was presently 
 joined by its owner. But their plans were soon 
 checkmated by the attitude of the Council. 
 Instead of being dissolved, it was declared 
 permanent and superior to the authority of the 
 anti-pope, by whom it had been convened. 
 Friedrich was excommunicated, placed under 
 the ban of the empire, deprived of his terri- 
 tories, declared a traitor to his suzerain and 
 an enemy of the Church, while neighbouring 
 states were incited to invade his possessions. 
 Soon the whole empire was in arms, and a large 
 force advanced upon Schaffhausen, whereupon
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 51 
 
 Friedrich and John hastily fled to Laffenburg. 
 As most of the Swiss cantons rallied to the 
 imperial banner, Friedrich's losses were severe, 
 and even his family castle of Hapsburg 
 was wrested from him. Still, his cause was 
 by no means desperate, for his Tirolese 
 subjects and his Black Forest folk remained 
 staunch and were eager to come to his aid ; 
 Pope John sent large supplies of money, and 
 the Dukes of Burgundy and Lorraine prepared 
 to march to his assistance. But Friedrich was 
 panic-struck, and despairing of success, listened 
 to the pusillanimous counsels of Louis, Duke 
 of Bavaria, and decided to deliver up the Pope 
 and yield himself to the mercy of Sigismund. 1 
 
 Accordingly he went back to Constance 
 and meekly submitted to the indignities heaped 
 upon him. His degradation was Sigismund's 
 triumph, so no humiliation was spared him. 
 Summoned to the Imperial presence, in the 
 Franciscan monastery, he found the Emperor 
 on his throne, in state array, with the chief 
 
 1 Vide Coxe's History of the House of Austria, vol. i., 
 p. 197.
 
 52 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 princes of the empire, several ambassadors and 
 the fathers of the Council in attendance. 
 
 He had to prostrate himself before the throne, 
 implore pardon for his offences against the 
 Kaiser and the Church, tender an oath of 
 submission, make formal surrender of all his 
 territories, from Tirol to the Brisgau, and 
 finally after a humble appeal for mercy and 
 vowing to hold as by favour whatever lands 
 the Emperor might deign to restore, he yielded 
 his person in hostage for the fulfilment of the 
 conditions prescribed. 
 
 It must have been a terrible scene, and history 
 tells us that most of those present were moved 
 to pity. The painful ceremony concluded, 
 Sigismund clasped Friedrich's hand, and turn- 
 ing to the Italian prelates, said in a loud voice : 
 
 " You well know, reverend fathers, the power 
 and consequence of the dukes of Austria ; learn 
 by this example what a king of the Germans 
 can accomplish." 1 
 
 So while Sigismund went off to Aragon and 
 
 1 Vide Coxe's History of the House of Austria, vol. i., 
 p. 198.
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 53 
 
 France, his vanquished foe was held in safe 
 keeping at Constance. Closely watched and 
 barely supplied with the necessaries of life, 
 his position was a most pitiable one. 
 
 Stupefied with despair, he seemed almost insen- 
 sible to the threats and insults continually hurled 
 at him in this hostile city. But on learning that 
 his treacherous brother Ernest of Styria was 
 trying to wrest his faithful Tirol from him, 
 his apathy melted away and he was stung to 
 vigorous action. With the aid of two or three 
 devoted adherents he escaped from Constance 
 on the ist March 1416, and crossing the 
 Arlberg made his way into the valley of the 
 Eisack where a considerable body of Tirolese 
 flocked to his standard. Welcomed as a 
 saviour by this loyal mountain folk, his forces 
 increased at every step, and thus his march 
 was soon converted into a triumphal procession. 
 A treaty of peace was presently concluded 
 with his brother at Castle Krapfsburg in the 
 Innthal ; the discomforted Ernest withdrew 
 to his own dominions and all danger of civil 
 war was happily averted.
 
 54 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 Such was the position of affairs on Sigismund's 
 hurried return to Constance, and his costly 
 pleasures in Spain and France having drained the 
 treasury, he promptly sold all Friedrich's forfeited 
 fiefs and even alienated his power of redeem- 
 ing mortgaged lands. While absorbed in the 
 pleasant occupation of refilling his purse he 
 was interrupted by a sudden change of front 
 on the part of Duke Ernest. For the latter 
 unexpectedly appeared before Constance at the 
 head of a considerable force and extorted 
 Sigismund's consent to an amicable arrangement 
 with Duke Friedrich of Tirol. As the new 
 Pope, Martin V., strongly supported this pro- 
 posal, a formal reconciliation was accordingly 
 concluded and, for the third time, Friedrich 
 swore fealty to the Emperor in Constance (25 th 
 May 1418), and having agreed to restore the 
 lands wrested from the Bishop of Trent, and 
 to pay Sigismund 70,000 florins which sum was 
 afterwards reduced to 50,000 all his territories 
 were given back to him, excepting those ceded to 
 the Swiss and various fiefs irrecoverably alienated 
 by the Kaiser. He was duly reinstated as
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 55 
 
 prince of the empire, and honoured with the 
 privilege of being one of the supporters of the 
 papal canopy when Pope Martin departed from 
 Constance in state. 
 
 There is no reason to believe that our hero 
 Oswald was an eye-witness of these scenes, 
 indeed, as the next chapter will show, it is 
 almost impossible that he could have been in 
 Constance at that date. Nevertheless the 
 Emperor was not forgetful of his faithful friend 
 and servant. One of the clauses of his deed of 
 reconciliation with Friedrich bound the latter 
 to restore to Oswald von Wolkenstein all that 
 he had taken from him and to give him full 
 compensation for all property or buildings which 
 he had burnt or destroyed. 
 
 Where then was Oswald the reader may 
 ask? His marriage had been achieved at last, 
 some time in 1417. No details of the wedding 
 have come down to us, but as we know that it 
 took place in Constance and was probably conse- 
 crated by the much coveted blessings of fathers 
 of the Church. Thereupon, obtaining leave from 
 his emperor and discarding politics for a while,
 
 56 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 he bore off his bride to his native land and 
 settled down with her at Hauenstein in the forest 
 at the foot of the Schlern. 
 
 This castle on a rock backed by the towering 
 crags of the great Dolomite mountain, and 
 encircled on three sides by a wilderness of 
 velvet-topped pines must have been an ideal 
 retreat for the newly-wedded couple. And 
 better still, under the circumstances, it was a 
 well-protected nest. For the guards on the 
 watch-tower high above the trees could signal 
 at need to friendly Seis down below, or to 
 Kastelruth - town across the sunny plateau 
 beyond; while their outlook also commanded 
 every line of approach from the main valley 
 of the Eisack, the Grodnerthal, etc. So the 
 Minnesinger could ignore Duke Friedrich's 
 threats for a space, and enjoy his love- 
 idyll undisturbed. In fact, some of Oswald's 
 tenderest lyrics, composed at this time, breathe 
 the spirit and charm of sylvan life. Seeing that 
 they comprise several "Spring Songs," hailing 
 the moment when " the torrents freed from icy 
 bond," our ears are once more gladdened by the
 
 Grail. Innsbruck. 
 
 Ruins of Hauenstein.
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 57 
 
 sound of running water and the music of carol- 
 ling birds ; when snow-dazzled eyes again rest 
 on budding flowers and delicate greenery, it 
 seems probable that our poet's marriage had 
 taken place during the winter months. But 
 the exact date of it is uncertain, and we only 
 know that 1417 proved a very eventful year 
 for the Wolkenstein family. 
 
 By this time Duke Friedrich's position in 
 Tirol was notably strengthened by the assured 
 loyalty of the mass of his subjects. In fighting 
 the tyrannous nobility, he championed the cause 
 of the lower classes. The people at large 
 knew nothing of his errors of policy in his 
 dealings with the empire, that was a question 
 which nowise concerned them, but their hearts 
 had been deeply stirred by the news of his 
 sufferings at Constance, they had welcomed his 
 return, and vigorously assisted him to defeat 
 the treacherous attacks of his brother Duke 
 Ernest. Accordingly, Friedrich was now free 
 to deal with the rebellious barons, to besiege 
 them in their strongholds and reduce them to 
 terms.
 
 58 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 Thus far he had left the Wolkensteins alone ; 
 Michael was still undisturbed at the Trostburg, 
 Leonhard in his manor below Kastelruth, 
 Oswald on his Hauenstein crag. But storm- 
 clouds were gathering over all three, and 
 darkest of all over the head of our poet who 
 as the trusted servant of the Kaiser was the 
 best hated and most dangerous of the clan. 
 There was already a muttering of thunder in 
 the air, and forewarned of his personal peril- 
 Oswald seldom passed the boundaries of his 
 forest which at that period stretched its 
 dark mass almost to the gates of Kastelruth. 
 Besides, these were honeymoon days and easy 
 to spend in honeymoon fashion, regardless of 
 impending trouble. 
 
 We may be sure that in spite of Oswald's 
 remarkably varied experiences, he found com- 
 plete happiness in the arms of his fair, young 
 wife. For this "proud Swabian beauty" who 
 had loved him so faithfully was a high-souled 
 woman full of intellect as well as charm. We 
 know that the poet humbly confessed his un- 
 worthiness of so rare a treasure, and that under
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 59 
 
 her influence all his noblest aspirations budded 
 afresh. In those holiday weeks, the pair 
 wandered here and there in the legend-haunted 
 forest, rested on the banks of its numerous 
 lakelets, climbed to the flowery meads of the 
 Seisser Alp and penetrated the rocky wilds of the 
 Schlern. And, although the fact is unrecorded, 
 surely they explored the mysterious cavern 
 behind the waterfall at the head of the gorge, 
 once the passage to the Magic Rose-garden, and 
 discussed Dietrich's mortal combat with the 
 Dwarf King Laurin. Oswald's wonderful bridal 
 songs in the form of tender duets were 
 composed at this time, together with his praises 
 of spring, and we can imagine the couple reclin- 
 ing at the foot of some giant pine, talking 
 lovers' talk and pausing to listen to bird-voices, 
 murmuring streams, or the mighty rush of wind 
 through the trees. But the minstrel bridegroom 
 was a man of action above all ; the perils gather- 
 ing beyond the forest were as wine to his fiery 
 spirit and soon roused him from his idyllic dream. 
 No messenger climbed to the castle gate with- 
 out bringing evil news. This or that strong-
 
 60 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 hold was captured, some other beleaguered ; the 
 circle of iron was closing round him. At any 
 moment the watchers on the keep might detect 
 the flash of Friedrich's lances in sunlit glades, 
 or hear the tramp of horses in hidden forest 
 tracks. Before long, Schloss Karneid was 
 snatched from Oswald's kinsmen the Lichten- 
 steins, next, Salegg surrendered. His brothers 
 sent word that Trostburg being no longer secure, 
 the Adelsbund had resolved to concentrate its 
 forces elsewhere. So it was advisable to leave 
 Hauenstein at once, if only to ensure the safety 
 of his wife and the expected heir. But as the 
 poet's blood was up, his fiercest passion aroused, 
 no peaceful retreat was chosen. Skirting the 
 jaws of danger, he conveyed his Margaret by 
 devious ways to stout Greifenstein, on the pre- 
 cipitous crag beyond Bozen, where the Starken- 
 bergs and the rest of the League were cheerfully 
 preparing to resist attack. Oswald had escaped 
 from Hauenstein at the right moment, for the 
 ducal troops surrounded its walls a day or two 
 after he had gone. His garrison maintained so 
 vigorous a defence, that Friedrich failed to
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 61 
 
 take the castle itself and only succeeded in 
 destroying the outer buildings. Meanwhile, 
 brave Lady Margaret could breathe in peace 
 in the Greifenstein eyrie while her husband 
 and his friends were strengthening its defences. 
 They had abundant supplies of every kind, 
 plenty of men, and the hardy garrison was 
 continually reinforced by other rebel leaders 
 and their followers. To our modern ideas, this 
 gaunt, wind-swept Greifenstein fortress would 
 seem a grimly unsuitable abode for a delicate 
 young wife. But Margaret von Schwangau 
 came of a fighting stock, and had been reared 
 amid alarms of war. One may be sure that 
 with Oswald beside her, she was insensible to 
 fear and perfectly at home in these martial 
 surroundings. Doubtless her presence gave a 
 touch of feminine grace to the mediaeval 
 arrangements of the Starkenberg household. 
 We can imagine her consulting with the 
 chatelaine on the question of stores and helping 
 to prepare salves, simples and bandages in view 
 of possible casualties. Hostilities would soon 
 begin, and every spare moment must be turned
 
 62 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 to account. Now that Heinrich von Rottenburg 
 had been crushed, the Starkenberg brothers 
 were the most influential and wealthiest nobles 
 of South Tirol. They were absolute proprietors 
 of no less than eight castles, inclusive of 
 Greifenstein, and besides these domains held 
 four others, Hoch Eppan, Schlanders, Ulten 
 and Zufal in fee from the Duke. These fiefs 
 being mortgaged (albeit for amounts much 
 inferior to their value) their holders were 
 bound to pay a certain quota of their revenues 
 to the State treasury. This duty however they 
 had hitherto evaded, and even when Friedrich 
 offered to redeem Schlanders, sent them the 
 amount of the mortgage money, and demanded 
 the title deeds in return, Ulrich von Starken- 
 berg burst into furious imprecations, slashed his 
 sword through and through the ducal missive, 
 and bade the messengers carry word to their 
 master that the Starkenbergs refused his gold 
 and would not surrender the deeds. The 
 haughty brothers believed themselves to be in- 
 vulnerable. At the court of Vienna, Ulrich had 
 openly defied Friedrich's authority ; whereupon
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 63 
 
 the Duke had reminded him that he was his 
 sovereign lord and would speedily call him to 
 account. This incident brought the famous 
 " Starkenberg strife " to a climax. On his 
 return to Tirol, the Duke promptly assaulted 
 and seized nine of Ulrich's castles in rapid 
 succession ; but the brothers still defied him at 
 Greifen stein, making raids in all directions, 
 plundering peasants and traders and harassing 
 the ducal troops close to the gates of Bozen. 
 So now a fierce, personal struggle was im- 
 minent. 
 
 Frederic's banners were sighted in the valley 
 beneath Greifenstein soon after his attack upon 
 Hauenstein, and presumably his march had been 
 hastened by the knowledge that all the Wolken- 
 steins were gathered within the Starkenberg 
 walls. Day after day masses of troops with 
 harness and weapons glittering in the sun 
 streamed up the valley from Bozen, invested the 
 crag and formed a great camp. But Greifen- 
 stein had ways of communication unknown to 
 the foe. Thanks to a warren of subterranean 
 vaults and passages with hidden exits in woods
 
 64 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 on the mountain side, messengers from the castle 
 came and went as they pleased. 
 
 So the members of the Adelsbund collected 
 on the ramparts above could laugh at the block- 
 ade, at Frederic's siege train and all the prepara- 
 tions for battering their walls. Down below 
 there among the vines, the soldiers were as 
 pigmies swarming over a giant's foot. Yet the 
 Duke was no mean opponent and spared no 
 pains to reduce this nest of rebels. For he 
 presently attacked it from above as well as from 
 below, stationing half his force on the cliff domin- 
 ating Greifenstein in the rear and only separated 
 from the castle-crag by a deep, narrow cleft. 
 This plan ought to have succeeded, seeing that 
 Friedrich's chief gunner was supplied with the 
 marvellous, newly-invented powder that was 
 soon to change the whole art of war. But 
 apparently the guns were badly served, and a 
 ponderous engine devised to hurl big rocks into 
 the castle came to grief at the first trial. Then 
 too the besieging force, although numerous, 
 was untrained and badly officered, for as no 
 nobles of great standing were on the Duke's side
 
 Castle of Greifenstein.
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 65 
 
 it consisted mainly of mercenaries and peasant- 
 militia. Most of the latter would have done very 
 good service in the field, but proved restive to 
 camp-discipline, and wearying of the ineffectual 
 siege, many deserted and the rest came and went 
 as they chose. All knew that Kaiser Sigismund 
 was favourable to the rebels and threatening to 
 invade Tirol in their behalf. 
 
 On the other hand, the defenders of Greifen- 
 stein were in the highest spirits. They saw 
 their foe wasting his strength against their 
 impregnable rock and were paying him back 
 for the ruin wrought on other strongholds. 
 Oswald seems to have been the soul of the 
 defence, although some of his companions in- 
 dignantly charged him with having neglected 
 to push their interests at the Imperial Court. 
 Nevertheless, all found him invaluable in the 
 present emergency. His military experience 
 was naturally wider than that of home-staying 
 nobles. He was full of resource, knew the 
 use of gunpowder, and had brought from 
 the East the secret of the dreaded Greek 
 fire. 
 
 E
 
 66 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 No chronicler records the exact duration of 
 this first siege of Greifenstein, but evidently 
 it dragged on for several months. At last the 
 garrison determined to make an end of it, and 
 sallying forth one night in two bodies, captained 
 by Oswald and one of his kinsmen, attacked both 
 the besieging camps at the same moment. 
 Friedrich's troops were taken by surprise and, 
 in the midst of the struggle, showers of 
 rockets were shot from the castle walls and 
 set both camps ablaze. In a few moments 
 everything was in flames, and the panic-stricken 
 soldiers fled from the field dropping armour 
 and weapons, stripping off burning garments, 
 and vainly trying to escape from the horrible 
 Greek fire. 
 
 Thereupon Frederic was compelled to raise 
 the siege and beat a retreat with the miserable 
 remnant of his force. Oswald's War Song 
 " Hu, Huss " is a graphic record of the scene, 
 as well as of the rebels' bitter hatred of the 
 Duke, and their resolve to fight to the death 
 for their old privileges. 
 
 It may be roughly rendered as follows :
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 67 
 
 " Tally Ho ! cried Michael of Wolkenstein, 
 To the chase ! cried Oswald of Wolkenstein. 
 Up and at them ! cried Leonhard of Wolkenstein, 
 All shall be driven from Greifenstein. 
 
 II 
 
 " Now smoke and din, now raging flame 
 Poured down the gorge mixed with red blood, 
 The foe dismayed, shed arms and steel, 
 Flying for life, while we rejoiced. 
 The siege works all, the huts and tents 
 Were burnt to ashes in the camps. 
 Who doeth ill, shall ill receive 'tis said, 
 And thus we pay thee back, Duke Friedrich." 
 
 Other verses follow enumerating the various 
 bands who had broken faith with the League 
 and joined in the siege of Greifenstein. A note 
 of triumphant defiance resounds in every rugged 
 line, and the poem concludes with the words : 
 
 " They thought to bind us captive, 
 But theirs was the defeat."
 
 VI 
 
 THE foe being completely routed, camp and 
 war material destroyed, the assembled Leaguers 
 left the virgin fortress safe in its masters' care and 
 quickly dispersed their rejoicing being tempered 
 by sore anxiety as to the fate of their own pos- 
 sessions. Some of their castles indeed were 
 already captured by the Duke, others half 
 mined, and as we already know, part of 
 Hauenstein had been burnt and sacked. Mean- 
 while the disastrous siege of Greifenstein had 
 taught Friedrich a lesson by which he made 
 haste to profit, for with unexpected statecraft 
 he now adopted fresh tactics. Although per- 
 sistently hostile to our hero, he proceeded to 
 make amicable advances to other members of 
 the Bund and patched up a shallow peace with 
 them. Through the mediation of Duke Ernest 
 of Bavaria he even made truce with the Starken- 
 bergs. But he was only biding his time until
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 69 
 
 the fit moment arrived for stamping out the 
 rebellion. Already his position was improved 
 by the election November 1417 of Martin V. 
 to the Papal Chair. For the new Pontiff was 
 well-disposed towards him, and as Cardinal 
 Colonna, had proved his good will at Constance 
 by loudly protesting against the unjust treat- 
 ment inflicted on him by the Council. 
 
 At this point we may digress for a moment 
 in order to sum up the history of Greifenstein, 
 for although that stubborn stronghold played 
 no farther part in Oswald's life, it remained a 
 focus of rebellion and a thorn in Friedrich's 
 side to the end of the civil war. The terms 
 of the truce notwithstanding, its lords con- 
 tinued to harry the surrounding country and 
 raid the Bozen caravans, and when Wilhelm 
 von Starkenberg also disregarded a summons 
 to appear before the General Assembly at 
 Siebeneich, it was decided to send special 
 envoys to Greifenstein to settle the matter 
 in an amicable way. Starkenberg promptly 
 supplied the necessary safe-conduct, and rely- 
 ing on its efficacy, the Burgomasters of Bozen
 
 70 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 and Hall climbed up to the castle. They were 
 courteously made welcome, and treated to 
 so lengthy a banquet that dusk had fallen 
 before they issued from the gates. With 
 hospitable care for their safety, Starkenberg 
 insisted on sending retainers to guide his 
 visitors down the steep mountain track, but 
 the men had secret orders to pitch them over 
 a precipice by the way. The crime was duly 
 accomplished, and when Starkenberg knew that 
 his commands had been carried out he clapped 
 his hands and exclaimed, " Thank God ! We 
 have one foe the less ; Niklas " (the burgomaster 
 of Bozen) "wrought us much harm." But this 
 abominable murder, added to past misdeeds, 
 raised a storm of indignation and disgust 
 throughout the land. Friedrich again laid 
 siege to the treacherous castle, but it had 
 been copiously provisioned during the truce, 
 and held out for eighteen months. The con- 
 fident garrison made frequent sorties, terrorising 
 both Bozen and Meran by deeds of bloodshed 
 and rapine, and it seemed impossible to reduce 
 the eyrie by famine.
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 71 
 
 Once, either in mocking memory of their 
 portly victim poor Master Niklas, or to show 
 that their larder was well stocked, the Starken- 
 bergs hurled down a fat porker into the 
 besiegers' camp, and to this day the Greifen- 
 stein ruin is best known by its local name 
 of the " Sauschloss " (Swine Castle). 
 
 Some time during the siege, the fierce Ulrich 
 von Starkenberg died. His death was kept 
 secret, but soon afterwards Wilhelm left the 
 castle and fled to Austria. The garrison held 
 out for a while, but, daunted by Friedrich's 
 tremendous preparations for storming the walls, 
 finally offered to surrender on condition of being 
 allowed to march out scot-free, and opened the 
 impregnable gates in 1426. 
 
 The fall of Greifenstein proved the death- 
 blow of the League, for by that time most of 
 its members were crushed and even the proud 
 Wolkensteins had been compelled to swear 
 fealty to the Duke. Wilhelm von Starkenberg 
 the last of his line obtained a free pardon 
 from Friedrich's successor, Duke Sigismund, 
 and, about 1440, returned to his country, a
 
 72 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 beggared, homeless old man. The rulers of 
 Tirol left Greifenstein to decay and, nowadays, 
 one or two ruined towers and fragments of 
 walls are all that remain of this robbers' nest 
 and virgin stronghold of the Adelsbund. 
 
 Oswald's return to Hauenstein in 1417 after 
 the dispersion of Friedrich's army was by no 
 means a joyful home-coming. Part of the 
 building had been destroyed, much valuable 
 property had been looted, and wholesale repairs 
 were needed with no present hope of obtaining 
 compensation. Domestic cares were pressing 
 on him, and for all her valiant temper, his wife's 
 health was impaired by her exciting experiences 
 at Greifenstein. So he could no longer regard 
 his woodland castle with honeymoon eyes. 
 Now the place he had once loved so dearly 
 became positively hateful to him, for it was 
 practically a prison. He had less liberty there 
 than behind the Starkenberg walls, and was 
 hardly safe at a bow-shot from his own ramparts. 
 His position altogether was worse than un- 
 certain, for although Friedrich's wrath against 
 him was kept in check for the moment by
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 73 
 
 Sigismund's commands, all his enemies were on 
 the alert. Sabina Hausmann was noisily re- 
 asserting her claims upon Hauenstein, and it was 
 an open secret that Friedrich was her devoted 
 slave and eager to do her will. So Oswald 
 stormed and chafed; the glamour of life had 
 vanished, and although an heir was soon to be 
 born to him this fact only increased his anxieties. 
 He knew that his foes were busy, both at court 
 and among his fellow-nobles. Traps of every 
 sort were laid for him, and efforts made to stir 
 the peasantry against him as an enemy of the 
 people and the adherent of foreign potentates. 
 Terrifying rumours drifted up through the forest 
 and swelled to exaggerated proportions in the 
 seclusion of his home. Even his wife's loving care 
 could not dull the sting of frustrated ambition, and 
 at this period he seems to have been too much 
 worried to find relief in literary work. 
 
 Certainly there were good grounds for anxiety 
 and his fears were no phantoms of the poetic 
 imagination. He had also incurred the enmity 
 of a very powerful neighbour, the Bishop of 
 Brixen : partly by certain public remarks made
 
 74 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 at Constance on the corruption of the Church 
 and the action of prelates in worldly affairs, and 
 more, perhaps, by some scathing verses, de- 
 scriptive of the Bishop's hypocrisy, which were 
 very popular in Tirol. Therefore just now, in- 
 stigated by Friedrich who fettered by imperial 
 orders was glad to deal vicarious blows at the 
 object of his hate, the Bishop was thundering 
 against Oswald and threatening him with material 
 as well as spiritual reprisals. With all these snares 
 compassing him about it is no wonder that his 
 soul was heavy with trouble or that he longed 
 to escape from his mountain solitude. Both in 
 diaries and poems, the desponding Minnesinger 
 enlarges on the dreariness of his pine-girt rock, 
 especially when blockaded by ice and snow. 
 Winter-mountaineering being unknown in his 
 day, he complains of the impossibility of travers- 
 ing the frozen wilderness without climbing-irons 
 on his feet. The deadly stillness, with every 
 torrent ice-bound, was only broken by the 
 screams of his peacocks and the braying of 
 trains of asses bringing supplies to the castle. 
 Now and then one could faintly hear the rush
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 75 
 
 of Eisack's flood in its distant valley, or some 
 trusty friend would force a way through the 
 snow-drifts to bring news from the city and 
 warning of fresh machinations on the part of 
 his foes. 
 
 In his fits of despair the poet must have been 
 ill to live with, and his Margaret must have 
 needed all her unselfish devotion and tact to 
 soothe the notorious Wolkenstein temper. Pro- 
 bably, however, she was ignorant of the worst 
 and never dreamed that even when her husband's 
 love was most ardent, his admiration of her 
 beauty and goodness most eloquently expressed, 
 the poison of Sabina's spells still burnt in his 
 veins. But now, as always, this high-souled 
 woman was a guardian-angel to the restless, 
 excitable man, in whose brain poetic visions, 
 dreams of knightly perfection and mystic beliefs 
 were so strangely interwoven with political 
 ambitions and cravings for glittering courts and 
 royal favours. Happily for her, she had seen 
 something of the world, in her maiden days, 
 and had probably observed that model husbands 
 were rare. At any rate she adored her poet,
 
 76 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 wrestled with his fits of depression and usually 
 managed to charm them away. Even when 
 furious moods were on him she was able to say 
 with a smile "that the Wolkenstein rage was 
 a good-natured thing (ein gutmiithig Ding)." 
 Certainly Oswald's temper was mild compared 
 with that of his younger brother, for when 
 Leonhard was stirred to wrath, he exploded like 
 a bombshell, and his household flew to shelter 
 under tables, upstairs, out of doors anywhere 
 in fact beyond reach of his fist. 
 
 At the close of 1417 that year of varied 
 events, a son was born to the poet, and this 
 first of seven children, Oswald II., was destined 
 to be the founder of the present Wolkenstein- 
 Rodenegg line. Paternal cares, as we have 
 hinted, only sharpened the elder Oswald's 
 anxieties ; but his valiant wife roused his 
 courage, and soon afterwards the production 
 of numerous poems, grave, gay, amorous and 
 idyllic, proved that he was making the best of 
 his enforced seclusion. He again recurred to 
 that favourite Minnesinger theme : the joys of 
 spring, and his descriptions of the awakening of
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 77 
 
 Nature from winter's sleep are full of observant 
 touches. Sterner subjects also drew his atten- 
 tion when the Hussites were in arms, for he 
 had always abhorred their doctrines. 
 His fiery diatribe 
 
 " Ich hab gehort durch mangen grauss," 
 
 was written in 1419. 
 
 About the same time our hero also found 
 vent for his energies in another direction. Duke 
 Friedrich being too busy just then in attack- 
 ing his obstinate foes, the Spaurs, to meddle 
 with the Wolkensteins, Oswald profited by the 
 opportunity to seize a small estate near Vols, 
 a few miles from Hauenstein, belonging to 
 Sabina's brother, Martin J'ager. And finding 
 that Friedrich turned a deaf ear to the rightful 
 owner's complaints and showed no intention of 
 resuming hostilities against Hauenstein, the rest- 
 less poet went off to Hungary, ostensibly for 
 the purpose of serving in the campaign against 
 the Hussites, but really to implore Sigismund to 
 intervene in Tirolese affairs and appeal to the 
 states of the Empire against Friedrich's rule.
 
 78 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 The three envoys sent to plead the cause of the 
 nobles were Oswald von Wolkenstein, Ulrich 
 von Starkenberg and H. von Schlandersberg. 
 The secret of their mission, however, was care- 
 fully kept, and they marched openly through 
 Tirol with a considerable following to serve 
 their Kaiser in the field. But, once across the 
 frontier, the three delegates pushed on to Vienna 
 to interview the ruling Duke of Austria, Albert 
 V. This prince was a man of high character, 
 renowned as a champion of justice and peace, 
 and always sided with his father-in-law, Sigis- 
 mund, against his cousin Friedrich. So after 
 hearing the envoys' eloquent exposition of their 
 case, he readily confirmed the Patent of " Special 
 Privilege" that had been granted in 1406 to the 
 nobles of the Inn and the Etsch by Friedrich's 
 predecessor, Duke Leopold. 
 
 Seeing that the Tirolese nobles held most of 
 their lands in fee from Duke Friedrich, who 
 as Count of Tirol was their over-lord, it is 
 clear that they had no right to submit their 
 patent to Albert of Austria, nor he any right 
 to confirm it. The delegates themselves were
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 79 
 
 fully conscious of the illegality of the act ; so 
 much so, indeed, that Oswald hastened on to 
 Hungary to ask more valid support from the 
 Kaiser. But on the day of Wolkenstein's 
 arrival, Sigismund chanced to be holding a 
 council of war, so our hero was kept waiting 
 for many hours in the ante-chamber of the 
 Council Hall. At last, tired of kicking his heels, 
 he obtained the desired audience by a truly 
 characteristic expedient. Noticing that the 
 stove by which he was sitting served to heat 
 the adjoining hall, he stoked it so vigorously 
 from a pile of logs in the corner, that before 
 long Sigismund came hurrying out with beaded 
 brow to get a little air. Finding his old friend 
 Oswald meekly waiting at some distance from 
 the stove, we may be sure he welcomed him 
 cordially and gave a patient ear to his petition. 
 Then, after seriously warning him that Sabina 
 was his worst enemy at Friedrich's court, he 
 promised to assist the Bund at some future date ; 
 but frankly stated that he could give no atten- 
 tion to Tirolese matters with the Bohemian war 
 on his hands. That once concluded, he would
 
 80 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 do his best for the nobles. This seemed 
 encouraging news to Oswald, for no one then 
 foresaw that the Hussite war would drag on 
 for years and absorbing Sigismund's energies 
 for the rest of his reign, leave Friedrich a free 
 hand in Tirol. 
 
 Together with one or two fellow-members 
 of the Bund, Wolkenstein followed his Kaiser 
 to Bohemia, fought in several battles and held 
 the castle of Misserad against the Hussites for 
 several months, repulsing every attempt of the 
 besiegers to carry it by storm. But Sigismund's 
 army being utterly routed while on the march 
 to the relief of Misserad, the brave garrison was 
 starved out and forced to surrender with the 
 honours of war. 
 
 We have no space to follow our hero's steps 
 through the many weary vicissitudes of this 
 disastrous crusade. Even as his imperial chief, 
 he emerged from them in an extremely battered 
 condition, and in the autumn of 142,0, was 
 thankful to return to his own land. All was 
 well at Hauenstein with his Margaret and the 
 babes, but public affairs, as regarded the cause
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 81 
 
 of the nobles, were very disquieting. For 
 during his absence, Duke Friedrich had profited 
 by the cessation of imperial interference with 
 his methods, and used his free hand to good 
 effect against the rebel leaders. Lodron and 
 some other of the confederates were practically 
 crushed, and even the formidable Spaurs reduced 
 to apparent submission. But old Peter von 
 Spaur of Nonsburg proved a wilier foe than 
 the equally irreconcilable Stark enbergs. After 
 being stripped of his high office of Captain of 
 the Etsch in 1418, Spaur continued to defy 
 the prince's authority by raiding the lands of 
 loyal subjects. Many of his adherents, how- 
 ever, fell off on the death of his ally, the aged 
 Bishop of Trent, for the latter's successor sided 
 with Friedrich and greatly increased his power 
 by ceding to him all the fiefs of the diocese 
 which had been formerly held by Heinrich von 
 Rottenburg. So Spaur and Lodron being left 
 almost isolated, had been forced to come to 
 terms with their sovereign. Persuaded that 
 he had cut their claws, Friedrich was content 
 to deal gently with the worsted rebels. He
 
 82 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 granted them peace on condition that they 
 swore fealty and did due homage to him as 
 their over-lord. A formal treaty was accord- 
 ingly drawn up providing for the reciprocal 
 restitution of captured territories and strong- 
 holds; for reciprocal pardon of injuries and 
 exchange of prisoners, and authorising Spaur 
 to retain possession of the family castle of 
 Alt-Spaur pending the verdict of the civil 
 tribunal. In fact, every clause was arranged 
 as though the " high-contending parties " had 
 been potentates of equal standing. This was 
 an excellent stroke of policy on Friedrich's 
 part, and the younger Spaurs willingly sub- 
 scribed to his terms. But rugged old Peter, 
 the head of the house, while seeing the obvious 
 necessity of allowing his sons to conform to 
 the new order of things, could not abase his 
 feudal pride to the point of owning himself 
 subject to the law, and at this moment it was 
 announced that he had suddenly died of despair. 
 Yet, while his sons swore allegiance to their 
 sovereign and were ranked among the loyal 
 of the land, old Count Peter was not only a
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 83 
 
 living man but, safely hidden in his inaccessible 
 stronghold, eagerly plotting against Friedrich 
 with all the vigour of his prime. For six years 
 after his supposed decease, he was carrying on 
 a correspondence with the Wolkensteins of 
 Trostburg and his letters are still preserved 
 in their archives. 
 
 It was only in 1426, on learning that Michael 
 von Wolkenstein had made submission to the 
 Duke, that old Spaur gave up the game and 
 turning his face to the wall, died truly of 
 despair. It is worth noting that, while one 
 rebel lord shammed death, the genuine decease 
 of fierce Ulrich von Starkenberg was kept 
 secret for almost the same length of time, 
 so that the defenders of Greifenstein might 
 still benefit by the prestige of his name.
 
 VII 
 
 OSWALD'S strength had been sorely tried by the 
 hardships of his Bohemian campaigns and his 
 spirits depressed by the impossibility of inducing 
 the Kaiser to intervene in Tirol. It must have 
 begun to dawn upon him that the Leaguers 
 were engaged in a lost cause; that feudal power 
 and privilege were already things of the past. 
 So, for a time, he stayed quietly at Hauenstein, 
 looking after his property, avoiding all contact 
 with his offended ruler, and limiting his journeys 
 to the family castles of Kastelruth, Trostburg, 
 etc., with an occasional flight up the Grodner- 
 thal to the remote Wolkenstein nest in the 
 Langethal where the first poetic dreams had 
 germinated in his infant brain. Dreams of a 
 sterner sort, and anxious discussions with 
 scattered members of the moribund League 
 were the motives of his present wanderings. 
 As we have seen already, domestic ties never
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 85 
 
 held him long. Just for brief intervals, when 
 weary of turmoil and strife, his home seemed a 
 haven of rest; then he was content to bask in 
 the sunshine of his wife's tenderness, was again 
 her ardent lover, and took pride in the sturdy off- 
 spring clustering about his knees ; for he was 
 now the father of three children. But black 
 care soon assailed him once more and robbed 
 him of peace. There was always the phantom 
 cause of the Bund to lash him to action, in the 
 vain hope of wresting victory from defeat and 
 restoring the ancient splendours of his caste. 
 Then also there was the continual, gnawing 
 worry of that inherited dispute with the Jagers 
 and the necessity of fighting it out in order to 
 secure the estates to his children. For, as it 
 may be well to repeat, Oswald considered his 
 title to Hauenstein to be absolutely flawless. 
 His grandfather had paid a round sum for 
 the domain, settled it on himself at his birth, 
 ergo it was his own freehold property. He 
 contemptuously dismissed all assertions re- 
 garding the original subdivision of the estate 
 and the proportionate value of this or that
 
 86 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 share as fraudulent pretences on the part of 
 the claimants. Nevertheless the J'agers' pre- 
 posterous demands were a continual annoyance, 
 and became more clamorous than ever now 
 that the malicious Sabina was pushing Duke 
 Friedrich to support them by force. 
 
 One day, in the late autumn of 1421, just 
 when the first frosts were heralding the ap- 
 proach of wintry desolation, a letter from Sabina 
 reached Oswald at Hauenstein. It was a start- 
 ling epistle considering all that had happened, 
 for the lady wrote in the most persuasive terms, 
 imploring the knight to come to see her without 
 delay, and for "old love's sake," bring their 
 long dispute to a peaceful end. 
 
 Oswald's heart throbbed with pleasure on 
 receiving this missive. The vexed problem 
 was solved at last ! Nor, after the first moment, 
 did he feel much surprise. His social triumphs 
 as a minstrel and the devotion of his beautiful 
 young wife had not prepared him to conceive 
 doubts of his power over women. Of course, 
 Sabina had never really hated him, although 
 false to her vows. Womanly caprice, womanly
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 87 
 
 vanity had been the motives of her long hostility. 
 He forgot to take into account the effect of 
 his own scathing satires on the lady's mode 
 of life ! So he impulsively accepted the 
 strange invitation. Had he been wise, he 
 would have consulted his wife first of all ; 
 but either gratified self-love or a twinge of 
 conscience sealed his lips on the matter. 
 Probably the sight of Sabina's pen-strokes had 
 stirred the smouldering embers of his former 
 passion, and made the old spirit of adventure 
 tingle in his veins. At any rate, he thought 
 Sabina was clearly repentant. A friendly meet- 
 ing might do wonders, settle the weary con- 
 flict, and besides there would be the additional 
 triumph of outwitting Duke Friedrich ! So he 
 decided to say nothing to his Margaret. Even 
 the best of wives might be unreasonable where 
 another woman was concerned. Therefore, 
 under pretext of fulfilling a vow of pilgrimage 
 to some distant shrine, he left Hauenstein, 
 unarmed and alone. The appointed place of 
 rendezvous was the lonely tower of Enticlar, 
 off the valley of the Eisack, some miles from
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 Trent. For so marked a rebel the journey 
 thither was dangerous, but he accomplished it 
 without molestation. The gate of Sabina's 
 little manor stood open before him, and Oswald 
 was about to cross the threshold, with some 
 pretty compliment to his hostess on his lips, 
 when he was suddenly attacked from behind 
 by Martin Jager and two other knaves, felled 
 to the ground, and dragged bound and bleeding 
 to Sabina's feet. 
 
 The tale of this woman's treacherous revenge 
 recalls one of the most ferocious episodes of the 
 Nibelungen Lied. 
 
 The sorely wounded -man was loaded 
 with chains, and in this state was put to 
 torture all night, strung up to a beam by his 
 arms, while the fiendish Sabina exulted at the 
 sight of her victim's pain. This was her re- 
 venge for his satires, and one specially devised 
 for the purpose of extorting the amount of her 
 Hauenstein claims. The torture went on until 
 the sufferer's fortitude finally gave way and 
 he consented to give all she demanded : either 
 Hauenstein itself or 6,000 gulden. Then he
 
 Gratl. Innsbruck. 
 Castle of Forst, near Meran.
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 89 
 
 was taken down from the rack and "chained 
 with irons three fingers thick," was thrown into 
 a damp dungeon. For some weeks he lay there 
 in agony, half-starved and almost done to death. 
 But then, dreading lest their prisoner's kinsmen 
 should come to the rescue, his captors secretly 
 conveyed him to Schloss Forst, near Meran, 
 where Jager filled the post of commandant. It 
 was the last place where his brothers would be 
 likely to seek him, inasmuch as it belonged to 
 the Starkenbergs, and no one would suppose 
 that any subordinate of theirs could dare to 
 use the stronghold as a prison for their own 
 best friend and ally. In fact, though sorely 
 alarmed by Oswald's disappearance, some time 
 elapsed before his wife and kindred got wind 
 of the atrocious outrage committed on him, or 
 learnt where he was to be found. To lodge the 
 prisoner in Castle Forst was an exceedingly crafty 
 stroke. For it was devised to kill two birds with 
 one stone, by provoking a rupture between the 
 Wolkensteins and Starkenbergs, and likewise 
 giving Duke Friedrich a pretext for charging 
 the latter with a breach of the patched-up peace.
 
 go Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 That Friedrich actually knew and approved 
 of the crime is shown by the fact that Sabina 
 only released her victim in order to hand him 
 over to the Duke, who kept him long shut up 
 in a state prison near Innsbruck. 
 
 Meanwhile, the first person to stir in 
 Oswald's behalf was Dame Ursula von 
 Starkenberg. Her husband being absent from 
 Tirol, she immediately despatched two nobles 
 to Forst, commanding Jager to release the 
 knight at once and severely reprimanding him 
 for daring to utilize a Starkenberg castle for a 
 private feud of his own. To which Jager had 
 the insolence to reply that he was detaining 
 Oswald in order to extort redress for injuries 
 received, and required a week's delay to study 
 the matter. Thereupon, Dame Ursula's friends, 
 who had been accompanied to Forst by some 
 leading burghers of Meran, insisted on seeing 
 the captive and were much surprised to find 
 him in tolerable spirits and decidedly unwilling 
 to be removed elsewhere. He evidently knew 
 that his real jailor was the Duke and that 
 his own friends were powerless to set him
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 91 
 
 free. Life, at least, he added, was safe within 
 Starkenberg walls, whereas anywhere else it 
 would be gravely imperilled. 
 
 Also, when the envoys urged that, meanwhile 
 poor Dame Ursula was in sore danger, seeing 
 that Oswald's brothers were raging against the 
 Starkenbergs and vowing vengeance on them 
 all, root and branch, the poet philosophically re- 
 marked that his kinsmen's threats couldn't break 
 his prison bars ; that he was pledged to pay 
 ransom, and would write on the matter to his 
 brothers, and, necessarily, to the Duke. His 
 visitors were amazed by Oswald's stoical 
 resignation to his fate, but, probably, his diplo- 
 matic reserve was caused by uncertainty as to 
 Friedrich's actual share in the outrage. Doubt- 
 less he had strong suspicions on that head but 
 deemed it wiser to conceal them for the nonce. 
 Though sadly changed in appearance, his wounds 
 were now healed ; he made no complaint of ill- 
 treatment and was decently lodged. 
 
 It was a puzzling situation altogether, and 
 the zealous friends who had hoped to bear 
 Oswald away in triumph, were constrained to
 
 92 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 leave him in his cage and take their departure 
 baffled and furious. We can imagine how 
 Jager showed them to the gate with mocking 
 courtesy and respectful excuses to his most 
 noble Lady Ursula, and also with what feelings 
 the party spurred back to Meran to recount the 
 failure of their mission, and the incomprehensible 
 apathy of the victim. 
 
 In reality, Oswald's resignation was only a 
 mask imposed by prudence, for he was suffering 
 intensely, torn by contending emotions of rage, 
 indignation and above all remorse for the sinful 
 folly that had led him blindfold into the 
 cunningly devised trap. His true sentiments 
 are expressed in certain appeals to heaven 
 written during his detention at Forst. In 
 another poem of the same period he mocks 
 at his woes, relating how, once upon a time 
 the fair Sabina had twined a fine golden chain 
 about his arm in token of her love. But now, 
 those tender passages all forgot, she showed 
 her favour in a different guise, binding him with 
 iron chains "three fingers broad." 
 
 While Dame Ursula's envoys made their
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 93 
 
 fruitless journey to Forst, the poor lady herself 
 was hurrying to Innsbruck to assert her innocence 
 as to Oswald's capture, little guessing that her 
 sovereign was rejoicing over the brutal device 
 that had lured his enemy into his hands. But 
 the Wolkensteins, having discovered that their 
 brother had been kidnapped with the Duke's 
 sanction, lost no time in planning characteristic 
 reprisals. 
 
 The Arch-priest ofNeustift, one of Friedrich's 
 most trusted counsellors, was deputed by his 
 master just then to attend a court of justice in 
 Bozen to decide an important case as his repre- 
 sentative. He set out, accordingly, but never 
 reached Bozen. Leonhard von Wolkenstein 
 pounced on him by the way and conveyed him 
 to his castle of Aichach. Then, mounting the 
 prisoner's horse, he rode over the hills to Vols, 
 seized the parish priest of that place, who was also 
 devoted to the Duke, and after sacking the par- 
 sonage carried off his second prize to share the 
 other's captivity. Next, Michael and Leonhard 
 sent a politely worded missive to Friedrich in- 
 forming him that his deputy was unavoidably
 
 94 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 prevented from attending the Bozen tribunal, 
 and would remain in their hands until Oswald 
 was released and the Jagers brought to account 
 for his capture. Provided the Duke complied 
 with these requests, the Wolkensteins' best in- 
 fluence should be exerted to obtain the Kaiser's 
 pardon for the Duke's share in the outrage 
 committed on an officer of the Imperial Court. 
 
 Friedrich's reply is unknown to us, but as the 
 imprisoned ecclesiastic was quickly released, it 
 seems to have been satisfactory, unless indeed, 
 on reflection, the Wolkensteins deemed it best 
 to trust to the prince's honour. At any rate they 
 were deceived, for instead of setting Oswald 
 free, Friedrich merely transferred him to a 
 state prison " there to be detained until judg- 
 ment should be delivered on the Hauenstein 
 suit:' 
 
 This breach of faith naturally raised the 
 Wolkensteins' fury to the highest pitch, and 
 Michael's next step is a striking illustration of 
 the attitude assumed towards their sovereign by 
 the nobles of Tirol. For he promptly sent an 
 open challenge, or rather declaration of war, to
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 95 
 
 Duke Friedrich in which after setting forth his 
 wrongs, he proceeds to say : " for the which 
 reasons, I do hereby proclaim myself your enemy 
 and in alliance with all your foes." 
 
 Meanwhile a bull of excommunication had 
 been launched against Leonhard for his illegal 
 seizure of the Duke's consecrated envoy; and 
 although he professed total indifference, declaring 
 that the ban of the Church had loosened no stone 
 of his castle walls, he was not sorry when it was 
 finally removed by the intercession of friendly 
 prelates. In spite of preceding family quarrels, 
 both Michael and Leonhard rallied staunchly to 
 their brother's support at this juncture. But 
 neither their personal efforts nor the liberal bail 
 offered by the friendly burghers of Meran could 
 loosen the grip of Friedrich's claws. Next, a 
 formal appeal was made to the Kaiser which 
 gave a new turn to the affair. For, stirred to 
 the hottest indignation, Sigismund regarded the 
 outrage done to his faithful servant as a personal 
 insult, declared that the Duke had no case against 
 Oswald and insisted on the latter's immediate 
 release. He also ordained that the Starkenbergs
 
 9 6 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 should be reinstated in the possessions "of 
 which they had been unlawfully stripped," and 
 again threatened the Duke with the ban of the 
 empire. 
 
 Friedrich replied that, as over-lord of Tirol, 
 he was entitled to deal as he chose with re- 
 bellious vassals, while professing, nevertheless, 
 the truest allegiance to his Emperor. And 
 regardless of all menaces he firmly refused to 
 nullify the advantages gained over the nobles by 
 restoring the Starkenberg strongholds. As he 
 probably knew, Sigismund was too impoverished 
 to be able to fulfil his threat of arming the Swiss 
 against Tirol. 
 
 So the barons in general being left to their 
 own resources trembled for their landed interests 
 in case of war, and as the Duke's resolute 
 attitude was staunchly backed by the third 
 estate, all danger of invasion was averted. 
 
 The Wolkensteins however were of a differ- 
 ent mind. They determined to resist Friedrich's 
 pretensions to the last extremity, and Trostburg 
 became the centre of a fresh conspiracy that 
 developed into the Nobles' League of the i8th
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 97 
 
 July 1423. About the same date, Sigismund, 
 equally determined to reduce the troublesome 
 Duke to submission, ordered Haupt von Pappen- 
 heim to march against Friedrich and take 
 possession of his territories on the Inn and the 
 Eisack as reverted fiefs of the empire. This 
 step encouraged the rebel barons to count 
 on the restoration of the old privileges and 
 "immediacy" enjoyed by their caste in Tirol, 
 previous to the downfall of the Rottenburg 
 house. But, after all, the imperial campaign 
 was never undertaken. As usual, the Kaiser's 
 money-chest was empty, and so the princes of 
 the empire promptly vetoed his plan. Friedrich, 
 meanwhile, had stormed a stronghold of the 
 rebels in the Vintschgau, and defeated their 
 old ally, Paris von Lodron and his Italian 
 mercenaries in the Val di Non, thereby proving 
 to the nobles that it was time to make sub- 
 mission. And the argument was clenched at 
 the next Assembly of the States at Meran, 
 when the Bund was proclaimed as a criminal 
 association, and its immediate dissolution de- 
 creed. But a rider was tacked on to this 
 
 G
 
 98 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 decree in the shape of a general amnesty to 
 all rebels, the Starkenberg brothers alone 
 excepted. 
 
 Thanks to this opportune measure, Friedrich's 
 victory over the nobles was assured.
 
 VIII 
 
 DURING all these stirring events, our hero 
 remained in durance and was only set free 
 when the amnesty took effect towards the 
 close of 1423. The story of his imprisonment 
 is so tangled a skein, that on many points it 
 is left hopelessly involved. According to all 
 modern ideas of justice and law, it would be 
 obvious that, as the victim of a private and 
 peculiarly atrocious act of vengeance, Oswald 
 was entitled to protection from the ruler of 
 the land, in spite of past offences as a rebel, 
 and in spite of having served his Kaiser better 
 than he served his own sovereign. But, since 
 Friedrich also was wreaking a private revenge, 
 there was no question of justice in the matter. 
 Sabina's treachery having betrayed Oswald in 
 his power, he held him captive for his own 
 satisfaction and used every pretext to retard 
 the day of release. Imperial threats and Wol-
 
 ioo Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 kenstein reprisals only heightened his fury 
 against the poet, and we may be sure that 
 " the woman in the case " envenomed the 
 question with stings of retrospective jealousy. 
 For the Duke's eagerness to support the Jager 
 claims on Hauenstein was the emptiest of pre- 
 texts. Whether just or unjust, they mattered 
 nothing to him ; but they served the purpose 
 of keeping a formidable opponent hors de 
 combat, during his struggle with the barons. 
 In fact, when the amnesty set Oswald free, 
 the Hauenstein suit was practically ignored, 
 although, during the interim, Michael and 
 Leonhard had made so many forays on Jager 
 lands that Martin was continually urging the 
 Duke to settle the case, alleging that the 
 prisoner's kinsmen were always threatening his 
 life. 
 
 We are told nothing of Dame Margaret's 
 attitude during her husband's captivity. Even 
 so large-hearted and indulgent a wife may have 
 found it hard to excuse Oswald's silence as to 
 the goal of his unlucky pilgrimage. In the 
 midst of her alarm at his strangely prolonged
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 101 
 
 absence, the fact of learning that he had gone 
 to visit the woman who had blighted his youth, 
 was surely enough to stir resentment in even 
 the meekest of her sex. And Margaret of 
 Schwangau was no meek Griseldis. Oswald 
 continually styles her "his proud Swabian." 
 She loved greatly, greatly forgave, but thoroughly 
 realised that she had much to forgive. This, 
 however, was the usual lot of good wives in 
 those days, and she never seems to have ex- 
 pected that her restless poet-politician should 
 live up to the beautiful sentiments expressed 
 in his verse. Probably her just anger with 
 him had long merged into hot wrath against 
 his persecutors before he returned to her. 
 Besides, he came home to Hauenstein in a 
 pitiable state, limping on crutches, with one leg 
 permanently lamed by Sabina's cruel fetters. 
 During his confinement, he had had time for 
 self-examination, had repented the errors of 
 his ways, and was full of remorse for all his 
 offences against his dear wife. 
 
 His faded ideals now bloomed afresh and 
 in subsequent poems he dates the end of his
 
 102 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 " sinful doings " from the beginning of his 
 captivity in 1421. 
 
 Soon after his release Sabina Hausmann 
 suddenly died, and Oswald was moved to 
 tears by the news. "May God forgive her 
 all the ill she wrought on me, body and soul," 
 was his dirge for the evil genius of his life. 
 Was this pious sentiment echoed by his wife ? 
 
 Oswald could pardon a dead foe, but his 
 enmity towards Friedrich was as determined 
 as ever. He was soon engaged in fresh plots 
 to restore the old order in Tirol, and being 
 obstinately mediaeval on this head, railed to 
 comprehend the movement of the times. Never- 
 theless, Friedrich made various amicable ad- 
 vances to him; and in 1424 specially invited 
 him to attend a Diet called for the purpose 
 of settling the Starkenberg case. But Oswald 
 was far from Tirol when the gracious summons 
 reached his gates. Leaving domestic matters 
 to his wife's able management, and the ever- 
 lasting Hauenstein-Jager strife to his brothers' 
 mailed fists, he had gone to Germany on a fresh 
 attempt to rouse the states of the empire to
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 103 
 
 arms against Friedrich. Halting at Salzburg, 
 he was eagerly welcomed by the Prince- 
 Archbishop, and although nearly sixty years 
 old, crippled and suffering, astounded the bril- 
 liant court by his youthful spirit, his fine 
 verses, and his wonderful voice. At Munich, 
 Augsburg, and Ulm grand entertainments were 
 held in his honour ; so, dazzled by social 
 homage and some vague words of sympathy 
 for the Tirolese nobles, he felt assured of 
 succeeding in his mission. As usual, his 
 artistic temperament beguiled him with false 
 hopes and extravagant ideas of his personal 
 influence. But, one day at Ulm, a rough 
 disillusion compelled him to see himself from 
 another point of view. When one of his 
 warmest admirers eagerly presented him to 
 his young wife, the lady glanced disdainfully 
 at the famous Minnesinger and brusquely ex- 
 claimed : 
 
 "That fellow! What is there to admire 
 in this shabby old cripple ? " 
 
 With a courteous bow poor Oswald retorted: 
 "True, honoured Lady, I am half blind and
 
 104 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 meanly clad. Yet it is scarce seemly to measure 
 a man by his outward appearance." 
 
 He then went on to Heidelberg where his 
 old friend the Pfalzgraf Ludwig received him 
 with open arms, gave him a bed in his own 
 chamber possibly on one of those sleeping 
 shelves for guests which one usually finds 
 attached to mediaeval German bedsteads and 
 replaced his mean clothes with purple robes 
 and rich furs. As great festivities were going 
 on and five prince-electors assembled at Ludwig's 
 court, Oswald hoped to gain many votes for the 
 Empire's intervention in Tirolese affairs. But 
 although heartily welcomed and flattered as a 
 poet, he had to be content with artistic triumphs. 
 While all applauded his minstrelsy no one 
 espoused his political ideas. Nevertheless, he 
 lingered six months in the hospitable Rhine- 
 land before carrying his suit to the imperial 
 tribunal at Presburg. This time, however, his 
 Kaiser was not glad to see him and was de- 
 cidedly cold. For, being at odds with the 
 electoral body, and his prestige weakened by 
 the obstinate Hussite rebellion, Sigismund re-
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 105 
 
 cognised the necessity of conciliating Duke 
 Friedrich even to the point of sacrificing his 
 "faithful servant." So Oswald's best en- 
 treaties fell on deaf ears, and in February 
 1425 Kaiser and Duke concluded a solemn 
 pact of amity at Schloss Hornstein. After this, 
 however, Sigismund undertook to call a Diet 
 at Vienna to forward Oswald's views and 
 finally granted him a long-implored safe-conduct. 
 But dreading the results of the Hornstein 
 convention Oswald failed to appear at Vienna. 
 Thereupon Friedrich sent him a furious letter 
 censuring his insolence in absenting himself 
 from the Diet, and charging him with un- 
 lawful detention of the Hauenstein domain 
 regardless of the pledges he had given on 
 being released from prison. For, as might 
 have been expected, the announcement of the 
 new Diet had encouraged Jager to press his 
 claims more urgently than ever. 
 
 Friedrich's power was growing apace, the 
 Adelsbund almost stamped out, and, presently, 
 when cautious Michael, head of the Wolken- 
 steins, voluntarily tendered submission and under-
 
 106 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 took to make his brothers do the same, the 
 Duke must have felt that his sovereignty was 
 assured. Details are lacking, but probably 
 with the Kaiser's assistance Oswald came to 
 terms about this time with his offended ruler, 
 since early in 1426 we find him acting as 
 mediator between the Duke and the Starken- 
 bergs. But the latter were stubborn ; their 
 flag still waved defiance from the towers of 
 Greifenstein, and Oswald withdrew into private 
 life harassed by presentiments of evil. By 
 this time his last illusions must have vanished 
 with regard to the League, and the death of 
 his dear friend and father-in-law, stout Ulrich 
 von Schwangau, was a sore grief to him as well 
 as to his wife. But this sad event brought 
 one pleasant novelty in its train. Henceforth, 
 our poet and his family spent many months 
 every year at Schloss Neuhaus, now inherited 
 by his wife. This estate is in the Taufers 
 Thai, which, in Duke Friedrich's time, was 
 beyond the Tirolese border. Neuhaus is 
 charmingly situated on the sunny side of the 
 mountains near the mouth of the valley,
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 107 
 
 looking across a cheerful river to castled slopes, 
 and commanding grand views of the Pusterthal 
 Dolomites. Even now its ruined towers have 
 a friendly air. A cosy farmhouse nestles 
 within its broken walls, and the ancient church, 
 being too small to accommodate the inhabitants 
 of a widely scattered parish, mass is served 
 at an altar in the porch, while the congregation 
 assembles on the green that was once the 
 castle-yard. But Oswald's first sojourn here 
 was short enough, for towards the end of 1426 
 even this retreat beyond the border was no safe 
 abode. The surrender of Greifenstein had 
 destroyed the last stronghold of the Bund in 
 South Tirol, and now Oswald's brother-in-law, 
 Parcival von Weineck, the chief of the rebel 
 party in the Innthal, had been brought to his 
 knees, forced to sell fortress and lands to the 
 Duke and to swear allegiance at Innsbruck. 
 Oswald was counselled to do the same and 
 warned that the victorious Duke would make 
 short work of all remaining rebels. What was 
 to be done ? It was impossible to continue the 
 revolt single-handed ! Another appeal must be
 
 io8 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 made to the Kaiser! Should that fail, well, he 
 could go on to Spain and fight as before for the 
 Cross. 
 
 Crusading, as we know, was Oswald's panacea 
 in every crisis of his life. So, once more bidding 
 farewell to wife and children, he started off 
 secretly through Tirol. But the watchful Jager 
 was on the alert and apprised by his spies of 
 Wolkenstein's movements, obtained the Duke's 
 leave to seize him as an absconding debtor, on 
 account of the still unsettled Hauenstein claims. 
 
 Accordingly our hero was only a few miles 
 north of Innsbruck and just congratulating him- 
 self on having covered unmolested the worst 
 part of his journey, when he was suddenly 
 set upon by a band of armed men, unhorsed 
 and dragged a prisoner to Schloss Vellenburg. 
 The unlucky knight was very roughly handled 
 by Jager's hirelings, who, regardless of his rank, 
 to say nothing of his position in the Kaiser's 
 service, hacked the spurs from his heels, loaded 
 him with chains, and thrust him into an under- 
 ground cell. Again the victim of a private 
 feud, he lay some days in this damp hole racked
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 109 
 
 with rage and despair and in real danger of an 
 ignominious death. 
 
 Recounting this episode in verse, he declares 
 that " the capture of an imperial officer is no 
 less a crime than the theft of imperial treasure." 
 Farther on he writes jestingly of his plight and 
 of the precautions used to prevent his escape, 
 adding that although fettered so straightly 
 he can still comport himself with knightly 
 courage. 
 
 Then, one evening, he was brought out, 
 hoisted on horseback, roped to the saddle 
 and led through the darkness to Innsbruck. 
 "Truly a fine Prussian crusade to court," he 
 says, in allusion to his earliest campaign. 
 
 This time also Jager's men served as Friedrich's 
 sleuth-hounds, for they conveyed their prisoner 
 straight to the Duke's palace. Hustled in like 
 a criminal through the backyard, he was lodged 
 in a dark narrow den too low to allow him 
 to stand upright. Condemned to a crawling 
 posture, he tried to find comfort in recalling a 
 certain brilliant festivity at the French court 
 when he voluntarily approached Queen Isabel
 
 1 1 o Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 on his knees. He spent three weeks in this 
 wretched cell, with the added torment of his 
 jailor's company, "who stuck to me like vermin," 
 and was a man of the coarsest and dirtiest habits. 
 But it is clear that Oswald had the use of 
 another room at meal times, inasmuch as he 
 tells us that various menials, male and female, 
 sat with him at table and that his jailor usually 
 got drunk. So being forced to eat from the 
 same bowl, the poor poet turned with loathing 
 from his food. "But a short while ago," he 
 writes, "I was a guest at the Pfalzgrafs board, 
 and have also had the honour of sitting beside 
 the Kaiser and being helped to salad from the 
 imperial plate." 
 
 It was a strange imprisonment, specially 
 devised, it would seem, to wound Oswald's 
 pride, and it throws a curious light on the 
 manners of the time. If there was any good 
 reason for the knight's arrest, he should have 
 been sent to a fortress ; but to keep him con- 
 fined in the servants' quarters, forced at night 
 to share his miserable bed with a tipsy ruffian 
 and to associate with rough varlets by day, was
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 1 1 1 
 
 either a refinement of malice or a mediaeval joke 
 of the kind usually practised on jesters and fools. 
 In any case, Friedrich's treatment of his former 
 intimate, a man of high birth, European renown, 
 and the trusted friend of his Kaiser, showed a 
 despicable, personal spite altogether unworthy 
 of the ruler of Tirol. Sabina was dead, it is 
 true, but her influence still worked for ill. Her 
 favoured lover was taking revenge for the 
 scathing satires addressed to his concubine by 
 the man who had loved her in vain. And the 
 malice struck home. 
 
 A Wolkensteiner, a knight of the Holy 
 Sepulchre in the hands of kitchen varlets ! 
 Rather the torture chamber! The ignominy 
 of it all inspired the worst forebodings in 
 the victim's mind. In fact some of Oswald's 
 bitterest foes were in high favour at court and 
 rumours had reached him that his death was 
 decreed. 
 
 Fortunately Friedrich's leading advisers were 
 opposed to violent measures, and several foreign 
 potentates pressingly insisted on the poet's 
 release.
 
 1 1 2 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 Then Michael von Wolkenstein and other 
 kinsmen came to intercede for him in person, and 
 also very fortunately many former friends, 
 still rebels at heart, refrained from any effort in 
 his favour, deeming that the overthrow of 
 the Bund was entirely due to some mismanage- 
 ment on Oswald's part of the final appeal to 
 the Kaiser. For some time the Duke refused 
 to listen to a word in his prisoner's favour, 
 next began to hesitate between mercy and 
 revenge, and then, suddenly discovering one day 
 that all anger was spent, recalled his old love 
 and admiration for Oswald, and when a courtier, 
 thinking to please him, urged the necessity of 
 making an end of " the pestilent rebel," he 
 impulsively cried : 
 
 "Dost think that men such as Oswald are 
 easy to replace? "Tis a fool's thought, mein 
 Herr" And turning to one of the Council, he 
 shouted : 
 
 "How long is Oswald to be kept in a 
 cellar awaiting judgment? His misery does 
 no good to us. We yearn for some lively hours 
 with our minstrel. We must sing and make
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 113 
 
 verses together in praise of fair women. If the 
 oath of allegiance he has to swear in return for 
 our pardon be not yet drawn up, have it made 
 ready at once." 
 
 Thereupon a friendly chancellor hastened to 
 the prisoner with the ducal message and re- 
 moved him from his wretched den. 
 
 Oswald's first impulse was to reject Friedrich's 
 advances ; but the chancellor used strong argu- 
 ments, and on adding that his master had been 
 " sore troubled to lose thy songs," the poet 
 meekly followed him to the presence chamber. 
 Friedrich welcomed the haggard old man with 
 such gracious friendliness that some of the 
 courtiers murmured at the prince's conde- 
 scension. 
 
 So Oswald was pardoned, and Friedrich had 
 the pleasure of sparing a redoubtable adversary 
 on terms that cut his claws and made him harm- 
 less for the future. 
 
 The deed of agreement was finally signed 
 and sealed at Innsbruck on the ist May 1427. 
 It comprised many documents, set forth the 
 
 Duke's reasons for showing mercy to so pro- 
 
 H
 
 114 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 minent a rebel, and enlarged on the conditions 
 subscribed by Oswald. The most important 
 clause was that prohibiting the Ritter von 
 Wolkenstein from serving any foreign power, 
 or joining any league without his sovereign's 
 consent. And, in token of gratitude for his 
 release, he was pledged to make a campaign 
 against the Hussites or other enemies, at the 
 Duke's pleasure, contributing a certain number 
 of men-at-arms, and in case of being physically 
 unable to obey the command in person, was to 
 appoint some blood-relation as a substitute. 
 
 The Duke, on his side, restored the bail- 
 monies paid by Oswald's sureties in 1422. 
 At the tail of this agreement came a summary 
 decree putting an end to the J'ager versus 
 Wolkenstein suit after sixty years of litiga- 
 tion and strife. 
 
 Although verdict was given nominally for 
 the plaintiffs, Oswald practically won the case, 
 inasmuch as the 6,000 gold florins claimed by 
 the Jagers were cut down to the modest sum 
 of 500 ducats with restitution of the Grotthof 
 farm near Prossls that Wolkenstein had un-
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 1 1 5 
 
 lawfully seized. The Jagers grumbled sorely, 
 but in vain. They were forced to accept the 
 verdict and formally renounce all pretensions 
 on Hauenstein, while their opponent paid them 
 the adjudged compensation on the spot. At 
 last Oswald was a free man and his children's 
 inheritance secured. For the first time after 
 many years he could breathe unoppressed by 
 care. Full of gratitude for his sovereign's 
 decision, he raised his head proudly, and cried 
 in a sounding voice : " I thank Duke Friedrich 
 and will ever thank him, so long as I have 
 breath in my body." 
 
 The few days he remained at court were 
 illumined by an afterglow of the old friendship 
 with his lord and master. By common con- 
 sent all bitterness was forgotten ; they were 
 comrades again. The minstrel's songs were once 
 more applauded in Friedrich's halls, although 
 the " beautiful tenor voice " was now sadly en- 
 feebled by age and pain. 
 
 With characteristic generosity, the first use 
 Oswald made of his renewed privileges, was 
 to plead for the release of an unlucky baron
 
 1 1 6 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 who for some slight complicity in a former re- 
 bellion had been confined for nine years in 
 Schloss Vellenburg. There Oswald had been 
 his fellow-captive and moved to pity by his 
 sufferings. 
 
 The Duke readily granted the poet's prayer, 
 but only on condition that Oswald should stand 
 surety for the man and keep an eye on his 
 future proceedings. Accordingly, when Oswald 
 rode forth on his homeward journey, the liber- 
 ated baron went with him as his guest. We 
 may be sure that he was well received by the 
 kindly Dame Margaret and had his share in all 
 the family rejoicings on Oswald's return. For 
 now, the civil war ended, all danger ceased, 
 life and property secure, Hauenstein was freed 
 from its phantoms and at last a home of 
 peace.
 
 IX 
 
 ALTHOUGH from this time forth Oswald was 
 a faithful subject to his sovereign, his activities 
 were by no means at an end. While still en- 
 joying the first rapture of recovered freedom in 
 his forest-home, a legitimate quarrel was forced 
 upon him by Ulrich von Petsch, the aggressive 
 Bishop of Brixen ; and with Friedrich's full 
 sanction and support, he finally brought that 
 bad neighbour to terms. 
 
 Then, in 1430, he fulfilled the pledge given 
 in 1427 by marching to Hungary to do battle 
 with the Turks, after the end of the campaign 
 accompanied the Kaiser to the Reichstag at 
 Nuremberg in 1431, and subsequently served 
 under the Markgraf of Brandenburg in the 
 Bohemian war. This latter expedition entailed 
 severe hardships on our veteran knight, and 
 when the German force was put to rout on the 
 ist August by Procopius the Great, he barely
 
 1 1 8 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 escaped with life from the victorious Hussites. 
 Nevertheless his appetite for adventure being 
 still unsated, we presently find him, in his quality 
 of imperial chancellor, attending Sigismund during 
 that monarch's blundering progress through Italy 
 for the purpose of assuming the iron crown at 
 Milan and the symbol of empire in Rome. The 
 enmities and hindrances blocking the Kaiser's 
 path are matters of history too well known to 
 call for detailed account in the present sketch. 
 That Sigismund should have managed to 
 achieve his purpose after a fashion despite 
 the open hostility of Pope Eugene IV., the 
 opposition of Venice, Florence and Savoy, the 
 perfidious advances of Duke Visconti of Milan 
 and the desertion of his eight hundred Swiss 
 guards, says much for the bull-headed tenacity 
 of this German prince. Our chief concern is 
 with Oswald's experiences in the imperial suite. 
 Owing to the emptiness of the Kaiser's purse, 
 his faithful followers fared badly. Hungry, 
 shivering, and friendless in the Italian palaces 
 so grudgingly opened to them, they thought 
 with yearning of their well-warmed northern
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 1 1 9 
 
 homes. As usual, Wolkenstein's moods are 
 reflected in his poems, where he speaks bitter 
 words of Italian bad faith and lack of hospitality. 
 " Wouldst starve, lie on straw and end thy days 
 in strife, then come to Lombardy." 
 
 In Tuscany the expedition fared no better 
 until, in spite of Pope Eugene's endeavours to 
 check his advance, the Kaiser reached Siena on 
 the nth July 1432. Here, at least, he was a 
 welcome guest. The city received him with 
 open arms and made high festival in his 
 honour. But as Sigismund tarried there ten 
 months, at the State's expense, the public re- 
 joicing finally changed to loud outcry over the 
 cost of the monarch's entertainment. His visit 
 was ended at last by an opportune shifting of 
 the pieces on the political chessboard, when the 
 firmness of the Council of Basle, the enhanced 
 power of Visconti and the latter's reconciliation 
 with Florence and Venice, left the Pope deprived 
 of allies. Accordingly, in 1433, Eugene signified 
 his willingness to crown Sigismund in Rome ; 
 whereupon the States of the Empire despatched 
 a guard of honour to escort their Kaiser to the
 
 120 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 Eternal City, and towards the middle of May 
 Sigismund departed from hospitable Siena with 
 a comfortably increased train. Nevertheless, 
 the march was by no means peaceful, owing 
 to the natural hostility between Germans and 
 Italians. When halting for the night at 
 Ronciglione in the house of a local magnate, 
 sixteen members of Sigismund's suite were 
 murdered by a mob of peasants and bravi 
 who forced the doors and surprised the guests 
 in their beds. Our hero, fortunately, had 
 been billeted elsewhere ; but his friend and 
 colleague, Kaspar Schlick, only escaped assas- 
 sination by climbing from a window on to 
 the roof. 
 
 At long-last Sigismund entered Rome, re- 
 ceived the coveted crown at the Vatican, and 
 re-crossed the bridge of St Angelo side by 
 side with the Pope. In August he set out 
 on his homeward journey and passed through 
 Tirol on his way to Basle. But his faithful 
 chancellor, finally wearied out, now resigned 
 office and gladly withdrew from public life. 
 By this time Oswald was sixty-seven years
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 1 2 1 
 
 of age and burdened with sore infirmities. 
 But even at home little rest was allowed 
 him. Domestic affairs had fallen into some 
 confusion during his lengthy absence, and his 
 children cost him much anxiety. They were 
 seven in number and only two of them girls, 
 so, as may be easily imagined, five sturdy, 
 mountain-bred boys now demanded firmer 
 guidance than their mother's gentle rule. 
 Besides attending to family affairs, Oswald 
 was occasionally recalled to public service as 
 arbiter of difficult cases in which his know- 
 ledge of Tirolese law and usage and known 
 sense of justice specially qualified him to 
 pronounce judgment. 
 
 His good wife, Margaret, whose wisdom 
 equalled her tenderness, undoubtedly favoured 
 these official journeys. She had learnt by experi- 
 ence that domestic quiet tended to irritate rather 
 than soothe the restless Wolkenstein spirit, and 
 that prolonged seclusion made him feel too 
 cruelly the pains of old age. 
 
 In fact, one of Oswald's later poems contains a 
 realistic description of his physical decay : fail-
 
 122 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 ing eyesight, and so forth. His mind was still 
 vigorous, and after a period of self-analysis 
 and various attempts to achieve Christian 
 resignation, he sought comfort in Aristotelian 
 philosophy which was far more congenial to 
 temperament and also turned his attention to 
 the doctrines of Plato. An aged knight-errant 
 who had seen so many strange lands, experi- 
 enced such alternations of splendour and poverty, 
 of dazzling success and crushing humiliation, 
 whose mind, first imbued with mediaeval preju- 
 dices, mediaeval mysticism and poetic dreams, had 
 subsequently gleaned much learning, much 
 practical knowledge of mankind, and was able 
 to assimilate in old age some of the love and 
 statecraft of the Renaissance, must, certainly, 
 have found it hard to realize that the fulness of 
 life was past, and the grave already yawning at 
 his feet. No wonder that the wealth of his 
 memories had sometimes dimmed his perception 
 of the realities and duties of life. But in his 
 declining years this mental chaos was at last 
 reduced to order. Then, he surveyed the 
 past dispassionately, recognised the errors of
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 123 
 
 reckless ambition, the miserable results of his 
 frenzied love for the unworthy Sabina and 
 humbly repented of his ill-doings. Indeed, 
 throughout his turbulent career, he had always 
 remained, at heart, a God-fearing and some- 
 what superstitious Tirolese. And never being 
 one to do things by halves, his repentance was 
 almost fierce in its thoroughness. 
 
 His devotional poems are full of scathing 
 reproval of the worldly aims once so dear to 
 him, and their bitterest notes express the woe 
 of loving a wicked woman. Evidently the 
 spells of his false Duessa endured beyond the 
 grave, for the aged singer was still haunted 
 by the memory of her seductions. This would 
 be pathetic, were it not so painful to know 
 that his true-hearted wife was still persecuted 
 by the malignant shade of her dead rival. 
 
 Several letters from Margaret to her husband, 
 found in the Wolkenstein archives and pub- 
 lished in iSSo, 1 prove the writer to have had 
 all the enchanting qualities attributed to her 
 in Oswald's love-songs. 
 
 i Vide Anzeiger fur Kunde der Deutschen f^orzeit, 1880.
 
 124 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 As a member of the Council of Regency 
 during the minority of Friedrich's successor, 
 Duke Sigismund, Wolkenstein was often called 
 to Bozen towards the close of his life, and 
 went there for the last time in June 1445. 
 His wife was very anxious about the state of 
 his health as he had been attacked by serious 
 symptoms, and she knew that he was making 
 strenuous efforts to defeat the plots of certain 
 fellow-counsellors. So, in one of her letters, 
 she tells him all she has heard of hostile 
 intrigues on foot against him at Kastelruth, 
 warns him to beware of certain men, consults 
 him on domestic affairs, implores her "heart's 
 dearest " to be careful of his health, and says 
 in conclusion : 
 
 "Should you have to stay longer at the 
 Council, pray, pray send for me, so that I may 
 come to your help. I cannot bear to be parted 
 from you any more, either here or elsewhere." 
 
 And the missive is addressed: 
 
 "To my beloved husband, The very noble 
 Knight Herr Oswald von Wolkenstein." 
 
 Shortly afterwards her Oswald came back to
 
 Grjtl. Innsbruck. 
 Ruined Keep of Hauenstein.
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 125 
 
 her, rode for the last time up the steep forest 
 track to Hauenstein, and after some weeks of 
 great suffering, expired there in her arms, 2nd 
 August 1445. 
 
 There is a certain dramatic fitness in the fact 
 of his dying in the castle that had played so 
 important and evil a part in his life. Without 
 that fatal birth-gift of Hauenstein he would 
 have escaped Sabina's wiles, and, as a portionless 
 younger son, probably lived and died a knight- 
 errant, unconcerned with home politics, and 
 content with triumphs of minstrelsy as "the 
 idle singer of an empty day." 
 
 ***** 
 
 The last of the Minnesingers was borne to 
 his rest at the loveliest moment of the mountain 
 summer, when the mighty peaks of the Schlern 
 were glowing under an August sun. Down 
 through the dark aisles of the mystic Hauen- 
 steiner Tann, where scarce rays of light could 
 pierce to banner or crucifix, the procession 
 passed silently over a carpet of pine-needles, 
 across fell, and field, through mourning Kastel- 
 ruth and by steep mountain tracks to the
 
 126 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 place of burial at Neustift near Brixen. No 
 trace survives of Oswald's grave ; but the 
 monument he had built for himself, before going 
 to the East in 1408, still records the memory 
 of the crusader-poet in the cloister of Brixen 
 Cathedral. 
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein stands as a repre- 
 sentative link between two notable periods of 
 the world's history. A mediseval man, touched 
 by Renaissance influences, the old feudal spirit 
 of Tirol was, so to say, buried in his grave. 
 
 The two royal contemporaries, the threads of 
 whose lives were so closely interwoven with his 
 own : King Sigismund and Duke Friedrich, had 
 both preceded him to the tomb. 
 
 His elder brother, Michael (" the Prudent "), 
 only died in 1451, at ninety years of age. 
 The three Wolkenstein brothers all left 
 children to continue the race, and Oswald's 
 descendants founded the present line of the 
 Counts of Wolkenstein and Rodenegg. Dame 
 Margaret survived her husband many years, 
 and, as the mother of five boys and two girls, 
 had ample scope for the strength of mind and
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 127 
 
 soul that had so nobly sustained her through 
 manifold trials. 
 
 Some biographers, relying on Beda Weber's 
 authority, have not only asserted that Margaret 
 died at an early age, during Oswald's first 
 captivity, but attributed a second short-lived 
 wife to the poet. This theory however has been 
 triumphantly refuted by Noggler's recent re- 
 searches. Besides the letter we have quoted, 
 written by Margaret in the summer of 1445, 
 a later document has been found in the archives 
 of the von Trapp family of Churburg, bearing 
 the signature of "Margaret von Wolkenstein 
 born von Schwangau, relict of the late Hen- 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein." 1 
 
 Hauenstein has been long deserted and in 
 ruins. All that remains of the famous strong- 
 hold is a shell of broken walls rising like a 
 grey shadow above the pine-tops of the tangled 
 forest. Peasants belated in the woods by 
 night, make the sign of the cross as they pass 
 the castle-rock, for they declare that Oswald's 
 
 1 Vide Brachvogel, Bilder aus Sud-Tirol. Miinchen, 
 1888.
 
 128 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 spirit still walks at Hauenstein and sometimes, 
 when the moon is at the full, may be heard 
 playing wild, sad music on his lute. At any 
 rate, some echo of his songs still survives in 
 German poetry.
 
 THE hardest part of our task has now to be 
 attacked, i.e. : an attempt at some appreciation 
 of Wolkenstein's poems and their due place in 
 literature. One reason for the long neglect of 
 his verses lies in their linguistic obscurity. To 
 the bewilderment of many philologists, Oswald 
 made no use of the Middle High-German rightly 
 to be expected from him, nor was he greatly 
 influenced by his native South Tirolese dialect. 
 On the contrary, he wrote the best High 
 German spoken by the cultured class in his 
 day, with the phraseology and arrangement of 
 sentences then colloquially in vogue. It was 
 the rough, expressive speech of a transition- 
 period, very different from the soft, melodious 
 Middle High - German, and having more re- 
 semblance with the diction, of the sixteenth, 
 than of the fourteenth or fifteenth century. 
 In fact, the original text of Walter von der 
 
 129
 
 1 30 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 Vogelweide (born 1 170) is easier to understand 
 than that of Oswald von Wolkenstein. 
 
 All this is clearly set forth by Herr Johannes 
 Schrott in a learned preface to his modernized 
 selection from Wolkenstein's poems. 
 
 The present writer is too slightly acquainted 
 with early German song to analyse the genesis 
 of the Minnesinger's art or the intricate niceties 
 it afterwards developed. But for our purpose, 
 it may suffice to say that, of all Germanic lands, 
 Austria produced the richest harvest of popular 
 poetry during the Middle Ages, and that her 
 pre-eminence in the field is owed to two causes. 
 Firstly : to the mixture of races within her 
 borders, and secondly, to the number of her 
 wealthy monastic establishments which acted as 
 centres of culture and zealously fostered native 
 talent. 
 
 All this store of popular German poetry with 
 its simple delight in trees and flowers and the 
 joys of spring-tide, gradually changed into the 
 "worship of love " (Mirmediensf), since love was 
 the fairest flower of spring. 
 
 " When woods are decked in softest green,
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 131 
 
 when bird-notes fill the air and all is bliss, 
 comes love, the crown of May. 
 
 "Who would not fain be young at this 
 all magic time? heart's love, lady mine, 
 weave me quick a garland fine." 
 
 In course of time this u Minnedienst " be- 
 came the choicest flower of chivalry. For the 
 worship or service of love easily changed to the 
 worship or service of women in general, and 
 most easily among people on whose reverence 
 for women in old heathen times the worship 
 of the Virgin had been firmly engrafted. Every 
 true knight was vowed to the service and 
 championship of women and, theoretically, his 
 worship of her was platonic. A kind word or 
 smile from the lady whose badge he displayed 
 was held as sufficient reward for a life's devotion. 
 Naturally however the relations between brave 
 knights and fair women frequently sank to a 
 more earthly level. So too the love songs 
 inspired by this worship gradually lost spon- 
 taneity and were hampered by strict rules of 
 form and metre tasking the best hair-splitting 
 powers of contending minstrels. So, finally,
 
 1 3 2 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 these songs tripped, as it were, in fetters, and 
 the invention of some new device, or unexpected 
 juggling with words became an indispensable 
 condition of success. 
 
 In the early days of Walter von der Vogel- 
 weide's career, his simple, unstrained, melodious 
 verse raised him to the highest pinnacle of 
 fame ; but in later years we find him complain- 
 ing that fashions had changed, that now men 
 only cared for artificial, over-elaborated verse 
 and prized verbal quips more than sweet sounds 
 or lofty sense. Certainly the joyful Art had 
 sunk to a very low ebb when nearly two 
 centuries later -- Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 assumed the minstrel's lyre. He, however, had 
 been nourished on the old songs in childhood, 
 and while often adopting the style of the new 
 school, preserved the freshness and graphic 
 force of an earlier period. But in pure poetic 
 quality he was vastly inferior to Walter, for his 
 diction was seldom musical, save in a few love 
 songs struck out in the white heat of passion. 
 Nevertheless, he had distinct and original merits 
 of his own, and was the most renowned JMinne-
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 133 
 
 singer of his time in South Germany, towering 
 head and shoulders above his fellow-knight and 
 fellow-poet Count Hugo von Montfort of 
 Bregenz. For Oswald's songs always ring true, 
 and the realistic strength with which they por- 
 tray not only his own temperament and moods, 
 but likewise the events and manners of his 
 day, endues them with great historical signifi- 
 cance. Roughly speaking and solely with 
 reference to style, one may rank the twelfth 
 century poet as the Tennyson, Oswald as the 
 Browning among Minnesingers, seeing that the 
 former excelled in melodious arrangement of 
 words and delicacy of technique, while the 
 latter, full of dramatic strength, satirical wit, 
 and a marvellous power of invective, is often so 
 wilfully rugged and careless of metrical effect 
 that his lines beat like sledge-hammers at 
 least on modern ears. Yet our Wolkenstein 
 was a born musician, a skilled performer on 
 many instruments besides the traditional lute, 
 harp and fiddle proper to minstrels. His fine 
 tenor voice and exquisite singing conquered all 
 hearts, while as a musical composer, experts
 
 134 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 have adjudged him the title of " the pioneer of 
 modern melody" on the strength of his few 
 surviving songs. 
 
 By most of Wolkenstein's biographers his 
 poems are divided into three categories : his- 
 torical, erotic, and devotional ; but the first of 
 the number is also auto-biographical and supplies 
 many curious details of his chequered career. 
 
 In spite of the well-nigh hopeless impossibility 
 of rendering the spirit of Oswald's verse in bald 
 English prose, we will attempt the translation of 
 a few typical poems. 
 
 By way of preface, here is the verdict pro- 
 nounced on Oswald by the learned biographer 
 and critic, Herr Johannes Schrott, to whom the 
 reading world is indebted for an excellent 
 modernized selection from our hero's works. 
 
 " No poet of the Middle Ages, Walter von 
 der Vogelweide excepted, had so wide a range 
 of thought as Oswald von Wolkenstein. The 
 well-nigh marvellous extent of his wanderings, 
 his habitual intimacy with the loftiest potentates 
 of his age, his participation in so many notable 
 contemporary events served to cultivate his mind,
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 135 
 
 enrich his store of experience, and brace his 
 strength. Gifted with extraordinary force of 
 will he rushed into the battle of life while still 
 a child, and undismayed by frequent dangers and 
 defeats, always came out victor in the end. The 
 versatility of his powers and a happy sense of 
 humour rescued him from every difficulty : he 
 always knew how to adapt himself to circum- 
 stances and sit firmly in any saddle. Owing 
 everything to himself, inasmuch as he gleaned 
 profit from life's roughest lessons, he carved out 
 his own path and stood on his own feet. In 
 all dealings with princely patrons, he maintained 
 a sturdily independent attitude, never stooping 
 to the whining, supplicatory tone that so pain- 
 fully impresses us in the case of Walter von 
 der Vogelweide. In financial matters he was 
 a good manager, and had no trace of the un- 
 practical temper of Walter and other happy-go- 
 lucky mediaeval Minnesingers, since his knightly 
 expeditions and artistic travels were invariably 
 undertaken at his own expense. Notwithstand- 
 ing his long conflict with Duke Friedrich, and 
 the heavy loss incurred by the issue of the
 
 136 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 Hauenstein inheritance suit in 1427, the in- 
 ventory of his personal estate (as attested by 
 Dame Margaret after his death, 2nd August 
 1545) proves that his castle must have been a 
 sufficiently luxurious abode." 
 
 With reference to Oswald's youthful love 
 ditties and popular ballads, Herr Schrott, after 
 noting that many of these have been left in- 
 edited as too coarse for reproduction, then goes 
 on to say " that the total revulsion of ideas 
 and horror of past transgressions manifested by 
 Oswald during his cruel imprisonment in Sabina's 
 dungeon, led to no weakening of his poetic 
 power; but that, on the contrary, his subsequent 
 poems are, both in matter and form, the ripest 
 and most beautiful effusions of his genius."
 
 TRANSLATIONS 
 
 LATE AUTUMN AT HAUENSTEIN 
 
 "WiTH grieving am I deaf and blind since the first 
 bitter blasts proclaim that winter is enthroned 
 again. From window and door I see his approach 
 and feel small joy thereat. For the rough fiend 
 brings nought but cold and frost and snow chok- 
 ing with ice the stream that falls from 'Boseier's 
 Haus.' 1 An evil name ! Since no bird's warmth 
 can hatch good fruit from rotten eggs. 
 
 Green clover, grass and flowers are vanished 
 all, flown the winged choristers, since the woods 
 are stripped bare and the sullen sun forgets to 
 shine on Hauenstein." 
 
 SPRING AT HAUENSTEIN 
 
 i 
 
 " Eased is the load from my heart now that 
 the snow drifts are gone and speeding down 
 
 1 Probably the familiar name of one of the small ice 
 fields of the Schlern. " Boseter " signifies rotten eggs. 
 
 137
 
 138 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 from Seiseralp so Mosmair 2 brings me word. 
 Earth's vapours sleep no more the waters leap 
 with mighty rush, from Kastelruth to Eisack's 
 bed, wherefore gladness is mine ! I hear the 
 bird-folk great and small about my woods of 
 Hauenstein sweet music swells their throats. 
 They sing, as if from notes, from Do to La 
 and bravely down to the depths of Fa their 
 clamour runs through every scale: welcome, 
 sweet heralds of spring ! " 
 
 "Gone is the pain from my heart, since at the 
 field's edge up there by the beech, the first 
 nightingale's trill touched my ear. 
 
 Four hours long I've heard two sing as for a 
 wager, instead of picking food from the well- 
 stored earth. All ye that in dreary winter 
 lie hidden from men in sullen woe, now hail 
 the verdant days that May will bring. Poor 
 little beasts, come forth ! The table's spread 
 
 2 Mosmair is a person frequently mentioned in Oswald's 
 poems, and evidently a trusted friend. Probably he was an 
 old servant, or gamekeeper or tenant.
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 139 
 
 with dainties in your home. Mountain, meadow, 
 vale are green and wide. Brave fare awaits 
 you." 
 
 THE MORN OF BLISS 
 
 " O, blissful, fair-deckt May ! thy cry of joy 
 brings much delight, and more than all when 
 to the measure of the dance a couple moves 
 with twined hands. 
 
 Green is the woodland, mountain, pasture, 
 vale. The nightingale and all bird-voices, in 
 countless choir, make music everywhere ! The 
 season of gladness drives away pain. 
 
 O ! wake to love Be swift not slothful, 
 Quickly go to seek thy maid, 
 For long thou hast not seen her 
 Now may her white arms clasp thee close." 
 
 A WOOING 
 
 " A well-born, noble knight went wooing a 
 gentle maid, and sought to win her love 
 with honourable intent. 
 
 Oswald. O Lady mine, lend ear of grace awhile
 
 140 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 and hear my humble prayer. Sorrow and 
 pain o'erwhelm me no joy is mine I know 
 not where to turn. Take pity on me, Lady ! 
 
 Marg. Your words make mock of me, 
 Are you so ill, God help you ! 
 He can well free you of pain. 
 From me small aid could come, 
 No redemption could I give you, 
 Elsewhere must you seek joy. 
 No helpmate I as all may see 
 A little maiden I what could you make of me ? 
 
 3 
 
 Oswald. O Lady, treat me gently, 
 No mock nor jest speak I. 
 Full many a year I've borne sore grief 
 In serving you with silent zeal. 
 The Lord of Heaven knows it well, 
 How vain my deepest plaint of yearning. 
 No diviner, fairer form hath pleased my heart 
 
 so well. 
 Therefore body and soul are sick and suffer 
 
 cruel pangs.
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 141 
 
 4 
 
 Marg. Say plainly ever what you want. 
 The maid that pleased you dwells not in this 
 
 house, 
 
 That know I well, unless my wits deceive, 
 For I have no fair form and count already four 
 
 and twenty years. 
 
 'Twere an ill bargain to desire my love 
 Nor words nor wisdom have I 
 Fitting to give you joy. 
 Were I this day your sweetheart 
 You'd rue it sore the morrow. 
 
 5 
 
 Oswald. Why speak you thus with crafty pride. 
 Your beauty stabs me sore. 
 E'en your demeanour hath forced my heart. 
 So, hear me, high and lovely maid : 
 It ever pierced me to the core 
 When any false tongue hurt thee. 
 O blessed woman ! when thy bright eyes are 
 
 dim with tears 
 My whole frame's torn by pain that makes my 
 
 locks turn white.
 
 142 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 Marg. My warmest thanks for this 
 All praise and gratitude be yours 
 For feeling stung when a damsel's name's 
 
 reviled 
 
 Small pain it giveth me ; 
 Comfort I find in solitude where no evil cry 
 
 can pierce. 
 Who slandereth a maiden without cause 
 
 And boasteth of his deed, 
 Will surely reap just chastisement 
 And see his fair name soiled. 
 
 7 
 
 Oswald. Believe me, thou high-minded Maid, 
 By your tender, virgin honour 
 I would do naught to bring you ill 
 But, can my daily torture aid you ? 
 Fain would I be your humble slave. 
 Sore anguish mine, unless you grant that boon. 
 
 Marg. Of no servant have I need 
 Too lofty your attendance for me. 
 
 Oswald. Yet mercy whispers in your words 
 I see it in your face."
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 143 
 
 THE FAIR SWABIAN 
 
 i 
 
 " Not many a man finds happiness in his wife 
 of noble race. What land or town or castle 
 gave her birth 1 scarcely ask. From the depths 
 of my soul I cast forth gifts of all climes. For 
 I prize best a rosebud mouth down there in 
 Swabia: her voice so sweet, her face and 
 form so rare. 
 
 2 
 
 Such the proud Swabian maid, 
 
 In whom no fault I found ; 
 
 Her have I chosen for my bride 
 
 Above all women known. 
 Her lips, eyes, nose, her throat and chin 
 are finely formed, just to my taste. Her skin 
 is white and flushed with pink; small hands and 
 arms are hers. Her bosom fair, oh endless joy, 
 so white, so round, so pure ! 
 
 3 
 With slenderest waist, her lower parts are 
 
 finely built and curved. Her hips are strong, 
 her graceful limbs end in two tiny, narrow feet
 
 144 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 her gait is chaste and stately all faultless 
 everywhere. 
 
 She's prompt to hold a middle course with 
 judgment, to do and leave undone. She alone 
 hath vanquished me." 
 
 A PRAYER AND ITS ANSWER 
 
 " Oswald. Treasure of solace who may com- 
 fort me ? 
 
 Darling, how long must last this ban ? 
 Why so chill ? It pains and grieves me sore. 
 Wherefore I crave help, grace and counsel, with 
 
 short delay. 
 Companion, friend, delight and blessing ! I burn 
 
 with longing night and day. 
 My heart with bitter sighs is bursting so sore 
 
 its burden. 
 And yet it may not doubt continuance of thy 
 
 favour. 
 Thy blossom lips curve temptingly, thy small 
 
 teeth gleam, 
 Who enters in between them, drinks the sweet 
 
 fount of song. 
 My heart, how may my heart live without thee !
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 145 
 
 Thee have I chosen, thou wondrous woman, in 
 honoured love and gr^ace. 
 
 I've sought to make escape from eyes that pierce 
 my soul 
 
 With love-arrows, and fill me with sweet dread. 
 
 Lady, thy net hath caught me, encompassed me 
 with dearest toils 
 
 None can free me save thou alone, thou blame- 
 less one. 
 
 Marg. With joy I'll save thee, man of my soul. 
 Thou alone hast o'ercome me ! 
 And all the more that since long time, I'm thine 
 
 at all hours as thou art mine. 
 Wholly and not in part my favour's thine. 
 All wretchedness be his who jeers at us, and 
 
 stabs for envy ! 
 
 Thus much shall come to pass. 
 From knavery God shield thee. 
 Thine alone be all that's mine, 1 
 
 1 " Nur Dein Allein Soil sein Mein Ein Und 
 Alles gross und klein ! In williger Treue schenk'ich dir 
 Den Dank dahier Und vollgezahlt ! " (Modernized 
 Version, p. 97.) 
 
 K
 
 146 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 Thine and mine, great and small ! 
 
 In hearty troth I give thee thanks and full paid 
 
 debt. 
 
 The day-long burn I too with fondest yearning. 
 Hotly too, as thou, I crave more wealth of joy. 
 Have faith, submit when my love cries alarm 
 And sternly warns us, thee and me 
 Warns us to love with honour." 
 
 THE HOUR OF PARTING 
 
 i 
 ''Oswald. True love's might holds my spirit 
 
 captive 
 
 A maiden's form hath vanquished me ! 
 Lady, have mercy on thy slave ! 
 Give me thy troth, take me for thy loving spouse! 
 But none should see our passion's pearl. 
 Tell me, sweet joy, what saith thy heart ? 
 Gentle and mild declare thyself, 
 No hurt shall e'er touch thine honour ! 
 
 Marg. Yes, dearest treasure ! Then so shalt 
 
 have me without fail, 
 
 But 'twere well in truth to keep our love con- 
 cealed.
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 147 
 
 2 
 
 My giver of joy sweet prize 
 
 Of my heart the wife of thy bosom 
 
 I'll willingly be my loving companion 
 
 Ever dear to me ne'er sore. 
 
 Be always true and doubt me not, 
 
 And keep thee far from knavish tongues. 
 
 Oswald. Lady, in sleepless nights I wandered 
 
 long. 
 
 Often, truly mine the fault, thou yearned for one ! 
 That only gave some ground for meddlers' 1 
 
 lying tales. 
 
 They read things wrongly. They bring me grief. 
 Now, grant me grace, I must begone, 
 The hour's already late. 
 
 3 
 
 My heaviness is lightened, new hope is mine 
 Thy sweet embrace bringeth me joyful pain. 
 I'm sworn to thy service, and prompt to dare all. 
 No travail can daunt me, full of ardour for thee, 
 Heart's love mine, by night and by day. 
 
 1 Allusions to scandalmongers and gossips abound in all 
 early German love songs, and in this as in some other re- 
 spects, Oswald adhered to old models.
 
 148 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 Marg. But never mistrust me ! 
 Tell me outright, without grudge : 
 Why dost so often leave me alone ? 
 Much peril lies in the quest of adventure. 
 (Hereupon the words died in her throat, yet 
 
 only for brief space.) 
 May all danger 'void thee : 
 Come back quickly safe and whole." 
 
 THE CHOSEN M. 
 
 Red and white, a smiling face 
 
 Soars above a dusky robe ; 
 
 About her brow a veil is twined 
 
 And droops in simple folds. 
 
 Seen through it, softly barred, 
 
 Her rosebud mouth laughs forth 
 
 Studded with small white teeth. 
 
 The flashing beams of two dark little eyes 
 
 So stir my heart to joy that deep in 
 
 My breast it quivers and hope's on the scent. 
 
 Her glance, her words dispel all pain 
 
 When I see her near and well
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 149 
 
 And the gracious spirit of her youth 
 With song and play creates delight. 
 Rejoice in this, beloved Lady ! 
 
 2 
 
 My thoughts oppress me 
 And yet may not be told to her. 
 A fear dwells in me, that well-nigh saps my 
 
 strength : 
 
 I dare not call her " Thou ! " 
 My rough ungainliness hinders me 
 From winning the fair maid's favour. 
 My hair is white with trouble 
 My heart lies on the rack, 
 And burns with cruel pangs ; 
 Needs must be patient. 
 
 Her glance, her words, etc., etc. 
 
 3 
 Stolen glances, murmured speech, 
 
 Such plain German, yet she will not under- 
 stand ! 
 
 I'm wearied out with striving 
 My lessons to impart 
 That also must I suffer !
 
 150 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 My honourably chosen M ! 
 
 Thou nestlest in the core of my heart. 
 
 Cease, high Lady, thy stern rule ; 
 
 Let me proclaim my joy. 
 
 To plead my suit were all in vain 
 
 Did I not strongly press it. 
 
 Her glance, her words, etc., etc." 
 
 AT THE COURT OF LOVE 
 
 "The lovely Queen of Aragon, she was so 
 kind to me I knelt before her gladly and did 
 homage with my beard. She strung a ring 
 upon it, with flashing snow-white hands and 
 softly murmured, 'Shalt unloose it never more.' 
 Then taking in her fingers a slender brazen 
 pin as custom wills she pierced my ears with 
 skilful touch and threaded them with rings. 
 
 These wore I long, in duty to my vow. 
 That same hour, I entered Sigismund's presence, 
 and he was fain to cross himself at sight of me. 
 
 1 Ho, ho ! ' he cried, ' why thus adorned ? 
 Hast lost thy wits, strange playmate mine ? ' 
 
 Then said in friendly tone, ' truly the rings 
 must pain thee?'
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 1 5 i 
 
 I was a show for man and maid, 
 A thing of laughter ; 
 Nine were here of royal state 
 A noble ring in Perpignan 
 Alertly watching 1 De Luna. 
 The tenth was Kaiser Sigismund 
 With the lords of Praides." 
 
 OSWALD'S SELF-MOCKERY IN REMEMBRANCE 
 OF HIS TREACHEROUS CAPTURE BY SABINA 
 HAUSMANN IN 1421 
 
 i 
 
 u If suffering hath made me old 
 And wise too late when mischief's done 
 I owe it to the prize my dear love gave me. 
 That I long space enough for love of her 
 A slender golden chainlet bore, hidden 
 Around my arm, she quite forgot. 
 The difference to mark, she gave 
 Me now an iron band three fingers 
 Broad in guerdon of her grace. 
 And worse affront I had to see 
 
 1 The Anti-Pope.
 
 152 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 Pressed to her heart the very churl 
 Who tortured me so sore. 
 This turns my food to gall. 
 
 Why blindly fell I in the trap ? 
 
 Drawn by the force of love. 
 
 Hence the cruel anguish 
 
 That fatal journey cost me. 
 
 The pilgrimage seemed all too fair 
 
 Since my flame bid me to her home 
 
 And no saint-like word I sent her 
 
 Lest she might ride away. 
 
 I've pondered well the matter, 
 
 It befell for my salvation : 
 
 Were I right safe in Heaven 
 
 I would offer prayers for her. 
 
 Since she gave me of her bounty 
 
 Two iron rings of two pounds' weight 
 
 That chafed and cut both shin-bones. 
 
 3 
 
 Suffer this in cheerful mood 
 No love -offering doeth harm ;
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 153 
 
 To best-loved child give stoutest rod, 
 
 She cares for thee so fondly 
 
 I know she's staunch and true. 
 
 Love fancies pretty ornaments 
 
 For this was I so finely stretched 
 
 My feet upon the bar. 
 
 Her heart craved marks four thousand 
 
 And Hauenstein to boot ; that was a 
 
 joke ! 
 
 A fine joke sure, as racked with pain 
 My tears dripped on the halter. 
 She granted me cat's guerdon, 
 I squeaked in mouse-like tune, 
 Five irons held me up and so 
 I long bore traces of her favour." 
 
 EXHORTATION TO THE THREE ESTATES 
 
 Ye Popes and Kaisers, peasants too, 
 Why remiss in righteous deeds ? 
 Yet have ye God's command thereon 
 To do your duty in the state of life
 
 54 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 In which His will hath placed ye. 
 Be zealous in appointed tasks 
 He hath ranked ye in due order 
 Three noble titles counts the world, 
 Labourer, noble, spiritual Lord. 
 
 Thou, Holy Father, day and night 
 For all Christendom in common 
 Raise thy prayerful voice to Him, 
 Jointly with all thy priests, 
 To God who all ye creatures made, 
 Redeemed, and gave salvation 
 Through the bitter anguish 
 That in likeness of a man 
 He suffered on the Cross. 
 
 O Kaiser, guard with thy sword 
 For that wert thou anointed 
 All that's true to right and faith 
 With mighty strokes at every need. 
 The poor protect in fitting wise
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 155 
 
 And take good heed that none 
 Beguile ye aught to do that 
 Bringeth hurt to Honour. 
 Rather pour out your blood. 
 
 He that's born to labour 
 Should work for worthy hire 
 Else were his labour wasted 
 Nought would he win here or above. 
 But he that serveth truly 
 As befits the peasant man 
 To him, if dying well-assoiled 
 Full joy's vouchsafed above 
 In all eternity. 
 
 O world, how haltingly dost move 
 On righteous work, in light of God ! 
 All jointly, each true to the duties 
 Of his state : ye Emperors, Popes 
 And princes, knights uncounted 
 Burghers, rustics, hand in hand,
 
 156 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 Cardinals, bishops, prelates, 
 
 Lords spiritual and temporal, give special 
 
 ear 
 Tis good to act justly in this world." 
 
 THE COURTIER OF THE DAY 
 
 " Meanest of all crawling beasts on earth, I deem 
 
 the true courtier 
 Who body and soul belongs to his lord for 
 
 scanty hire. 
 A jackass, were he free, would never do so 
 
 much. 
 
 Now here, now there 
 Must stab, smite, steal and burn, 
 Nay, even play the spy. 
 Seize cattle, waggons, cocks and hens. 
 Spare no man ! Then for such 
 Noble spoil, thy lord will give 
 Thee gracious looks. 
 Stay now before his eyes, now 
 Close behind attend him the day long 
 Be he a prince, take utmost pains that he 
 May see thee, throw thee a gentle word. 
 Such boon thou deemest Heavenly treasure."
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 157 
 
 THE WOLKENSTEIN SONG OF VICTORY ON 
 ROUTING DUKE FRIEDRICH'S BESIEGING 
 FORCE BENEATH THE WALLS OF GREIFEN- 
 
 STEIN IN 1417 
 
 Tally Ho ! cried Michael von Wolkenstein. 
 To the chase ! cried Oswald von Wolkenstein. 
 Up and at them ! cried Leonhard von Wolken- 
 stein, 
 We'll drive them to flight from Greifenstein. 
 
 ii 
 
 Now smoke and din, now roaring flame 
 Poured down the gorge, stained with hot blood. 
 The foes dismayed shed arms and steel 
 Flying for life, while we made glad. 
 
 in 
 
 The siege works all, the huts and tents 
 Were burnt to ashes in the higher camp. 
 Who doeth ill, shall ill receive, 'tis said ; 
 And thus we pay thee back, Duke Friedrich.
 
 158 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 IV 
 
 With cut and thrust and bolts we made quick 
 
 work of all, 
 Down in the bog, beneath the Raubensteiner 
 
 steep. 
 
 Steel-tipped shafts, over a good span long, 
 Sped from our bowstrings, pierced through 
 
 many a breast. 
 
 v 
 The rustics from St George and all the village 
 
 folk 
 Had sworn to serve us truly, but their word 
 
 was false. 
 Our brave comrades drove them down from 
 
 Raubenstein l 
 And cried : ' God save ye, neighbours,' your 
 
 faith is small. 
 
 VI 
 
 A hurtling down and shooting, a rushing, 
 
 crackling sound 
 Suddenly rose with a clangour as of tongues of 
 
 brazen bells. 
 
 1 The popular name for Castle Greifenstein.
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 159 
 
 Now stir ye, noble knights, haste away or fall 
 With roofs ablaze on all sides scant shelter 
 will ye find! 
 
 VII 
 
 From Bozen and the Kitten, from Meran came 
 
 the bands 
 The Hasling and Jenesier men essayed to scale 
 
 our rock, 
 From Melten and the Sarnthal came almost 
 
 every soul ; 
 They thought to bind us captive, but theirs 
 
 was the defeat." 
 
 GOD ALMIGHTY 
 
 " Who soars above and moves below, 
 Who strives before, behind, within 
 And lives eternally, had no beginning. 
 Who young yet old, in majesty possesses 
 Full Unity in Trinity incomprehensible yet plain. 
 Who truly died, yet was not dead, 
 Whom the Chosen Virgin purely conceived 
 Painlessly begot and gave to us ;
 
 160 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 Him, who wrought great marvels, 
 Who broke the walls of Hell, and stifled 
 The Devil therein who lightened 
 The darkness and renewed the source of all 
 created things. 
 
 ii 
 
 " Whose glances pierce to every secret place, 
 Who reads the thoughts in every heart 
 However tightly closed. 
 All men to Him are subject, 
 Even as sun and moon, the firmament 
 Earth's plane and river's course 
 And ocean's tides. 
 He, the source of every Art 
 To every creature fitting form assigned, 
 For every season wondrous raiment. 
 Wherefore all beasts both tame and 
 Wild, give praise to Him 
 Who hateth not their image and 
 In His goodness gives them bounteous food. 
 
 in 
 
 " The stars above, the earth below 
 No resting have nor base^
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 161 
 
 And waters flow by unknown ways. 
 
 To sing the countless wonders 
 
 Of mountain top and vale, my art 
 
 Is thousandfold too scant. 
 
 I'm bound with shame perplexed. 
 
 The giver of my mind, soul, 
 
 Body, honour, worth and every righteous deed, 
 
 Be He my Counsellor 
 
 How best to prove my thanks. 
 
 So may I bar the path of foes 
 
 That none o'ercome me here nor there. 
 
 O, stainless Virgin Mother, 
 
 Defend me thou, that I ne'er be confounded." l 
 
 This address to the Almighty styled by 
 Schrott " eine kleine Theodicee in nuce " is 
 the only specimen of Oswald's religious com- 
 positions that we have ventured to translate. 
 Others seem to us finer and of higher poetic 
 
 1 First lines of stanza ii. (Modernized Version): " Er 
 sieht hinein In jeden Schrein, In jedes Herz, mag's noch 
 so fein Verschlossen sein : Er schauet die Gedanken. 
 Ihm unterthan 1st jedermann, Wie Sonne, Mond, der 
 Sterne Bahn, Der Erde Plan Der Fliisse Fall, der 
 Wogen Schwanken." 
 
 L
 
 1 62 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 value, but could not be rendered adequately 
 save by a poet's pen. Indeed, none of the 
 translations attempted above can give more 
 than a shadowy idea of the force and swing 
 of our hero's verse. 
 
 Readers willing to grapple with the original 
 German text will be rewarded by many vivid 
 glimpses of early fifteenth-century life in Oswald's 
 descriptions of the doings at Constance, in the 
 long and graphic narrative of his second cap- 
 tivity, and in the realistic poems on domestic 
 life at Hauenstein. 
 
 In one of the latter we behold the moody 
 poet driven to exasperation by nursery pranks, 
 and see the fair Margaret rushing to the 
 rescue and admonishing him "not to vent his 
 fury on his babes." "I was called sharply 
 to account," he adds, "for what I had done 
 to them, and, as usual, there was much 
 scolding." 
 
 In spite of Oswald's close observation of 
 certain aspects of nature, he shared the general 
 blindness of his age to the beauty and sug- 
 gestiveness of mountain forms. Reared amid the
 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein 163 
 
 fantastic limestone giants (now named Dolomites) 
 of the Grodnerthal, and dwelling at Hauenstein 
 shadowed by the huge towers of the Schlern, 
 he has no word of praise for his native peaks, 
 save in one line of his " Address to God " and, 
 stranger still, is completely silent regarding 
 their legendary fame. 
 
 Yet the tale of King Laurin's rose-garden, 
 the feats of Dietrich of Bern, and the host 
 of supernatural beings supposed to people the 
 recesses of the Schlern, and the tangled forest 
 beneath, seem to have made no impression on 
 his mind and are unmentioned in his works. 
 Nevertheless, we know that, previous to becom- 
 ing a hard-headed realist, he cherished many 
 mystic, mediaeval beliefs, had a genuine cult for 
 King Arthur, dreamed of the Holy Grail, and 
 made more than one quite ineffectual attempt 
 to tame his hot blood and lead the life of a 
 pure and perfect knight. 
 
 But his failure in this is our gain, inasmuch 
 as the real man, the mediaeval chieftain, breath- 
 ing the first breath of the Renaissance, has a 
 higher interest for us than the visionary ideal
 
 164 Oswald von Wolkenstein 
 
 he once sought to grasp. With all his inherited 
 prejudices, all his blunders, Oswald von Wolken- 
 stein is a striking figure in the history of old 
 Tirol, and has a special niche of his own in the 
 temple of German song. 
 
 TURNBULL AND SPEARS, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH
 
 OCS8 LIBRARY
 
 1C SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 A 000617916 2