GErmanye of late being in y ^e power of y ^e Protestātes & new religiō: so that it is clearely seē, how necessa­ry it hath beē for almightye God to put his remedye therin: for as to the help of man ther hath been so many difficulties, that there could no meane be founde, by any discourse of reason, howe to re­medy so much euill. For if it should haue passed by counsailes: ther hath beē such a multitude of people. And [Page] so many Princes to be treated withal, that in long time and wyth great difficultie it should haue been brought to any concorde. And yf by strength, y ^e difficulty had been much more, for the confederacion of the league was so great: that there was no part in Germanye, where y ^e Lu­therans wer not the most strōg. Ex­cept Cleaues and Bauer, the which although thei professed to be catho­liques yet they tempered so with the Lutherans in shewing of frendship to the one, and the other part in such sort, that they might be called rather newters, then catholiques. All the rest not comprehendyng the londes of the king of Romayns, and a few cytyes of the Empyre, stoode all in the leagues Malcaldo: so named by the Protestauntes) after the place [Page] where it was made. And thei which were not of thys league, wer neuer­thelesse called Lutherans. The prī ­cipals of the catholiques wer these, Colan, Metz in Loran, and Aquis­grame with fewe other. The pryn­cipals of the league were these. Au­gust, Ulme, Argentine and Frank­fort, ryche and mighty cities, & ioy­ned with them other infynyte. As Muremberg, Rotemberg, Norlīg, & other, whose number be so great y ^t I omit to writ them, which wer not of the league, but yet Lutherans: so that the power of the one and the o­ther was the whole Empyre. All the Princes and lordes wer entred into this league, except the King of Ro­mains, y ^e Duke of Cleues, and the Duke of Bauer, with certain gētle men of which there wer that daylye [Page] turned to the Lutherās. And more­ouer thei had abrode mightye & sus­pect frendes. Nowe being in thys power which dayly encreased, and proudly presumed, to set out things not onely to the ruine of the Empire but also to the totall destruccion of the christian common welth, setting furth one new Empire with al new­nes that could be deuised to be new.

¶ At this time the Emperor beig in Flaunders and certified thereof, parted toward Almain passyng by Vtrike, where he kepte the Chap­ter of his order of the golden fleese. And there he gaue it to certayne knyghtes, as Flemminges, Hispa­mardes, Almains, and Italyans, After he passed into Gilderlande, which he had of late gotten. And frō thence he came to maistrique vpon [Page] Mose, to the which place ther came ambassadours from the Lordes of Almain, amongest whom it semed to be a slaunder of a fame devulged that his magesty would make an army into Almayne, but they vnder­stonding that thei wer deceyued in their own cōceites, did take no more [...]cedence thereunto, for he brought with hym but .v. C. horses, with the which nūber he doth ordinarily ride out of Flaunders into Almaine, ac­companied with these, he parted frō Maistrique where he did take hys leaue at his syster Quene Marye, which done: he remoued with hys court toward the [...] of Lucē ­burge, lykewise newly [...]eco [...]ed of the Frenchmen. He entred into Al­main, wher although it appeared y ^t his comming was nothing suspect. [Page] yet neuerthelesse he assured hym­selfe to be out of their daunger. But he was fully determyned, and re­moued to Sperse: where the coun­tye Palatine and the Launtgraue became suyters to hys magestye, touchynge theyr affayres. The Erle treated of the common welth, and the Launtgraue to proue conclusions for his purpose pretended. The Earle could bring nothyng to passe, nor the Launtgraue obtained any thyng to his entent, so the one & the other parted frō the courte. The Erle in short tyme after ioyned him self with thē of the league. His ma­gesty rem [...]d from Sperse, where he passed [...], trauesing Sue­uerlād. He came to Tonauert, In­glestot, and to Ratisbone, where the counsaile had been conuocate y ^e yere [Page] passed. Procurers were sent frō the Princes, and cityes of Germany to his magesty beyng there where thei beganne to treate of many thynges touchyng the common welth.

At this tyme there was maryed the eldest doughter of the Kyng of Romayns, named Anne to the sōne of the Duke of Bauer. The second named Mary to y ^e Duke of Cleues Now I wil be brief for to begin the wars y ^t the Emperor had against y ^e Lutherās whose power was gret & mighty, but yet I wil not write of e­uerye ꝑticuler ꝓcedīg before, nor yet other ꝑticulers touchīg y ^e state of re­ligiō for these shal remain to thē who haue ī charge to write more at large for I write but only those thynges whiche I haue seen & can be witnes to say the truth.

Now y ^e cities of y ^e league & lordes [Page] therof begin openly to shew how li­tle they wer concluded in the coun­saile concernyng that his magestye pretended, and began to murmure because they vnderstode that he en­tēded to set forth to the honor of god and the christian commō welth, ac­cording to his office: for the whyche he sent for certain vpper captaines, without making any gret apparāce in respect of so great wars as might folowe. But it was not so secretely done, but that it came to the know­lage of the procurers, of the Lordes and the cities beyng there. For ve­rely they lacked no power, craft, nor subtelty. So on a day they came together before the Emperour, and y ^e summe of theyr saying was: that as they dyd vnderstand he had sent for certayne Coronels and captaines, [Page] for to reise men of warre. Beseching his magestye for to geue thē know­ledge where and against whome he would begyn: and they would be re­dy to serue him as they had been in tymes past. His magesty answered that he had sent for men to chastyce certain rebels in the Empyre. And they which would help to serue him therin, he would repute thē as good and true seruauntes, and that he would be good Emperour & graci­ous lorde vnto them, and they that would not: he would reckō them in coūt with the rebels agaynst whom the war should be made.

With thys aunswere they of the league parted out of y ^e court to theyr lodginges, and shortly after to their houses, and so to theyr Lordes, and from that time forth the warres be­ganne. [Page] Where of I wil write as perti­culerly as shall come to my remem­braunce. But fyrste it is nedefull to vnderstond, where y ^e Emperor was whē it was declared & y ^e preparaciō made at that time: you shall vnder­stond y ^t he was at Ratisbone, which stondeth vpon the riuer Danubia, & is y ^e vttermost of the cities imperial stonding vpō this riuer toward Au­strich. It is coūted to be of Bauer it is a great citie & of y ^e Lutherans, frō thence to August it is .xviii. Dutche leagues & Ingulstot y ^e last town of Bauer .ix. leagues vpō Danubia vpward frō Ingulstot to Culō, al Al­main except some Bishops & a few tounes be Lutherans, & those which be not for theyr safegard, vitail y ^e e­nemies as y ^e other do. The Duke of Cleues although he be catholique, [Page] hath detracted his busines so slowly (I do not say fearfully) y ^t his taryig ī determinaciō hath not a litle ēcrea­sed y ^e difficulti of our wars. For if he had shortly det̄mined, his magesty might haue made necessary prouisiō one moneth earst thē he did, and not only this incōueniēce, but also y ^e kig of Romains, because of his busines taryed one moneth longer then hys magestyes expectacion was. Hys comyng being so necessarye for dy­uers causes. And moreouer thē this there came much damage by y ^e rea­son of scant secretnes, & litle regarde of some ministers which by the rea­son of passion or affeccion, could not kepe silence. In so much that our e­nemies had knowledge fyrste & be­fore our frēdes. His magesti had no thing in order for yet the Almayns [Page] and Spanyardes laye styll in three [...], of whō we shal speake here­after: nor yet the Pope had not sent hys men whych he had appointed to sende, so that our strength was al in the determinacion of the Emperour and power of y ^e catholiques in Ger­many.

They of August were the fyrst y ^t raysed men and not named to be a­gaynst the Emperour: for at thys tyme they suffred his seruauntes to come & go into theyr citye, to dresse theyr harneys, bye and sel. Now his magesty had sent Alipzando brother to the Cardinal of Trent, & George of Ranspurge one olde Souldyer whych hath serued hym long in hys warres and to Examburge he gaue also the charge of a number, and to the Marques of Marenā, generall [Page] of the artilery that euery one of these should bryng .iiii. M. Almayns.

These. foure Coronels according to theyr custome, made two regy­mentes, & after there were deuided emongst them egally .x. baners, sent by the bastard of Bauer and other captaynes so that thei came to be. L baners of duche men .xxv. in euerye regyment. His magestye prouyded for Don Aliuaro de Sāde, of Hū ­gary with his Terce whiche wer .ii. M. & .viii. C. Hispanyardes. And y ^e Arce should come out of Lūbardye with three. M. The marques Al­bert of Brandemburg sent in haste for y ^e horses, wherwith he was boūd to serue, whych be two. M. & eyght C. The marques John brother to y ^e elector of Brandemburg, rode and brought eyght. C. horses. The ma­ster [Page] of Pruse was apoynted to brig one. M. horses. The yonge Duke Henry of Brandēburg .iiii. C. hor­ses. The Prince of Hungary. M. & v. C. horses, but these horsmen were to be made in so many partes of Al­manye: that for to come together it was verye harde, bycause the ene­myes were betwixte them and hys Maiesty.

At this time the Pope sent his me out of Italy, so when he had proui­ded these thiges, he wrote into Flaū ders to the Erle of Bure, to sende. x M. footmen and .iii. M. horsemen of the Netherlanders. This campe together might suffice to fight with anye power. But beinge forced to come from so manye partes: there was none of it selfe able to fyght wyth the enemies.

[Page]Now there went out of August xxii. Baners of the same Citie, and vi. from the Duke of Vertemburg, & .iiij. of them of Vlme, one. M hor­ses and .xxviii. peeces of Artilerye, vnder the name against the Soul­diers, which came out of Italy whiche they sayde were sent by y ^e Pope for to destroye Almayne, & nothing agaynst themperour. And so they went streyght to Cluse, & because it maye be the better vnderstād: that for to come out of Itali into Bauer they way lieth by Trent, & frō thence to Inspurg is a wai: & frō Inspurg to enter into Bauer be .ii. one down by y ^e Riuer to come to Rauesten, a strōg walled towne of Tyrol for to enter into Bauer. The other lieth aboue toward Suysa going thorow a valley wherī stādeth a strōg castel [Page] which shutteth vp the way not farre from Fessen, belongyng to the Car­dinal of Trent, and so to Quintain emperial & Lutheran, & Memēgā likewise emperial & Lutherās, both these Lutherans and of the league with August. This first enterpryse was because they thought it conue­nient to haue this passage beig next vnto thē & so they sent thyther .v. M fotemen and one. M. horsemē, with Sebastian Exertel, which had been in times past haulberder to the Emperour. Syth a tauerner in Rome, & after in the warres of Sandersay he was made a prouoste marshall, where he became riche and in great estymacion in the citye of August. Wherfore they chose hym to be theyr general, in this enterprice, & so cōty­nued al the warres after. So with [Page] these campe they came to Fiessen: whych was taken by Exartel, with out any contradicciō, & thē to Eluse where he entred without shutte or stroke: there wer a litle from thence, foure or .v. M. Almains, for the rest wer at Rattisbone about his mage­stye. They shewed themself wylling to fyght, but theyr captaines would not suffer it, seyng the other to haue so great aduauntage. Then these our Almayns came by hys mage­styes commaundement to Rattys­bone, and like so dyd George of Rā ­spurg wyth his bend lying nere vn­to the city of Vlme.

At thys tyme the enemyes whych had taken the Eluse went streyghte to Insburg intending for to take it, which was a enterprise of great im­portunitye yf they shoulde haue so [Page] done: then they myght shortly haue gotten the reste, for being their they might haue byn lordes of .ii. wayes of the whiche I haue spoken lienge [...] Tyrol into Bauer, and more [...] the waye whiche lieth to come out of Italy and Trēt to Insburg, so that they might haue shut vp and maystered the way, so that no men, Money, nor Victuales might haue come to the emperour. But they of Insburg ꝓuided so wel, y ^t thei wold not suffre them to come nere theyr towne, for in .vi. or .vii. dayes they were .x. or .xii. M. men, Castelal the inge their Captayne. Now the ene­mies began to dispayre in this en­terprice, and turned backe agayne leauinge Cluse and Fiessen proui­ded. Thys Castelalt is one of the eldest Captaynes in Almanye, be­longynge [Page] to the Kinge of Romayns, whoe after in thys warre recouered the Cluse.

At this time the men which were sent by the Pope out of Italy be cō ­ming, and likewyse the Hyspanyar­des of Lumberdy, and they of Na­ples had shipped in Pule and were landed in the lande of the Kyng of Romayns nere vnto the Venissēs, in a towne called Fume in Dama­cia and from thence to Corinthia & to Estria for to come to Salebrug & so to Bauer. The enemies re­turned to August, after they had prouided the passage of Ratisbone with .ii. C. Hackebutters. This en­terprice was to them very Impor­tunate, but more īportunat it might haue been: if y ^t when they parted frō August thei had gone to Rattisbōe [Page] for then they should haue found the Emperour so dispurueyde, that hys remedy had beē to haue gone down by the ryuer of Danubia, out of Al­many, for as yet were not come the bendes vnder the conducte of Ma­drucho & of George. But the Hispa­nyardes of Hungarye came to the Emperour alone, and his number whych is worth much in Germany. Thys was our army, ordynaunce we had none, but we taryed for that whych should come from Viene, so that al thynges wer vnprouyded, so that yf the enemyes had come, they should haue obtayned theyr purpose without any withstondyng. Thys was theyr fyrst errour.

At thys tyme the Duke of Saxō and Launtgraue wrote a letter to his magestye. The summe whereof [Page] was, that they dyd vnderstand that he would chastice certayn rebels ac­cordyng to theyr desertes, and that they wer much desyrous to knowe because thei would be ready to serue his Magestye. And yf he founde himself greued in any thing against any of them, they would be ready at his commaundement to make satis­faccion according to reason.

To thys letter his magesty made no aunswere, for not aunsweringe therto was his aunswere. For whē they wrote this letter, a great parte of their Campe was on foote, and had sente to the Cities and Lordes of the League to sende their num­bre according to their pomises. And Sebastiane Exartel, was now gōe from Auguste to Insburg, & from thence to Tonauert, as the names [Page] do sygnifie for to defende Danubia for the defence of y ^e Duke of Saxō and Launtgraue beinge in Tona­uert with great prouisiō for August for there was the Lordship of the water of Lico, whiche is a passage through August and deuideth Ba­uer and Sueuerland. Danubia is a passage for all maner of vituales from Vlme and Viertēburge, so y ^t the scituacion is sufficient to lodge an army: for all thynges necessarye. Shortlye after Exartell with hys Campe ioyned wyth the Duke of Saxone and the Launtgraue so y ^t they al together made a mighty ar­my gathered of the Cities & lordes of y ^e league betwene .iii. &. iiiī. score. M. footmē & ix. or .x. M. horsemē, a hundred peces of Artilerie moūted.

At this tyme hys maiesty was in [Page] Rattisbone but wyth such a number as I haue spoken of before, nether Artilery but .x. peeces which he had borowed of the Cities there about, for his ordinaūce was not yet come frō Viene. The newes that he had from hys men was that Exāburg had hys Coronell in a redynes at Mount Naegra, which with great difficulty must passe the Countrey belongynge to Vlme, an enemye a stronge and a myghty Citie, and throughe Vierteuiburg the stron­gest Prince of the League, & there­fore must be fetched a great cōpasse by the Lake of Constance and by Cyroll a playne way and more out of perill then the other. Also we had newes that the Hyspanyardes of Naples were shipped, and the His­panyardes of Lūberdi were cōmīg [Page] and the Prince of Salmona Cap­tayne of the light horsmen with .vi. [...] horses, and the artileri was coming in Barkes, by the Riuer from Viē, but the enemies being so nere it re­quired a longe time, in the whyche the Duke of Saxone & Laūtgraue might haue come to Ratisbone, and haue founde themperour ther wyth x. or .xii. M. mē with litel ordenaūce & lesse victualles, nor yet the towne so stronge for to defende, & thoughe it had byn yet it was not meite for themperour to be set about, hauyng no other rescue thē he had their. So that to my iudgement: if the Duke of Saxone & the Launtgraue, had come at that time: they had driuen y ^e emperour out of Rattisbone, and yf they had so done: he had ben driuen out of Germanye, and their coming [Page] had byn lyght, for they had lefte no­thynge at their backes to desturbe them, but one bande of footmen ly­inge in Rayne. A towne of the duke of Bauer a league from Tonauert and .ii. baners of footmen in Ingulstat, which done Peter Gushmane a Knight of themperours house, as for the people of Vauer there was no trust in them, so that they left an enterprice to doe, as I and other thought well left. Thys was theyr seconde errours, that they came not together to Ratisbone, but went to Ratyn, whyche was to them gy­uen without any battarie, they suf­fred the garnison to departe wyth Baner & armour, and left one other of theirs: and came to Newburge, where thei pitched their Cāpe. The towne was for them, for whye it is [Page] belonginge to the Duke Otto, the first Duke of Bauer, & to the coūty Pallatine a lorde of y ^e Lutherans, the towne is strong & a passage vpō Danubia .iii. leagues from Tona­uert, and .iii. from Ingulstat.

Now the king of Romayns was come vnto Prague with the Duke Morres: accordinge to thēperours appoyntment, for to enter into the Duke of Saxones lande Elector. This Duke Morres is one of the Dukes of Saxone: for after y ^e cus­tome of Almayne, they part the in­heritaūce emongest their linage, he is a great lorde and euer hath been at debate with the Duke of Saxon his cosyn, although a Lutheran: but at the beginning of this warre they were in peace: vntil his maiesty had set forthe the banishment agaynste [Page] the Duke of Saxone and Launt­graue as rebelles. This banishmēt imperiall, is for to gyue the landes and goods of the rebelles to al that wyll go agaynst them, & so the king & Duke Morres came togither to take Saxonie, it came well to theyr purpose for al his landes lye borde­rynge vpon theirs.

At thys tyme the Emperour had knowledge: that the enemies were determyned to take Lansente, a towne of the Duke of Vauer stan­dynge in the waye to Rattisbone, for to goe to Insburg by whyche wayes he looked for hys men why­che should come out of Italye, and from Silua negra, for they had no other waye (Cluse gotten) for that taken it should be much to their ad­uauntage, for they beyng there hys [Page] Maiestie myght haue byn enclosed in Rattesbone, for they had then bin in place where none of hys coulde haue come to Rattesbone, for y ^e His­paniardes & I talians must nedes perforce haue come that waye. And likewise the Almayns from Silua Negra, & they might haue left the place fortefied and turned agayne to Rattisbone. This done, his ma­iestie had bē in a ruynous case, ther­fore he was very ernest to prouide agaynste this perell, and in person went to defende the towne, toward the which was set forth all the force and strengthe of the enemyes. He lefte in Rattesbone .iiii. M. Duche men and a Baner of Hispanyardes with the artilerye and munycyon y ^t came from Viene. And geuing the charge thereof to Peter Colona. [Page] His maiestie remoued with the rest of the campe: and in two lodginges thei came to Landsen, he woulde not lodge within the towne, but he determined there to tarry for the e­nemies, and for the footemē which wer come out of Italy (if thei might come in time.) The newes of y ^e ene­mies coming encreased dayly, with knowlage that thei wer passed In­gulstat. The Emperour hearyng these newes, sent abrode for his mē. In the meane time he chose a place for to fight: for this was his deter­minacion to do, sith there was no o­ther remedy, or els to leaue thē Al­main peaceably, the whiche his ma­iesty determined that he would ne­uer do. For I haue heard hi diuers tymes saye, (in speakyng of this ter­rible warre,) that dead or aliue he [Page] would tarryin Almayne. And with this determinacion he abode for the enemies, in whose parson and va­lew was al our trust. And knowing that Rattesbone was sette in place where thei coulde not passe, they re­membred thēselues and tarried. vi­leagues frō vs, camping and inter­teining Minique and Ingulstat in the meane time.

¶ The Duke of Saxon and the Lātgraue sent a page with a trūpet to his maiesty, y ^e page brought a let­ter in a rodde, as it is the custom of Almain, when one maketh warre a­gainst an other. Thei wer called to y ^e tēt of y ^e duke of Aluoy captain ge­neral, y ^e which said vnto thē. The answer of him to whō ye be sente, is, y ^t ye deserue to be hāged: but his ma­iesty hath pitie vpō your liues, & wil [Page] punish none but thē y ^t make defaut, geuing thē the proclamaciō of their banishemēt in print y ^t was proclay­med agaīst their masters. This me think was a direct answer. His maiestye woulde not see the letter to the shame and rebuke of the Lant­graue, to whome he had been good mayster in tyme paste. About thys tyme the footebende of Italie came vnto Landsen. It was one of the fayrest bendes that euer I sawe come out of Italy. They wer. x or xi▪ M. footemen, and .vi. C. lyghte horses, theyr general was Octauiā Farnesse, neuew to y ^e Pope. Also y ^e duke of Florence sēt▪ ii. C. light hor­ses, & one hundred frō the duke of Farrer, to serue his maiesty. At this tyme came in the Hyspanyardes of Lumbardy, excellent souldyers, [Page] and a litle after, the good olde soul­diers of Naples. So these .iii. Ter­ces were the flower of the old soul­diers of Spayne.

¶ Now the Almayns of Exam­burge assēbled in Silua negra, be cōming at hande, but thei had gone a great compasse, and many tymes they haue skirmished with their en­mies by the way. Nowe there was in our camp the fourme of an army: for his magesty had then with them in Rattesbone .xvi. M. Almains, which wer receiued at y ^e paye xx. M as thei be wont for to haue emongst their footebandes. Thei wer about viii. M. Spaniardes, & .x. M. Ita­lians, and now came in .vi. C. horse­men for the marques John from Boeme. The marques Alberte had viii. C. the maister of Pruse had .ii. [Page] C. for al the other of the marques Albert, and of the Archduke might be .iiii. M. not yet come to the ryne, which was kept with the enemyes. Now his maiestie, with the menne that he had broughte out of Flaun­ders, with his court, and with .ii. C. horses of the Archdukes, he had .ii. M. armed horses. But as to y ^e fote men, to my iudgement, I neuer saw the lyke. I did see the Almayns that his maiesty brought to Viene, whē he went against the Turke. I. dyd see the Spanyardes whiche were there thē. And likewise I did se the Italians, but none like vnto these. I did see the Almaynes, Hispany­ardes, & Italyās that his maiestie led to Tunezey, & those that he lead after īto ꝓuince, & those that he had whē he toke Gilderland, & made the [Page] Frenche kyng to retyre with his campe from Cambersey. But as I thynke there was none of these like vnto this. Lykewyse saye they, whiche were with his maiestye in the warre of Sandasier, and haue seen that campe, they saye that they were not lyke vnto these, although they were well chosen, the which I haue not sene, I beyng absent. After that al these were come together, he parted from Landsen, and went to Rattesbone for to take his artillery and menne that he there lefte, and from thence to goe to seke hys ene­myes: and beyng at Rattesbone, he commaunded to sette forth sixe and thyrtie peces of artillerye, leauing three banners to kepe the reste. Then with his campe he tooke the waye to Ingulstat, where the ene­myes [Page] entended to campe. It is from Rattesbone to Ingulstat .ix. leagues, whiche .ix. were deuyded in foure iourneys, so he came with his campe to a place vpon Danu­bia called Newstat, there was a bridge, but he caused two other to bee made of the barges whiche he brought in his campe, for he deter­mined to passe the riuer in any wise.

¶ His maiesty being thus pur­posed, he was enfourmed that the duke of Saxon and the Lantgrane with al their campe, vpon the other side of Danubia, had taken the way to Rattesbone, an enterprise well vndertaken. His maiesty sent foure hundred Spanyardes, hackbut­ters horsed, & .ii. baners of Dutch­men, the whiche by their diligence the same nighte y ^t they were sente, [Page] entred into Rattesbone, the whiche was now sure. For yf the enemyes came not, it was safe. And if thei came, they might defend vntil thei might haue rescu frō the cāp, which might wel be had, (Danubia beyng betwixt vs and our enemies.) But they seing that Rattesbone was prouided, or because thei perceiued that his maiestye would passe the riuer, and lyīg at their backes might take away theyr vitayles, beyng within iii. leagues of Rattesbone, thei gaue a turne toward Ingulstat, makyng great hast to be out of the woodes & streyte passages, where it was thought they might haue bene well ouertakē. But we hauing no know ledge of the countrey, so that they with extreme diligēce did geat the playne field, so that when our lyght [Page] horsemen had passed the wode: they wer nere into Ingulstat. His ma­iesty in two daies passed the riuer, and lodged his campe in a valley, vpon a litle moūtayn nere vnto the riuer, and this lodgyng was two myle frō Ingulstat. This passage was of great importaunce, for it did not onely cause the enemyes to bee aduised: but also to be drieuen toge­ther, and not to goe lyke Lordes in the fields as thei had done. For this shewed them that his determinaciō was to fight when tyme and place might serue. There our campe was fortified with a litle trenche, for the duke of Aluoy had so takē the groūd that it neded not to make any other. There was alarū, although it was not true, our souldiers were so well ordred that it might bee euidentlye [Page] sene, how willyng they wer to fight.

¶ At the ende of two dayes the Emperour parted from thēce, whē he hadde newes that the enemyes were lodged on the other parte of Ingulstat sixe myles. Wherfore he made spede to take theyr lodgyng that they had lefte the daye before that he departed from his. Nowe it was conueniente, that the Em­perour should make haste towarde Jugulstat, and not to leaue it in peryl to be taken with the enemies: For why, from thence they myght lightlye haue distourbed monsuer de Bure from ioynyng with oure campe, or elles they myght haue ta­ken theyr lodgyng betwixte it, and the place where we hadde lodged. But the Emperour consyderyng howe muche it did importe, beeyng [Page] now so nere vnto the enemies to be euer their superiour in lodgyng: he sente to viewe two lodgynges, the one was a league from Ingul­stat, (whiche I haue spoken of,) and in oure waye. And the other neare vnto Ingulstat vpon the o­ther syde, for it behoued to take that nexte vnto the towne before the commyng of oure campe, the other in oure waye was good to be taken. Before that his maiestye shoulde sette foorth his campe, his intencion was to haue these two, so that if he mighte not occupye that nexte vnto Ingulstat, yet that he myght lodge in the other, and ther­fore the daye before, he hadde sent John Baptista Gastaldo, may­ster of the Campe generall, for to bee particularlye viewed▪ And [Page] he with al spede that might bee, the next daye in the mornyng remoued his campe, the whiche went in partz vawarde & battayle. The baggage and artillery vpon our left hand v­pō the riuer side. Our horsmen vpō the ryght hande, and the footemen ī the midst. The duke of Aluoy did leade the vaward, and the Emperor the battayl. With the Duke wēt the marques Albert and his horsemen, and the master of Pruse. And with the Emperour, the Duke of Au­striche, and the prince of Pyemont, & the marques John of Brandē ­burge. The Hispanyardes, Dutch­men, and Italyans, moued confyr­mably to the order that was geuen them: so they went in the vawarde & in the battayle. The Emperor mar­chyng, approched the firste lodgyng [Page] that I haue spoken of, and there he rested a litle, whylest the batail was cōmyng. For now the vaward was euen at hande, and there he toke the duke of Aluoy and .xx. horsmē with hym, and rode vnto Ingulstat for to be holde the other lodgyng nere thereunto.

¶ It is nedeful particularly to know, that the same day the Empe­ror sēt the duke of Aluoy, the prince of Salmona, and Don Antony de Tolledo, with part of the light hors­men, and two hundred hackbutters Hispanyardes horsed, for to haue knoweledge of the enemies, (with whom they had a fayre and [...] skyrmish,) the enemies being come forth therto with great strēgth. But the skirmishe beyng the one parte & the other retired: they turned again [Page] and came foorth, increasing so theyr▪ number in Esquadrons, that the Emperour was certified that they wer comming with al their campe, to battayle, so it was necessary to set al thinges in order. The Emperor cōmaunded the duke of Aluoy y ^t he should take hede in al pointes to the proceding of the enemies. He tur­ned into y ^e place where he had staide the vaward and the batail in y ^e lod­ging aforesayde being in the waye chosing a place mete for to fight. He sette the footemen in place conueni­ent, and the artillerye and horsemē where thei should stād. And so they stode loking for the comming of the enemies, which made countenance y ^t thei would fight. I thinke vnder correccion of better iudgement, y ^t if thei had come y ^t daye to fyght with [Page] vs by the way, they might haue put all thinges in greate auenture, al­though we had taken a place fauo­rable ynough for oure auauntage. But it semed to the Emperour that thei would not fight that daye, se­yng that thei had differred the tyme so long, for it was somwhat late: but the duke sent him worde for to stay, for he thought the enemyes made a greate muster to passe forwarde, but incōtinent he sent hym word to kepe on the waye with his campe, for the enemyes beganne to retyre vnto theyrs. This varyaunce was a cause of the late departure. For the Emperoure seeyng howe muche more he shoulde aduenture in tarrying, then to come late that nyght, and howe muche he shoulde geue vnto his enemyes to geue [Page] them one nyght, & parte of the other day, and space to ame [...] th [...]ir lod­gynges, & that they had erred when that thei had not disturbed our cāpe by the wai, he came (although it was late) vnto his lodgyng, whiche was on the other syde of Ingulstat, to­warde the enemies, hauīg the town vpon ōur backes: and Danubia v­pon our left hande, and a marris v­pon the right hande: and at the frōt, the plaine fieldes. The duke of Al­uoy caused to be closed vp with gret diligence, the most part thereof. It was thought, if the enemyes hadde come the next daye, it myght haue turned vs to gret trouble. But they had such a confidence in their great nūber, & so stoute, that thei thought al times & places might haue serued for to achieue their enterprise. For [Page] the Launtgraue had promised thē of the league, that he woulde dryue the Emperour out of Germanye in iii. monethes. To these woordes the lordes and the cities gaue such cre­dit, y ^t as to a thing done, some of thē dyd geue hym more then he did de­maund. And so he caried .iii. or .iiii. score thousande footemen and moe. Then .x. thousand horsemen, & one hūdred and thirty peces of artilery, but that night thei styrred not with any horses abrode in the fyelde.

¶ The next day the Emperour prouided for al thinges necessarye, agaynst suche thinges as the ene­myes myght take in hand: but that day they made no mouyng nor stir­ryng at all.

¶ The other daye folowyng, he went to view theyr strong lodgyng [Page] aforesayde .vi. little Italian miles from oure lodging, in a stronge place: for vpon the righthande and on the fronte, they hadde adepe ry­uer and a marrish kept with a Ca­stel stādyng vpō the said riuer, vpō theyr backes a great woode, vpon y ^e other syde a mountayne, whereupō they had layde theyr ordeinaunce. There was at this view a skirmish but it was of litle effect.

¶ The next day after, the ene­mies set forth their horsemen & fote­men in arraye, it was thought that they would come to our campe, but it was not but to take the muster of their folkes. When thei had taken it, they returned to their lodging, sithe the next day after they raysed theyr campe from thence, and came with in three myles of ours, in a strong [Page] place emongest lytle hylles, hauing the water somewhat farre of. The Emperour was purposed to cut thē from that.

¶ The duke of Aluoy consulted with his maiesty, and sent Don Al­uaro de sand, & Arze, with one. M hackbutters, geuing them instruc­cions what thei should do, & guides which knew thei countrey. And thei passed through a wood, and brake into the lodging of the enemyes, a­bout one or two of the clocke in the nyght, and killed the watche & ma­ny other, before the campe could bee set in ordre. Thei gaue thē a great alarū & lost but .2. or .3. souldiers, one of our souldiers had gotten a horse­mans standerd. I thinke thei were kylled with theyr owne men, for the nyght was very darke. After thys, [Page] Octauiā with John Baptista Sa­bello, captayne of the horsemen, and Alexander Uitello, captayne of the fotebēd of y ^e Italiās, apointed with theyr men to geue them a skirmish, and so they set foorth the next daye, but the enemies apointing the same they had taken a place in the woode that was chosen by duke Octauian and his other captaines for the same purpose. But the enemies began to set vpon our menne in a barne, nere vnto the woode, and there was that daye a skyrmishe, but it came not to passe as it was purposed. The ene­myes receyued losse by the reason of the hackbutters that came with A­lexāder. There was on both partes slayne and taken.

¶ These two Campes beyng but three myle a sunder, and beyng [Page] betwixt thē but a litle riuer, whiche in many partes myght bee passed, & the passages more nere vnto theyr Campe then to ours: so that the skyrmishes could not bee made but the one parte muste passe by lea­sure, al thynges came vnto this terme. It was deuysed howe they might be greued, for tarryīg or not tarryīg ther: it must nedes be done, hauyng a respecte by what pollicye it might be done. But earely y ^e next day, they raysed theyr campe in or­der with al their artiliery, the which they might easily carrye, the fieldes being so open and playne. And so in the morning thei wer passed the ry­uer afore said goīg ouer against our camp. The Emperor cōmaūded al­thinges to be in order, y ^e day begā to wexe clere, y ^e mist did breake, so y ^t we [Page] might the more clearely see them, & as I thought, thei wer in forme of a new mone. Upō y ^e right hand, there was a marrish which lay vpon oure left hand to Danubia, and vpō that side rode a gret esquadrō of horsmē & x. peces of ordinance, & vpon their left hād, did ryde one other with .xx. peces of ordināce, & so al their hors­men were deuided & scattred in the fieldes, not in rāckes but in partes, because thei would shote of, & there­fore thei set forth their artillery and horsmē. Their fo [...]emē marched af­ter in rāckes. On this sort went the Lantgraue to fulfil y ^e promes y ^t he had made to the cities of the league. Oure campe was set in an order to fight according to their quarters as thei wer lodged. The Hispaniardes stode in y ^e front of the enemies, they [Page] had y ^e marish vpō y ^e left hād. The Almains of y ^e regimēt of George dyd stād on y ^e right hād with a winge of hackbutters Hispaniardes, & by & by stode turning toward the ryght hād y ^e most part of y ^e fotemē of Ita­ly, for part of thē wer in y ^e fort y ^t was made in y ^e marrishe. Nere after thē euer folowing vpō the right hande, stode y ^e Almains of y ^e regimente of Madrucho, frō thē to y ^e town it lay opē, & so part of that space was shut with y ^e timber of our bridges. And y ^e rest was set with our horsmē in .iiii. esquadrōs: for because if y ^e enemies horsmen shoulde come vpon y ^t syde, our horsemen beyng set in y ^t holde, we might fyght with them. And likewyse it was a conuenient place for the charge. So by the parte that the trenches stode most low: stode y ^e [Page] horses, & for this purpose there wer left some spaces betwixt our Esqua­drones of fotemen, the whiche be­cause for to be better vnderstand, it is thus set forth in portrature.

¶ At this time the enemies be­gan for to approche, shoting of their artillery, & with the order that they had taken to girde in our camp, frō y ^e marrish y ^t was vpon the left hād, as it wer the half of the plain fielde lying vpon oure right hande, euer­more shoting so nere, that many pe­ces of theirs, & especiallye those that lay vpon the right hand, did shoote within .vi. C. paces of our Esqua­drōs. Our artillery was shotte of, but theirs had helpe by the disposiciō of the grounde more then we had. His maiestie had bene round about the campe, and dyd see what order [Page] the duke of Aluoy had sette. And horsed and armed as he was: he turned agayne and dyd stande before our Esquadrons, and sometimes he went amongest the Almaynes. On y ^e one side & the other there was great shoote of artillery, which was litle regarded, seeyng his maiestye emongest them. There it myght clearely be seene in suche thynges, howe muche is worthe the presence of a prince that hath a good oppi­nion emongest his souldiers. The enemyes hadde approched so nere, where they thought they myghte beate vs at theyr pleasure. They made a stonde with theyr horsemen and footemen, and began to tem­pest on al partes with al theyr ar­tillerye, and to beate vs so nye, and with so great furye, that verelye it [Page] appered to be a storme of pellettes, for in the trenches and esquadrons there was nothing sene but Gun­stōs and pellettes. The duke of Al­uoy stode with the Hispaniardes at the poynt of the campe, where the battery of the enemyes was nerest at hande. A pece wherof toke away a souldier standyng next vnto him, as he was prouydyng for euerye thing necessarye. They made coū ­tenaunce openlye two tymes to set vpon vs. The duke tooke an order with the hackbutters to bee aduised not to styrre, vntyll the enemyes shoulde bee two pickes of length from our trenches, for in this forte none of the shote of our hackbutters which wer many and good, shoulde be loste. And yf they should shote a­farre of, y ^e most part should be ī vain [Page] Also he cōmaūded, y ^t the first saluta­ciō which is euer y ^e best, should be at hād. The enemies did euer beat so y ^t it semed y ^t thei begā again: they sette forth & auaūced their esquadrōs, our artillery was shotte: but as I haue said, y ^e disposiciō of y ^e groūd did helpe so much, y ^t there was no great hurte done emongest thē. So hath it ple­sed god to preserue vs, so manye as hath bene sent frō them, insomuche that nere to the Emperor there hath fallen many Gunstons & pellettes. Insomuche that many left lookyng to their own peryll for y ^e Emperor. Especially one pellet was so streight & so nere, y ^t the peril was manifest, but it pleased god y ^t it tooke y ^e earth before his fete. An other pece kylled one of his garde, all other brake a standerd, other .2. killed .2. horses. [Page] This was the hurte that was done about his maiestie .vi. peces of ours dyd breake that day, one of thē kyl­led .vi. souldiers Hispaniardes, and hurt two.

¶ The enemyes preased vpon vs so muche, that they thought to dislodge vs with their terrible shot of artillery, in geuyng shotes with their fury infernal. And for all thys fury y ^t neuer ceassed, there was not one ray brokē, nor any souldier that stirred his head to loke if there wer any more safe then he. This battery continued .viii. houres, when it se­med that the enemies wexed wery, and to take an other way and not to come to battayle with vs, seing that we were more stoute then they had thought we had bene. His maiestie parceiuing this, & seing now y ^t they [Page] began to fagge: he commaūded the horsmē to retier into their campe, & to be al ready if necessitie should re­quire to returne to the trenches on fote. Here it may bee asked, to what purpose horsmē should be entrēched To aunswer this: y ^e trenches were made y ^e night before, & so low that y ^e horsmen wer set in place where they lacked. And wher y ^e mē of armes of oure enemies mighte enter, there stode ours, for so it was ordeyned, y ^t if they came to fyght, there we were redy to defēd. Al the tyme of this batery, the duke of Aluoy had set forth certain hackbutters Hispaniardes: which skirmished with y ^e enemies y ^t kepte their artillery, whiche did lye nere vnto a gret house prepared for to defēd thē .vi. C. paces frō our trē ­ches, so that at one self time they did [Page] beate with their ordinance, and our souldiers skirmished with thē that kept their artillery. Nowe had they continued .ix. houres and began to retier nere vnto the house, and the litle riuer aforesayde, where aboue nere vnto a mylle, they had set their tentes and pauillions. Now beyng late, thei withdrew thēselfes where thei had pitched their campe, so that the point towarde the marrish was viii. C. paces from our campe, & the other point vpō the left hand .ii. M. and .v. C. paces.

¶ This night the Launtgraue being at supper toke the cup (after the maner of Almayn:) and dranke to Exertel, saying these woordes: Exertel, I drink to al those that we haue killed this day with our artil­lery. Exertel answered, my lorde, I [Page] do not know how many be ded this day, but I knowe y ^t those y ^t be alyue haue not lost one fote of groūde. It was sayd y ^t Ex [...]rtel was of opinion y ^t day for to geue vs battaile at our trēches, but the Laūtgraue would not & as I think he had cōsidred y ^e better, for in such thinges be manye aduentures, chaunces. And for to iudge according to reason, the mē y ^t y ^e Emperour had there, would not haue bene lightly dislodged, & that y ^e Laūtgraue did know verely by ex­perience: seing y ^t we had bene so furiously beatē, & that he could perceiue no kind of weakenes in our campe. For our souldiers stode not only at defēce, but thei also stepped foorth & skirmished at y ^e mouth of their arti­lery. So it is sayde that the duke of Saxō coūcelled to geue vs battaile [Page] the other day at our cōmyng. But in the ende they tooke an other order, and that night it was prepa­red y ^t al the cartes in the field should bryng faggotes to raise the repares of our trenches, and euery souldyer did labour in their quarters, y ^t in y ^e mornyng the campe was fortifyed, so y ^t we might be behynd them sure­ly defended. And moreouer with this, the duke of Aluoy ēlarged our trenches with takyng in parte of the field, and set therin sure watche and warde.

¶ The next day y ^e enemyes let rest their artillery, & sent foorth cer­tayne hackbutters scattered to pro­uoke vs to skirmish, so we sent forth ix. C. hackbutters, Spanyardes, they skirmished with their enemies in y ^e plaīfield. The skirmish was so, [Page] that our enemies were constrained to set forth a M. horsmen in fauour of their hackbutters, & these came in .iii. esquadrons. The first myght be. C. horses whych wente lose dys­persed, the other two came in order one after another. Our hakbutters were .iij. or .iiij. C. scattered abrode, And in the rereward came. 5 .c. The hundred horses of our enemyes co­ming lose, set vpon our first hacke­butters: puttyng their truste in the plaine fielde, in the whyche, for the most part, horsmen haue aduantage against hackbutters. But ours re­ceiued them in suche sorte, that they made them to turne fliyng, so that of necessity, the secōd esquadrō came to succour with a stādred of Guels, gyuing the charge vpon our hacke­butters. But they gaue them such a [Page] rush, that they did breake in the middest and turned with the first. And so our hackbutters euer chargyng, came the thyrd esquadron bearyng a standred asure, but they were so receyued with our hackbutters, that they brake & turned theyr backes whōward into theyr trenches. Ma­ny taried behinde, horse and horsmē fallē in the field. A thyng to be lau­ded, It was praised of his maiesty, for verely it was not egal, horsmen against hackbutters, so the skirmish made an ende of al that day.

¶ That nyght the Duke of Al­uoy caused the laborers of Boeme to the nōber of two thousād, which be called the best laborers that can be founde in the worlde, to make a newe trenche, the whyche deuyded, drawyng towarde the house afore­sayde [Page] wythin foure hundred paces, so that the cabbyns of the one parte and the other myght reache. Thys trenche had helpe by a certayne dis­position of the grounde, so that the laborers myghte be couered out of daūger. They had also fortifyed & trenched the house aforesayd. Wyth our trenche was charged Don Al­uaro de Sand, wyth hys hackbut­ters Hyspaniardes, a woorke vnto the enemyes verye noyfull seeyng we came so nere, they were lyke to be dyspatched wyth the contynuall shoote that we sent from thence.

¶ At thys tyme the Duke of Aluoy consulted wyth hys Maie­stye takyng an order for to sende the Marques of Marnano and Maderucho wyth hys regyment, and Alonso Biuas wyth his terce, [Page] for to kyl and degule .iij. M. Suy­cheners whyche were lodged in the Suburbes of Newburge, for to kepe the towne & certaine artilerye left there by the Duke of Saxon & Lantgraue, but they were sent for that day, & so seased the enterpryce. Another daye the enemyes in the same selfe order as before, came in­to the fielde and set forth theyr arty­lery, and furiously beganne to beate our campe, how be it not so nere as the first day: for the newe trench be­syde the house caused them to haue a more respect then they had before. Theyr battery was in moe partes, but they did not so much hurt. The Emperour heard Masse that daye in the trenches, and brake hys faste amōgest the soldiors of Lumberdy and Naples, in whose quarter he [Page] was. The enemies did shoote con­tinually, but not muche to oure da­mage, being wythin our rampyers where hys maiesty was. There di­ed one because hys haulberde was stricken out of hys hand with a pel­let, whych haulberd kylled one that stoode by. Thys day, his hal, & bed­chamber was shot thorow of his tēt where he lay. Thus the enemies cō tinued theyr batery vntyl it was. 4. of the clocke. Thē the duke sēt forth Alon so Biuas wyth .v. C. hackbut­ters of his terce, to scyrmyshe wyth thē whych the enemies had set forth. He scirmished so wel, that he gat the first of theyr .ij. trenches, and after he turned vpon them that were in the house, he scyrmyshed with them vntil it was late, and then he retur­ned to oure Campe in good order.

[Page]¶ This nyght there was geuen to the enemyes sodaynelye a larum as they hadde manye sythe theyr commyng, so that they were kepte wake, and dysquyeted that daye wyth scyrmyshes: and in the nyght lying in theyr harnes (as we hadde knoweledge by the prysoners,) so that theyr impituous furour be­ganne for to swage. For nowe we hadde gathered them so nere to­gether, that theyr horsmenue that were wont to ride within two hun­dred paces of our cāpe to spye, came not nere by a thousand and fiue hū ­dred paces, for our hakbutters pur­sued them so nere, and our trenches and repayres beyng so strong, that they were nowe forced to haue re­spect, and to kepe them wythin their [Page] Campe. And moreouer our newe trenche went forewarde, for hys Maiestye woulde dyslodge them in anye wyse. Here it myghte bee seene that he that came to dyslodge, was hym selfe dislodged. Now the trenche was driuen to the house the whyche we haue nowe gottē, wher­by we myght easylye beate al theyr Campe: that there was no remedy but awaye from thence. The Coūte Palatine sent at thys tyme thre hū ­dred horses, whyche serued amon­gest the enemyes vntyll wythin a shorte tyme before that they were broken. He excused hym selfe, and sayd, that he sente them to the duke of Vertemburge as he was bound by a promes and a league made in tyme past, and not agaynste the [Page] Emperour: and that he caused thē to go parforce. Let it be as it was, for the greater nomber that were a­gaynst hym, so muche more was the victory that God gaue him. Many scirmishes wer made in these daies, and many thynges done by party­culer souldiers.

One day early in the mornyng, they began agayne wyth theyr artilerye to tempest and beate our cāpe, but more at large thē they had done before. Thys cōtinued vntyl it was late: then in their retier they gaue a notable peale. It is to be knowen, that in these daies they had sent vs pelletes innumerable, of the which there were many lost and fallen in our campe, but those that wer foūd about the tent of the Maister of the ordenaunce, were one M. & .vi. C. [Page] Thys night they had such a larum, that they were all nyghte in araye. This was so ordinary that larums were loked for, the going out of our trēche was the entering into theirs. Now had they lost manye horses & soldiors dead and slain. And more­ouer then thys, our horsmen tooke theyr victuales in al partes, so that they lyued in great trauaile & mise­rye, and we neuer suffered them to rest, but some tymes in the nyght, & euer in the day, they kept theyr bat­tayle ray. Thē they determined for to dislodge seing ther was no other remedye. The next night they pas­sed priuelye ouer a lytle ryuer wyth theyr great artilery and caryage, & wyth so great diligence, that in the mornyng there could no tentes nor pauilions be seene, but onlye theyr [Page] horsmen whyche beganne to passe, for they had sent theyr footemen be fore, and deuided theyr horsmen in xiij. or .xiiij. partes, wyth certayne fielde peeces which went in the re­rereward. In this order thei made towarde Newburge. The Empe­rour sent out lighthorsmē to se what they woulde do: & thē with the duke of Aluoy & other knightes, he rode to marke theyr fashions, whych to my syght was this. They sent their great artilery and fotemen before, and theyr horsmen incōtinent after. It was a maruelous beutiful sight to see all the fyeldes couered wyth esquadrons of horsemen and foote­mē in ray, and so in two lodginges they came to Newburge.

¶ Nowe the Emperour hadde newes that the Earle of Bure had [Page] passed the Ryne in despight of their enemyes, whose Captayne was the Earle of Aldamberge sent by the Duke and the Lātgraue for the de­fence therof. After thys passage the Earle of Bure made toward Frāk fort, his cāpe was of power to with stād the defēders of y ^e Rine, but not to resist, they being ioyned wyth thē of the leage. Therefore his maiesty sent to enforme him how that he had dislodged the duke of Saxō & Lāt­graue, and that they had taken the way toward Newburge & Tona­uert, which wai the Erle entēded to come. It was thought best to gyue him warnīg therof, he being so nere vnto Frākfort, doutīg that the ene­mies wold haue takē the same way.

¶ The Earle of Bure brought thre. M. horsmenne at hys charge [Page] and .iiij. M. which wer come to him belongyng to the Marques Albert of Brandenburge, & to the Ma­ster of Pruse, and to the duke of Austriche. The which not beīg of pow­er to passe the Ryne, they tarryed for the cōming of the erle of Bure, which brought .xxiiij. baners, good Soldiers of the Netherlande, and iiij. baners of Hispaniardes which had serued the kyng of England a­gainst the Frenchemen, & ij. of Italians from the same warres, wyth ii. C. hackbutters, horsmē, and .xij. peces of artilery. The enemyes at the defence of the Rine, were. xxxvi baners, one. M. & ii. C. horsmenne. The erle of Bure set ouer v. M. soldiers one night .iii. leages aboue the enemyes, & dyd take a towne stan­dyng vpon the same passage, where [Page] al the rest of the armye myght passe wythout any disturbance. And af­ter at Frankforte was foughten a great scirmyshe, where many of the enemyes were slayne and dryuen into the towne. These newes came to the Emperour, but not wythoute great difficulty, so many townes of the enemyes being betwene.

The Duke and the Lantgraue beyng .ij. dayes in Newburge, in which tyme diuers newes came to the Emperour, some sayd they pas­sed Danubia to enter into Bauer. And other sayd that they wold take the way to Tonauert. His maiestie determined to tarry for to see theyr fetche. And at the end of two daies they moued they [...] campe, and in .ij. lodginges they came to Tonauert, leauīg in Newburg [...]. 3. baners for [Page] to kepe y ^e town. Here was one other great errour, for there they had one great, & a strong lodgīg, with wood water, & al maner of virtuals, with the bridge at Newburge vpon the riuer of Danubia, a great countrei of villages & forages for horses, & al at libertie throughe Bauer vp to Minique, thei were sure of Lico the riuer of Angust wyth the towne of Rain, so that if we shuld haue gone thither, we should haue had Newe­burge vpō our backes: nether could he haue gone to Anguste, but they woulde haue bene there before him: nor to Vlme, for they stande in the passage, but they looked not vppon all these qualityes, or paraduenture they had a respect to other thynges. They went to Tonauert, and as it [Page] is thoughte by many to theyr great losse.

¶ The Duke of Saxon and Launtgraue, beyng at Tonauerte two or three dayes the Lantgraue went to a towne of the Duke of Bauers, two leagues frō Tonauert, called Limbygane, whyche was to hym yelded. He set there Commis­sioners for the prouision of vyctu­als, he tourned to Tonauert where they hadde strongly pytched theyr campe.

¶ In al this time wrot the Lantgraue vnto the cities of the league, geuing thē accoūpte of all thinges that was done, putting them in cō ­forte of moe thinges thē was done, in bosting of their skirmishes, with killinge and takinge manye of the pryncypalles (and thys he fayned:) [Page] but in thē end of hys letters it was euer more for mony, which I think vnto them was not much agreable, for now the tyme drewe nere, that he had promysed to dryue the Em­perour out of Germanye, or for to take hym. But they parceiued hys busynes, order and facultye, not to be as he had promysed them, nor as they had thought.

At this time the Emperour had knowledge that the Lātgraue had taken the waye to Bendengan, a­gaynste the Erle of Bure, for so it was sayd in the Campe of the ene­myes that he wold do. He sēt gides of the same Country for to conduct the Erle to hys maiesty by an other way, and it was determined, that if thys might not be, for to folowe the enemies, and for to enclose them for [Page] the one or the other was the reason of the warre, and not to suffer the Cāpe of the enemies to go agaynst the erle of Bure.

Nowe his maiestie turned to­warde the principall Cities whiche were lefte prouided by the Duke of Saxone and the Lantgraue, for it should haue bene a thing in vain to besiege them, and a greate parell to hazarde the principal part of our armie against the nomber in the cāpe of the duke of Saxon & Lātgraue, being now ioyned wyth the .xxxvj. baners whych had beene in the de­fence of Ryne, & as it was thought the enemyes erred yet in this, that th [...] being at Tonauert al this time and had passed Daunbia with .x. or xij. M. fotemen and certayne peces of artilery. Thei made a forte vpon [Page] the riuer of Lico nere vnto Rayne, they lodged there as mē that would make an ende of the warre, in the place that they had taken. For with the passage of Lyco, they were sure of August, and with Tonauert vp­ō Danubia thei wer sure of Vlme: but they content therewyth, conty­nued a greate space in spendyng of tyme in theyr lodging. At this time the Erle of Bure had passed Frāk­forte, he came by Rotemberge and nere Noremberge, out of the waye and daunger of hys enemies. Hys maiestie abode in Ingulstat for the tōming of the Earle of Bure, & af­ter hys commyng, he rode into the fieldes to his cāpe, which was faire and well furnyshed wyth horsemen and footemen.

¶ After that he had bene there [Page] two daies, he determined to folowe the enemies, & first to Newburge, for he woulde not leaue so strong a towne, so wel prouided at his backe especially standing vpon Danubia: a principall ryuer and so necessarye to serue a Campe. Wherefore he woulde go hym selfe to vewe it, ta­kyng with him the light horsmen, & a nomber of hackbutters Hispany­ardes. So early in the morning he set forthe and went to Newburge, where he lyghte on foote to take the vewe thereof. They sent pellettes but to a lytle effecte.

¶ The nexte daye in the mor­nyng, he raised his campe, and cau­sed brydges to be layd ouer Danu­bia, so that in short tyme he passed o­uer & lodged. j mile frō Ingulstat, in the wai to Newburge, & frō thys [Page] daye forewarde, our Campe went in an other order thē we had gone: for we had gone but in two partes, vaward and battaile: because if we should haue made a rereward, eue­ry part of the .iij. had bene to weake for our enemyes, they beyng supe­riour in number. Therfore our va­warde & battaile, went in euery one of them .ij. esquadrons of fotemen, and .ij. of horsmē, for to be the more strong whatsoeuer myght chaunce. But after the coming of the Erle of Bure, we made arerewarde. In this sort his maiesty tooke the waye towarde Newbrocke, where at the first comīg, the Burgemasters did yeld vp the toun. And the captaines therein, set by the Duke of Saxone and Lātgraue, it was yelded to his maiesty to do wyth the one and the [Page] other according to his pleasure. It was muche to be thoughte that so strong a hold and so wel prouyded, hauing the passage & rescue so nere, did so lightely surrender.

At thys time the enemyes haue forsaken Rayne, onelye sustainyng the forte vpon the riuer of Lico. Before thys tyme there hath beene dy­uers opynyons that hys maiestye should not set foorth toward New­brocke being so strongly defended, but he was determined therein. He left two baners of Dutchmen, and ser the men of warre in an Ile nere vnto the Castel for that nyght.

The nexte daye hys Maiestye wyth the order that he had taken, lodged in the orchardes & suburbes of Newbrocke, and there was takē the armoure and weapon from the [Page] soldiers, where he myghte as well haue taken theyr lyues beyng Re­belles to theyr Prynce, he toke their othes and let them go. He dyd the same to the Captaynes saying: he dyd knowe that they were begyled. They aunswered, not onelye begy­led, but also enforced.

¶ Hys maiesty being thre daies in Newbrocke, he made a generall muster, in the whych he foūd. ir. M horsmen, & .xxix. M. footemē. How be it, they had bene a greater nōber, but they were nowe mynyshed by hurt, slaughter & infirmiti. After he had taken the fidelitie of the towne, he set a garyson there, and after he would seke the enemies, for his intē cion was to finde thē in place where he might geue thē battaile. He determined to pas Danubia by y ^e bridge [Page] of y ^e same town, for to make toward Tonauert, for it was said that they had cāped, & that there they woulde make an end of y ^e warre, in .ij. daies, his maiesti aproched within a leage of their cāpe, where he came to a village called Marquesē, the distance was not much, but y ^e difficulti was more, because of a thicke wood standing betwene the .ij. cāpes, hauyng no other passage but .ij. or .iij. cart­waies. This wood begā at our cāpe & extended vnto theirs, his maiesty cōmaūded to vewe the ward, to see by what possibility an army myght passe, & whether by the dispositiō of the place the cāpe might lye so nere the enemies to make vs lords of the wood. He sēt the duke of Aluoi with a nōber of hakbutters which wer deuided in y ^e wood, as it was thought [Page] Then he wyth .xxiiij. horses passed thorow the woode, so nere vnto their trenches, that he was wythin the shoote of a saker. The Duke tooke wyth him thre or foure and went on foote, where he dyd see the scituaciō of our enemyes, they were so busye in labour, that they had no other re­garde. There the Duke perceyued that the wood stretched so nere their campe, that there was but a lytle playne of .iiij. or .v. paces, and at the vtter part thereof, one steppe going downe, and a lyke goyng vp. And vpon the toppe of the banke they made theyr trenches so, that vpō the left hand it ioyned wyth the woode. This vallei serued as a ditche. Vp­on the ryght haud they were fortifi­ed with Danubia, so that there was no place to lodge our campe.

[Page]Wyth this relation he turned to the Emperoure, who seeyng that it was not possyble to aproche our enemies for the causes aboue sayd: hys maiesty imagined by what meanes he might remoue them out of theyr strong lodging, for being there and the woode betwene, it coulde neuer be brought to passe, but this warre should be euer at large. Then he cō cluded that we shoulde go with our campe on the right hand towarde a towne called Bendengen, leauing our enemyes vpon the right hand.

IT is to be vnderstande that the Emperou hath trauailed muche in Germany, wherby he doth not alonlye knowe a greate part therof, but moreouer he hath a discrescion and a vniuersal knowe­ledge [Page] of al the whole coūtrey, so that when nede shal require, verelye he doth deserne & cōprehend the scituacion of the cities & townes, and how they stand with theyr dystances the one frō another, fo that it apeareth that he hath bene there parsonaly, rather thē by syght of painting: so that it was his opinion, that hys campe being at Bendēgē, we might be lodged at Norling, & there being, wee should haue a good coūtry for victuals, & at the backes of our enemies, and a place wherby might be taken from them, al that came frō thence. Al the time the Emperour was in this determinaciō, there wer cōtinually scirmishes in the wood, by forragers, but no great slaughter on the one part nor on the other. And whē the dai apointed was cōe, the Emperour [Page] cōmāded for to dislodge in the order acustomed & beīg a great mist we cāe to Monehū, a town in the li­berties of Newbrok. The day folo­wing his maiesty dislodged & cāe in a litter because of his Goute. At his cōming to Bendengē the Duke of Aluoy sēt him the Burghmasters, which did yeld thē & theyr towne in­to his hādes. Now his maiesty was certified that the horsmē of our ene­mies appered after our rereward, wherfore he cōmaūded it to be reforced with hakbutters, for accordīg to the disposition of the way, they were most necessary, & therefore to be set in place wher thei might be ꝓfitable if the enemyes should take the way to make any other prouision. Thys day we lodged betwene Bendēgen and Norling euer kepīg this order. [Page] The vawarde stoode euer in araye to the commyng of the battayle, the whych in commyng made theyr es­quadrons. The vawarde and the battayle lodged, they abode the co­myng of the rerewarde, thys was the order in al hys warres.

The campe of the Emperoure being lodged, did come knowledge that Norlyng had receyued .ij. ba­ners from the duke of Saxon and Lantgraue, for the whyche doyng they did muche repent as they con­fessed after. In al this tyme the mo­uīg of the enemies was not knowē, but that they had set two baners in Norling that night. After the cāpe was lodged were sēt forth light hor­ses for to search the waies towarde the enemyes, by whom we wer cer­tified that one parte of the footemen [Page] were discouered, and .ij. esquadrons of horsmen with theyr carriage, but no knowledge what way they wold take. This referred to the Emperor he cōmaūded the campe to be in or­der before the day.

At this time came an other war­nyng that they marched streight to­warde our campe, thys was a lytle before the day: so the campe stode al in a readines, and when it was day, the mist was so darke, that it differd but a lytle from the nyght, hys ma­iesty was then muche payned wyth the Goute, neuerthelesse he cōmaū ­ded horsmen and footemē to be rea­dye in esquadrons and not to looke for the breakyng vp of the myste, so that if the enemyes came to fyght, they shuld not finde vs out of order, or if they should paraduenture take [Page] an other waye, and the place might geue vs occasiō to presēt thē battail.

¶ At this time the mist continued so darke, that verelye we coulde not see the enemies, nor our campe wyth our esquadrons, standyng so nere together coulde not deserne one another. The enemyes by the helpe of the mist (which for a truth maye be called helpe) they folowed the way to Norling. They passed. ij passages before they could be disco­uered wyth our horsmenne, so that by. [...]ij. of the clocke in the daye, they had passed these two streygtes, and daungerous ryuer, and gotten the mountayne going toward Norlīg. They had a great time for they wēt al the night, and after in the day in the myst so close, that it serued them as well as the nyghte. They mar­ched [Page] so dyligently and wyth suche speede, that it woulde neuer haue bene thoughte that the Almaynes, whych seme to beslouthful & heauy, would haue made suche speede, but we haue sene the experience in thys warre, that they can warlyke rayse theyr cāpe in good order, & their ca­riage together with their artileri in place cōueniēt at al times whē nede shal require. And seing that I haue said so much, I wil say more of that we haue experience of thys nacion. This it is, they can rayse their cāpe (as I haue sayde) and chonse sure & strong lodging, haing a respect to al cōmodities that may be for a cāpe. yet ther is an other thīg that I note muche in them, that in their skirmy­shing, they come out stronglye & re­tier warrely, beginning with theyr [Page] lyght horses which they cal blacke, taking the name of theyr blacke harnes which they beare with sieues of mayle, shorte dagges of. ij palmes of length, and iauelyns, with which they are very handsome. And as for theyr footemen, they keepe good or­der & cā take great aduātage wyth artilerie. They can breake victuals from theyr enemyes, set emboyses, and other lyke feates of warre to good purpose. Thys was the dyly­gence of our enemies by the help of the night, & after of the mist. Nowe his maiesty had seene our campe in order, and when it was cleare day, the duke of Aluoy came and certy­fied hym, that he thought they wold geue battaile, for he had sene them in order, & ready for that purpose. To the which his maiesty aunswe­red. [Page] In the name of god. For yf the enemyes would fight, so would he. These wer his woordes in sūme sit­ting on horsebacke, for because of y ^e goute, he might not stand on foote. He did take his curates & braselets and moued the campe in this ordre.

¶ The duke dyd leade the va­ward, & with hym y ^e Erle of Bure, with al his horsemen and foremen. In this vaward went al the fotemē of Spayne, and shortly after wente his maiestie, the horsemen of hys house and court, and the bendes of Flaunders, which went with theyr standerdes. There went the prince of Pyemont, to whom his maiestye had geuen charge in those warres, with y ^e esquadron of his house, and the court. There went also Maxi­milian the prince of Hūgarye, with [Page] al his horsemē. The marques Ihō of Brandemburge with his. The fotemē of the battaile wer the regi­ment of Madrucho and the Italy­ans: the rerewarde was conducted by the great maister of Prence, and the marques Albert, the regimente of George of Ranspruge. The va­ward did leade sixtene or seuentene thousād fotemē in thre esquadrōs, & thre thousād horses. The rereward might be .viii. thousand fotemen, & ii. M. horsemen in one esquadron. The horsemen of these three partes wer deuided cōfirmably for y ^e necessitie, setting y ^e black harnes in place conueniente, & the menne of armes with their launces in their places. The rereward & the battayle went, (as it wer) egal: for why, his maiesty would honor the captaynes whiche [Page] wer willing in such a day to mete y ^e enmies in frōt, & not to be left behīd

¶ It is to be vnderstande, y ^t be­fore the breaking vp of the myste, the Prince of Salmona hadde be­gonne a skirmish with the enemies at the commyng of the Emperour. It was so hote, that his maiesty sēt the Earle of Bure with his horse­menne, to bee nere vnto the riuer, whatsoeuer might chaūce. Al thīges being in these termes, now y ^e battail of his matesty, had made egal with y ^e vawarde cōming to y ^e shore. And ther he toke y ^e duke of Aluoy, & other captains, & wēt vpō a moūtaī where he might se what y ^e enemies did. In some thīges ther it did appere y ^t thei would accept y ^e battel, & come down into the plain, lying betwene y ^t hils & the riuer. To y ^e whiche they were [Page] muche procured on our part, with a new skirmish of back butters, y ^t wer sent ouer the water. But they kepte the moūtaines going toward Nor­ling, and now their vaward had ta­kē their lodging. His maiesty made the campe to stay, but now the Erle of Bure had proued the passages, with certaine horsemen, but it was streyte, & trauelous to be done late and farre of the day. But this day it had beē foughtē without any dout, if the miste had not couered the ene­mies so long time vntyll they had passed the streightes & passages a­foresayd, feding vs with skirmishes to their aduauntage, for our horses could not passe the ryuer in any or­der, & our fotemen wadīg through the water, should haue foughtē with great trauaile, but they tooke an o­ther [Page] counsel: for they dyd take a lod­ging easy to be kept, with lesse pow­er then they hadde, but nowe as I haue sayd: it was late, and tyme to turne vnto our campe, and the ene­myes in the mountaynes, dyd the same. This night they loste manye souldiers & cartes which our horse­men did take.

¶ The other day his maiestye thought best to rayse his campe, and to goe nere vnto the enemies, and so in the self and same order as the day before, he went ouer against them & toke a place for his lodgīg one mile and an half frō theyr campe, where the same day was foughten a skyr­mish of horsmen. In the which the marques John of Brandenburge with .xxx. of his horsmē did fyght a­gaīst one of y ^e dukes of Brūzwique [Page] which came with y ^e campe of y ^e ene­mies, he was hurt & after died of his woūdes at Norling, & other no­table mē of theirs which wer hurt & slain y ^t day, & some of ours likewise.

¶ His maiesty beīg there lodged certain daies, sekīg by al meanes to haue thē in chase, but thei wer so set­led to their purpose for vitailes, that he did know it was necessary for to moue the reason of the warre, and not to lye cāping and lesing of time without anye profite agaynste the enemies whiche were so stronglye lodged, that for to remoue them, it behoued rather to vse pollicye then force: & ther about he was determi­ned to worke. And thought whiche way he might take awaye from thē Danubia, the which was so necessary for both y ^e campes, y ^t to my iudge­ment, [Page] a great parte of the victory did consiste in the geatting thereof, for the townes standing therupon, be of great importance to be lordes of the bridges, for to goe into Bea­uer and Sueuer. And at this time, the enemies hadde al those betwixt Vlme and Tonauert, and so they were lordes of great plentye of vy­tayles For thei had the passage of Angust at theyr pleasure, then he seeyng, that the geattyng of them shoulde bee to their greate detry­ment and disaduauntage, and that moreouer he myghte haue places necessarye bothe agaynste Angust and Vlme, two principal heades of the league. He considred what was beste to be done, and so he deuysed in this sorte. He commaunded a muster dayly to be made agaynste [Page] our enemies. Thē he sent one night duke Octauian, with the horsemen and fotemen of Italy. And Exam­burge with his Almayns and .xii. peces of ordinance: with al diligēce to Tonauert, from our campe .iii. leagues, geuing them instruccions what was to be done Wherby with great diligence they came vnto the towne earely in the morning, where they began to beate, without rāpire or trenche. And so with open staling they entred. There went out fleyng ouer the bridge two baners of fote­mē, which wer set there by the duke and Launtgraue.

¶ Now I haue thought good for to declare one thyng, whiche the readers may desyre to knowe. How many souldiers be a banner .ii. or. iii because I haue spoken ofttymes of [Page] banners, and not of the number. A banner of Dutchemen is commōly of .iii. C. men or aboue. This towne gotten, they left theyr two banners, the rest returned to the campe. The enemyes had no knowledge of this vntyl the next daye in the mornyng, for although they lay nere vnto our campe, it was done with such dily­gence, that they had no vnderstan­ding therof. This was of great im­portunitie, by reason of the scitua­ciō of the place. In one day his ma­iestye raysed his campe, and remo­ued to Tonauert, and there lodged and the towne at his backe, vpō the left hande Danubia. That daye the enemyes moued not, for to geue a­nye disturbance in our way, where­of I haue maruayle, beyng so gret a noumber of horsemen, and know­yng [Page] the countrey, and the passages so muche oute of order, for in pas­syng we haue bene oftentymes in staye and loosyng of tyme: and for­ced to bee subiecte to manye incon­ueniences. Howe bee it, his ma­iestye hadde prouided agaynste all sinister chaunces. He sette the hackebutters Hyspanyardes and Italyans, in a place apte for theyr purpose. The rerewarde was for­tified, accordyng to the disposicion of the waye, whiche gaue no place, but to goe in range. At lengthe he came to Tonauert, and from thence to Tillingam, aboue vpon Danu­bia, which is a towne of y ^e Cardi­nals of Angust. There is a good bribge and a plaine waye, hauyng Danubia vpon oure lefte hand, and vpon oure righte hande, a greate [Page] thicke wood, standing betwixt vs and oure enemies, euer folowyng, vntyll we came to the ryuer of Prence, whiche is three myles a­boue T [...]llingā, & entreth into Da­nubia: and so we went, leauing the wood vpon our ryght hand. In the whiche there bee two wayes from Norling to Tillingam. His maie­stye takyng that wayes, there came to hym to bee surrendred, the towne of Ho [...]hscot, with a stronge Castell standing vpon Danubia. Lyke­wyse was surrendred the towne of Tillingam, whiche was taken from the Cardinall of Auguste, wherin was a banner of garde, but thei fled when thei heard of his co­ming. He lodged that day betwene Tillingam & Londginguē. There [Page] is a brydge vpon Danubia, and a stronge holde reasonablye fortyfy­ed. There wer three banners, and that whiche went out of Tillingā. They were syted by the duke of Aluoy, for to yelde. They aunswe­red stoutelye that they woulde not, for they trusted to bee rescued the nexte daye, by the duke and the Launtgraue. But seyng the batte­rye prouided, they tooke an other counsayle, and in the nyghte they wente from thence, and tooke the waye to Anguste. The Burgemai­sters submitted themselues wyth one excuse that they had been con­strayned by menne of warre, and not willingly, to do any thing agaīst his maiestye.

¶ At this tyme the Emperour had knowledge that the duke and [Page] the Launtgraue were commyng streight toward Lodgingen: to this he gaue credit, in so muche that the menne of warre whiche had bene there, looked for rescue. He caused the campe to bee in order, and a cer­tayn passage to bee taken, where the enemyes must of necessitie fight or turne backe agayne. If they woulde fyghte, his maiestye hadde the place for aduauntage. And yf they woulde turne backe, they shoulde loose theyr labour. Then for doubte of the one or the other, they sette theyr enterpryse asyde. But al thinges beyng at this point, the towne of Langinguen came to surrender to his maiestye, it was knowen of them, that not onelye they looked for succoure from the duke of Saxon and the Launt­graue, [Page] but moreouer that Exer­tell hadde beene there that nyghte, and that he hadde fetched awaye the fowre banners to Auguste. Shortelye after Longinguen, came into a towne called Gunel­ [...]inguen, standyng vpon the ryuer Prence. The Emperor comman­ded John Babtista Sabello, with the Popes horsemenne, and Alda­dano Aguilera, to pursue Exertell, and these foure banners with their two companions, and Nicholas Seco with his Italians, which by great diligence dyd ouertake Ex­ertell, where they hadde a greate skirmishe: wherein was taken ma­nye souldiers with three peces of ordinaunce, whiche they carryed frō Longinguen to Anguste. With this, John Babtista Sabello tur­ned [Page] to the Emperour, y ^e which Ihō the same daye lefte in Longinguen two bāners, the Emperour lodged with al his campe. Whē he had pas­sed the riuer of Prence, in a village standing therupon called Sulten, three leagues from Vlme: for hys maiestie woulde goe to Vlme, in­tending to take the townes, stāding vpon Danubia, for he beeing there afore the enemies, yf they woulde come to rescue, the battayle myght bee to his aduauntage. The whiche he was sure they woulde procure to doe, except they would lose it: So he cōcluded the next day to part frō thence. But when the Campe was risyng, certayne lyght horsemenne whiche his maiestye hadde sente the daye before, certyfyed that the e­nemyes were in gate. And then it [Page] was necessarye to knowe: whereu­pon they woulde determyne, be­fore that his maiestye shoulde dys­lodge hys campe. He sente foorth other to see what waye they woulde take. They hadde gone that daye a long iourney. Our horsemen had not discouered them, for being straū gers in the countrey, it was longe before that they coulde fynde the right wai. Some Almains brought newes, but they agreed not all in one, vntyll the enemyes wer so nere that our scoutes hard their drūmes, and one part of their menne appea­red.

¶ At this time the enemies were come so nere, that the duke of Aluoy being abrode, he hard their drūmes and dyd see some of theyr folkes. He certified his maiestye, whiche [Page] wente vpon a mountayne, where he might see the vawarde of the e­nemyes, with greate strength of horsemen, and the footemen nere vnto a wood side, with certain held peces, wherewith the Launtgraue professeth himself to be a great doer I doe not knowe to whom a manne should geue the thankes, to y ^e Laūt graue or to his captaynes. But this I can say, y ^t it hath bene diligentlye bestowed, as I haue seē. After that the Emperour had seen the trade of the enemies, he perceiued that they would take the way toward Guin­gane, standing a league from oure campe. He returned to his campe, & y ^e enmies to their lodging. There was at this tyme, a skirmish, but of litle effecte. It hath bene thought by some that day, that it had bene good [Page] to haue geuen them battayle, but al thynges counted and debated, the trueth is, that we had no space nor tyme to haue sette foorth our menne in esquadrōs, because of the wodes, and the spedye takyng of the yr lod­ginges. And espectallye the riuer of Prence being betwene both cāpes: and if there wer a faulte, the faulte was this. That our enemies were found after y ^t the dede should haue be done. And this was through dy­uers relacions of the skoutes: for when the trueth was knowen, the time was past.

¶ I haue considred one thing in this warres, whiche I haue diuers times sene, that for the most part, we haue lacked good guides, although thei haue bene naturallye borne in the coūtrey, yet of a trueth we haue [Page] gone groping as menne dooe in the darke, by coniecture, and all for lacke of good guides and skoutes, I cannot saye what is the cause ex­cept it he as Cesar said by Considio, a valiāt souldier and of great expe­rience. Ceasar sente hym for to haue knowledge of his enemyes. Consi­dio roode foorth and dyd se menne, thinkyng that he had sene the ene­mies He returned to Ceasar, and sayd that he had sene his enemyes. And that the mountayne that he hadde appoynted Labiano to take, was taken, and occupyed wyth the Frenche menne, and that he hadde seene theyr banners and armes. This erroure of Considio, was the cause that Ceasar was all that daye in a staye, and dyd nothyng vntyll the enemyes hadde tyme [Page] to mende theyr lodgynges. So Ceasar sayeth, that Considio being afrayde, he thought he had seen that thing that he hadde not sene. Now this is to our purpose, for oure dis­couerers, eyther they haue not sene their enemies, or when thei haue seē them, thei haue had litle regarde, to say the trueth.

¶ The Emperour being in his lodgyng, the enemyes mustarde certayne esquadrons of horsemen ouer agaynste hym, hauyng a ly­tle skirmishe as I haue sayde, they retourned vnto theyrs, the whiche although it was deuided by slackes and runnyng brookes, yet they had a strong lodging for their pur­pose.

¶ This nyght, his maiestye spake of goyng to Vlme, but after [Page] many oppinions. Finally, the nexte daye he did take resolucion for the mouing of his campe: for why, he was certified that the enemyes had sente vnto Vlme, thre thousand suichiners, and xv. C. souldiers of the same countrey menne, sufficient to defende that citie. The whiche so being, it was no reason to goe ther­agaynste. Leauyng one armye at oure backes of foure score and .x. thousande menne, for it is cleare, yi we hadde left our lodgyng, they woulde haue been shortelye there­in, where they myghte easily haue taken awaye oure vyctualles, for they coulde not come anye other waye. They shoulde haue been Lordes of all the townes vpon Danubia. Therefore the goyng to Ulme was reuoked, by the rea­son [Page] of these particulers afore sayde. For the manour of the warre shoulde haue turned from lodging to lodgyng, and euerye daye skyr­mishīg, where unto y ^e enmies came continuallye. The duke of Aluoy appoynted to make them a skyr­mishe, more then ordinarye. So the nexte daye in the mornyng, he made an Imboyshe of three thou­sande hackebutters, in a wood to­warde the enemyes standyng vpon Prence. He sente the prince of Salmona with certayne of his horse­menne, to geue them a bayghte nere vnto theyr campe, and there he sette vpon the Straglers, there came oute in grosse after theyr cu­stome, some loose, some in Esqua­drons, and the prince withdrewe [Page] hymselfe towarde the place appoin­ted. There was a greate skyrmysh with horsemenne and hackebut­ters, there were many ouerthrowē, and laye alonge in the fieldes, with the bendes of theyr coloure. In this skyrmishe they dyd much helpe themselues with theyr artyllery, but oure hackebutters hadde the vpper hande, by the helpe of oure lyghte horsemenne. Howe bee it, thei charged stoutelye in grosse, but there were of the principal horses of all the nacions that serued his ma­iesty. But the order y ^t the duke had taken the night before, dyd not fully take effecte, because of some negly­gence. His maiestye commaunded the skirmishe to retyre, to the which the enemyes were so wyllynge, [Page] that the retrayte was all at once.

¶ Hys maiestye parceyued his enemies to be so lyghtly prouoked: he entended to geue them a nota­ble onsette. So he appoynted on a daye the lyghte horsemenne to assayle theyr trenches, so that by skyrmishes, they myght be brought abrode. He deuyded the Dutche­menne couertelye in tenne partes of the woode, and lykewyse the Hyspanyardes, and Italyans hackebutters, and all the reste to bee in a readinesse, if nede shoulde requyre, and moreouer certayne peces of artyllerye to bee layde secretelye. He also commaun­ded that the Prynce of Salmo­na with hys lighte horsemenne, to dooe accordyng to the order that was taken. Whyche was to al­lure [Page] the enemyes out of their camp. as he hadde done the daye before. There came foorth of theyr campe two greate Esquadrons of horse­menne, whiche woulde not for anye thyng that coulde be done, departe from theyr artyller. Aynd thys I thinke was for one of these two causes, eyther they had know­ledge what order we hadde taken: or because they hadde been so skir­mished with y ^e other skirmish past, that they durste no more come in the place where theihadde so much loste.

¶ The Emperour seing there coulde no other thyng bee done, because their campe was so strong, he procured to prouide for the night, a Camesado, in the whiche he ap­pointed the footemen Hispaniardes [Page] and Madrucho with his charge. The great master of Prence, and y ^e marques Albert with his horsmen. With this Camisado the next nyght the duke of Aluoy made towarde theyr campe. The Emperour was abrode secretelye in a place, for to haue knowlage from the duke what was to bee done. But when the duke was within halfe a mile of the campe, he perceyued theyr watche to bee reforced. He commaunded them to staye vntyll he hadde far­ther knowledge, for then shortelye he dyd parceiue that they hadde warnyng, for theyr linkes might be seen from one warde to an other. Then the place consydered, and howe it was fortifyed and prouy­ded, it was not thoughte good for [Page] to hazarde vpon suche a chaunce. For after, we had knowledge that thei hadde warnyng fowre houres before oure commyng, by an espye out of oure campe. So the duke re­tourned to his lodgyng before it was daye, and the Emperoure at the same tyme. Nowe it semed that this warre was newe to beginne a­gayne, for the enemyes were so setteled, they coulde not bee re­moued.

¶ Then the Emperoure began to searche an other entrye, but in the meane tyme we hadde continuall skyrmishes with takyng their vy­taylles, and killing their forragers with larums in the night, which is a thyng noyful vnto all nations.

¶ At this tyme his maiestye [Page] tooke an order, that the Prynce of Salmona with his light horses, and the Lorde of Brabansone, knyghte of the order of the golden Flece, Flemmyng, with the Erle of Bures horsemenne, shoulde goe in a skoute, as the enemyes dyd. They mette with two great bendes of horsemenne, not farre from their campe, where was ouerthrowen, slayne and taken, a greate parte of them, a standerd, and the standerd bearer was taken. There was a chaunce, whiche I haue thoughte good to bee wrytten. It is so, that the same horsemanne that dyd take the standerde, was belongyng to mounsure de Bure, whiche the same daye in twelue monthes, had kylled a standerd bearer, and ta­ken a standerde from one whyche [Page] was brother to this same standerd bearer. This done, the Prynce retourned to the Emperour, after that he hadde slayne and taken ma­nye of the enemyes, bryngyng a greate noumber of horses & cartes, whiche turned them to great hyn­deraunce, losse, and detriment.

¶ At thys time the Empe­roure determined to chaunge his lodging for diuers causes: one was because of the greate infyrmitye and sickenesse amongest oure soul­dyers, and also it was so full of mudde and mire, that oure artille­rye was welnere immouable, so that we coulde not helpe our selues therwith: wherfore it was thought moste conueniente to retourne to Longinguen, as to a place moste mete for al thinges necessarie. In [Page] this lodgig died y ^e Coronel George o [...] Rausburge, which in al the Em­perors warres had done good ser­uice. At this same time y ^e Cardinal Fernese, nenew to y ^e Pope, returned to Rome.

¶ The Emperour departed frō this lodging of Sultan, with the order accustoined, and came to Lau gingam. This daye the enemyes made no shew, but with one esqua­dron of .iiii. C. horses. There haue bene diuers oppinions, that yf the duke and y ^e Laūtgraue had woulde thei might haue geuen battayle to their aduauauntage, for thei had inforced their campe with .xv. M. men of Uiertemburge whiche they call choorles, but suche choorles as thei bee, they haue of late geuen an ouerthrow to .xxv. M. Suichiners [Page] Nowe thei bee in strength and we lacking, for the Almayns of the o­uerland and of the netherlande bee fallen in sickenes, and of the Hispa­niardes a great nūber. There could not be founde .iiii. M. Italyans, for the reste were dead and gone vnto their countrey, but as I haue saide, the enemies made no demonstraciō for to take any aduauntage of any cōmoditie that thei mighte haue for to fight. After y ^e Emperor departed from Sultan, and was lodged at Laugingam, he had newes from y ^e kinges brother, that he had the vic­tory in Saxony, & that he & y ^e duke Morris hadde taken the most part of the estate thereof, the whiche for to be more spedelye signyfyed vnto our enmyes, or for because thet did knowe that we hadde knowledge, [Page] there was sent a great salutacion of artillery.

¶ All the tyme that the Em­peroure was lodged in Longyn­guen, he rode daylye aboute the campe, (as it is his ordinarye cu­stome in all hys warres,) and in­to the fieldes, for to beholde where the enemies mighte occupye anye place agaynste hym, or he againste them. Thei hadde been two or three times spying aboute a castell in the keping of the Hispanyardes, a myle from oure Campe, (but euer at suche tymes when they coulde not bee ouertaken.) When the Emperoure hadde diligentely considered all thynges, he soughte for to haue an other lodgyng, so that hys dooynges hence foorth [Page] might take better effecte. He found one for his purpose, and after he turned to his campe, which was so full of mudde and mire, that our men of war were sore trauailed & weryed. Wherefore there wer diuers opini­ons, but al agreed that hys maiesty should dislodge and to auoyde hys mē by garysons, and so for to make the warre, but he was of a contrarie opinion, and that was to folow the warres, and thys was the best as it hath proued since by experience.

¶ Nowe being in our lodging so foule and myrye, that our cartes nor yet wagones could cōe in wyth victuals, he determined to remoue to y ^e other, which he had afore sene, leading the campe in twoo partes, the footemē and artilery in the one parte, and in the other part the hors­men [Page] toward the enemyes. This day I thinke that the enemyes myghte haue geuin vs battaile, for they had the plaine fieldes to come aga ynste our horsmen, our footemen & arty­lery farre of. I dooe not knowe the cause, except they did not know our passage, in the which the Emperour was forced to deuide by partes, as I haue sayde. The waye was of suche sorte that this muste nedes be done.

¶ The Emperour being lod­ged (as it is said) it was a great pleasure to al the army, in so muche that it was called in prayse, the Empe­rours lodging, for it was diffarent and dyd excede that whiche we had le [...]t: for there was muche wood and water, a strong place and for the re­sorte of victueles, commodious: A [Page] mountayne vppon the fronte a­gaynste our enemyes, muche lyke vnto the woorke of handes, where­vpon we layd oure artilerye, from whence we myghte shoote into the fyeldes. Vpon the ryghte hand we hadde a Marrys, and vppon the lefte hande a greate woodde, the whyche dydde extende vppon oure backes: Wee were so nere vnto the ennemyes, that oure warde and theyrs skirmyshed ordinaryly. The Emperour commaunded to cutte theyr vyctualles, the whyche was done by suche dylygence by the lygh [...] horses and hackbutters, that all the waye goyng to Norlyng, Tynckespoole and Vlme, dydde lye full of deadde menne, broken cartes, and vyctualles scattered. And of oure part there were geuen [Page] so many skirmishes in the daye, and larums in the night, that they could neither eate nor slepe in rest.

¶ Nowe our campe being lod­ged in thys place, called the Empe­rours lodgig, our aduātage began for to appeare, & our enemyes to be more slowe in skirmishes, for they came not out with such vigour, nor so lustely as they had done, but our men assayled theyr trenches, out of the whyche they came but seldome times. Thei shewed only with their artilery what wyls they had to skir­mysh, for now with their gōnes thei begynne to make a forte, and many times prisoners wer taken nere vn­to theyr campe, & they were not only oppressed in thys, but they began to be in great penury for lack of bread insomuche that dyuers prysoners [Page] cōfessed that they had bene .v. daies wythout it. And moreouer that thei were in great feare, seeing that they had thought that the Emperor had bene gone afarre of, and yet he was returned more nere at hand then he was before, and with his campe he determined to put them to flyghte, the which they might wel perceiue, seing the place y ^t he had taken. And because he would the more oppresse them, he caused a mount ouer them for to be takē, so that they might ea­sely be beaten in al partes. At thys tyme the citye of Norling intreated to yelde, the which hadde: there did nede no other aduantage for to dis­lodge the enemies, for one Garison beyng therein, theyr victuals might be taken, whereby they might be in famyne more harde and sharper [Page] then any artilerye.

¶ At thys tyme the Duke of Saxon and the Lantgraue wer at a consent for to write a letter to the Marques John of Brādenburge brother to the Electour, the whiche shoulde be written in the name of a knyghte, seruaunt to the Electour. The substaunce whereof was, that the knyghte shoulde pray the Mar­ques John, that he woulde speake wyth the Emperour, and saye vnto hym: seeyng that he was a Prynce enclined vnto all reason, he thought it should be good y ^t by some meanes peace mighte be [...]ounde, laying be­fore hym the wealthe of Germany. And to thys they offered certayne capitulacions touchyng relygyon, whyche were to the great aduaun­tage of the Catholiques, but not so [Page] great as hys maiestye by the help of God dyd entende. Thys letter was wrytten by thys knyghte, called Adam Trope, chaunceler to the Electour of Brādenburge, it was brought by a trumpette to the Marques John, whereof he made rela­tion to the Emperour, and by hys consent it was answered▪ that if the Duke and the Launt graue would put theyr parsones and estates into hys handes, he would be content to speake of peace, or els not. They hearing th [...]s aunswere, wrote agayne, saying: that the affayres touchyng parsons of estate, required delyberacion, wherefore they thought it good that he and the Erle of Bure, with y ^e duke, & the Lantgraue, might comō together in sōe place apointed. The Marcas wrote vnto them agayne [Page] by the Emperours consent, the ve­ry same wordes as he hadde before wrytten.

¶ Nowe they of Norling ether by dissimulation, or for because they wer not of power to put out of their Citye the banners there lefte by the Duke and the Lātgraue, they trea­ted so long, y ^t the Emperor thought best to take the vpper hand, and for to dislodge the enemies parforce for being there it could not be done, but he was determined in anye wyse it should be done. So the next day we raysed our campe. He cōmaunded theyr campe to be beaten, for sythe that Norling did so tracte the time, he would take an other order. This was in the latter ende of Nouēber, in which time was taken the Lant­graues brother in law, by his other [Page] wyfe which he had taken, for so they kepe the lawes which they fynde in theyr gospels.

¶ At this tyme the Emperour had newes that the enemyes were vp and going, but this was aboute the middest of the day, for the Spie (although he was natural of y ^e coū ­trey) had lost his waie, therefore we had no knowledge, vntyll they had hurnt their lodginges, and sēt theyr cariage and great ordināce before. And at midnight theyr footemē be­gan to marche, leauing in the rere­ward theyr horsinen and smal arty­lery, which were wont to go before. The Emperour hearyng of this, he sent certaine light horsmen for to be clearelye certified of theyr parting. The certificacion was, that theyr campe was altogether forsakē. The [Page] Emperour rode foorthe wyth the horsmen of Monsure de Bure, and commaunded the Dutche menne to come after, and the footemen to be in order and ready at the sending for them. He commaunded sixe hundred Hispaniardes hackbutters to be set forth as spedely as myght be and then with the horsemen that he had taken, he rode to the campe of the enemies, there they had left ma­ny sicke mē, for of a truth that made great haste. Then he commaunded the horsmen to followe, and to keepe them in skirmysh. The Duke of Al­uoy desyred the horsmenne of the Earle of Bure for to folowe after. But nowe the horsmenne whyche were sent to kepe them in skyrmysh, turned agayne, wyth the straglers whych they had taken of theyr rere­warde, [Page] but theyr campe dyd keepe on the way, geattyng of ground to­warde a hyll, where they hadde one thousande hackbutters, theyr hors­menne passed ouer on the other part all excepte twoo standerdes, which taryed thereuppon wyth the hack­butters. But when they dyd see his Maiestye commyng wyth his hors­menne, bothe theyr Hackebutters and the horsemenne dydde forsake the hyll, goyng downe towarde theyr Armye. The Duke of Aluoye dydde make all the haste possyble for to take the hyll that they hadde forsaken, from whence it myghte well be seene where they hadde ta­ken an other hyll a myle frō thence. The [...]nce betwene these two hyls, was all playne and dyscouered. [Page] They did lay vpon that hyl .vj. pee­ces of artilery, with the whiche they did beate al the plain fieldes. Now they being gone downe into y ^e val­ley, and the Duke of Alnoy vpō the hyl aforesaid, theyr footemen might be sene marching along, leauyng a great wood vpon theyr right hand. Their horsmen wer deuyded in the plaine, in .viij. or .ix. partes. Oure light horsmen did begin for to skyr­mish in the valley, then one banner of blacke harnes was sent down by the Duke for to engrose hys skyr­myshe. This was at the commyng of the Emperour with other horses, but the enemies with a hye trot, had gotten ground on the other syde of the hyl, vnder theyr artilerye. Then they began to shoote of at our men in the valley, theyr hackbutters at [Page] the corner of the wood, made away for to be with the footemen, whyche kept the ordenaunce vpon the moū ­tayne aforesayde.

¶ Nowe the Emperour wyth a fewe horsmenne came to the hyll, whiche we had taken, for the other came after as men of armes might come. He abode there for to take ad­uise what might be done to kepe thē there, but nowe the daye was farre past, and the enemies being vpō the hyl aforesaid, began to kindle theyr fyers in many places. And hys ma­iesty seing that it was not possyble, for to ouer take thē that day for lack of warning, as it is aforsayde: he determined to take the other hyll, and to leaue the Duke of Aluoy wyth his horsmē there. And when it was late, he returned to the other lodgīg [Page] for to set forth the footemenne that night, because the enemyes shoulde haue no time for to dislodge. For y ^e Emperours determinaciō was for to haue thē in chase, so that he might finde one place to geue thē a brake, and vtterlye to breake their campe, or els to driue them from lodgyng to lodging, as he euer had done.

¶ Foure times in these warres the Emperour hath dyslodged thē, & as it semeth to be, ij. tymes by arte and twoo by force. First at Ingul­stat (as they confessed them selues) they were constrayned by force for to retier. The second tyme at Tonauert, by arte in the geattīg of the coū trey at theyr backes, in takyng of their victuals and setting vpō Nor­ling, a citye of great reputacion, and in keping of the same, & from Nor­ling [Page] he put thē an other time bi arte: for his maiesty did take from them Tonauert, and gat al the cities and townes vpō Danubia vnto Vlme. He did take away from thē the for­ward & waies to such cities where they might haue any succour or aid, being the principals of al the power by the losse whereof all their enter­prise did stand at an aduēture. The fourth time was this: At Gangone where nowe they haue bene dislod­ged parforce, & reason of the warre, as it may be euidentlye knowen by thys that I haue written. I wil not leaue one thyng vnwrytten, al­though it be but a Soldiers terme, it maye come to the purpose to thys that I haue sayde. The Almaynes haue a saying, that when the Lant­graue doothe manase anye manne, [Page] he threatneth hym saying: I wyll make thee to go a loofe This is the name of a town where he gaue one ouerthrow to one army, whereof the makes his great boast. The soldi­ers reken vpō this, saying: the Lāt graue hath threatned vntyll nowe, that he woulde make vs go aloofe, but for to paye hym withal, we haue sent hym nowe frō Gangone. This in theyr tounge hath a propertye of grace in wordes amongest soldiers as Poyses myllitar whyche hathe strength and vertue.

¶ Nowe to tourne to the pur­pose, the Emperour returned to his lodging, and because he woulde get tyme for the next day, he caused the footemen and artilery to be spedely in order, and then after a litle colla­cion he parted frō thence in a darke [Page] snow. At two of y ^e clocke after mid­night he came to the lodging where he had left the Duke with the horse­men and hackbutters Hispantards (as I haue said) The footemē came diligently after, we dyd see their fy­ers that they hadde made, and they might see ours: but leauing their fy­ers burnīg, they wēt on their waies so that when it was mornyng they had passed the ryuer of Preuse, ta­king there a lodging nere vnto a castel belonging to the Duke of Vier­temburge.

¶ Thys nyght, Lewes Onixi­ [...], captaine of Lumbardy, wēt for to see the doinges of the enemyes, who made relacion that he had sene them, and that they were on foote & ready to depart: thys was referred to the Emperour whē it was lyght [Page] daye, but the snowe which was fal­len in the night, and then snowyng was two foote depe, wherefore our Soldiers were so weary and so dis­persed, sekyng where for to warme them, that it would haue grudged a man for to haue seene them, and the horses troubled wyth the euil night being wythoute meate, sadeled and brydeled all daye before, it was a double trauayle, but neyther the tyme, nor the inconuenience, nor yet the strong lodging of the enemyes, myghte suffise, but that the Empe­rour would folow, except he should haue other disturbāce, as not haue vyctualles, or not to haue lodgyng nere vnto hys enemyes, or for lacke of forradge for oure horses, the whych wythout great trauayle then coulde not be had. All those partes [Page] beyng gotten and destroyed wyth the hoste of oure ennemyes, so that thorowe theyr longe beyng there, and by the rodes that we had made, it was impossible for horses to en­dure. For wee were broughte in­to the same necessitye, whereunto wee hadde broughte our enemyes, for they hadde the fruitefull Coun­trey of Viertemburge vppon theyr backes, whyche waye they made theyr muster. Wherefore the Em­perour beyng inforced of necessitye by famine most terrible of all other in warres, and moreouer wyth the harde and sharpe weather, the ene­myes hauing the forewarde, so that it was thoughte inconuenyent to continue the campe, but hys Maie­stye was determynes for to fol­lowe them, and seeynge vpon [Page] the other part, that the wether was so terrible as it begon to be, he wold not they should lacke meate, drinke or lodging. So that night we came late to the lodging with al the cāpe, which was necessary to all men, for we were sore trauailed, but wee re­freshed our selues with victuals, & some rest, so that we myght the bet­ter labour and folowe our busynes afterwarde.

¶ This dislodging of y ^e Duke and Launtgraue at Gangon, was the substancial pointe of the warre: for from that time foorth they were vtterly broken & dispersed, as here­after foloweth. But before that I wryte, I thynke best to touche one thing that in al this warre thei haue not offered vs occasions, I do not say that we myght fyght wyth anye [Page] aduantage, nor yet egallye that we myghte so doo, sithe this being of a truth as it is, offering hath not bene euen in dede, but set aparte: for bat­tailes be venterous, & as wee maye geat, so may we leese, as it is daylye sene: If we had lost, it is clearly sene what we had lost, if we had won, it was impossible to be without great losse of bloud in our army, & a great part therof to be broken, & the cities in Germanye being whole. So al­though we had had the victorye, we should haue bene constrained wyth a brokē army to haue resisted a new power, and th [...] appeareth clearely, sithe nowe the enemies be broken, & the campe of his matestye standyng whole, now the cities of Germanye may haue a respect to that thei haue taken in hande, so that to my iudge­ment [Page] it had bene a greater honour to the Emperour to deface his ene­mies, hys armye being whole then wyth any losse thereof. It is a com­mon prouerbe, bloudy victory attri­buite to the soldiours, vyctory with­out bloud, honour to the Captayne.

¶ Nowe to tourne to the order of my wrytyng, I say that the Em­peroure lodged two dayes in thys lodgyng called the Emperours lodgyng, there he hadde knowledge that the enemyes were gone from Laugingam, and deuided in twoo partes, the one was of the folkes of the cities which did take the way to August & to Vlme, the other were y ^e horsmen of the duke of Saxon and the Lantgraue: & as it apeared thei did take the way toward Frāncko­nia, and without dout, if thei might [Page] haue bene lordes of that prouince, warres should haue bene new to begyn, for they might haue raūsomed many riche townes, & bishoprickes, they might haue leaued a great som of mony, with great aboundance of victuals & good lodging, which be. [...] thynges sufficient to succour a cāpe going broken & traueled. The Em­peror being aduertised what y ^e ene­mies intēded to do, as he had before suspect, he raised his campe, & mar­ched toward Norlīg in a troublous weather of frost & snow, & in .ij. lod­ginges he came within a mile of the towne▪ to a village called Bo [...]ingā, for this was the right way to Rotē ­burge, wher he entēded to be before the cōming of the enemies, & there for to fight with them by the way: it was easye to be taken the forehand, [Page] for they roued farre about, and out of the waye, but his Maiestye came strayghte vnto Bosingane. The Burgemasters came forth agaynst him, to yelde vp their towne, and a Castel stāding aboue it, belongyng to the Erles of Ottingame, and the men of warre therein yelded to hys maiesty, howe be it they had made a litle brabling before.

¶ The next dai thei of Norling came to geue vp their towne, for the campe was so nere, that there was no other thing to treat vpon. He put therin .iiij. baners, for the. ij baners which were left there by the Duke and the Lantgraue, were gone that night to a castell, a myle from Nor­ling, where they found other .ij. ba­ners belōging likewise to the Erles of Ottingam. These .iiij. baners [...]et [Page] out soldiers to skirmishe wyth▪ oure mē that lay a litle frō the castel they made a coūtenāce for to come down but the Emperour sent the Earle of Bure with his men & ordenance, & thē they yelded. The Earle brought the .iiij. standers to the Emperour, let the soldiers go free, they woulde haue serued the Emperour, but he cōmaunded them to folow the duke of Saron & the Lantgraue. Nowe Norling being surrendred, and mē of warre therein, he made gouernor of the countrey of Ottingame, a brother of the said Earles, which is ca­tholique, he left the Cardinal of Angust in Norling for certayne proui­sion that shoulde be made there. He went from Bosingame to Tinkes­poole, a towne imperyall and of the league, they muster to hold fast, but [Page] the Duke of Aluoy was sent by the Emperours cōmaundemēt with artilerie, & certain Hispaniardes and Almaynes. He gaue moniciō to thē of the towne, and if the artilery wer laid agaynst them, they shoulde be geuen in spoile to the men of warre, then they gaue vp the towne. The Duke brought the Burge masters before his maiestye then being nere vnto the towne, and there being one day, he left two banners of Garde. He remoued thence, and in .ij. daies he came to Rotenburge wyth great labour and trauaile, the weather being so foule & roughe. They of Ro­tenburge came out against his maiesty the daye before hys commyng thither, offering theyr towne to him saying: that they neither sent menne nor mony against hym, and that is [Page] truthe.

¶ The Emperour had knowe­ledge that hys ennemyes were not farre from thence, and they inten­ded to haue the Lordship of Franc­konia, and therfore he made greate speede to Rotenburge, where the waies might be best foreset, where the ennemyes intended to passe: for now it is necessarye to vnderstande that when his maiestye was at Bo­singane, the weather was so rygo­rous wyth froste and snowe, that it semed to be intollerable. Wherfore the most parte of his campe, and of hys Captaynes (as al of a vowe) adnysed hys Maiestye to lodge hys campe in Norlyng, & other townes whych he hadde gotten vppon Da­nubia, and about Vlme & August: & to this they layd sufficient reasōs. [Page] His maiestye was of an other opy­nion, differing from his Captaines and to choose a way more importāt, which was to defend Franckonia, and to lye before the enemyes, that they shuld not lodge at August nor Vhne, for why thys was an enter­price, that if it myghte be obtayned, althinges might be done wyth more facility afterward. But if thei shuld be suffered to come together, and to recouer strengthe in Franckonia, it shuld haue bene hard to haue come to any ende, because the cities were yet in hope, seeing that their campe was not yet altogether broken, therfore notwithstanding al these diffi­culties offered, at this present he determined to cut thē their waye, or to cōstrain thē to take an other, where by they might be dryuen in sunder, [Page] and dispersed. And this was a good forecast, as it hath sence apeared by experience. For the enemies hauing knowledge that the Emperor was in Rotemburge, they left the way to Franckonia for to take an other on the left hand, and with a great rode, they made thorow the moūtaines, where of necessitie they left parte of theyr great ordinance, deuyding it by cariage into the Castelles of the Dukes of Viertemburge, beyng there by, so that when his Maiestie came to Rotemburge, they wer. 24. mile from thence, being but. i [...]. the day before. They go now so broken that these two heades, their guydes parted them selues, the Lantgraue went with .iij. C. horses toward his house: and passing by Frankeforte, the gouernours of the towne came [Page] to speake wyth hym, as to a neygh­bour and captayne generall of the league, & asked him counsayle what he thoughte was best to be done, in time of so great necessity. He answered them saying: this that I thincke best is, that euerye Foxe keepe hys owne tayle.

¶ Lykewise the Duke of Saron did take an other way, gathering vp the reliques of the fyelde that he coulde catche. Wyth a great code he went towarde hys countrey, com­pounding wyth Albies by the way, taking of them money to paye hys Soldiours, for therefore they folo­wed hym.

¶ The Emperoure beyng at Rotenburge, and seeyng the enne­myes so altered, and that the tyme and place serued not to ouertake [Page] them, he determined for to geue ly­rence to the Earle of Bure, for to retourne into Flaunders wyth the campe that he hadde broughte, and that he shoulde go to Frankeforte, and procure by force or otherwayes for to get the towne, whych is great and ryche. Then the Emperoure parted wyth the reste of hys armye, where the busynes hadde beene in tymes paste, but the great reputaci­on of the vyctorye, nowe made the warre in Germanye for the Empe­roure. At thys tyme dyuers cytyes sent to Rotenburge their Embas­sadours for to yelde, & other began for to intreate to doe the same. Hys maiesty remoued frō thence, whē al the cityes and townes imperial vn­to the Ryne, and some of Suauer came for to yelde them.

[Page]¶ The Emperor parted from Rotemburge: and in .ij. lodginges he came to Hale in Sueuer, one of the cities geuen vp, and of the most richesse of the prouince, and one of the league: and there, for the indisposition of the goute, he taried longer then he had thought to haue done.

¶ At this time the Coūtey Pa­latine began to treate as a mā repē ­ted, because he had shewed himselfe against hys maiestie. These trea­tise and rogacions, were so set forth, that his maiesty amitted hym to his clemencie: for at the ende this is the vertue of Ceasar: so they saide at the beginning, that it might please him for to remēber al thynges but theyr offences. The Coūte Palatyne cāe to Hale to his courte, a day was ap­pointed to come to y ^e palace, he was [Page] brought into a chamber where his maiesty was set in a chayre, for the indisposicion of his fete. The Earle came in with great reuerence, and began for to knowledge his faulte, and that he hadde offended, where­fore he did muche repent. His ma­iestye aunswered, saying. And vere­lye I haue lamented in extreme, that in youre laste dayes, and beyng of my bloude, and broughte vp in my house, that you haue shewed youre selfe so agaynste me in fauor of my enemies, in the aide of theyr campe. But I hauing a respect that we haue been brought vp together so longe time, and to youre repen­taunce, trusting that hence forward that you wyll serue me as you ought for to dooe, and other wayes then you haue done, then I am [Page] pleased to pardon you, and to for­geat all that you haue done a­gaynste me, and so trustyng that with newe deseruynges ye wyl de­serue the loue and amitie where­with I receyue you. The Earle sayde he tooke great repentaunce in knoweledgyng hys offences suf­ficientely. As I thought and other that stoode by, the teares fell from his eyes, in the mekenesse that he shewed. It moued menne to p [...]e [...]ye for to see a Lorde of a house of so muche antiquitie, and of the Em­perours bloude, so honourable and principall, that whyte head discoue­red the teares in his eyes: verelye it gaue a gret force to his discharge: From thence forewarde, his maie­stye treated hym with the familia­ritie past, althoughe he hadde then [Page] receiued him with seueritie necessa­rye.

¶ Nowe the Lordes of Vlme make suche spede for to reduce thē ­selues into the seruice of his maiesty at the same tyme that the Countye Palentine was in halle, they came vnto the Palace, desyryng to bee before his maiestye. They were broughte into his chamber where thei founde hym sytting in a chaire, and the Earle standing before him, thei kneeled downe, shewyng a countenaunce of their mindes. Thē their principall sayd in summe these woordes.

¶ We of Vlme make knowlage and confesse, the offences that we haue done, whiche hath been all in oure defaulte, and of other that hath deceyued vs: but nowe seyng [Page] there is none so great a sinne, but God doth pardon them which do re­pent: wherfore we truste that youre maiestie will emit, hauing a respect to our repentaunce, and to receyue vs into youre mercye, and so we be­seche you for the passion of Christ to haue pitie vpon vs, and to receyue vs into your fauoure, seyng that we do submit our selues vnto your ser­uice, to serue you as true and good subiectes, with body and goodes as we owe of duety to so good an Em­perour.

¶ His maiestie aunswered, that y ^e comming to knowledge of their er­rour was a great part to haue their pardon, and moreouer that it was a great signe (being repentant for y ^t which was past,) y ^t thei would serue hym truelye in tyme to come, as [Page] good and true vessayles to the Em­pire: it shoulde bee a cause that he woulde bee the more wyllyng to graunt their pardon, and so he ad­mitted them to his grace, reseruyng vnto hymselfe that whiche was conueniente to bee done in their Citie, to the wealthe and quietnes of the Empire. This is in sūme al y ^t there was done.

¶ Shortelye after, his maie­stye, because although the duke of Viertomburge beganne for to fele the banners imperiall approche, and to flatter a litle, it was not so muche, but yet it was more neces­sarye that the Emperour with wea­pon in hande shoulde bryng him to obedience: for the Emperoure ha­uing at Vlme so nere a neyghbour [Page] of the Duke of Viertemburge, that it was not conueniente to leaue him free in strength, and to depart from hym to goe aboute anye other en­terpryse: for why, his maiestye be­yng absente, it myghte haue bene an occasion to haue hadde newes. For Auguste beyng one foote ioy­ned with that estate, there myghte lyghtlye haue been some reuolucion in Vlme: for this hath been euer in a readinesse, through the neigh­bourhoode that they haue hadde to­gether with other neyghbours, whiche naturally be troublous, and euer haue desyred to tourne his af­fayres when they haue bene moste quiet. I saye this by the Frenche men the whiche Viertemburge be­yng out of obedience of his maiesty thei haue had euer an open porte to [Page] range about in Germanye. The Emperour for this respect, or for o­ther, whiche he oughte for to knowe better then thei that knowe no other thing but that which toucheth their handes: he toke vpon hym the ēter­prise of this estate, and sent y ^e Duke of Aluoy before with the Hispany­ardes, and the regimente of Ma­drucho, and the Coronell Exam­burge, and the Italians that were left, the whiche were so fewe, that I make no number, and to my iudge­mente, the cause was this: that the continuall trauayle in oure campe, made that there lacked many soul­diers of al these nacions: and more­ouer then this, the slowe paymente of wages, which sith the commyng from the riuer of Prence, had euer ēcreased in our cāpe, & y ^t Laūtgraue [Page] hauing enforced his, as it is sayde, yet gaue vs no battayle, as he had so ofto promysed to them of the league.

¶ Nowe the duke of Aluoy is gone with the parte of the armye, whiche I haue spoken of, with the Dutchehorsemen, and the thre hun­dred mē late come out of the realme of Naples. His maiestye came after with the reste of theyr horsmenne, & the regimente of the Almaynes, whiche of late hadde bene in the conduite of George of Ransburge, and nowe at the leadyng of the Earle of Massoulte. Thei went streight to Alprime, a towne imperiall and of the league, standyng vpon the entrye of the three wayes that goe to Viertemburge, the waye to that towne is moste open and playne [Page] for to carrye Campe and orde­naunce. The Emperoure beyng at Alprime, the duke of Viertem­burge beganne for to make rea­dye his businesse, for by the waye dyuerse townes were come vnto the duke of Aluoy, for to yelde. And goyng forewarde, they came in to obedience all, excepte some stronge holdes, whiche by the dis­posicion of their Scituacion, were inprenable. But the Duke of Viertemburge, takyng a more holesome counsayle, was refour­mable to all thynges that the Em­peroure dyd demaunde, and gaue hym three of his stronge holdes, whiche shoulde please his maiestye to take, and these were Ahsbridge, a greate Castell full of ordinaunce and vittayles, Ruramberge, which [Page] hadde prouision for manye yeares. The thirde is called Porendorse, whiche was prouided for two thou­sande menne for manye yeares, of ordinaunce and vittaylles, confor­mable to the same. In these For­tresses were founde muche artille­rye of the Duke of Saxons and Launtgraue, the whiche they had left there, because they might make the more haste: and in especially in this towne, beyng Ladye and the keye of the entrie into that estate, thē he gaue vnto his maiesty, two hun­dred thousande Duckettes, promi­syng to be at his commaundement, nothing except.

¶ The Emperoure hauyng in shorte tune thus subdued the Duke of Viertēburge, hauing these fortes [Page] in his power, and the countrey as­sured, he hadde knoweledge from the Earle of Bure, that Franke­forde was geuen his maiestye, and that he was therein with twelue bāners. Two dayes after, came the Burgemaisters of the same citie, whiche he receiued accordyng, and with like condicions as the other, reseruyng it to the conuenient wealth of Germanye. The nexte daye after, came seuen cities together, al of the league, emongest the whiche were Menengam, and Quintain, so that before his partyng from Al­prone, al the Cities of Sueuer, ex­cepte Auguste, were come to his o­bedyence: for as I haue sayde, the victorie of the Emperour did fyght for him in Germany.

¶ His maiestye parted from [Page] Alprone, & did take y ^e way to Vlme passyng through the Duchie of Vi­ertemburge, and in▪ vi. dayes he came thither, but thei of the citie had sent vnto their Borders and con­fines with a greate companye of embassadours to receiue hym: and there knelyng in the fielde, they made hym an oracion in spanishe, because they thought it (as they say) moste reuerente to be spoken in the tongue whiche most naturally was his, and more tractable then theirs, they offred him their citie with their bodyes and goodes, as men deter­mined for to serue their prince. He aunswered them in Spanishe gra­ciously, as they saye, shewyng them selues well contente, and ioyous to beare good wyll, to the which now they be come generally in all Ger­many. [Page] In so much y ^t y ^e mē of warre call hym commonlye▪ Vnser fater, that is to saye, Our father. These woordes were spoken one day by a prisoner of the enemyes, brought in by the Dutchemen before his ma­iesty. He asked him it he knew him: he sayd yea, I knowe you, ye be our father. Vnto whō his maiesty saide: ye be villayns, ye be not my sonnes, these good menne that stande about me be my sonnes, and I am their father. This was a great rebuke to y ^e prisoner, and a ioy to the Dutchmē y ^t stode about him. Moreouer then this, with all other he is loued and desired, for they that haue beene a­gainste hym in the warre, moste parte offer to proue, that thei haue bene begyled, and not to bee of knowledge to goe agaynste hym, [Page] insomuche that there is amongest them a principall Earle, which hath stricken hymselfe seyng his own de­faulte, and no meruayle of this, for the force of vertue is so muche, that it moueth them that be euyl to qua­rell well: and so nowe all menne e­steme muche more to bee in his fa­uour, then for to saue theyr goodes, whiche without hym may be lost. I write as I haue sene and know.

¶ His maiestie being in a town belongyng to Vlme, came to hym embassadours from Auguste, for there had bene geuen the earnest of our Campe: yet although they sent for to yelde them to hys maiestye, it was in cōdicions such as he would not excepte. For theyr supplicacion was for to haue pardon for Seba­stian [Page] Exertell: and yf that it plea­sed hym not, yet at the leaste, hys Castels and townes myghte re­mayne vnto his chyldren. But hys maiestye woulde not graunte vnto this. They declared vnto him that Exertell was in Auguste, and that he hadde two thousande menne and a great parte of the citie, with suche strength, that they wer not able for to deliuer it. His maiestye aunswe­red, that they shoulde not nede to trouble themselfe with that, for he woulde bee there shortelye and dyspatche that matter. When they were retourned to theyr citye, with this resolucyon from hys maiestye, the people were so a­frayde, that they gathered together concludyng for to yelde: and they of [Page] the Senate being in the halle of the citie. Exertell came in and sayde vnto them. Lordes, I can tel wher­vpon you treate, it is to be at a com­posicion with the Emperoure, but because you shall not lette for me, I am determyned to goe myselfe, for parauenture in so doyng, and o­ther thinges that I thynke for to doe, maye bee a meane for to obtain my pardon. These wordes spoken, he went to his house as secretelye as he coulde. It is sayde that he tooke the waye to Suisa. They of Auguste came to Vlme at the days and howre appoynted, they were brought before his maiestie sitting in a chayre with all the ceremonies imperial accustomed. Thei kneling vpon their knees, one of them spake in this maner, fyrste seyng the or­dinarye [Page] tytles, vsed vnto Empe­rours.

¶ We of August hauing a re­spect to our offences, and lyke so to the correccion that we haue deser­ued, but knowyng by experyence your clemency to be so much, that al thei who h [...]e offended you, & after being repented of their errours, as­king you mercye, haue founde it in you. Now syth we haue repented with al our heartes, we be so bold to call for the succour of your clemen­cye, beseching you, that this whiche hath not fayled you in other, that it be not lackyng vnto vs. And seyng that we submitte our self vnto your wyll: we be seche you, that the disfa­uour which we haue deserued, may turne vnto fauour, as from so pitie­full a prince it is looked for. His [Page] maiesty aunswered confirmably as to thē of Vlme, fewe wordes more or lesse, and commaunded them to rise: thei came & touched his handes as the other cities did.

¶ After y ^e yelding vp of August, Vlme and Frankfort, there lacked but Argentine, of all the fowre principal heades of the Empire: but she seing that August, Vlme & Frank­fort, had obtained to be admitted of his maiesty, thei sent to Vlme for to haue safeconduit for their Burge­maysters, y ^e which came for to geue vp their citie, & to be obediente vnto his maiesty. For now thei haue knowen that the pitifull victorie of the Emperor, may do more then the in­ducinges & promises of some other for their own ꝑticuler respectes, ha­uīg treated with thē of other thīges

[Page] ❧ The cōdicions with y ^e which generally that he hath receiued the countie Palatine, the duke of Vier­temburge, and other knightes, and al the cities besyde those which par­ticularly I dooe not knowe, beyng league perpetual with them of Au­striche.

• 1. ¶ Thei shal set at nothyng al o­ther leagues y ^t thei haue made here­tofore with any other.
• 2. ❧ Thei shal declare themself to bee enemies to John Duke of Saxonye, and to Philip of Hesson Launtgraue.
• 3. ¶ They shall chastise all those souldiers y ^t haue gone or shall goe oute of theyr countrey to serue any other agaynste the Emperour.
• 4. ❧ Thei shall receiue men of warre in those places, where it shall [Page] please his maiesty, as Examburge with his coronel in August, y ^e Earle Thō of Nassoult, with his in Vlme and the .xii. Bāners de monsure de Bure in Franckforte, with other cō dicions whiche bee reserued vnto a time conuenient.

¶ This warre hath tracted with this most furious nacion .vi. monthes: in all this time his maie­stye hath lacked no care, perill, tra­uayle nor watching, that for to at­chieue such an enterprice, hath been nedefull: in the whiche I dare saye (although it hath bene done with felicitie,) the Emperors fortune was neuer greater thē his industrie. For who that wyl consider frō that daye that he sette his campe, and hath sene the enemies, shall see that he hath gone euer geatting of ground, [Page] and in putting them backe, and al­so dislodged them at Ingulstat for­cibly: synce from Tonauert & from Norlyng, with great industry. And after the laste of all from Guinguē, by force and reason of the warre, where they wer so broken, that they loste all theyr force, but onelye those whiche duke John might gather together, for to goe agaynste duke Morris. And the Launtgraue re­tired into his countrey, his maiestye reserued for a tyme conueniēt what was to bee done with these two in the meane time. For these thinges, & other like, he woulde take his reste for a certayne tyme in Vlme, for to purge himselfe there with the Pale of the Indes, that for his Goute is wont to be profitable.

¶ The duke of Viertemburge [Page] came to kysse the handes of his ma­iestye, offeryng hym essensuallye, hymselfe with all his power: he tarryed fowre myles from Vlme, for there he was taken with the Goute, with the whiche he is muche ve­xed.

¶ Who that considereth well the progresse of this same iourney, shall see howe manye importunate effectes were these fowre tymes that the enemyes haue bene dis [...]od­ged, and howe muche more it hath beene for his maiestye to folowe them agaynste the tyme, and a­gaynste all other lettes, that haue been layd before hym. For as this appeareth vnto me, in this onelye dooeth consiste the accomplishment of the victorye: for there hath been no lacke in tyme of enuious par­sons, [Page] to procure and to disturbe the progresse hereof. But God that hath parmitted and wyll parmitte his greatenesse to goe forewarde, for hys maiestye with the same in­dustry and felicitie that he hath got­ten this Empyre, with y ^e self same likewise, he shal conserue it. For why, with these artes that y ^e Empire is gotten, with those it is a thing easy to bee sustayned.

had sente, that he hadde no tyme for to take anye rest in Vlme, but must begynnne for to take an order for a newe enterprise, whiche was as ne­cessarye to haue hys parson, as that whiche was past. For duke John with the menne that he hadde ga­thered, had recouered his estate, al excepte onely Subisa, nor he hadde left duke Morris but Trissen and Lipsia, whiche he kept with strong hand, so y ^t it might be sayde y ^t he dyd hold Saxonie & Boeme in such sort, y ^t thei cōfessed him to be their frend without any remembrance of their kyng. But for the duke all y ^t myght bee done, they were so shamelesse that with one honeste dissimulacion they did take and kepe by force the Castel of Prage.

¶ When the Emperour had set [Page] all thinges in a readinesse at Vlme, he did take vpon him this new tra­uaile of his parson, and sent .viii. ba­ners of fotemē, and .viii. C. horses, with the marques Albert of Bran­demburge, which had also with him one. M horses. And other .viii. ban­ners also. He sent Pence whiche be the sinowes of the warre, if these should ioyne with y ^e king and duke Morris, thei might be superiour to the duke John, al thinges framing as it was prepared, for the more as herafter foloweth: for it was other­waies ꝓuided for y ^e king then he had thought. The Emperor sent downe Aluaro de Sāde, master of y ^e campe with his terce Hispaniardes, y ^e marques of Marnā with 8. banners of dutchmē, but thei wer cōmaūded to tary, for y ^e affaires of Saxonye bee [Page] come vnto this, that of necessitye he muste goe parsonally in this warre: and he determined not to pardon a­nye of his labour or trauayle there­in, seing howe it did stande, not on­lye to the kyng and duke Morris, but also to all Germanye: for that fyer lefte burnyng, it might kindle so, that the victory paste might haue been consumed and broughte into the termes that it was before. This considered, the Emperour departed from Vlme, when he had prouided for the footemenne of Spaine, to parte from their lodgyng with the ordinaunce that he had in Vlme.

¶ The duke of Viertemburge because of his infyrmitie, myghte not come when he was appoynted: but nowe beyng amended, he came the same daye that the Emperour [Page] parted from Vlme, to dooe his o­bedience as a Prynce vanquished oughte for to dooe vnto his van­quisher and Lorde. Heabode in the halle vntill his maiestye hadde dyned, sittyng in a Chayre, where­in he was broughte with fowre menne (for it coulde bee no other wayes.) The Emperour passed by, but he saw him not, but the duke dyd beholde him styll. The Em­peroure dyd sette hym downe with the Ceremonies accustomed. The Marshall of the Empyre stoode by with a naked sweorde, the Chaun­celour of the duke and all his coun­sayle knelyng vpon theyr knees. Then after the ordinarye tytles de­clared to the Emperoure, in the name of his mayster he sayde these woordes,

[Page]¶ I with all humilitie accor­ding vnto my duetie, present myself before your maiestie, and openly cō ­fesse that I haue greuously offēded in these warres past, & that I haue deserued all the indignacion that ye haue hadde agaynste me: where­fore I am sorowfull, and repent as it is reason, and come humbly to be­seche your maiesty for the mercy of god, and for the natural inclinacion of your maiesty, to pardon and to receiue me into your grace: for onelye you and no other I acknowlage for to be my natural and supreme lorde vnto whom I promes in al partes to serue with al mine, as an obedi­ent prince, vessel and subiect, with o­bedient subieccion and thankes ac­cording vnto my duetie for to de­serue the most greatest grace which [Page] I nowe receiue. And moreouer I offre to accomplish and faithfully to fulfill all the Chapters whiche hys maiestie hath geuen me.

¶ The Chauncellour of y ^e Emperour at his commaundement an­swered the maiesty of Cesar. Most pietiful Lord, vnderstanding this, that the duke Vldrike of Vtertem­burge hath humbly proponed, and seyng his repentaunce, and that he openlye confesseth his greuous of­fences agaīst his maiesty, and how woorthilye he hath deserued his in­dignacion hauing a respecte that he hath bewayled, and that for, & in the name of the mercye of God he as­keth hys pardon, his maiesty Cea­saria for the honor of God, & by hys naturall clemēcy, & because y ^e poore [Page] people which haue not offēded shall not suffer, he is contente to forgeat all the indignacion that he hath had agaynste the duke of Viertem­burge, vpon condicion that he obserue and kepe al thynges which he hath offred, and is bound to par­fourme. The duke of Viertēburge gaue great thankes to his maiestye, promising for to bee euermore hys most faithfull, the duke sittīg bare­head in a chayre, for his Embassa­dours wer sent before to besech hys maiesty that he might come as hys infirmitie permitted, for on foote nor vpō his knees (although it was to aske pardō) it might not be. This was to them of Vlme a great admi­racion, seeyng theyr myghtye neyghboure so call for pardon. This passed, his maiestye did take [Page] his iourney toward Gāgon, where the enemyes had lodged: he dyd see theyr nomber and parceyued howe thei had forti [...]ied the place where he had thought for to haue geuen the Camisado, where they myght haue had a great aduātage. He went trō thence to Norling, where he was taken wyth the goute, so that it was thought that he shoulde not be able for to ryde of long tyme, but there was such diligence with al thynges that might be found for his health, that he began to amende and was able to walke.

¶ At this time John Frederike duke of Saxon had encreased his campe, and began to be a lord ouer all, for he had taken the Marques Albert in this sorte. The Marques was in a place called Rockeles, for [Page] they which kept the warres against the duke John, were set in fronte a­gainst him. Duke Morres was in Frayberge, the king of Romaynes in Tresson, y ^e Marques Albet with x. baners & .viij. C. horsemen in the place aforesaid. Moreouer they had furnished Suybisa and Lipsia, the which had bene a litle before assay­led: but it was so well defended by the soldiers, that his assaultes were al in vayne. This towne of Rokelez was belonging to a Lady, widdow and sister to the Lātgraue, y ^e whiche did entertaine the Marques Albert with daunces & bankettes after the custome of Almayne, shewyng so great amitie, that he became more neglygent then a good Capytayne oughte for to be in the warres. And on the other parte she aduysed the [Page] duke of Saron being in garde .iij. leagues from thence, wyth .j. bende of horsmen, and syxe baners of foote men, whych on the other daye dyly­gentlye and earlye in the mornyng came vpon the Marques Alberte, which would in any wyse fyghte in the playne fieldes, and there he was taken fyghtyng more lyke a valy­aunt knyghte then a politique Cap­tayne.

¶ There haue beene dyuers o­pinions, for some dooe saye that the place might not be defended. Other saye, that if he hadde taryed there, the duke Morres being nere there­by wyth hys horsmen myghte haue rescued hym. Other say, i [...] he hadde kepte the foure banuers whyche he lodged in the Bourawghe, he hadde not hadde the ouerthrowe: [Page] but for al these opinions it came to this, that he lost .v. C. horses kylled and taken, and many of the rest wēt to the Duke of Saxon, which had gotten al the baners of the footemē: other wer taken and sworne, not for to serue agaynste hym as is the cu­stome of Almayne. The Marques was broughte to Gotte, a stronge holde of the Dukes.

¶ Nowe after thys victorye, it was thoughte that he woulde haue gone against the Duke Morres, he being so nere at hande: but leauyng them in Frabrige, he began to haue a respect concerning the affayres in Boemia: he sent Thumsern with vj. C. horsmen and .xij. baners, they being at thys tyme lordes & Gouernours of the vale Laquimistal, thorowe the good wyll and dissimula­cion [Page] of the Be [...]mose, for this dissi­mulacion was the foundacion of al his cast and compasse. Thys refer­red vnto the Emperoure, he seeing that the king and duke Morres su­stained these warres in the keeping of the principal holdes, and that thei set not forth of them for to attempte theyr fortune: He set forth in haste from Norling, where a litle before had bene the Burgemaisters of Argentine, a riche and mighty city, as it is saide, and there they submytted them selues to be vnder the obedy­ence of his maiesty, with such cōdicions as it hath pleased hys maiestye to accepte them, whiche was neuer grāted to any emperor in time past.

• 1. First that they should forsake al the leagues which they had made taking a othe not for to enter into a­nye, [Page] where the house of Austriche was not the first.
• 2. And to chastise al those soldy­ers of theyr citye that hath beene a­gainst his maiesty.
• 3. Laying a greuous payne vp on al them that shal go against him hereafter.
• 4. And to cast out of their citye al rebels & offendours against hys maiesty. Amongest the which there was one captayne generall, whose name was William, the Erle of Fustēberge, who excused him selfe with al dylygence and iustificacions that myghte be.
• 5. Thei deliuered vnto his maiesty al theyr artilery and municion at hys pleasure, as other cities had done, with other particulers whych I dooe omytte to wryte, because I [Page] wyll followe the breuitye that I haue begon, sythe it may be set forth more at large: in somuche that the Emperour hath opened to them so large a fielde that they may wel ex­tende theyr subtil stile how great so euer they be. I ensure you they shal remaine inferiours in the matter.

¶ Nowe the Emperour parted from Norling, he dyd take the way to Newrēberge with .ii. regimentes of Almaines, of the olde Soldiers of the Marques of Marenan, and of Illeprande, the whyche a lyttle before the departyng of the Empe­roure from Vlme, he died of a bur­nyng Agewe. The Emperour loste in hym a good seruaunt, and a sol­dyer of greate experyence, and of greate reputacion in Almayne, be­syde theese twoo Regymentes. [Page] He commaunded an other whyche was made and set forth by a knight of Sucuer, called Hanse Walter, he had also the leading of the footemē of Spaine, and the men of Armes of Naples, with .vj. C. light horses, and a. M. Dutche horsemen belon­ging to y ^e Taichemaster, and to the Marques John, and to the Duke of Austriche.

¶ The Emperor had sent before, the Duke of Aluoy, which had lod­ged his campe about Newrēberge, except certaine baners which tary­ed to wayte vpon his maiesty. The Duke being at Newrēberge prepared al thinges necessary for the Emperours cōming, leauing there .viij. baners as it required for the Emperours authoritye. And it was neces­sarye: for although the nobles of the [Page] countrey he muche imperial, yet the multitude of the people, which be a great nomber, and many tymes fu­rious, and worthy to be brideled as thē they were: The Emperour was receiued into theyr citye with great demonstracion of pleasure, he was lodged in the castell for the space of v. or .vj. daies for the assembling of hys campe, and for to recouer hys healthe, for yet hys indisposicions were not all quieted.

¶ Who well consydereth thys warre, it seemeth to be all one, thys present being a braūche of the other whyche is past, in some case there is reason, but to my iudgement it is not one warre: for the first the Em­perour hath finished in the defactiō of the mighty power in the campe of the league. The cities thereof ren­dered, [Page] & some of theyr greatest prin­ces: so y ^t as cōcerning this warre of y ^e league, it semeth to be ended. The other of Saxoni (although the duke was therein) it is not to be accomp­ted for a member, but the head and principal of the other, so parilous, y ^t it was necessary for to haue the coū saile accōpanied with the determinacion & the hardines of the Emperor.

¶ I wyll not make any boast of hys doynges, for they be so great of them selues, that it shoulde be euyll done of me if I shoulde make pay­ment (because he hath broughte me vp in his house) wyth any lesynges, although I acquite it with these trauayles, beyng so worthye, that they bring with thē admirations: so that al men may meruel, neither wyll I dispraise the the enemies, althoughe [Page] the Emperour who hath ouercome them, semeth to be greater: but to say the truthe, sythe I am a wytnes, for there was nothing done but I haue bene nere vnto hym frō Newrem­berge, which was the way the Em­perour did take for to mete with the king and duke Moreys at y ^e towne of Egner, where by oportunitie of the place, it was apoynted for to make the A masse of the warres, & that the kyng shoulde be there wyth hys horsmen and certayne banners of footemen, and bryng wyth hym duke Morres with his nomber, for so it was determined, & the time ap­pointed to be done. The king parted frō Tressen, a towne belongyng to Duke Morres, and to the Duke of Fra [...]brige, & leauing the strength of the enemies vpon the ryght hande: [Page] They entered into Boeme, for to come ouer the mountaines, where­with it is al enuironed, and to ioyne with the Emperour in Egner, but the Boemose made a muster then of their intēcions, declaring that the great truste was not in vayne that the Duke of Saxon had in thē, the why▪ he extended so that it was the cause of manye opinions, whiche I dooe not wryte, because I dooe not know so much of a truth as it requireth to be wrytten.

¶ Nowe the Emperour beyng iij. iourneys from Newremberge, there came a Gentleman from the kynge of Romaynes wyth knowe­ledge, that sithe that the king & duke Morres were entred into Boeme with theyr horsemen and footemen: A knight of the countrey had gathe­red [Page] a great nomber to cut down the woodes in dyuers partes to stoppe the passages and the waies, by the whyche the kyng was purposed to come to Egner: wherefore he must go about thorow the mountaines & the castels belōging to the knightes there being with him. Wherefore he required a nomber of hackbutters Hyspanyardes for to passe more strongly, and for to haue the Lord­shyp of the wood. The Emperoure prouided for al thinges conuenient, albeit that after it was no neede to haue the Hyspaniardes in thys pas­sage, for the knightes of the country whyche were come to serue, didde so muche, that they wer al broken and disparsed. Thys knyght of Boeme came not wyth the men whyche he had assembled, hys name is Gasper [Page] Flucke, a principal man in that coū ­trey, from whō in tyme past the king had taken landes and goodes (and notwithout deseruing) and sence li­berally he gaue them to him again: but it seemeth that he hath remem­bred more the takyng then the ge­uing thankes for the gyfte, for it is euer the fyrst poynt of ingratitude, to forgeat benefytes receyued.

¶ It is sayd that these knightes whyche mette together for to de­fende thys passage, hadde made a bancket, and after caste lottes who shoulde be theyr Captayne Gene­rall. They dydde take suche an or­der, that it fell to Gasper Flucke, and not for that he was more apte then the other for thys charge, but because he was moste in power for to furnyshe wyth men and mo­ney; [Page] or elles it myghte be that they dydde it, because that if theyr enter­pryse shoulde not haue good suc­cesse, euerye manne woulde rather see the paryll vppon the head of an other, then vppon hys owne. But let it be as it was, for the most parte of that kyngdome made a ruynous demonstracion against their prince.

¶ Now is the king of Romaines passed by the Castels aforsayde, the Emperoure was commyng three leagues from Egner, the which is a citye of the kyngdome of Boeme, standing vpon the borders of Sax­oni, but it is out of the mountaines: for Boemeis cōpassed about wyth great & thicke woods, but towarde the parte of Morabia, it is more plaine: for on all other partes, it see­meth that nature hath fortyfyed it: [Page] for the thickenes of the woods & the marrises which be in them, maketh the passages in the enteryng mar­uelous di [...]i [...]il: how be it the lande which lyeth compassed aboute wyth these woods, is playne and fertyll, ful of castels and cities. The people thereof be naturally valiant and of good disposicion. Their horsmen in armes be like to the Almaines, the footemen dyffer, for they keepe not lyke order to the Almaines, nor thei vse not like weapon, for one beareth a halberd, an other a Jauelin, other staues of one faddame and a halfe of length, with great pykes of iron, other beare shorte handgōnes wyth brode hatchettes, with y ^e whych they cast .xx. paces very hādsomli. These Boemose haue beene in tyme paste soldiers of great estimaciō: but now [Page] not so much in reputaciō. The most part of Saxoni bordereth vpō Bo­eme from Egner, keping the mountaynes of Boeme vpon the ryghte hand, vntil it passe the Albes, which is a ryuer of Boeme, and entereth into Saxony, nere vnto y ^e citye Laitemers. This I haue thought good to be wrytten, for the better vnder­standing of other thinges past.

¶ The Emperour nowe being at Egner, thither came the king his brother, duke Morres, & the Mar­ques John of Brandenburge sōne to the Electour, for now hys father had taken an order wyth the kyng for to serue the Emperour, & so sent his sonne for to serue in this warre. The nomber of the horsmen wyth y ^e king myght be .viij. c▪ Duke Morres brought one. M. the Marques [Page] John .iiij. c. as well apointed. More ouer the king brought .ix. C. hunga­rians, whyche to my iudgement be the best light horsmen in the world: and so they shewed thē selues to be in the warres of Saxoni, the .xlvi. & nowe this the .xlvij. Their weapōs be long speares, stiffe & great, where wyth they geue greate incounters. They beare Targettes or Tabbe­lines, which beneathe be large vnto the middest, and frō the middest vp­ward they be made sharpenīg, with a point aboue theyr heades. Some weare shirtes of Maile, but in their Targets they put & paint poyses & deuises after their fashions, whiche do besome thē very wel. Thei beare long stiffe arming swordes, & hand hāmers called Martlets with long [...]eles, with y ^e which they helpe them [Page] selues hādsomely. They shew themselues great frendes to y ^e Hispani­ardes, for as thei say the one and the other came of the Scithians. These were the horsmē which came with y ^e king, footemē he brought none, for he had left .iiij. baners in Tressen, and the rest in the entryng into Bo­eme went home to theyr houses. He had but one baner whyche tarryed wyth him, & thys he sent to Egner. Duke Morres put al his footemen in Lips [...]a and Subisa. The Duke of Saxon beyng thereby with .viij. M. Outchemē good soldiers, and a great nōber of foremē which he had made in the coūtry, &. 3 M. horsemē armed & wel chosen for y ^e other .xij. baners, & the rest of his horsmē wer with Thumserne as it is sayde, and deuided in diuers partes.

[Page]¶ The Emperour came to Egner, a citie christened, which is no li­tle maruel, standing so nere Boeme and Saxō, for why in the one there be but fewe christened men, and in the other there be none. The nexte day after the cōming of the Empe­roure, the kyng came to thys cytye, where they abode the passion weeke and Easter holy daies, and after he remoued when he had sent y ^e Duke of Aluoy before with the footemē & part of the horsmen, the whiche sent iiij. baners of footemen, iij. bandes of light horsmen with Don Antony de Tollido, to a towne where there was .ij. baners of the duke of Sax­ons: but after they had skirmyshed a lytle, they yelded vp theyr baners and armour.

¶ All the countrey of Saxony [Page] borderyng vppon Egner, is full of moūtaines, woods & marishes: but after wee came to a towne called Plao .vij. leagues frō Egner, there the countrey begynneth to be more open & playne, there be faire fieldes and meddowes, with many castels and townes. This prouince was so set in armes, & furnyshed wyth the dukes soldiers, that there was no place free without his baners, euer cōquering and geatting of groūde. At thys time the Emperour with al diligence made ready towarde the enemies, for his desyre was to finde them in the fielde with al their pow­er, because thei should not take these iiij. strong holdes, which be Viertē ­berge, Got, Sonobalde, & Eldram, the which he had taken a litle before from the Earle of Manfelte, for e­ueriche [Page] one of these was of strēgth, & sufficiēt for to prolong the warres many yeres: wherefore the Empe­rour with al diligence, did take the wai to Messene, a town of the duke Morres, taken by the duke of Saron, and therein dydde lye wyth his campe, for that was a place apte for whatsoeuer he woulde apoint to be done, for there were bridges vppon the ryuer of Albys, and nere vnto Boeme, from whence he looked for to haue great ayde of horsemen and footemenne, and lykewise for to goe to Viertemberge, if neede shoulde requyre. So beyng in thys place, and the Emperor folowing y ^e way, diuers townes there about came in for to yelde, and also the companyes whiche the duke of Saron had lod­ged abrode in these partes were in [Page] chase, for in one day y ^e prince of Salmona put to flight three baners, an other day lykewyse was done by a captaine of the hackebutters Hys­paniardes called Aldana, and cer­taine Hungarianes wyth hym. At an other tyme, one captaine called George E [...]peche, with .vij. banners of Dutchemenne, and certain hors­mē did geue an ouerthrowe to .viij. baners which the duke hadde lefte in a place called Exemburge, they were al broughte to the Emperour, so that our campe was euer doyng thinges worthy to be wrytien more at large.

¶ In this time the Emperor a­proched Messene wyth hys campe, and beyng at hys lodgyng, there came newes that Thumserne was but one league and a halfe from [Page] thence, wherewith Duke Morres & the king of Romaines wer much altered, so that they beleued it as if thei had sene the enemies with their eyes. Moreouer they thoughte it good to prouyde more then it was nedefull: for our folkes being come wearye and in great heate, and the newes being vncertaine, it was but to geue a greater trauayle to oure campe. But the Emperour, whych could prouide for al thinges necessarie, sent .ij. C. Hungarians for to discouer the fieldes, and so dyd let rest the campe, which to my iudgement was better then to haue trauayled men with an enterprice so much vncertaine. The Scoutes came to the place where y ^e enemies should haue bene, they could not finde them, nor yet haue any newes that horse or soldier [Page] had bene seene there that daye, but one which had bene taken wyth a Spaniard in the morning, of whō it was knowē that the duke of Saxon was in Messene vpon the other syde of the ryuer of Albeis where he fortified his lodgyng. The Empe­rour abode there two daies for to refreshe hys footemen, for they hadde gone .x. daies with great laboure & trauayle. Then he determyned to marche towarde Messene, & there to make brydges of barckes, for the duke had burnt those of the towne, but he woulde procure to fight on y ^e other syde of the ryuer, but he hadde newes that y ^e duke was vp & gone from thence, & that he had taken the way toward Viertemberge.

¶ I haue many tymes sene the Emperours setting forth take good [Page] efferte: but I did neuer se any come so to passe as this, for from the tyme that he remoued from hys lodgyng vntil he had made an end of y ^e iour­ney, there was nothing left vndone y ^t he had apointed, nor yet succeded otherwaies thē he had determined. He nowe cōsidering that y ^e goyng to Messene with his campe which did stande vp aboue vpon the riuer, he should lose so much tune y ^t the duke of Saxon whiche was on the other side of the riuer might be at Ʋier [...]ē ­burge, which stode below & benethe vpō the ryuer, & therfore he soughte for to haue a forde, to be in his way and before his enemye. He was en­fourmed by one of the country, th [...] iii. leages frō thēce beneth vpon the riuer, there were .ii. fordes, but they wer like to be kept & defended with [Page] the enemies vpon the other parte.

¶ At this tyme there came cer­taine hackbutters horsinē Hispani­ardes with captaine Aldana, which had bene sent abrod to discouer the enemies, & of thys captaine it was knowē that the night past they had lodged in Milburge, on the other side of the riuer .iii. leagues frō oure campe: & there as they sayde was a ford, but their horses had passed swiming. The emperour ꝑceiuing that it was not time for to delay the iour­ney, he sēt for the duke of Aluoy and cōmaūded to prouide for euery thīg [...]ōuemēt, for he was determined for to passe the ryuer by ford or bridge, & to fight with y ^e enemies, & vpō this determinaciō. ꝓuided for al thinges con [...]i [...]mable thereunto, the which to manisemed to be a thig impossible. [Page] The enemies being on y ^e other part of the riuer, the waye long and ma­ny thinges lacking, it semed to be a greatlet. But the Emperour wolde in any wyse that his determinacion should take effecte, & commaunded the artilerye, and the barkes of the bridge to be speedelye set foorth that day, and the footemē Hispaniardes at midnight, and shortelye after the regimētes of Almaines, and all the horsemen in the order accustomed: but in the morning there fell a very thicke mist, so that there was neuer a part of the army did see how other did go, and of this the Emperour cō plained & said: these mystes do euer folow vs when we be nere vnto our enemies: but whē we came nere vn to the riuer, the mist begā to breake vp, so that we might see the Albeys, [Page] and our enemyes lodged vpon the other side. This is the Albies so many tymes named by the Romaines and so seldome sene of them.

¶ The duke of Saxon lodged on the other parte of y ^e ryuer in this towne of Milbroke, wyth .vi. M. footemē, olde soldiers, & about .iii. M. horsmen: for the rest were wyth Thumserne, and the other were dispersed and taken by the waye. He had with him .xxi. peeces of artilery and he was well assured and dyd know, that if we wold go and passe by Messene, he might tarry or go where he wold: & where as he was, it was hard for to passe, for y ^e bredth and the depenes of the ryuer beyng in his keping vppon the other syde, with a town and a castel (although they were not strong,) yet they wer [Page] sufficient to kepe the passage. Nowe the lodging of our campe being set­led & deuided by quarters at the emperours comming about .viij. of the clocke in the mornyng, he comaun­ded the horsmen to be in order, and not to lodge. The place of our cāpe was nere vnto y ^e riuer, but betwixte vs and our enemies was a medow ground & a wood standyng vpō the riuer. Now at this time aforesayde, the Emperour and the king of Ro­maines, rode before to meete wyth the duke of Aluoy, whych had bene to haue knowledge of the enemies, & cōsidering the riuer to be desēded, it could not be thought by any mea­nes how for to passe. The Emperor the kyng, & the duke cōsulting toge­ther to make searche by the aduyse of some in the coūtry there about, to [Page] fynde a forde, for suche a thyng was not to be taken in hande temerary­ouslye, without knowyng where or how. Now the Emperour, the king and Duke Morres, after a litle re­creation taken in a house thereby, at theyr commyng foorthe, goyng to­ward the enemies, came the duke of Aluoy, and sayd that he had knowe­leddge by a manne of the countreye, that coulde bryng hym to a forde, the name of the place where the Emperour came forth, is called Ex­semeser, whiche is as muche to say, wade, it was not farre frō the forde. They on the other parte hadde sette foorthe and deuided theyr artilerye & hackbutters vpon the shore, stan­ding at the defence of the passage, & at the bridge y ^t was brought & made of barkes the which they had made [Page] of three peeces to bring down with them more at ease. The disposiciō of the passage was in this sorte.

¶ Their riuage in the keeping of the enemies was muche superior & aboue oures, with a diche where­with theyr hackebutters myght be couered, our part was so plaine and discouered, y ^e euery floud dyd flowe ouer. They had the towne and ca­stel aforesaide, but we had no couer but the plaine fieldes, except a fewe litle trees standing by the water, & where the forthe was thought for to be, it was .iij. C. paces brode. And al though the streame seemed for to be slowe, it had a vehement course: so that thorow al these thinges that I haue spoken of, there was so greate difficultie, that the helpe and deter­minacion of the Emperoure was [Page] nedefull with art and force. An or­der was taken that certayn peces of artillery shoulde be layd emōgst the trees, standing nexe vnto y ^e wa­ter, & .viii. C. hackebutters Hispa­niardes, so that these together with the artilery, might beate the enmies from the riuer, so that our hackbut­ters might be lordes vpon our syde and come to y ^e water. For although it was discouered, harde and pery­lous for to be done, yet of necessitye it must be done.

¶ At this tyme the enemyes had layde hackbutters in their barkes, whiche were commyng downe by the streame, so that it was nedefull for our hackbutters to goe to the o­pen banke, the which ther dyd so ve­hemently that many of them entred into the riuer vp to the breste, and [Page] charged so harde vpon them in the riuer and in the barkes, and killed so many, that thei did forsake thē, ex­cept a [...]ew that stode at defence. At this time the Emperor was presēt, and this was the skirmishe on the one parte and the other: all their ar­tilery, and hackebutters were dys­charged vpon vs, but our hackbut­ters although the place was note­gall: they preased so nere, that the aduauntage myght bee perceyued on our parte, for the enemies began to slake and to shoote slowly. Then the Emperour commaunded to bee sente one thousande hackebutters Hyspamardes, with the Archemai­ster de Campo of Lumberdye, for to a Taulte the enemies yet more liuely, and so the skirmishe wente so hotely on the one parte and the o­ther, [Page] so that it might bee called a sa­lutacion of hackbutters. The duke of Aluoy certifyed his maiestye, that the forde was founde, and y ^t we myght passe. The Emperour was fully determined for to passe y ^t daye, and not to geue anye tyme to the Duke of Saxon, for to occu­pye these strong holdes before na­med. Thei being sufficiente for to delate the warres manye yeares. The Emperoure came to the forde when thei were hearyng a sermon, after the custome of y ^e Lutherians: but when they harde howe it was, I think thei tarryed not lōg to here their preacher, but to prouide, which profited litle against him that came agaynst them.

¶ The Emperor withal spede cō maunded the horsemenne to passe, [Page] the riuer and the bridge to be layde and the footemenne Hispaniardes with thre regimentes of Almayns. A [...]ter that the riuer had been dily­gently sought with guydes and o­ther of practise in the countrey, e­mongst whom there was a younge manne from whom the enemyes had taken two horses the day before and he for to be reuēged of his losse, offred hymselfe to shewe the forde, saying: I wil be reuenged vpō these traytors y ^t haue robbed me, I pray god they may be hāged, he was like to be worthy to haue good fortune: for he passed not vpon his losse, but for to be reuēged, as he shortly after was. The enemyes set fyre on some of their Barges, other wer forsakē, in some other, the souldiers did lye along to be out of peril. At this time [Page] the bridge was come to the shore: but the riuer being so brode, our barges might not suffise, therfore their bridge was nedefull to be gotten, & like as agaynst strength and vertue there is nothyng diffic [...]le, so all these difficulties of the Albeis haue not been impossible.

¶ Nowe the enemyes goe frō the riuer, for thei may no longer suffer to be there, but a few which stode at the defence. The Emperor seyng that their bridges muste nedes bee had, he commaunded the hackebut­ters to be diligent. Then sodaynlye x. Hispaniardes stripped thē, & with their sweordes ouerwharte in theyr mouthes, thei did swimme to the barkes of the enmies, and after thei had kylled the kepers, thei brought them to our shore. There were also [Page] thre Hispaniardes horsemen which dyd take the riuer, but one of them was drowned. But whē the bridge was gotten, and our hackebutters standing vpon the banke, theyr heartes began to fayle them. All the horsemenne came to the water syde, but the Emperoure commaū ­ded .ix. banners of Almaynes to kepe the fyelde, of euery regimente thre, and, xv. hundred horsemē, two hundred and fiftie of the marques Albertes horsemē, which wer come from the ouerthrowe of their lorde, to the kyng. He commaunded the horsemen Hungarians, the whiche with the Emperours horsemē now began to passe before the enemyes wente out of the towne aforesayde. They hadde made a litle skirmish, [Page] but oure hackebutters entred into the water, and defended so lyuelye with shootyng of [...]o thicke, that our horsemenne were as safe vpon the other syde as vpon oure part. But when the enemyes beganne to breake, there was no more hope to kepe them foorth: then they made towarde a town called Troga, and if they myghte not take this ad­uauntage, [...]hen for to goe to Vier­temberge, or elles to fighte by the waye, i [...] they might not haue tyme to dooe one of these two thinges.

¶ The Emperour did take an order, and commaunded the Duke of Aluoy, that the Hungarians and the Prynce of Salmona with hys lyghte horses, shoulde take euerye eche one a hackebutter [Page] behinde him, and to passe ouer with the menne of armes of Naples, ta­king with hym duke Morris, for these were the horsemen of the va­warde. Then the Emperoure and the kyng of Romayns with theyr Esquadrons came to the riuer. The Emperour rode vpon a darke dun Spanishe horse, presented by mon­sure de Ry, knyght of the order, and his first chamberlayne, he rode in white armour gilt, hauing no other apparell, but a brode bende of Taf­fata Crimsen, and a dutche murri­one, a Demilance like a iauelyng in his hand. He rode as thei wryte of Julius Ceasar when he passed the Ribicon, speakyng these notable wordes, and without any doubte it was a proper comparison to vs be­yng there, to haue the representaciō [Page] of the sight of Ceasar, passyng a ry­uer armed, and with an oste armed, and on the other part not for to treat but of victorie, for the passage of the riuer was onely with this hope and determinacion, so that with the one and the other, the Emperor did take the water, folowing the milner who was our guide. He did take y ^e waye more vpon the ryght hande aboue in the streame, then the horsemen whiche were past before: the groūde was harde, but the depe was aboue the knees of the moste of the horse­menne, and in some places they did swyme a lytle stretche. In this sort we passed the riuer, the forde exten­dyng thre hundred paces.

¶ The Emperour commaun­ded for to be geuē to the guyde, two horses and one hundred crownes, [Page] nowe the bridge was made with our barkes, & those whiche we had gotten of our enemies, and the His­paniardes began to passe, and a [...]ter the Almains according to the order that the Emperour had taken, and nowe the Hungarians sette downe the hackebutters whiche they hadde sette ouer the riuer, and rode before to skirmish, & to intertain y ^e enemies which made great hast without lea­uing of any souldier in Milbrucke, as it was thought at y ^e first he would haue done: & this was one of the re­spectes, for the passage of y ^e hackbutters with the lighte horsemen. But with their cāpe, thei dyd geat euer y ^e aduauntage of the ground, parting their fotemen in two esquadrons, y ^e one greater then the other, &. ir. stā ­derds of horsemen deuided in suche [Page] sort, that when our lighte horsemen should ouertake them, they mighte turne and geue them the charge, so that their fotemē in the meane time might marche forewarde.

¶ The Emperour with a hygh trot as men of armes might suffer, folowed the way after his enemies, in the which way he founde a cruci­fix standing, as [...] is commōly vsed, it was shot with a hackbut ī y ^e midst of the breste, This was of the Emperoure so abhorde, that he coulde not dissemble his Ire, seyng so vyle a de de, he looked vp toward the heauen, and sayde: O Lorde if it bee thy wyll thou arte of power to be reuenged. These wordes spoken he rode out through the plain & opē [...]ield. But the dust that came frō the [Page] vawarde was verye great, and the eyre did driue it in our eyes. The Emperour rode vpon the right hād and this was for two causes. One was for to haue syght at libertie, the other to prouide for such perylles as we haue seen in our tyme folowe when Esquadrons goe not in or­der, as it is sene by experience, y ^e va­warde broken the battaile lost, whē it is not set in order as it ought to be

¶ Therefore the Emperor pro­uided agaynst suche inconuenyen­ces, settyng the kyng apart with his Esquadrons, so that if our vaward shoulde haue been in peryll, he was at hande for to succour, settyng vpō our enemyes, who went so strongly y ^t it was necessary so for to prouide.

¶ Now the duke of Aluoy with his menne in the vawarde, skirmi­shed [Page] so nere, that they made a stond and began to shote of al their artile­rye, wherewith the Almayns be ve­ry great doers. The Emperour ha­sted to bee egall with the vawarde, oure footemen had but .vi. peces of artillery, being farre behynd out of our sight: it was no meruayle, for y ^e bridges could not be soshortly made This was then thre dutche leagues from the Albes, and the Emperour made great spede with the horsmen because he woulde vndertake to de­feate his enemies: for if we shoulde haue taryed for the rest of our fote­menne, they should haue had time & place, to atchieued their enterpryse. Therefore here it maye be clearelye seen, what maye bee done in greate thynges, when counsayles be deter­mined.

[Page]¶ The horsmen in our vaward wer these iiii. C. light horses with y ^e prince of Salmona, & with dō An­tony de Toledo .iiii. C and. L. Hū ­garians. He had sēt .iii. C. out of our campe this morning to viewe Tro­ga, a. C. horsmē hackbutters Hispa­mardes, & .vi. C. speres with Duke Morts, & two. C. hackbutters hors­men, two. C. and .xx. men of armes, out of Naples, with the duke of Castor, here you may see our battayle, whiche went in two Esquadrons. The Emperoure might bee .iiii. C. speres, & .iii. C. hackbutters dutch­menne horsed, the kyng was .vi. C. speres, and iii. C. hackbutters hors­menne. These were al our horsmē, and I ensure you I make the number no lesse then it was, our Esqua­drons ordered indifferently, from [Page] the Dutchemenne, for they made the front of the Esquadrons of their horsemenne sharpe. The Emperor made his of seuentene in a ranke, and so the fronte was brode, and they shewed a greate noumber, and represented a fayre sight. And to my iudgemente: this is the best order and the moste sure, when the dyspo­sicion of the grounde maye suffer it, for why the front of one Esqua­dron of horsemenne beyng large, there is not so muche rowme to bee coumpassed by the Flancke, whiche maye bee done when the Esqua­dron is poynted and streyghte, and seuentene in rancke, and se­uentene in fylar suffice for y ^e shocke. This hath bene seen by experience at the battayle that the menne [Page] of armes of Flaunders did geat of the menne of armes of Cleues, at y ^e towne of Sitrade in the yere a. M. D .xliii.

¶ The enemyes went in order as I haue sayde beyng .vi. M. fote­menne in two Esquadrons, and .ix. standerdes of horsmen, of two. M. and .vi. C. horses, and a Gueten ac­coumpanied with .viii. or .ix. C. hor­ses. This was the duke of Saxon, whiche wente prouidyng emongest his Esquadrons, which at the firste had discouered but our vawarde, for the dust dyd kepe the syght from the battayle, wherefore he thought that he myght well resyst those horse men: But a marshal of his campe called Wolf Kraytes, who ꝑceiued vs better, called hym a parte and shewed him the battayle discouered [Page] where the Emperour and the kyng came together. In this Esquadron with his maiestye wente the prince of Piemont, & the kinges two sōnes who led his Esquadron.

❧ When the duke of Sarō had sene al our horsmen, and that he had clearly ꝑceiued in our order & going al our determinacion, he tourned a­gain emōgst the Esquadrons, determinīg with all spede possible to take a wood which did stand in his way, thinking to bee there, with his fote­mē so strōgly, y ^t in y ^e night he myght go to Viertemberge, for y ^e was hys purpose, for at Troga he thought he coulde not bee surely, for as he hath said sence, he had heard shotyng of gūnes ī y ^e mornīg, which euē ī dede did shote at y ^e skoutes which wer sēt by y ^e Emperor, but he had thoughte [Page] we had been but the one halfe sent to folowe hym with the Duke of Al­uoy, & that the other had been gone with the Emperor to Troga. Therfore he woulde not take the waye to Troga, for there was none of hys counsayle that woulde aduise hym thereto, so that at the ende he cōclu­ded to take the wood, in the way to­warde Viertemberge: and yf that he must nedes fight, yet y ^t it myght be to his aduauntage: and for to fo­lowe one of these two effectes, he thought for to geat the wood, which is full of marrishes, and streyghte waies he sente his hackbutters and light horsmē to geue the charge vpō our light horsemen, so that his foote­menne might take the place in the wood that he had appoynted.

❧ Now at this tyme as it is said: [Page] the Emperor had made mete with the vawarde: he spake chearefullye to duke Morris, and to the men of armes of Naples, the woordes be­seming a captayne in suche a day as this, and to the souldiers geuing thē the name that was Sainct George imperial, Sainct James Spayn, so going towarde y ^e enemyes a pace that was conuenient. These esqua­drons going thus egally, the battell fell into a marrish vpon the ryghte hande, wherein dyd fall many hor­ses, wherfore it was nedefull for to drawe in the battayle, so that the va­warde might passe without inter­medling one esquadron with an o­ther, & to bee both out of order: & for this cause it came to passe, y ^t goīg by it passed y ^e vaward before the time y ^t the enemies woulde geue y ^e charge [Page] as I haue sayd, the which they gaue vpon our light horsemenne in good order.

❧ At this tyme the duke of Al­uoy perceyuing good occasion, sente vnto the Emperor y ^t he would geue y ^e charge, and so he dyd at a wynge with his men of armes of Naples: the duke Morris with his hacke­butters vpon the other parte, incon­tinent their menne of armes & oure battayle which now went turnyng to geat the right hand did mete: thei moued againste the enemies with such vehemency, that sodainly they began to turne: our horsemen brake in with such violence, that they had no place but for to flie, and began to forsake their fotemē, y ^e whiche at the first made a litle resistāce, thinking for to take the wood: but now al our [Page] horsemen wer so farre forwarde a­mongst theyr horsemē and fotemen that in one momente they were all brokē and scattered in sunder. The Hungarians with the lighte horses dyd take a syde, and with a meruei­lous quicke spede they began to ex­ecute the victorie, vnto the whiche these Hungarians haue a meruay­lous great industrye. They sette v­pon crying Spayne, Spayne. For of a truth the name of the Empire, of an olde hate, is not to them a­greable.

¶ In this sorte thei did take the wood, in y ^e which there was so many weapōs, & so much harnes scattred, y ^t it was a greate trouble to thē that executed the victorie. The dead and hurt wer many, some at the encoun­ter, other with great cuttes, some [Page] with hackbuttes, & of diuers sortes, there were so manye prisoners that manye of our menne had .x. or .xii. runnyng aboute them, manye dyd lye dead, other dyd lye wallowyng in their bloud. There ye might haue seen howe thei offred their fortune to theyr takers. Some wer slayne, some were taken, euerye manne as he woulde: the dead menne dyd lye in manye places on heapes, and o­ther in partes as they were taken flying or fightyng. The Emperour folowed the chase one myle: al the light horsemenne and parte of the Dutchemenne, and men of armes of the kinges folowed thre leagues.

¶ Nowe we beyng in the midst of the wood, the Emperoure beyng there, stayde: and commaunded the menne of armes to requoyle, for all [Page] wente so dispersed and out of order, that the winners and loosers were ruffled together: wherfore he would make sure the victorie, if anye in­conuenience should succede to them that wente before: for it is a thing to bee noted, that a captayn do thinke so, that he dooe not saye afterwarde if I hadde thought, (as many haue sayd,) but this is a foule woorde of a captayne.

¶ The Emperour and the king came together, which verely shewed the courage of a kyng. The Duke of Aluoy came from the chase, in whyte armoure gylte, and a bende of redde vpon a baye horse, with­oute anye other garnishyng, but of the bloude of the wounde that he brought. The Emperour receyued him ioyfully, & not without cause: & [Page] there being, it was sayde vnto the Emperour, that the duke of Saxon was taken, and his prisoner, pretendyng to be the principals two men of armes Hispaniardes of them of Naples, and thre or foure light horsmen Hispaniardes and Italyans, one Hungarian, & a captain Hispa­niarde. The Emperour commaun­ded to bring hī, & so he was brought before him. He came vpō a griseld horse, in a great shirt of mayle, and therupon a payre of blacke curates beyng bloudye of a wounde that he had in his left syde. The duke of Aluoy came vpon his ryght hād, and presented hym vnto his maie­stye. The duke of Saxon would alyghte one foote, takyng of hys gloue for to haue touched the Em­perour by the hande, after the ma­ner [Page] of Almayne, but the Emperor would neither the one nor the other. And for to say the truth, he was sore trauayled through the heate and with the wounde, that he came so weary and heauye, that he thoughte that the Emperour had had a more respecte to this then he hadde de­serued. Then he beyng barehea­ded, sayde vnto the Emperour ac­cordyng to the custome of Almayn. Moste mightye and most gracious Emperoure, I am youre prisoner. To this the Emperoure answered: Now ye call me Emperoure: thys is an o her name then ye haue geuē me in tymes past. And this he sayd: for when the duke of Saxon and Launtgraue did leade the campe of the league, they dyd wryte hym in theyr letters, but Charles of [Page] Gaunt: therfore our Almayns whē they heare of this, they saye: lette Charles of Gaunte alone, for he wyll shewe hymselfe to bee an Em­perour. Therefore the Emperoure aunswered hym so. And after he said that his deseruing had brought hym to this. To these woordes the Duke of Saxon made no aunswer but hurcled vp his shoulders, and hanged down his head, with a coū ­tenaunce like woorthye to bee bla­med. As a barbarous, braggyng, proude manne as he hath been. Yet the Duke spake agayne, beseching hym that he myghte bee entrea­ted as his prisoner. To whome the Emperoure aunswered, that he shoulde bee entreated as he had deserued. And commaunded the [Page] Duke of Aluoy, to leade hym strongelye to the lodgyng vpon the ryuer, whyche was gotten the same daye at the takyng of the forde. The ioye of this vic­torye was generall: for the wealth that is come thereby, is euerye daye knowne more and more. The Duke Morres that daye go­yng in chace, one of the enemyes hadde charged a hackebutte be­hynde hym, readye to fyre, but he was cu [...]te in peces, and his horse with them whiche were there about the Duke.

¶ There was slayne of the footemenne of the enemyes, two thousande, and manye hurte, and beeyng lefte there, dyuerse wente awaye, and saued them­selues [Page] in the nyght folowyng. The next daye were taken .viii. C. foote­menne, and of horsemen were slayn v. C. and a great noumber takē: but emongest our Almayns the nacion being al one, there were many cō ­uaid: but those which came to knowledge were so many, that the Hun­garians light horsmenne, and other menne of armes had taken, there came not to Viertemburge of fote­men and horsemen fowre hundred. There wer takē .xv. peces of artile­rye, two long Coluerins, and .iiii. demye Coluerins .iiii. demye Can­nons .v. Fawcenettes, & great plē ­tie of municion. The next day was taken other .vi. peces, there was ta­ken all their carriage, where oure horsemen did find great aboundāce of good stuffe & money. Also there [Page] were taken .xvii. banners of fotemē and .ix. standerdes of horsemen, and the Geaton of the Duke of Saxon was taken, the Duke Hernest of Branzwique was taken▪ He in the warre paste whiche had the settyng foorth and leadyng of al the skirmi­shes, the eldest sonne of the duke of Saxon was hurte in the hand, and he kylled hym that hurte hym, and after he fledde to Viertemberge, manye of the principalles were ta­ken that daie: of ours there dyed. [...]l. horsemenne, and other whiche died afterward of theyr woundes. This battayle was the fowre and twenty daye of Aprill. M. O xlvii. vpon Saincte Markes euen, twelue dayes, after that the Emperoure parted from Egner, it beganne v­pon the riuer of Albeis, aboute .xi. [Page] of the clocke, and was ended at seuen of the clocke at after noone, from the geattyng of the forde, he was folowed as it is sayde, e­uer fyghtyng vntyll he was ta­ken. His footemenne and horse­menne broken with suche courage, and good industrye, that it may bee sayde by hym: ille sapit solus voli­ [...]ant alu velut vmbrae.

❧ This greate victorye the Emperoure dyd attrybute vnto God, as a thyng geuen by his hand, and therefore he sayde these three woordes of Ceasar, chaunging the thyrde, as a moste Christen prince oughte for to doe, knoweledging the goodnesse of God. Veni vidi & vici.

¶ The moderacion of the Em­peroure appeared vnto all menne [Page] in the vsyng of the duke of Saxon, one other Conquerour might haue been that yf he hadde so offended, coulde not haue tempered his Ire, as the Emperoure dyd, whiche is a greatter difficultie sometyme, then to vanquishe the enemie. Now being late, the Emperour returned vnto his lodgyng, at a leuen of the clocke in the nyght. The nexte daye artillery, municions, harnes, & weapons with y ^e sixe peces, wer brought together, and the light horsemenne Hungarians, brought in yet a great noumber of prisoners: for three leagues beefore the chase, they hadde folowed the victorie. The Duke of Saxon was deliuered by the Duke of Aluoy to Alonso Biuas, maister of the campe of the Hispaniardes, of the kingdome of [Page] Naples, and also with hym duke Harnest of Brāzwique, which was taken by a Duchemanne borne vn­der the king of Romaynes, and ser­uaunt to duke Morres.

❧ In this place the Emperor abode ii. dayes. At this tyme Tro­ga did surrender, and the Emperor with al his armye intended to goe against Uiertēberge, the head of the estate of the Duke of Saxon, & principall towne of those of the elec­cion: and so he kepte it moste impor­tunate, and fortifyed it continually for the space of. xxv yeres past, with a great number of artilerye. The waye lyeth by Troga, where stan­deth a Castell, one of the moste fayrest that is in Almayn. In the which place duke Ihō did take most ordinarilye his solace and pastyme, [Page] and there it was knowen by the pri­soners, that thei looked for Thum­serne with his mē, y ^t he had brought oute of Boeme wyth .xx. banners which they of that kingdome had sēt him, and a nomber of horsmen with them: but the quicke spede of y ^e Em­peror hath cut away al their leages, succour and aides from him.

¶ The Emperor passed y ^e riuer of A [...]bes benethe, halfe one league from Uiertemburge, by a brydge made of hys barkes, and of those whyche he had taken from the ene­mies. I thinke it is a thing worthye to be had in remembrance, this that hath bene sene and knowen of thys riuer. At that time that y ^e Emperor pa [...]ed by forthe, althoughe it was depe, yet the day after, it coulde not be passed in ani p [...]a [...]e without swim­ming. [Page] Here it semeth that God ma­keth thinges light to them which go in his seruice. Other two thinges I wyl write, because I haue seene thē. One is, y ^t in the passage of the foote­men of Spaine, an Eagle came so­ryng ouer them a greate space. In the meane time a Wolfe came run­ning out of the wood, and was kyl­led with the soldiers in the myddest of the playne fyeldes, thys was a thing ꝑmitted of God or by chaūce, so that it was a great maruell to thē that did beholde it.

¶ Thys daye it was a greate heate, the Sunne apeared in colour of bloud, & vnto vs that did beholde it, verelye it was not so lowe, and as it was thought, it shoulde haue bene at y ^t houre. It was a notable syghte and in the opinion of all men to be [Page] true, so that I dare not saye the con­trary, it was noted that same daye in Newremberge and in Fraunce, as the kyng dothe saye, and in Py­mount, it was seene in the same co­lour. These thinges were so mu he noted & spoken, that I haue thought good to write. The Emperour pas­sed the ryuer of Albes, and lodged betwene the woods in the syght of Viertemburge, whyche standeth in thys maner.

¶ This towne of Viertēberge is great & strong, it stādeth quadrāt 4 .c. paces frō the Albes. It is set in a raire plaine y ^t it may be sene in all partes, enuironed & watered with a depe & brode diche, it hath a rāpire of 60. foote thicke, full of grasse & her­bes. It hath a vādemute y ^t it is im­possible to be beaten wyth artilerye. [Page] There be .v. bulwarkes, & a strong castel standing aboue, which dysco­uereth al the countrey. Vppon that parte the Emperour was determi­ned to make the batterye: he sent for the .xv. M. laborers whyche Duke Morres had promised, & the artile­rye to be broughte from Tressene, where was a great nomber and y­nough to beate Viertemberge, & to defend their towne wyth y ^e rest. But al stoode vpon this, that althoughe we had the artilery, these labourers were so intreated by the way, that of xv. M. there came but. 4. C. & wyth great difficulty, as Duke Morres dyd say. At this time the Emperour began for to heare the praiers & supplicacions of the Marques of Brā ­de [...]burge Electoure, whyche was come for to intercede and intreate [Page] for the Duke John of Saron. Hys maiestye hadde considered diuers thinges, amōgest the which he hath considered the duke of Cleues to be Sonne in lawe to the kyng of Ro­maines, and Neuew to the duke of Saxon, who wyth great instaunce procured to saue the lyfe of Duke John, with part of his estate, what­soeuer it might be, hauing pite vpon so great a prince come vnto so mise­rable fortune, and not to conclude vpon the first determinacion, which was to take his life, and so it was be gōne to treate, that the duke myght be chastised: and yet the Emperour to vse clemencye, as it beseemed so greate a prince, so muche lauded in vertue as the first Ceasar, who saith that he did geat more by clemencye then by armes. There hath bene di­uers [Page] uers opinions touchyng the lyfe of duke John, one sort considered him only to be chastised, other considered the manor of the correction, with o­ther qualicies so importunate, that they reputed the victory of the Em­peroure to lyue for euer, and that it should not nede to bring them vnto vtter desperacion, whiche put theyr trust in the Emperours mercye. At the which men looked for to take ex­ample in that he woulde dooe to the duke of Saron, and so treating vpō the one and the other, the Emperor concluded to be confirmable to hys natural condicions that was giuig the lyfe to duke John wyth the con­dicions whyche were sufficient, so y ^t they might be a recompence for the deathe of hym, whyche of manye he was iudged to be worthye.

[Page]¶ There were in Viertēberge the wife of the duke and his brother, & his yongest sonnes. In Gote was his eldest sonne, whych was escaped wounded from the battaile. Al these looked for the successe: touching the duke, to whō nowe the Emperour had pardoned lyfe, by the intercestiō of thē whiche dyd intreate.

• 1. First was taken from hym, the election, and all the Townes whyche haue gone wyth the same, of the whyche Vtertemberge and Troga be pryncipalles, and manye other.
• 2. To enter vppon al the arty­lerye and municions vohyche is a great nomber: for onelye from Viertemburge were fetched out an hun­dred and twentye peeces, the small ordynaunce excepte.
• [Page]3. Hys maiestye did apointe in Curing certayne castels & townes to hys vse.
• 4. Gote which is a forte inex­pugnable, he commaunded it to be cast downe & rased by the ground.
• 5. There was founde one hundreth peces of artilery, an .c. the usād pellettes, and other municiōs accor­dyng to the same.
• 6. He to remayne prysoner in the Emperors court or in any other place where he wyll cōmaunde at al times durig his maiesties pleasure.
• 7. And to be brought in, the ba­ners, standers and arulerie that he hadde taken from the Marques Albert, bosent for to the courte. In thynges touchyng relygyon at the first he stoode fast, but after he an­swered so faire, that it seemed to hys [Page] maiesty, that he should not neede to speake ani more of that. His brother loste a towne which hys maiesty did geue to the Marques Albert.
• 8. The Duke surrendred al the Castels and townes that he had v­surped of the Earles of Mansfell, & from the charches & Monasteryes of Saxonye, & to be at the disposiciō of the Emperor, the which seing that the principal part was touching re­ligion, he began to take a good way & to be content with these condictōs, and because he would not that so aū ­ciēt a h [...]use which had done so great seruice to his in times past shoulde be vtterlye extincte and vndone: he would rather folow equitie & meke­nes, then theire and iust indignaciō to the which he hath bene deseruīg­lie encited by the warres in the yere [Page] past when he dyd breake the campe of the league.

¶ Al thinges cōpounded in this sorte, duke John aliue and chastised with so great correction, that from one of the mightiest princes in Ger­mani, he is become a priuate knight and his sonnes shal deuide amongst them that which he onely possesseth, so that thys house whych hath beene of so greate power, shall be come so lyttle as hys pryde hathe deserued, but for all thys it is not parceyued that thys duke hath spoken one low­lye woorde, or shewed anye counte­nance confirmable to hys fortune, but euer a constancie worthye to be kepte in our true religion. Uiertemberge yelded wyth three thousande menne of warre. The Emperoure sent to be there in garrison four ba­ners. [Page] Twoo dayes after thys, the Duchesse came foorth to dooe reue­rence and see hys maiesty: she came to h [...]stent accompanied wyth the brother of Duke John, & hys wyfe sister to the Duke Henrike of Brūzwique, and a sonne of duke Johns, an other was sycke in Uiertēberge, and the thyrd at Gote. There came also in theyr companye the Sonnes of the kyng of Romaynes, the Marques of Brandemburge, and other Lordes of Alnmyne. She came before the Emperoure wyth all hu­militye that myghte be. It was not nede to [...] her her husbād be­yng in so greate trybulacion seeyng her selfe depo [...]e [...], and in a myse­rable estate. Her fortune shewed her what shee shoulde nowe dooe, [Page] she kneled downe before the Empe­rour, but he did take hir vp, & recey­ued her as curteouslye as i [...] she had lost nothīg of this that she had in her first fortune: it was a thing that mo­ued euerye man to pitie. There she besought the Emperour touchyng the duke her husbande, whereunto she was graciouslye aunswered, she went after where he was amongest the Hispaniardes in theyr warde, & there she did viset hym hauing lisēce of the Emperor, and then returned to the castel of Uiertemberge. The next day the Emperour entred into Uiertemberge, for to see the castell where the Duches lai, which semed to be a visitacion like vnto Aleran­der when he visited the mother and wife of Darius: for so muche more is the victorie when a prynce dothe [Page] vse it moderatlye.

¶ At thys tyme came from the confines and costes of Tarterye, & Muscouia nere vnto y ^e riuer of Ne­per .iij. captaines, offering to y ^e Em­peroure their seruice, wyth .iiij. M. horses: he aunswered thē with great thankes, and that the warres were now in terme that it should not nede and so thei departed. Likewise there came Embassadours from the king of Tunezey, for to treate wyth the Emperour concerning certaine af­faires for theyr Lord, & they offered hym as many Aloraues whiche are the chief horsmen, so that it maye be sayd that out of Cythia, & from Li­bia, men be atracted bithe greatnes of the Emperour to write of him.

¶ Nowe the Emperour hadde sent a knyghte of hys house called [Page] Lazaro Esbende, for to take Gotte with two baners, and that he should set at libertie the Marques Albert, and that he should tarrye there, and see it deuided and cast downe to the groūd, other places came in to sur­render at their termes: for suche an order was taken, that in Saxonye there was nothing lefte to be done. But Boeme, whych is theyr neygh­bour, was at an euyll poynte wyth theyr kyng, but they of the kyngdōe sent Embassadours to the Empe­rour, wyth the fairest woordes and greatest offer y ^t mighte be, but his maiesty dyd kepe thē there for to be dispatched when he saw his tyme.

In these dayes duke Henrique of Brunzwique the yonge mā was agaynste Breame with twoo thou­sande horsemenne, and foure thou­sande [Page] footemenne, in the whych en­terpryse he hadde ayde of the Em­peroure, because he was an enemye to the Dukes of Lūburque Lutherans, & of the league, as it is writtē more particularlye by them whych haue in charge to wryte more at large. He was putte to flight by an Earle of Mans [...]elte, a Rebell and Lutheran, and Thumserne Cap­tayne for the Duke in Saxony, the whych wyth the menne that he had in Boeme, wyth a greate rode that he made aboute, he ioyned wyth thys Earle of Mansfyelde. They twoo beyng together, hadde toure thousande horsemenne, and .xiiij. or .xv. M. footemen. Duke Henry­que of Brunzwique cōplained vnto the Emperor vpō an other captaine [Page] that hauing a commission from hys maiestye had made warre againste those cities, whiche came not to hym in tyme: it folowed that the Empe­rour caused the captaines to be takē.

¶ This story is to be wryttē by them which write more particular­lye of the Emperoure: but to speake of the power of Duke John, as he hath said sithe, if the Emperour had tarryed twoo daies longer, he had receyued hym. wyth .xxx. M. foote­men, and .vij. M. horsmē, a strēgth sufficient to fight with .iiii. M. hors­men and .xvi. M. footemenne, if he which was their leder had not bene worthe so much as to fulfil the nom­ber of thē that lacked for to be egale with our enemies. And it is cleare, that he had this strēgth, beside those which were with him when he was [Page] taken, and the baners which we put to flight before y ^e battaile. There re­mained whole .iiij. M. horsmen and xiiij. or .xv. M. footemen, beside the accompt of those which he loked for out of Boeme, and so he was deter­mined, that if he might not fyghte to his aduauntage, to deuyde his men by garisons, some in Madeburge, & one of his sonnes in Got, an other in Viertēb [...]rge, a captain in Eldrā, an other in Sonab [...]t, and of thys sorte to compasse the Emperoure a­bout: with taking away of his victuals, but al these policies came to no­thing. For whē the duke of Saxon was ouerthrowen, they beganne to scatter, and not onelye these, but all so the Lantgraue: how and bi which waye he myghte make hys peace, so that they let fal al the trust that they [Page] had in their neyghbours and other straungers, of whom they had re­ceiued money & giftes, for the which they haue had as muche thanke and gaines that haue tarryed at home, as they which haue bene abrod and haue not folowed the Emperoure. Here it may be sene of what weyght the parson of duke John of Saxo­nie wyth hys power, hathe beene in Germanye. For after hys defaccion and taking, he hath had lyttle power which hath thought hym selfe to be a Gouernour ouerall. For after thys victorye, the Lantgraue is come to make intercession vnto Duke Morres for to haue hys pardone, and at the fyrste, he offered to fulfyll ma­nye condicions, but at the laste he handeled the matter otherwayes.

¶ The Soliciters in thys, be [Page] duke Morres and the Electour of Brandemburge, vnto whome the Emperour had a great respect, and at theyr contemplacion, he was con­tent to heare what they woulde pro­pone for y ^e Lantgraue, but neuerthe lesse he woulde haue the thing done whych he thought conuenient. And so he answered them what was hys pleasure shoulde be done. The Lāt­graue replyed, addyng yet more thereunto, but he lefte oure euer one thyng whyche muste nedes be done. The Emperoure aunswered reso­lutelye that he woulde not treate wyth the Launtgraue, but it should be at hys pleasure. Thys aunswere was gyuen to the Launtgraue be­ing .viij. leagues from oure campe, from whence he then departed in [Page] great desperacion, so that there was no hope for remedy, but onelye that which he feared most. And he sayd, for nothing in the worlde he would submit him selfe to the Emperours mercy, & to be at his wyl. And wyth this determinacion, he wrot to duke Morres certain chapiters with his owne hande, how he would agree & enter, which wer the very same that the Emperoure demaunded. Thys conclusion the Emperoure woulde haue concluded in Hale, in Saxon, standing in the way toward the coū trey of the Lantgraue, the whyche way the Emperour entēded to lead his campe. The same daye that hys maiesty came to Hale, the ther came the Marques Albert of Brandem­burge, to whom as it is said: he had geuen lybertye wyth hys banners▪ [Page] standerdes, and artilerye which he had lost, because he should lacke no­thing that belonged to libertye. He rested a great tyme there: for one of the things that pleased him most in his warre, was that he had recoue­red this prince whiche came vnto y ^e Emperour and sayd: Lord I thank God and you. He said no more, & I thinke this to be be sufficient.

¶ Two daies before the Emperoure parted frō Viertēberge. The king of Romaines had taken y ^e way toward Prage, with, iij. M. horsmē & vj. M. footemen, with those which were sent frō the Marques of Ma­ [...]enan. The Emperor remoued frō Viertēburge to go against y ^e Lant­graue, as against y ^e roote of al mys­chief in Germany, which was neces­sari to be plucked vp: for letting this [Page] great desperacion, so that there was no hope for remedy, but onelye that which he feared most. And he sayd, for nothing in the worlde he would submit him selfe to the Emperours mercy, & to be at his wyl. And wyth this determinacion, he wrot to duke Morres certain chapiters with his owne hande, how he would agree & enter, which wer the very same that the Emperoure demaunded. Thys conclusion the Emperoure woulde haue concluded in Hale, in Saxon, standing in the way toward the coū trey of the Lantgraue, the whyche way the Emperour entēded to lead his campe. The same daye that hys maiesty came to Hale, thether came the Marques Albert of Brandem­burge, to whom as it is said: he had geuen iyberrye wyth hys banners. [Page] standerdes, and artilerye which he had lost, because he should lacke no­thing that belonged to libertye. No rested a great tyme there: for one of the things that pleased him most in his warre, was that he had recoue­red this prince whiche came vnto y ^e Emperour and sayd: Lord I thank God and you. He said no more, & I thinke this to be be sufficient.

¶ Two daies before the Emperoure parted frō Viertēberge. The king of Romaines had taken y ^e way toward Prage, with, iii. M. horsmē & vj. M. footemen, with those which were sent frō the Marques of Ma­ [...]enan. The Emperor remoued frō Viertēburge to go against y ^e Lant­graue, as against y ^e roote of al mys­chief in Germany, which was neces­sari to be plucked vp: for letting this [Page] growe, and to goe parsonallye into Boeme, althoughe that kyngdome might be subdued: yet neuerthelesse the Launtgraue might stand in case to begyn the warres agayne, but y ^e Lātgraue subdued: Boeme should be more lyght to be taken in hande: For why that kingdom and al theirs of the rebels in Germanye, looked for the sustentacion of y ^e Lantgraue as in a heade in whom they dyd de­pende nexte vnto Duke John, and therefore the Emperour would that the king should part in hast, because the heate of his great victory myght encrease his strēgth, so y ^t this kyng­dōe which feared so much y ^e Empe­ror might be brought more [...]ightli to obedience, by force or other wayes.

¶ The daye before the partyng of the king, the Hūgarians came to [Page] kysse the handes of the Emperoure with supplicaciō, that it might please him to haue in remēbraunce the suc­cour of Hungary, they made an O­racion according to the time of their fortune. The Emperour put them in comfort, and wryt vnto y ^e estates of theyr kyngdome, that they were worthye to haue hys parson, & com­maunded to be geuen to euery cap­tayne a chaine of golde, to the value of. 3 .c. crounes, & a paye to be made to theyr mē, the vohych they did take wyth thankes, & cōsidered it to be a gift of fauour. His maiestie gaue to duke Morres y ^e robes of y ^e eleccion, with y ^e tounes belongīg to y ^e same, & because amōgest greate thinges he would not forgeat the litle, he com­maunded to be geuē to the soldiers y ^e which did swim to get the barges, [Page] garmentes of crymyson after their fashyon, and to eueryche one .xxx. crounes, wyth the aduauntage of their banners.

¶ The Emperor being come vnto Hale in Saxonye, which is a great towne standyng in the dyoces of Madeburge, although duke John had taken it for his owne. His ma­iestie lodged in the house of the by­shop, and there determined to put in effect, that the which by the interces­sion of the electors, it had pleased the Emperour to consent. The condici­ons general whiche to my remem­braunce be these.

¶ First that the Lantgraue submit hym selfe into the handes of the Emperour with al his possessions, & to swere fidelitie to his maiestye, to giue the .iiij. principall townes that [Page] he hath, and for to be cast downe at his commaundement.

¶ He dothe geue to the Empe­roure .v. C. and. [...]. M. Florauns of gold with al his artilery, which be. ij C. peeces catted, & to deliuer Duke Henrique of Brunzwique, whiche he had kept prisoner sence the yeare M. D .xlv. and to restore to y ^e sayde duke, al thinges that he hathe vsur­ped, and to be in the determinacion of the chamber imperiall.

Thys is the pointe whiche is to hym so muche voorthe, that not for to come there [...], he hathe sustayned hys opinious so long, vntyll that he hathe sworne fide liue to the Empe­rour: & the nobles also be sworn, that when the Lantgraue goeth oute of the way, they shal take him & bryng hym to the Emperoure, who nowe [Page] pardoneth hym his lyfe, and taketh away the Vande imperial, whyche was proclaimed against him, & like wyse remitteth him from perpetual prison. Before the commyng of the Launtgraue to Hale, there was a great question and bebate betwene the Hispaniardes & the Dutchmen: it was so farre forth, that the Empe­rour put him self amongst them. It was a necessarye remedye, for none but only he might suffice, howe be it that it was not without peril which might haue chaūced, being betwene ij. parties so furious, which now be ganne to be blynde.

¶ At thys time the Emperor dyd geue licence to y ^e Embassadours of Boeme, saying vnto thē in summe, y ^t he wold make intercessiō to y ^e king, and y ^t if the realme was greued in [Page] any thing, it should be disgrauated. But thys was to be vnderstanded cōming firste into the obedience of their king in doing their duty, and if not, his maiesti could do no lesse, but to take the affaires of his brother as his owne proper. This was in s [...]me hys answer, how be it in hys letters they were answered more at large.

¶ Now the day is come that the Lātgraue cōmeth to Hale with one hundreth horses: he dyd lyght at the lodging of Duke Morres hys sōne in lawe, nowe Electour. The nexte day at the houre apoynted, he came to the pallace accompanyed wyth these two Electours. The Empe­rour was in the haule wyth the ce­remonies accustomed in these thin­ges. There were manye lordes and knightes of Almme which came to se that which they thought neuer to [Page] haue sene in the Lātgraue: but whē he came before the Emperoure, he did take of hys bonnet, and kneled downe vpon his knees, & his chauncelour lykewyse: the whyche by the name of his lord said these wordes. ¶ Right high, most mighty & victorious prince, Emperour and graci­ous Lord, Phillip the Launtgraue of Hessene hathe greuouslye offen­ded your Maiestie beyng in these warres, and geuing a cause of iuste indignacion for the enducing of o­ther parsons to fal in the same fault, wherfore your maiesty may vse al rigour in y ^e correcciō of his deseruing. He confesseth meekely that he is so­rowful with al his hart, & folowing the offers that he hath offered for to come before your maiestye, he yel­deth himselfe vnto your maiestye in [Page] al pointes freely at your wyll. Hū ­bly beseching for the loue. & merci of God, y ^t your maiesty wyl be content to vse of your goodnes & clemenci to pardon and forgeat these said offen­ces, and to take away the banishmēt imperial, which your maiesty hathe so iustly declared against hym par­mitting y ^e he may possesse his lādes, & gouern his vassailes, whych make supplicacion that it may please you to pardon and to receiue them in to your grace, knowledging euermore to make recognisance vnto your maiesty, and to take you only rightful­lye ordeined of God to be our soue­raigne Lord and Emperor, to obey & to do seruice to your maiesty, & to the whole Empyre, al y ^t a prynce & vassalle is bound to do, and so euer to continue, and neuer to do, or treat [Page] any thing to the contrary, for to be al his life a meke and obedient seruāt in knowing of the great benefite of thys pardon obtayned at your ma­iesty, for the whiche he desyreth and shall desier al hys lyfe to serue wyth thankes, as he is bound in such sort, that your maiesty may know in ef­fecte, that the Lantgraue & his shal kepe and obserue as they be bounde by the articles, by the whyche your Maiesties pleasure hath bene for to graunt. These were the woordes of the Lantgraue in effect.

¶ The Emperoure commaun­ded one of his Coūcel Almane who sayde these woordes. Hys Maie­sty (pyteful Lord) doth vnderstande what the Lantgraue hath sayd: that although he hath confessed and hath greuouslye offended, so that he hath [Page] deserued al punishment, thoughe it were the greatest that might be ge­uen, whiche is to all the worlde well knowē. Notwithstanding, his ma­iesty hauing a respecte that he hathe submitted him selfe at his feete, and by his clemency accustomed, & like­wise at the intercession of the pryn­ces which haue intreated, he is con­tent to take awaye the banishment iustlye declared agaynste hym, and not to punyshe hym wyth payne ca­pitall as he hathe deserued for the rebellyon committed agaynste hys Maiestye, nor with perpetual prie­sonne, neyther yet wyth the confys­cacion of hys goodes: but hence­foorthe to be contente wyth the Ar­tycles in the Chapters, whyche hys Maiestye hathe graunted. [Page] He receiueth him into his grace and mercye wyth the subiectes and ser­uantes of his house, so that he accō ­plishe al that is cōteined in his chapters, so that he doth not go directlye nor indirectly in any thyng against them. And that his maiesty doth be­leue and trust that the Lantgraue and his subiectes wyll deserue the great mercy and pitye that he hath vsed towarde them. These be the wordes of y ^e answer to y ^e Lātgraue.

¶ Al thys tyme the Lantgraue kneeled vpon his knees: but when he did stand vp, his maiesty touched not his hand, nor yet made vnto him any sight of curtesy. It was a thyng notable to see hym kneling a pryso­ner, & the duke Henrique of Brunz­wique which had bene his prisoner, at lybertye, standyng by one foote. [Page] Here might bee sene the chaungea­ble successe of man. This finished, the duke of Aluoy came vnto hym, and said: you must depart, desiring the two electors to supper with him. So the Lantgraue was led out of y ^e palace vnto y ^e castel where y ^e duke did lie, & after supper he appoīted hī a lodging in y ^e castel, & commaūded Don Ihō de Gneue [...]a, captain of y ^e terce of Lumbardy to be his keper.

¶ At the fyrste the Launtgraue did take his imprisonmente vnpa­cientlye: for of a trueth, he thought [...]his prisōmēt not being perpetual but temporall, that it shoulde haue been so light, and dissembled that he might haue gone a huntyng in the forest of Hesson: but it semeth that God hath permitted that where he thoughte for to excede all other in [Page] Almayne in busines and quarrels, that in the selfe same, he is come for to write agaynst himselfe, with hys owne hande, intreating of no other thing, but to be a prisoner perpetu­al or temporall, at the discrecion of him, into whose handes he hath sub­mitted himself, and sith is come to knowledge that his mouth hath spoken against hym. He beganne to quiet himselfe, and to take his for­tune with more pacience: so he that praysed hymself so muche in busy­nesse it is come to passe, that he is loste in trouble and businesse. The Duke of Saxon whiche hath prai­sed hymselfe to be a man of warre, and of strength, it is come to passe that he hath loste hymselfe in the warre.

[Page]¶ These twho heades of the Lutherans which haue so muche dys­quieted al christendome, nowe god hath geuen them into the handes of the Emperour, with so honourable meanes, to hym and his fame so lōg as the worlde shall endure. And sithe for to speake of these two prin­ces, I thinke it shall not bee farre from the purpose, to say what euery manne may iudge in them. The Duke of Saxon is a manne of a greate courage, eloquente, and dis­crete. And in his manours he hath a grace in all thing that he sayth or dooeth. He is liberall, and for these good qualities, he is muche beloued in Germanye and well frended. He is more quyete then the Launtgraue, by whose [Page] counsaile, as they saye, they beganne the warre this yere past. The Lant­graue differeth muche in condici­ons frō this: for why he is vnquiete in extreme, a great frend and main tayner of quarelles and stryfe. He is not of suche effabilitie, nor so light of speche in his practice and conuer­sacion, but rather a light witte, and as to his ciuilitie he is not of that o­pinion emongest folkes, nor lyke to the Duke of Saxon: but because he hath gone more diligentlye aboute this businesse paste, and being cap­tayne generall of the league, he hath geuē more occasion to speake of him then of the other, although the duke hath been more of aucthoritie.

¶ In the citie of hale came vn­to his maiestye a great greting and congratulacion of this victorie, frō [Page] the Pope. And in his briefe that he wrote vnto hym, he sette hym foorth with the renowme of Mari­mo, with mighty names as wel de­serued as geuen. These thinges done, his maiestye parted from hale when he hadde prouided for the ra­syng of Gotte, the artillerye was broughte to Francfort, and moreo­uer from all the fortes of the Laūt­graue, excepte one that his maiesty left him. The artilerie and munici­ons were broughte from all partes to Franckeforte, for thyther was broughte al the artillerye and mu­nicions, which was gotten in these warres, excepte the hundreth peces of Uiertemberge of the whiche wer sente fiftie to millayne, and fiftie to Naples. The two hūdred that wer taken from the Launtgraue, and [Page] one C. from Gotte. And the hun­dreth that were taken of the cities at the breaking vp of the campe of the league, thei wer brought thither for to carry into Flaūders. Of these iiii. C. the Emperor sent into spayn one. C. with one other hūdreth, and xl. which he did kepe for to be sent thither. In Flaunders remayne an C. and lx. for why it is mete y ^t in all partes of his estates where y ^e fame of this victorye is knownen, that the the signes and tokens thereof bee seen.

¶ Al these thinges done, y ^e Em­perrour remoued to Newremberge folowing the coste of Boeme. be­cause yet he woulde geue more hea [...] to the affayres of that kingdom, frō whence his maiestye hadde newes▪ [Page] that it was subdued: so muche is worthe the reputacion of a Prynce in any enterprise, howe di [...]icile and harde so euer they bee. Nowe the Emperoure dyd take the waye throughe Turing a countrey fruit­full and full of strayte passages, the whiche they of the countrey hadde so muche fortyfyed, that it se­med that they putte a truste muche differyng from that y ^e folowed: for they hadde suche a confidence in the strength of their Lorde, that they loked not for the Emperour [...] bee there victorious, for [...] wer [...] that i [...] had [...], [...] been īpossible [...] [Page] warre of y ^e Laūtgraue agaynst the Duke of Brunzwique, and of them of Breame, with the yonge manne Duke Henrique of Brunzwique. and with Groūgue, & Vierspergue and other particularities, for I wyl not enlarge my Comētarie, nor take awaye from them whiche haue in charge to wryte these and other: this that I putte here, maye be a help to theyr remembraunce, and also be­cause I wyll not lese for my parte these worthye dedes, aboue al other as these be of the Emperour.

❧ In this waye of Turyng came to submitte hymselfe vnto the Emperoure, the eldest sonne of the Duke of Saxon, whiche had been in Gotte, and ratified all that hys father hadde graunted, and when he came to Bamberge, he receyued [Page] there a legate from the Pope. And from thence to Nuremberge where he abode certayne dayes, lo­kyng for to take resolucion of the citie, where he was disposed to kepe the diet, for in Vlme it was thought not to be commodious, as it beho­ued for all the princes and cities of Germanye to come together, espe­ciallye for health.

¶ At this tyme the Citizens of y ^e mightie cities of Lubique, came before the Emperoure, declaryng that they hadde neuer offended: and trueth it is, for they neuer dyd thing agaynste his maiestye. Breame ta­kyng the kyng of Denmarke for theyr intercessour, labored for their pardon. The duke of Pomerana and Lunemburge, laboured with excuses, prayers, and iustificacions [Page] Theyr affayres, Brunzwique, Hil­son, and Breme, came to Auguste to bee at the Emperours mercye, for why, they dydde see theyr cor­reccion at hande, for it should not haue been nede, to haue his person, nor yet any of his armye to chastice them, but to haue sent to the lordes theyr neyghbours to make them warre, the whiche they desyred as a thyng muche for theyr profyte. Hamburge came to surrender to the Emperoure beyng in Nurem­berge. And so the head Cities Ma­ritane, standyng vpon the Sea, came to surrender, m [...]yng great paymentes, submyttyng themselfe to the obedyence Imperiall, which they haue not knowen vntyll nowe and other thynges to bee done as [Page] it shoulde please the Emperoure to commaunde.

¶ Nowe the Emperoure hath broughte to passe all these thynges in Germanye, whiche haue been so hyghe in the toppe of pryde, and with so greate power, that it semed to the heades of them, that theyr pryde was no presumpcion, but all reason, and withoute anye doubte theyr power was so greate, that it semed to all menne, that there was not strength in the reste of christen­dome for to resyst. But he that may dooe all thynges, hath suffered the Emperour to haue the victorye, for the whiche his name shall remayne more cleare then anye of the other Emperours of Rome, consyde­ryng the greate dedes and the [Page] causes wherefore, so that al prin­ces be bounde, whiche stande in the determinacion of the churche, as the countye Palatyne, the Duke Morres, the Duke of Viertem­berge, the marques of Brandem­burge Elector, and all they of their names. And they of Almayne, whiche semed to bee most impossi­ble, as the selfe Launtgraue, with other princes, and ioyntlye all the cities of the Empyre, from Auguste, where his maiestye kept the diet. He sente with the Car­dinall of Trente large relacion to his holines.

¶ The greatnes of these warres, deserue a relacion more at large, then this of myne, but I with thys briefe remembraunce, maye helpe them whiche write more particu­larlye: [Page] but surely this I say, y ^t when Ceasar had conquered Fraunce in x. yeres, he filled the world with his Comentaries. And Rome made supplicacions to the gods, whē thei had passed the Ryne, and had been x. dayes in Almayne, he thoughte y ^t it suffised to haue y ^e authoritie & the dignitie of the people which gouer­ned the worlde. The Emperoure in one yere, hath subdued this braue prouince, witnesse the Romayns of our tyme. Charles the great in. xxx yeres subdued Saxony. The Em­perour in lesse then fowre monthes was lorde of all the whole prouince. The greatnesse of this warre is woorthye a greatter stile then mine is: for I cannot write but y ^e naked trueth, without anye affeccion, but yet the remembraunce may be per­petual [Page] according to the deseruing of the greatnes of the enterprise, the whiche, and of the yere passed, hath been gouerned by the Emperour so streight, that if it had been guyded otherwayes, it hadde not come vn­to the ende that we haue sene it: for at al tymes when it hath bene nede­ful to be gouerned by arte, the order hath been obserued to that effecte necessarie. And also when it hath bene conuenient to woorke by force, the determinacion hath bene so exe­cuted with suche courage & strēgth, as hath bene nedeful. Wherfore his fame is worthy to bee so muche superiour to the other Capi­tayns in time past, so much as in the vertue & good­nesse, he is to them all.