The
pope also, who had become inimical to Louis, declared that Frederic was
absolved from the agreement at Trausnitz, as it was extorted by force,
and, with all the authority of the head of the Church, exhorted Frederic
to reassert his claim to the imperial crown.
Amidst such scenes of fraud and violence, it is refreshing to record an
act of real honor. Frederic, notwithstanding the entreaties of the pope
and the remonstrances of his friends, declared that, be the consequences
what they might, he never would violate his pledge; and finding that he
could not fulfill the articles of the agreement, he returned to Bavaria
and surrendered himself a prisoner to the emperor. It is seldom that
history has the privilege of recording so noble an act. Louis of Bavaria
fortunately had a soul capable of appreciating the magnanimity of his
captive. He received him with courtesy and with almost fraternal
kindness. In the words of a contemporary historian, "They ate at the
same table and slept in the same bed;" and, most extraordinary of all,
when Louis was subsequently called to a distant part of his dominions to
quell an insurrection, he intrusted the government of Bavaria, during
his absence, to Frederic.
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