The allied army had been collected so suddenly, that no
suitable provision had been made for feeding so vast a host. Famine
added its terrors to the cold blasts which menacingly swept the plains,
and as there was imminent danger that the imperial army might cut off
entirely the communication of the allies with Hungary, Gabriel Bethlehem
decided to relinquish the enterprise of taking Vienna, and retired
unimpeded to Presburg. Almost every fortress in Hungary was now in the
possession of the Hungarians, and Ferdinand, though his capital was
released, saw that Hungary as well as Bohemia had escaped from his
hands. At Presburg Gabriel was, with imposing ceremonies, proclaimed
King of Hungary, and a decree of proscription and banishment was issued
against all the adherents of Ferdinand.
Germany was now divided into two great leagues, the Catholic and the
Protestant. Though nominally religious parties, they were political as
well as religious, and subject to all the fluctuations and corruptions
attending such combinations. The Protestant league, composed of princes
of every degree of dignity, who came from all parts of Germany, proudly
mounted and armed, and attended by armed retainers, from a few score to
many hundreds or even thousands, met at Nuremburg.
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