He first attacked the dependent provinces of
Bohemia, one by one, sending an army of twenty-five thousand men to take
them unprepared. Having subjected all of Upper Austria to his sway, with
fifty thousand men he entered Bohemia. Their march was energetic and
sanguinary. With such an overpowering force they took fortress after
fortress, scaling ramparts, mercilessly cutting down garrisons,
plundering and burning towns, and massacreing the inhabitants. Neither
sex nor age was spared, and a brutal soldiery gratified their passions
in the perpetration of indescribable horrors. Even the Duke of Bavaria
was shocked at such barbarities, and entered his remonstrances against
them. Many large towns, terrified by the atrocities perpetrated upon
those who resisted the imperial arms, threw open their gates, hoping
thus, by submission, to appease the vengeance of the conqueror.
Frederic was a weak man, not at all capable of encountering such a
storm, and the Bohemians had consequently no one to rally and to guide
them with efficiency. His situation was now alarming in the extreme. He
was abandoned by the Protestant league, hemmed in on every side by the
imperial troops, and his hereditary domains of the Palatinate were
overrun by twenty thousand Spaniards.
Pages:
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397