The emperor slept at Coburg, in Franconia. The German horsemen took up their quarters in the adjacent villages. Every house was deserted, the dwellings of the nobility as well as the peasant's farms; nowhere was there a soul to be seen, for, having been sorely tried the previous day by the passage of the Spaniards, the population dreaded renewed scenes of horror. In one house we found a membrum virile; elsewhere, stretched on a bed a bloodstained body, exactly in the condition in which those abominable miscreants had put them one after the other. The servants of Von Wedel dug a grave by my orders for the corpse and the membrum virile.
Our first encampment after that was a village amidst fertile plains. I unsaddled my horse in order to let it graze in peace until the morning. In the same spot there was a handsome gentleman's dwelling, in its open courtyard a wagon with four strong horses; on the wagon two barrels of exquisite wine. Capons, poultry and pheasants were running about in all directions. I leave people to imagine the massacre, and how, on our return to our tent, we quickly plucked, boiled and roasted the game. We were the absolute masters. There was nothing to fear; the granary was full to overflowing, and we replenished our sacks to the very edge. In short, horses, vehicle and wine, and everything else was carried away. The barrels were emptied on our way; the team was sold at Nuremberg for what it would bring, for we ourselves had had it very cheaply.
The sight of our plenty attracted the notice of Duke Frederick von Liegnitz,[[47]] so we invited him to share it. Two joyous damsels in gorgeous silk attire were of the party and performed their duty well. The servants also shared in the feast which was prolonged till dawn. The nights, however, were very short.
It was full daylight when, wishing to saddle my horse, I discovered it had been stolen. Immediately, according to 'the usages and customs of war, I chose the best nag at hand, currycombed, bridled and mounted it in the space of a few minutes.
On July 1, towards midday, the emperor made his entry into Bamberg with a numerous suite. The Elector of Saxony occupied a house on the outside of the town on the right, just at the turn of the road, so that he could watch the city and the country. The captive was at the window just as his Imperial Majesty passed, mounted on a small Spanish horse. He made a profound bow; thereupon the emperor burst out laughing sarcastically, and stared at him as long as he could.
The Spaniards took with them from Bamberg four hundred women, girls and female servants, and did not let them go until they reached Nuremberg. The fathers, husbands and brothers followed in their wake; the father looking for his daughter, the husband for his better half, the brother for his sister; at Nuremberg each found his own again. Oh, those Spaniards! What a nation, to dare do such things after the cessation of hostilities, in a friendly country and under the very eyes of the sovereign. The latter, however, displayed a relentless severity. Each evening they put up a gibbet as well as his tent, and the former did not remain long untenanted, but it was all in vain.
I suddenly came across my horse in a meadow near the Nuremberg gates. I put my saddle on its back, and left the animal I had taken at Coburg.
His Majesty journeyed by small stages in consequence of the excessive heat. The diet, in fact, was summoned only for September 1. This slowness gave me the leisure to ride with George von Wedel on the flank of the army, from its head to its tail. It was an interesting spectacle, this mass of men under arms and in battle order; here Germans, farther on Spaniards. In the evening we returned to our own. Far from keeping to the highway, the soldiers marched straight in front of them, making a roadway four times wider than the ordinary one, upsetting all obstacles, knocking down enclosures and filling in moats and ditches. One day the restive horse of George von Wedel insisted on getting into the ranks of the Spanish, who could not or would not get out of the way, and as the rider cried angrily: "Very well, let the French kill thee, then," a half-drunken soldier, mistaking the words, retorted: "Senor mio, no soy Frances, mas soy un Espanol." The Spaniards, in fact, think themselves much superior to the French.
As we were getting near Nuremberg there was no longer any need for me to hide myself. I took up my quarters at the hotel selected by Duke Frederick von Liegnitz, at that period trying to interest the emperor in his paternal affairs. That prince was never sober, and at the refusal of his counsellors, he caroused with the suite of Margrave Johannes.
One day the duke and six servitors of the margrave cut the right sleeves out of their doublets and their shirts. With bare arms, their hose undone so as to show their shirts, their heads uncovered, and list slippers on their feet, the seven persons marched in single file behind the town musicians, playing with all their might, and went after dinner to the Duke Henry of Brunswick's. Prince Frederick held in one hand a set of dice, and in the other a quantity of gold pieces; naturally the crowd ran with them, the foreigners foremost, Italians and Spaniards delighted to see "these sots of Germans" go by. The wine produced such a strong effect that Liegnitz, on entering the apartment of the duke, stumbled across the table, both hands foremost. There was only one dice left, and not a trace of the gold. He was unable to utter a syllable, and dropped on the floor. Four Brunswick gentlemen carried him to a bed on the story above. The emperor, it is said, was very angry at the Germans making such a show of themselves.