the master of the household call together the whole court and every
knight here in the castle. Place my throne at the end of the hall!" The
attendant departed in haste on a signal from the king.
"Your grace is too precipitate," said Thorkild; "give not a publicity
to your interview with this dangerous prelate which he may abuse to
your hurt and prejudice."
"My cause shuns not the light," answered the king. "I use not to speak
or treat with my bitterest and deadliest foe otherwise than I dare make
known to my loyal subjects and the whole body of Danish chivalry. A
traitor's oath demands witnesses."
"But caution and--I trust your grace will pardon my boldness--state
policy demand there should be as few witnesses present as possible,"
objected Thorkild Knudson, with anxious sympathy. He would have said
more, but at this moment the door opened, and he was silenced by the
entrance of the tall Archbishop Grand in chains.
Led by the steward and the three turnkeys, besides two men-at-arms, the
haughty prelate stepped across the threshold of the king's private
chamber, with a stare of wild defiance, without fixing his eye on any
object. He was attired in a white Cistercian mantle, without any of the
insignia of a bishop; his proud countenance was pale and emaciated; his
beard was shorn, his head was bare, and around his tonsure curled a
ring of tangled grey hair. He moved slowly, and every step seemed
attended with pain; but it appeared as if, with a contempt of all
bodily suffering, he exerted himself to the utmost to prevent his
outward appearance from becoming an object of commiseration.
When the king beheld him he involuntarily stepped back, and a feeling
of sorrowful sympathy for fallen greatness was manifest in his look,
while at the same time the remembrance of his father's murder, and this
man's share in the misfortunes of state and kingdom, overspread his
noble countenance with the crimson of indignation.
"You may go," said Eric to the guard. They obeyed, and through the open
door of the knights' hall, which was instantly shut again, the king
beheld a numerous assemblage of knights and courtiers, looking with
anxious suspense and curiosity towards the entrance to the private
chamber, through which they had seen the captive archbishop conducted.
The haughty captive continued standing about two paces from the door,
and had not as yet vouchsafed a look or salutation to the king. He
stood immoveable as a marble statue, and his cold uncertain gaze, now
first warmed into life, as it suddenly fixed with frightful earnestness
on a silver crucifix, which stood by the side of the king's shield, on
a shelf above a prie-dieu.
"You stand in the presence of your liege sovereign. Archbishop Grand,"
began King Eric; but he paused again to restrain his anger at the
captive's look of rude defiance.
"Yes, truly, I stand in the presence of my _heavenly_ Ruler and King,"
answered Archbishop Grand, folding his fettered hands, without
withdrawing his gaze from the crucifix. "_He_ shall judge between me
and the tyrants of this world."
"You stand also before your _temporal_ ruler and king," continued
Eric--"before your lawful superior in this country and kingdom. For
what ye have sinned against me and Denmark's crown you will have to
answer at the great day of judgment, but first _here_; as certainly as
there is justice upon earth, first _here_. I have sent in my accusation
of your crimes to the tribunal of St. Peter; the Holy Father hath
required me to liberate you that he may hear your defence, or your
confession."
"Why then have ye not obeyed, King Eric?" interrupted the captive, for
the first time turning his proud glance upon the king. "Will ye delay
until the holy lightnings melt the crown from off your brow?"
"How long I shall wear the crown, the righteous God alone can
determine," answered the king. "Without His Almighty permission no
power on earth can injure a hair of my head." He paused for a moment.
"When we liberate a dangerous offender," he continued, with more
calmness, "he must give us security for his release. The guiltiest
criminal shall have the right of defending himself, but not of
committing fresh crimes on his way to his tribunal. If he hath any
remains of conscience and honour, and if we are to trust him, he must
take the oath we require. If he will not--be it so! he may be tried in
his dungeon, and defend himself in his chains."
"And what security doth King Eric demand for the release of the
captive, whom he, without lawful sentence, and contrary to the law of
God and the church, caused to be imprisoned and maltreated?" asked the
archbishop, with bitterness.
"For the justice of your imprisonment I will answer to the Great Judge
above," answered the king, raising his hand; "but the point in question
is only whether you may justly and reasonably be released; to decide
this I have summoned you hither. Know then, Archbishop Grand! although
you were undoubtedly an accomplice in my father's murder--although I
abhor you as my bitterest and deadliest foe, and as the greatest
traitor in Denmark, I fear not, nevertheless, to loose your guilty
hands when justice demands it; but _here_ ye shall neither raise hand
nor voice against crowns and sovereigns; ere ye leave these walls ye
shall swear by your salvation, in the sight of God and the chivalry of
Denmark, to promise that which I here, as the protector of the crown
and people, have required and demanded. When you have read the
conditions of your release, and are willing to take the oath before my
throne, in the hearing of all my knights, your imprisonment may end
this very hour."
At a signal from the king Thorkild Knudson reached the sheet of
parchment to the archbishop, and placed one of the tapers closer to
him. The hand of the proud captive trembled as he took the parchment,
and it cost him evident effort to read it; but it seemed as if his
strength and spirit increased as he proceeded; and when he had perused
it to the end he laughed scornfully, and crumpled the parchment in his
hand.--"Shall I leave my degradation unavenged?" he cried--"Shall I
fetter my tongue myself that it may not announce to you eternal death
and damnation?--Shall I part with my last earthly defence?--Shall I
subject the holy church's right to the arbitration of a tyrant? No,
King Eric Ericson! as yet I am an anointed and consecrated archbishop,
with power to bless or curse the crown thou wearest. Even in these
chains I have the power to push the crown from off thy head with a
single word. Over my body, tyrant! thou may'st have power, but, by the
Lord above, not over my free immortal spirit! Ere I will consent to one
of these conditions thou and thy executioners may sever every limb from
my body, as I now rend asunder, with this hellish compact, all bond and
tie between me and the despots of this world." So saying, he rent the
parchment before the king's eyes, threw the fragments on the floor, and
stamped upon them until his chains rattled.
"Madman!" cried the king, in great anger, "stay then in thy prison, and
defy me there, until thy dying day! I release thee not until thou hast
put thy seal to every word thou hast here trampled under foot, should I
be a hundred times excommunicated by the pope in consequence," Eric
hastily pulled the bell-string. The door of the knights' hall opened,
and the master of the household appeared. "The guard," commanded the
king--"the captive is to return to prison."
The loud talking in the king's private chamber had excited
apprehensions among the king's knights and courtiers, who knew he was
next to being alone with the dreaded prisoner. As the chamber door
opened, all thronged towards it, as if fearing some misfortune.
"Back!" said the king, and he was obeyed; but the door to the knights'
hall remained half open, and ere the guard arrived to fetch the
prisoner. Archbishop Grand had taken a bold resolve. He hastily seized
the crucifix, upon which he had gazed so long, and with this holy
symbol in his hand, before which all were forced to bow, he advanced
with long powerful strides into the middle of the knights' hall; here
he halted, and turned suddenly towards the king, who stood on the
threshold, amazed at this sight, and seemed about to issue orders for
the seizure of the prisoner.
"Anathema!" shouted the archbishop, in a terrific voice, and raising
the chained hand which bore the crucifix. "King Eric Ericson of
Denmark! I pronounce the sentence of excommunication upon thy head. I
announce to thee, and every Christian here present, that thou art
fallen under the church's awful ban--"
"What? audacious villain! seize--gag him!" exclaimed the king, stepping
over the threshold.
"Anathema!" shouted the archbishop still louder.--"He who lays hands on
me is accursed.--Thou art cast out of the community of believers and of
saints.--Thou hast no longer any power over Christians, King Eric! In
virtue of my holy office, and the apostolical authority of St. Paul, I
give thee over, as the enemy of God and the church, to Satan, and to
the destruction of the flesh." So saying, he described the stroke of
forked lightning in the air with the crucifix, and looked around him
with flashing eyes.
All stood as if petrified by terror and amazement. The king appeared
once more about to speak; but he had grown deadly pale, and it seemed
as if his voice was choked by anger. Ere he was able to speak, the
archbishop again burst forth with a deafening voice, while he turned to
the knights and courtiers: "Fly, Christians! leave the pestilent one!
pollute not your souls by intercourse with the excommunicated one!
accursed is now the hand which brings him food, accursed the servant
who serves him with fire or water, accursed the tongue which comforts
him with a single word, so long as his soul is given over to the Evil
One. He who ten days hence still serves and obeys this foe of the
church I give over with him to Satan and to the destruction of the
flesh, that the soul may be saved at the day of the Lord Jesus! Amen!"
On finishing this speech he made a genuflexion, kissed the crucifix,
and handed it to the chaplain of the castle, who stood trembling
nearest him among the king's suite, and bent his knee, while he pressed
this so fearfully abused symbol of blessing with a look of sorrow to
his heart. "And now, excommunicated king!" added the archbishop, with a
triumphant countenance, and with the mien of an exulting martyr,
tearing the mantle from his emaciated breast, "now may'st thou, if thou
darest, order to be torn asunder the church's anointed, who announced
to thee the sentence of the Lord. My body is, perhaps, in thy power,
but the spirit is God's, and his is the power throughout all eternity."
A death-like silence reigned throughout the hall, the greatest terror
was depicted in the faces of the knights, while their eyes turned with
sorrowing sympathy towards their excommunicated sovereign. It seemed
for a moment as if the lightnings of excommunication had struck the
young king with the power of real lightning, and smitten him with
lameness. He had staggered back so dizzy that he was forced to support
himself by the door-post; but he now summoned up all his strength, and
stepped forward with quick and passionate strides among his knights and
courtiers.
"A regicide stands in the midst of us, and would give us over to the
Devil, to whom he himself belongs," he burst forth, in a tone of the
highest exasperation; "he who is himself accursed presumes to pronounce
the Lord's judgment upon men. On this unfortunate St. Cecilia's eve my
father's blood cried aloud from the earth, and accused this criminal
before the Lord's tribunal. His head should long since have fallen
under the axe of the executioner, and now he would judge and
excommunicate us; he would destroy my immortal soul, had he the power;
but no! each word he hath spoken is lifeless and powerless--his curses
fall back on his own guilty head. The Holy Father shall judge between
us! The King of Denmark recognizes no sentence as lawful which is not
confirmed by 'the Father of Christendom. Away with the miscreant!"
The knights and courtiers appeared able to breathe freely again, on
hearing these words from the king. They looked on him with confidence
and devotion, yet still appeared to hesitate, and no one prepared to
seize the dreaded prisoner, who stood erect and haughty among them, and
seemed to triumph in the spiritual power he had exercised even in
chains.
"Hence with the criminal!" repeated the king; "until he recalls the
ungodly ban he sees not the light of day. Guards! halberdiers! why
tarry ye? hath this miscreant's words struck you deaf and lame? Fear ye
to obey your liege sovereign?"
The guards and halberdiers now surrounded the archbishop, but with
manifest trepidation. The terrific prisoner stood immoveable, with his
eyes turned upwards, towards the roof of the hall, and no one as yet
dared to lay hands on him. But the king again broke silence. "I still
bear crown and sceptre," he exclaimed; "I shall know how to defend
myself and my loyal subjects against this monster! I swore by my
father's bloody head to uphold the rights of the crown and the insulted
dignity of majesty against every power on earth whether spiritual or
temporal, and by all the holy men![13] I will keep that vow. Will not
the loyal Danish nation, will not Denmark's chivalry stand by me
undismayed in my fight for truth and justice? Then, indeed, will Danish
loyalty be a theme for mockery, and Danish courage for scorn. Are ye
true and valiant Danish men, and do ye let yourselves be scared by a
mad traitor into betraying your liege sovereign?"
All doubt and apprehension seemed now to have disappeared among Eric's
knights and courtiers. The hall resounded with shouts and loyal
acclamations. The archbishop vainly strove to speak again. The
indignation against him was general, and without hesitation the guards
laid hands on him to lead him back to prison. But ere they reached the
door it opened, and Prince Christopher, accompanied by the Margrave of
Brandenborg, entered with the papal legate between them, followed by
their train of ecclesiastics and laymen. All started at the sight of
the tall foreign prelate with his cardinal's hat and withered visage.
He stepped with an authoritative air before the prince and the
margrave, and bowed to the king, and towards all sides of the hall, in
silence, and with the air of a superior, as if appropriating to himself
the loud acclamations which were heard on his entrance, but which were
now suddenly hushed. He seemed startled on perceiving the chained
prisoner in the Cistercian mantle. He nodded, and the guard stepped
aside. The captive archbishop felt himself suddenly freed from the
sturdy grasp of the men-at-arms. "Gloria in excelsis!" shouted Grand,
as he raised his fettered hands, and kneeled at the cardinal's feet.
"Blessed be thou, thou messenger of the Lord!" he continued in Latin.
"See here, how an archbishop in Denmark is treated! See, and judge, in
the Holy Father's name, O thou, his high ambassador! I have, in virtue
of my holy office, published the church's ban upon this presumptuous
king, because of his defiance to the law of the Lord and the church!
Confirm it in the Holy Father's name, Lord Cardinal--or see Archbishop
Grand expire of wrath and ignominy at your feet!"
"Arise, my venerable brother, and be comforted," answered Isarnus, also
in Latin. "I bring with me authority from his Holiness to enforce the
constitution--'Cum Ecclesia Dacianae.' Read this document aloud to the
king and the court, in the language of the country, worthy Abbot
Magnus." As he said this he reached a large parchment letter, with the
papal seal, to the aged Abbot of Esrom, who had accompanied him. The
abbot opened it with a trembling hand, but as he glanced over it a
flood of tears rolled down his furrowed cheeks.
"I _cannot_," stammered the old man; "he is my liege and sovereign! I
conjure you, my lord, by the all-merciful Creator! use not the power
here given you to our king's and our country's destruction. This is a
matter which demands the highest consideration. This authority is not
unconditional, either," These last words were spoken in Latin, and
appeared to startle the cardinal.
The unexpected entrance of the papal legate at this critical moment,
his singular appearance, as well as the mysteriousness of his conduct,
and the speaking in a foreign tongue, had once more inspired the
bystanders with a feeling of consternation which deprived them of the
power of speech. Even the king appeared for some moments to have lost
his self-possession and the consciousness of royal authority, while the
attention of all present was rivetted upon the terrific stranger. Eric
now stepped forward a few paces, and seemed about to assert his
authority by a commanding address; but at the same moment the fettered
archbishop snatched the document from the abbot's trembling hands.
"Here is papal authority for ban and interdict," he cried, "praised be
the Lord! his judgments are righteous. Enforce your authority, most
reverend sir! Anathema and the church's ban upon the king, and those
his accomplices in guilt!" So saying, he raised his fettered hands both
towards the king and Prince Christopher, who appeared to be in great
consternation at this sudden and unlooked-for blow.
"Not a word more here, on pain of instant death, impudent miscreant!"
exclaimed the king, in a loud tone, and in the highest exasperation.
"Take that mad criminal to prison, halberdiers! Let every one leave
this place! We will inquire in our council with what authority this
stranger is empowered to treat with the king of Denmark. When he
proposes it, and it suits our convenience, we will talk with him in our
private chamber." So saying, the king returned to his own apartment.
Not another word was heard in the knights' hall; even the archbishop
found it expedient to be passive as the two halberdiers and the guard
approached to lead him out of the hall. All the knights and courtiers,
as well as Prince Christopher and his train, departed in silence. The
halberdiers who were on guard, alone remained behind. They snatched up
their halberds, and ranged themselves in their customary order without
the king's apartments. Abbot Magnus had also left the hall, and
Cardinal Isarnus stood almost alone in the middle of the floor between
his amanuensis and interpreter. He looked with surprise around the
suddenly deserted hall.
It was not until he had announced himself through his interpreter in
suitable form to the captain of halberdiers, and requested an audience
with the king, that he was received with the demonstrations of respect
due to a papal ambassador. His arrival was formally announced, and he
was shortly afterwards admitted to a private interview with Eric.
What had passed had thrown every one into the greatest suspense and
uneasiness, and an anxious stillness reigned in the castle. The foreign
prelate quitted not the king's private chamber until the night was far
advanced. The king did not make his appearance, but, according to his
orders, the strictest court etiquette was to be observed. Arrangements
were made in the castle for the protracted sojourn of the cardinal and
his train. He was to be honoured as a princely guest. The return of the
Swedish ambassadors was postponed. The following day another long and
private conversation took place between the king and the papal legate.
The presence of this dignitary, and his over-awing authority, banished
all gaiety and cheerfulness from the castle.
CHAP. VII.
On the evening of the second day Drost Aage had not as yet returned
from his expedition, as the protector of Marsk Stig's captive
daughters. He had conducted them without impediment to the king's
castle at Vordingborg; but as he was about to ride into the arched
gateway he was attacked from behind, and dangerously wounded, by an
unknown hand. Aage was carried, in a state of insensibility, into the
castle, while his huntsmen vainly pursued his stealthy foe, in whom
they thought they recognised the same tall horseman in peasant attire,
and mounted upon the little Zealand horse without a saddle, whom they
had several times seen on the road, but who always vanished as suddenly
as he had appeared, and who they conjectured must have followed their
track by secret paths from Esrom.
The commandant at Vordingborg had received the wounded knight, with
great alarm; he instantly recognised in him the young Drost, and the
favourite of the king. As soon as Drost Aage had recovered his
consciousness, he informed the commandant of the rank and position of
the two ladies, and also that they were to be considered as state
prisoners, for whose security he would be responsible, although their
stay here was to be rendered as agreeable as under such circumstances
it was possible to make it. The commandant instantly ordered the gates
to be barred, and sentinels to be stationed; but he threw open the
interior of the castle without reserve to his guests, and a messenger
was dispatched to inform the king of what had happened.
Meanwhile the assembled party at Sjoeborg were in some degree
tranquillised, when on the noon of the third day the king again made
his appearance at table, where he sat, with a calm and almost cheerful
countenance, between his brother Christopher and the papal legate.
Their secret negociation seemed to have taken a friendly turn, and
great reliance was placed in King Eric's manly sense and political
wisdom. Report said that the Italian prelate seemed to bear our
northern climate excellently well, and perhaps might not be disinclined
to take up his abode here, if the king should come to an agreement with
the papal see, and the archbishoprick of Lund became vacant by the
deposition of Grand. It was conjectured that the formal annulment of
the archbishop's authority, and of his own self-empowered sentence of
excommunication, had been the subject of the king's conferences with
the unfathomable Isarnus, and it was reasonably hoped that the cardinal
would grant this important condition of the archbishop's release, ere
the king fulfilled the demands of the pope. But some days elapsed
without any apparent decision being taken. Meanwhile, no change took
place in the condition of the captive archbishop, who remained in close
confinement.