Page:Gregor The story of Bohemia.pdf/100

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The Story of Bohemia.

back, and finally ran to the river in a headlong flight. Eighteen thousand men of the Hungarian army remained upon the field of battle, while fourteen thousand more perished in the waves of the Danube.

King Bela, humbled in spirit, sued for peace. It was made upon conditions that Styria should remain under the government of Bohemia, and the Hungarian king should give his son Bela in marriage to Kunigunda, the daughter of the Viscount of Brandenburg, and niece of Ottokar. This victory over the Hungarians won much renown for both King Ottokar and the Bohemians. On accounnt of the 7,000 cavalry clad in steel armor, the Tartars called Ottokar the Iron King; but throughout Europe he was called the Golden King, on account of his wealth and the magnificence of his court.

The wedding of the son of the Hungarian king and the niece of Ottokar was held three years later, The Wedding of Kunigunda and Bela. on the very grounds where the great battle was fought; and, as it well illustrates the wealth of the Bohemian king and the splendor of his court, a short description will here be given.

The preparations for the wedding were on so grand a scale that many princes, doubting the reports, sent emissaries to Vienna to spy out the real facts. The place selected, for the wedding-feast was near the village of Kressenbrunn, about ten miles from Vienna. Tents were put up, having all the accommodations of permanent dwellings. A bridge wide enough for ten riders to go abreast was built across the Danube. Two large palace-like tents were set up, in which each king, surrounded by hundreds of retainers, knights, and noblemen, tried to outvie the other in the magnificence