4 - The Duke of Alba's Breakfast at Rudolstadt Castle in the Year 1547 (1788)

Summary

AS I LEAF THROUGH AN OLD CHRONICLE from the sixteenth century (Res in Ecclesia et Politica Christiana gestae ab anno 1500 ad an. 1600 by J. Soeffing, Doctor of Theology, Rudolstadt, 1676), I find the following anecdote, which for more than one reason deserves to be reclaimed from the annals of forgotten history. I find the story corroborated in a work entitled Mausolea manibus Metzelii posita by Fr. Melch. Dedekindo, 1638. One can also look it up in Spangenberg's Adelspiegel part I. vol. 13, pg. 445.

There was a German lady from a house that had always shone with valor and had given the German Empire a Kaiser, who through her resolute behavior nearly brought the terrible Duke of Alba to his knees. After the battle at Mühlberg in the year 1547, when Emperor Charles V came through Thuringia on his way to Franconia and Swabia, the widowed Countess Katharina of Schwarzburg, born Princess of Henneberg, effected from him a letter of protection, so that her subjects should not have to suffer at the hands of the passing Spanish army. In return, she entered into an agreement to deliver bread, beer, and other provisions at an inexpensive price from Rudolstadt to the bridge over the Saale River, in order to supply the Spanish troops who would cross there. Before so doing, however, she took due precaution, quickly dismantled the bridge that was close to the town, and erected a new bridge across the water at a greater distance so that the all-too-convenient proximity of the town would not lead her plunder-hungry guests into temptation.