King Eric and the Outlaws Volume I Part 9

"And what security doth King Eric demand for the release of the captive, whom he, without lawful sentence, and contrary to the law of G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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 d.a.m.nation?--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 h.e.l.lish 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 p.r.o.nounce 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d'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 pa.s.sionate 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 p.r.o.nounce 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 unG.o.dly 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 b.l.o.o.d.y 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 st.u.r.dy 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 amba.s.sador! 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 const.i.tution--'c.u.m Ecclesia Dacianae.' Read this doc.u.ment 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 a.s.sert his authority by a commanding address; but at the same moment the fettered archbishop s.n.a.t.c.hed the doc.u.ment 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 pa.s.sive 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 s.n.a.t.c.hed 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 amba.s.sador. His arrival was formally announced, and he was shortly afterwards admitted to a private interview with Eric.

What had pa.s.sed 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 amba.s.sadors 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 circ.u.mstances 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 a.s.sembled party at Sjoborg 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 archbishop.r.i.c.k 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.

Although neither the king nor his loyal and devoted subjects recognised the validity of the sentence of excommunication p.r.o.nounced on them by the archbishop, so long as it was not formally ratified by a papal decree, this awful procedure had nevertheless taken place, and with such publicity that it could not but be generally known. The rumour quickly spread throughout the land, and terrified the people. The threats against those who should not within ten days withdraw all help and companionship from the king had struck terror into many, and several of the domestics, and of the guard of halberdiers absconded from Sjoborg. The tales recounted of the ecclesiastical captive's skill in the Black Art now contributed still more to alarm his guard. At every unusual sound from the dungeon in the night the turnkeys stole from their posts, and the bravest men-at-arms dared scarcely remain without the prison door, where with trembling voices they often sang valiant battle songs to keep up their courage. The prisoner was guarded with still increasing anxiety. A very suspicious rumour rendered watchfulness still more necessary. Some fishermen from Gilleleie, who supplied the castle with fish, had related in the kitchen that a foreign bark was constantly sailing to and from the coast. The persons on board appeared to be fishermen, and were busied during the day with nets and fishing-tackle, but during the night they landed, and a tall knight in disguise, accompanied by some seamen of suspicious appearance, were seen to lurk in the neighbourhood of the castle. This report had not indeed reached the ears either of the king or the Marsk, but orders were issued that the guard should be doubled in the captive's tower, and that the steward should answer with his life for the archbishop's security. The lower cla.s.ses now believed that the king would pa.s.s sentence of death upon him, and command him to be executed.

With the expression of fear and anger in his countenance, as well as of fatigue from a night's watch, the steward one morning descended the stairs of the tower prison with the keys in his hand. "All folk seem possessed here," he muttered. "I shall now have to watch myself to death over that confounded Satan."

"Did I not always say so, master? He will drive us all crazed at last,"

sounded a merry well-known voice in his ear, and Morten the cook stood before him in the twilight at the bottom of the tower stairs.

"Morten! thou crack-brained vagabond! is it thou?" called the steward; "where in all the world hast thou been? Folk said thou wert surely bewitched, and gone to the devil, and I began almost to think so myself. The whole pack of them here are losing their wits, and one after another runs off from me. Speak, man! where the devil hast thou been?"

"Ah! dear master," sighed Morten. "Thank St. Hubert that you are so pious and virtuous, and condemn not a weak worldly-minded fellow who hath been forced to do hard penance for his sins' sake. Ye have doubtless observed how I delight in dancing and singing. In former days I was not afraid of a little drink, either; but on St. Vitus's day it behoves us to be cautious. As a punishment for my unG.o.dliness in a drunken bout, I was afflicted with St. Vitus's dance, and I thought I should have danced for a whole year, as hath chanced to many a poor sinner before. Perhaps you or other virtuous folk have prayed for me, for I got off for a few weeks' sickness; but in all that time I was not able to give any account of myself, and I have so danced the country round that I can hardly hang together."

"Indeed!" answered the jailor, looking at him suspiciously; "hast thou had that sickness? It is a rare one, though, and many will have it that it is nought but an idle superst.i.tion."

"Dear master! remember ye not then how it seized Claus Spillemans last year? He ceased not dancing till he dropped dead in Sjoborg streets."

"Well, that is true enough; he went mad, no doubt, on St. Vitus's day; but it was not upon _that_ day thou did'st kick up such a riot, and did'st run off from the turnkeys. Be honest, Morten! hast thou not suffered thyself to be seduced by the bishop to run errands for him?

Thou hast tramped the country st.u.r.dily round, that I see right well, and if thou now hast a fancy to be hanged for thy zeal in the service, thou comest in the very nick of time; both the king and the Marsk are here, and when the one pa.s.ses a sentence, the other is at hand to execute it."

"Dear pious master! what do you take me for?" answered Morten, putting on a look of astonishment. "Had I run errands for such a traitor I must have been stark mad indeed to come back again now, and let myself be hung for it. No, trust me, master, I am not so brutishly stupid. To tell you the whole clean out, I was drunk beyond all bounds that evening; whether it was St. Vitus's day or not I do not quite exactly remember, but I have had neither sense nor recollection since. I must have doubtless scoured the country round like a madman. I have now come to my senses for the first time, and found the way to Sjoborg again.

Here's been fine excommunicating work between the bishop and the king.

If I can be of any use to you, say the word! I could break the archbishop's neck with the greatest pleasure in life if I could thereby save king and country. If you have any doubt of my honesty, I will only just fetch my traps, and take myself off with all reverence."

"No, stay; I will believe thee, because of thy honest face, Morten,"

said the steward, hastily, and casting a sharp look at him, while a new and daring thought seemed to flash across his hangman's soul. "I have never needed thee more than at this very time. My new cook hath also run off. I have only one turnkey left. I must myself be every thing and every where."

"That is more than can be required of any Christian soul, master. The Devil himself can hardly take that upon him."

"Drunk and mad thou must surely have been," muttered the keeper, still looking narrowly at him. "Hum! _so_ long a drunken fit, though, have I never heard the like of. St. Vitus's dance? Truly that is an ailment akin to madness; no man can answer for what he does in that state. Hum!