But my escape
was prosaically commonplace, depending on the cupidity of one man. The
material for it was placed in my hands by the Archbishops themselves.
Your account states that the Castle is well guarded. So it is, but when
the Archbishop needs an augmentation of his force, he withdraws his men
from Ehrenfels to Mayence, as my prison is the nearest of his
possessions to his capital city, and thus at times it happens that the
Castle is bereft of all save the custodian and his family. His eldest
son happens to be of my own age, and not unlike me in appearance. None
of the guards saw me, except the custodian, and you must remember he was
a very complacent jailer, for the reason that he knew well every rising
sun might bring with it tidings that I was his Emperor, so he cultivated
my acquaintance, to learn in his own thrifty, peasant way what manner of
ruler I might become, and I, having no one else to talk to, made much of
his company.
"Frequently he impressed upon me that his task of jailer was most
irksome to him, but poverty compelling, what could he do? He swore he
would accomplish whatever was in his power to mitigate my captivity, and
this indeed did; so at last when the Castle was empty I made him a
proposal.
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