There were still desertions by the papal party from Konstanz to the pope at Schaffhausen only thirty miles away. The entire population of Konstanz was told that, as soon as they got there, they were under the protection of the Duke of Austria – so Sigismund, driven almost mad by frustration, told his armies to deal with the fat young duke. I withdrew to Schaffhausen once again, leaving Bernaba behind to observe.
Sigismund summoned Frederick to appear and answer. The three days of grace had expired and the duke had made no sign. His treachery to the empire and to the council was so heinous, as Sigismund daily reminded everyone, that not a voice was raised in Frederick's defence at any of the assemblies of the Teuton leaders. Sigismund pronounced the ban of empire on him. All the duke's lands and subjects were released from their obedience to him and reverted to the empire. It was forbidden to give him lodging or shelter, to provide him with food, forage, help or counsel, to keep the peace or to abide with him. The whole of empire, lords and cities, clergy and laymen, informed of the ban, were told that all alliances and contracts with the duke were null and invalid. The duke was outlawed.
By order of Sigismund, sealed letters were affixed to the cathedral door at the upper court, and at the door of St Stephen's church, summoning Frederick before the royal court. The king commanded all secular lords, knights, vassals and mercenaries to go to war against the duke's possessions. Mobilization was ordered in the imperial cities and stockpiling of food, provisions, rifles and gunpowder. The first expedition, made up of troops from Konstanz, Biberach, Ueberlingen, Pfullendorf and Buchorn, Kempten and other places, was sent out against Frederick's possessions in the Thurgau The duke's Swiss confederates refused to break their fifty years of peace with his family, but the Tyrol seized the opportunity.; Patriarchs, bishops and counts all produced their claims against Frederick. Within eight days, 437 lords and cities had sent in their cartels of defiance.
So many Letters of Feud arrived at Schaffhausen that the pope was appalled by their number: He was on his way to church on Black Thursday when a messenger brought him the news of the mobilization for war. Without hesitation, he told the cardinals that each man was to shift for himself He turned back to the castle. The next morning, when he asked them to join him in flight, every cardinal, including the pope's own nephew, but excepting, myself, declined. They were frightened of being made prisoners by Duke Frederick, who had sworn to make the pope and his cardinals pay for the war which had been forced upon him.
On Good Friday, clad in his pontifical robes, Pope John left Schaffhausen and rode twenty-four miles in a driving rain as far as Waldshut. Ten miles more the next morning got our papal party to the castle at Gross-Laufenburg, in the bishopric of Basel, where the Rhine separates the Jura from the Swabian range.
`We have to decide the way to get out of here safely to France,' Cossa said to me over a hearty dinner before going to bed with the Angioni twins,, whom Bernaba had been thoughtful enough to send to Schaffhausen for his pleasure.
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Although the council abandoned respect for Cossa's feelings at its fifth general session on that Easter Saturday, he could not have said that the form was not observed. The delegates; passed a resolution which read `Whoever,; of whatever condition or dignity he be, even of the papal, shall obstinately refuse to obey the decrees of this council, shall be liable to penitence and to punishment, even though secular aid have to be invoked.'
The actual method of punishment of all who had left Konstanz without permission was made over to Sigismund; who was also asked to write to Pope John offering him a safe conduct for his return to Konstanz.
At last the Swiss, who had to be threatened with being placed under ban of empire, agreed to take arms against the duke on the conditions that they might retain every place that they conquered and that the King of the Romans would not make peace with the duke without including them in it. The war could now proceed with brutal surety. Frauenfeld and Winterthur in the Thurgau were taken. The Duke of Austria was in despair.'
`How could I ever have believed that he was a true pope?' he wailed upon the bosom of his mother, who had been sent in a clamouring rush by the family to persuade him to surrender, in the hope that at least something could be saved by negotiations with Sigismund.
'A pope is a pope,' she said comfortingly. `How could you know what kind of a man he would turn out to be?'
At dawn on Easter Day, Pope John XXIII crept out of Laufenberg, disguised as a forester, carrying a bow and arrow, and began the journey through the deep snow of the Black Forest to the city of Freiburg. His five faithful friends were with him Geofreddano Bocca, his cook; Count Abramo Weiler, his physician; Luigi Palo, his squire; Father Fanfarone, his chaplain; and his last remaining cardinal, which is to say, myself, Franco Ellera. On the first night we reached Todtnay in the Weisenthal. The next day we passed Muggenbrunn and made sanctuary at the Dominican Cloister at Freiburg im Breisgau, arriving on the night of 10 April. Freiburg had been held by the Austrian dukes since the summer of 1368.
Within two days, those of the curia who had straggled after Cossa arrived in the town and were struck by its beauty and by the elegance of its broad streets and squares, its fountains and runlets. No cardinals came but there were bishops, chamberlains and other officers of the court who were still in train.
Cossa sent a letter to the Duke of Burgundy, who had been so profuse with his gifts of wine at Konstanz during the winter, and who had so joyously and respectfully sent a bodyguard to meet him in Alsace. At Konstanz, his ambassadors had been in the pope's confidence and they had urged him to race to Avignon, to settle there under the duke's protection. Cossa sent another letter, to the council. It was a message from one combatant to another which told the assembly that he was still willing to resign, but that the war against the Duke of Austria must cease and that he, Baldassare Cossa who was Pope John XXIII, must be appointed cardinal legate in perpetuity for the whole of Italy, with Bologna and Avignon ceded to him, with an annual pension of 30,000 gold florins, secured on the cities of Venice, Florence and Genoa, and with perfect freedom from account for any of his actions; in the past or the future.
While he awaited replies, he showed his gratitude for the loyalties and friendship of the men who had been, at his side since he left Procida thirty-five years before. He bestowed upon his physician. Count Abramo Weiler, now ninety-one years old, the Archbishopric of Cologne and the administration of the diocese of Pederdorb. He made Geofreddano Bocca and Luigi Palo bishops who would rule over Bohemian dioceses and receive their benefices no matter where they might choose to live. He made Father Fanfarone a general of the Franciscan order. `I could not do less,' he said to me simply, 'but you have served me more truly than anyone-in my life. Tell me what you want, Franco, and you will have it if it is mine to give.'