Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XLVII - Odense
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
Chap. XLVII.
ST. KNUD’S CHURCH.
249
period: the king arrayed in his royal robes, and good
Queen Christina, who here died 1521, standing by his
side; between them their youngest son, Prince
Fran-ciscus,* a small boy, in full costume, with golden chain,
to which hangs a pendent rose, some old Pope’s present.
Within the same vault, but no monument erected to
his memory, lies Christian II.,f together with his father
and mother, at last at rest. Hard by stands the coat
of arms, in carved wood, of young Prince Franciscus,
bearings of the house of Oldenborg observe the sup-
* No prince of the house of Oldenborg had ever before received the
name of Franciscus ; and people wondered greatly at its selection. He
was named in honour, said King John, of holy St. Francis ; for on that
Saint’s day not only was he born, but his father received the news of
peace having been concluded between himself and Sten Sture.
t At his funeral appeared a rich merchant from the Netherlands,
who demanded a large sum of money which he declared he had lent
to the deceased king during Ids banishment. King Frederic II.
answered that aU his debts must be paid by bis children, brother-in-law,
and those nearest in kin, and not by the country ; and that this answer
might stand good for all the creditors, who, as you may imagine, were
never paid.
t On a field or, two bars gules, is the cognisance of the house of
Oldenborg, concerning which “ smudge,” as it is termed, there hangs
a story. In the year 1090 the Count of Oldenborg, while in the
Holy Land, for a conspiracy against the Emperor Henry IV. was
condemned to engage in single combat with a lion. In the Midler
collection is preserved a curious old engraving of this story. The
count, armed cap-a-pie, stands in a stone jail-like court, surrounded by
high walls, over the top of which appear the heads of the emperor with
the empress (Matilda), bishops, counts, ladies, all anxiously feasting
their eyes on the fight. But the Count of Oldenborg is a man of
genius. He has in his hand the lay-figure of a man—very like an
acrobat of modem days—which he holds out on his shield, and
presents to the lion. While the imprudent beast seizes on his prey
with his teeth and claws, the count plunges his sword deep into his
heart. The blood flies out over the hand of the victor, who, first
wiping his fingers on his gilded shield, produces the two red smudges
which he afterwards bore as his arms by order of the emperor. In
olden days the house of Oldenborg adopted as their supporters, on the
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
