It was a new proof of the old adage, it
is never safe to warm a frozen adder.
The restoration of Wenceslas was followed by other acts of folly. In the
following year, 1395, he sold to John Galcazzo Visconti, of Milan, the
dignity of a duke in Lombardy, a transaction which exposed him to
general contempt. At a later date he visited Paris, and here, in a
drunken frolic, he played into the hands of the King of France by ceding
Genoa to that country, and by recognizing the antipope at Avignon,
instead of Boniface IX. at Rome. These acts filled the cup of his folly.
The princes of the empire resolved to depose him. A council was called,
before which he was cited to appear. He refused to come, and was
formally deposed, Rupert, of the Palatinate, being elected in his stead.
Ten years afterwards, in 1410, Rupert died, and Sigismund became Emperor
of Germany.
Meanwhile, Wenceslas remained King of Bohemia, in spite of his brother
Sigismund, who sought to oust him from this throne also. He took him
prisoner, indeed, but trusted him to the Austrians, who at once set him
free, and the Bohemians replaced him on the throne.
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