fled, until he had taken refuge in Kaschan, and had thence made his way,
deeply mortified and despondent, to Vienna. The Prince of Transylvania
retreated into the depths of his own principality. Mahomet, with his
principal officers, shut himself up in Buda, after which he returned to
Constantinople and abandoned himself for a time to a voluptuous ease,
inconsistent with the Ottoman projects of conquering the world. The
Turks, less prone to desperation than the Christians, had been utterly
overthrown in the early part of the action, but when the victors were,
as usual, greedily bent upon plunder before the victory had been fairly
secured, the tide of battle was turned by the famous Italian renegade
Cicala. The Turks, too, had the good sense to send two days afterwards
and recover their artillery, trains, and other property, which ever since
the battle had been left at the mercy of the first comers.

So ended the Turkish campaign of the year 1596. Ancel, accordingly,
fared ill in his negotiations with Germany. On the other hand Mendoza,
Admiral of Arragon, had been industriously but secretly canvassing the
same regions as the representative of the Spanish king. It was important
for Philip, who put more faith in the league of the three powers than
Henry himself did, to lose no time in counteracting its influence. The
condition of the holy Roman empire had for some time occupied his most
serious thoughts. It seemed plain that Rudolph would never marry.
Certainly he would never marry the Infanta, although he was very angry
that his brother should aspire to the hand which he himself rejected.
In case of his death without children, Philip thought it possible that
there might be a Protestant revolution in Germany, and that the house of
Habsburg might lose the imperial crown altogether. It was even said that
the emperor himself was of that opinion, and preferred that the empire
should end with his own life." Philip considered that neither Matthias
nor Maximilian was fit to succeed their brother, being both of them