diversion of traffic from its natural channel not upon the merchants
but upon the Baron, where undoubtedly it rightly belonged, and
although, when they came upon an overland company which was seeking to
avoid them, they gathered in an extra percentage of the goods to repay
in a measure the greater difficulty they had in their woodland search,
they always informed the merchants with much politeness, that, when
river traffic was resumed, they would be pleased to revert to the
original exaction, which the traders, not without reason pointed out
was of little avail to them as long as Baron von Wiethoff was permitted
to confiscate the whole.

In their endeavours to resuscitate the navigation interests of the
Rhine, several expeditions had been formed against the Baron, but his
castle was strong, and there were so many conflicting interests among
those who attacked him that he had always come out victorious, and
after each onslaught the merchants suffered more severely than before.

Affairs were in this unsatisfactory condition when Count Herbert of
Schonburg returned from the Holy Land, the fame of his deeds upon him,
and married Beatrix of Gudenfels. Although the nobles of the Upper
Rhine held aloof from all contest with the savage Baron of Schloss
Wiethoff, his exactions not interfering with their incomes, many of
those further down the river offered their services to Count Herbert,
if he would consent to lead them against the Baron, but the Count
pleaded that he was still a stranger in his own country, having so
recently returned from his ten contentious years in Syria, therefore he
begged time to study the novel conditions confronting him before giving
an answer to their proposal.

The Count learned that the previous attacks made upon Schloss Wiethoff