lace had never till
then been taken by an enemy. Further, they demanded six thousand florins
ransom from us, which, however, we abated to four thousand, handing to
them two thousand florins at once, upon three dishes, with the request
that the remainder should be allowed to stand over till the forthcoming
day of John the Baptist. As soon as this money had been paid over to
them, the Pasha called such of our faithful garrison as were in the
church to come out and arrange themselves in the square, that he might
see how many safe-conducts were required; but, as each armed man came to
the door, his musket was torn out of his hand, and such as resisted were
dragged by the hair of the head into the square by the Turks, and told
that they would need no weapons, seeing that to those who sought for
mercy, the passes would be sufficient protection. And thus were our arms
carried away from us.

"As soon as the whole garrison, thus utterly defenceless, were collected
in the public square, there sprang fifty Turks from their horses, and
with great rudeness began searching every one of them for money or other
valuables; and the citizens began already to see that they were betrayed
into a surrender, and some of them tried to make their escape--among
others, Herr Streninger, the town-justice; but he was struck down
immediately, and he was the first man murdered. Upon this, the Pasha
stood up, and began to call out with a loud, clear voice to his troops,
and as they heard his words, they fell upon the unarmed men in the
market-place, and hewed them down with their scimitars without pity or
remorse--sparing none in their eagerness for the butchery, and which, in
spite of their haste, was not ended till between one and two o'clock in
the afternoon. Of all our citizens, only two escaped the slaughter, and
they contrived to hide themselves in the tower; but those who fled out of
the town were captured by the Tartars, and instantly dispatched. Then,
having committed this cruel barbarism, they seized the women and children
who had been left for safety in the church, and carried them away into
slavery, taking care to burn and utterly destroy the fortress ere they
departed. And when Vienna was relieved, and the good people there came
among the ruins of Bertholdsdorf, they gathered together the headless and
mangled remains of our murdered citizens to the number of three thousand
five hundred, and buried them all in one grave."

In "etern