of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary. His first diplomatic voyage brought him to England, Scotland and Portugal, where he participated in the conquest of the Moorish city of Ceuta. In 1416 he joined King Sigismund in France and they traveled together back to Constance. In 1417 Oswald married Margarete von Schwangau, with whom he would have seven children. Later that year he returned to Tyrol, where he joined the Elefantenbund, an alliance of noblemen against Friedrich IV, who had been banned by King Sigismund for aiding the flight of Antipope John XXIII from the Council of Constance. With the help of the local population, especially the peasants, Friedrich was able to resist the King and the nobles and from 1418 onwards Friedrich pursued his enemies within Tyrol vigorously. In September 1421 Oswald was lured by his lover Anna Hausmann into a trap and apprehended by Martin Jäger, who brought Oswald to Innsbruck and handed him over to Count Friedrich. In March 1422 Friedrich, in exchange for a surety of 6,000 ducats and an oath to abjure all vengeance, released Oswald for five months so that Oswald could settle his debts with Martin Jäger and other nobles. Oswald could not reach an agreement with his enemies and did not show up in Tirol Castle on August 24, 1422, opting rather to ride to Hungary, where he met King Sigismund. Together they plotted a war against Friedrich. The war was started by Oswald's brother Michael who wrote to Friedrich on September 5, 1422: "Therefore I want to be your enemy and be in an alliance with your enemies." In 1423 open hostilities culminated in the siege of Castle Greifenstein, during which Oswald with both his brothers was part of the castle's garrison. The siege was lifted in November 1423 through a successful sally. However, because the burghers and peasants of Tyrol and the bishop of Brixen supported Count Friedrich, most of the nobles, including both brothers of Oswald, surrendered on December 17, 1423. Few nobles chose to continue to fight. The most prominent were Hans von Villanders, the brothers Ulrich and Wilhelm von Starkenberg, who successfully defended Castle Greifenstein for years to come, and Oswald, who was the last to surrender. In 1424 things calmed down and Oswald commissioned the Neustift Monastery to create a manuscript of his songs. The calmness of the year was due to the new