The Emperor hoped to end the squabbling once and for all. Ludwig III, a landholding

count, and Archbishop Conrad I first, were locked in a feud. You see, Conrad wasn't

being a good neighbor. At least that's what Ludwig thought. Conrad had started building a castle near Ludwig's

territory, and it all seemed a little aggressive. To Ludwig, it seemed that Conrad was staking

a claim in a space that wasn't exactly his. In fact, the territory was and had for a long time

been pretty contested. So, to build a castle there was a move of confidence that didn't sit well with Ludwig.

It didn't seem fair. As the story goes, the emperor directed King Heinrich the 6th to call in his

trusted advisors, counts, and other nobles in order to convene at St. Peter's Church and

Erfurt, Germany, in July of 1184. He wanted mediation, and he wanted it fast.

A judgment would be made on what to do about the land, and that would hopefully be the end of the

story. But of course, it wasn't, but not for reasons that you might imagine. As the 60 or so

noblemen ambled into the church on that warm summer's day, the atmosphere was tense.

There were politics and power at play, and those at the center of the dispute were being

called in to explain themselves.

The floorboards creaked and groaned as they shuffled in to face their boss.

Everyone settled in, and the king called a meeting to order.

But if anyone was worried about the bowing of the floor beneath their feet, they certainly didn't speak up. Within moments of kicking

off the mediation, the floorboards splintered, cracked, and fell out from under them. Everyone

standing there was pitched into the darkness below. But oh, if it were only just darkness,

it would have been that much more

simple. It wasn't. Instead of being dropped into, say, an open cellar, the 60-odd nobleman

met with a much worse fate. They had collapsed into the church's large communal latrine area.

...