Contemporaneous  with  '  Warbeck  '  and  'Demetrius ',
and  broadly  similar  to  them  in  that  it  was  to  deal  with
a  political  adventurer  and  to  present  an  elaborate  pic-
ture of  intrigue  in  high  life,  is  the  plan  of  a  play  which
was  at  first  called  '  Count  Konigsmark  '.  The  subject
occupied  the  thoughts  of  Schiller  for  some  little  time
in  the  summer  of  1804,  until  it  was  dropped  in  favor
of  '  Demetrius  '.  Count  Konigsmark  was  a  nobleman
who  was  murdered  in  the  year  1694,  at  the  court  of
Duke  George  I. ,  of  Hannover,  in  consequence  of  a  sup-
posed criminal  relation  with  the  Duchess  Sophia,  a
princess  of  the  house  of  Celle.  As  he  mused  upon  the
dramatic  possibilities  of  the  story,  Schiller  became  less
interested  in  Konigsmark  and  more  in  the  compromised
duchess;  so  the  name  of  the  piece  was  changed  to
'  The  Princess  of  Celle  '.  From  his  extant  notes  and
sketches  one  can  make  out  that  the  heroine  was  con-


The  Knights  of  Malta  435

ceived,  like  Mary  Stuart,  as  a  noble  sufferer.  She  is
a  virtuous  lady  who  is  given  in  marriage  for  political
reasons  to  an  unloved  and  licentious  duke,  whose
mistresses  insult  her.  In  her  misery  she  makes  a  friend
of  the  chivalrous  but  inflammable  Konigsmark.  Their
relation  excites  suspicion,  Konigsmark  is  murdered
and  the  duchess  sent  to  prison, — disgraced  but  inno-
cent. In  prison  she  finds  peace  of  soul,  just  as  Mary
Stuart  finds  it  in  the  presence  of  death.
