Gottfried seizes Weislingen while on his way to the Bishop of Bamberg, and bears him off to his castle at Jaxthausen.

The contrasted characters of the two chief personages in the play are now brought before us--Gottfried the rough soldier, honest, resolute, and Weislingen, more of a courtier than a soldier, weak and unstable.
Overborne by the stronger nature of Gottfried, Weislingen agrees to break his alliance with the Bishop, and, as a pledge for his future conduct, betroths himself to Gottfried's sister Marie, who, weakly devout, is a counterpart to Gottfried's wife Elizabeth, who is depicted as a Spartan mother.[104] To square accounts with the Bishop, Weislingen finds it necessary to proceed to Bamberg, and the second act tells the tale of his second apostacy.

At Bamberg he comes under the spell of an enchantress in the shape of a beautiful woman, Adelheid von Walldorf, a widow, whose physical charms are represented as irresistible.

Weislingen becomes her creature, forswears his bond with Gottfried, and rejoins the ranks of his enemies--news which Gottfried is reluctantly brought to credit.

In the third act we find Gottfried in a coil of troubles.