Reputation of the Counts of Celje did not, however, rely solely on scheming politics, but also on heroic acts. Herman II won the favour of later-to-be Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxemburg while fighting the Turks at the battle of Nicopolis in 1396, by pulling him from the Danube River, saving him from a certain death. It is also known that Herman II beat Frederick, the Duke of Habsburg, later-to-be Holy Roman Emperor, in a prominent duel at the tournament in Constance (Konstanz on Bodensee) in 1415. The chivalrous tournament in Constance was to honour the Ecumenical Council of Constance taking place at the time and Herman II helped Pope John XXIII flee the town to avoid a conspiracy against him. It is difficult to imagine today the glory that accompanied the Counts of Celje and we can only guess about the curiosity and perhaps envy with which the citizens and nobles of Konstanz observed Count Herman II, his son Frederick II, and their son-in-law and brother-in-law – the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxemburg when they arrived to Bodensee (Lake Constance) with 300 horses and 400 carriages.
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