Oberthal (Count)

Lord of Dordrecht, near the Meuse. When Bertha, one of his vassals, asked permission to marry John of Leyden, the count refused, resolving to make her his mistress. This drove John into rebellion, and he joined the Anabaptists. The count was taken prisoner by Gioʹna, a discarded servant, but liberated by John. When John was crowned Prophet-king, the count entered his banquet-hall to arrest him, and perished with John in the flames of the burning palace. (Meyerbeer: Le Prophète, a romance.)

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.