X.

FROM THE FIRST CORONATION OF SIGISMUND TO THE OPENING OF COUNCIL OF BASEL.

(1420-1431.)

In spite of the dramatic circumstances of Sigismund’s coronation at Prague, any hopes of peace or reconciliation, which the citizens may have entertained, at the moment, were speedily to be frustrated, partly by the bitter divisions in the Utraquist camp, partly by the incurably untrustworthy character of the king whom they had chosen. The former difficulty was the one which first forced itself on public attention. The Taborites had taken the leading part in the victory which had just been won; and they resolved that their will should be felt in the settlement which was to follow it. Furious at the recent burning of their friends before the very eyes of the citizens, they demanded that these murders should be revenged by the burning of the prisoners who had been taken in the battle; and the rulers of the city yielded to their wishes. Elated by this success, the Taborites insisted that twelve new Articles should be added to the four which had been already set forth by the Calixtines. Most of these new proposals were in the direction of more vigorous provisions for punishing self-indulgence and immorality. But the bitter national feeling manifests itself in the demand for the complete establishment of the law of God, in the place of those pagan and _Teutonic_ laws, which do not agree with the laws of God. Further, all the revenues of the priests were to be seized for the public good; usury was to be suppressed; all enemies of the truth to be expelled; all heretical monasteries and all unnecessary churches, altars, and ornaments to be destroyed.

The discussion of these proposals was marked by the first public appearance in Bohemia of a man who was to play a remarkable part in the coming struggle. This was Peter Payne, an English Master of Arts, who had been forced to fly from Oxford on account of his sympathy with the doctrines of Wyclif. He had been welcomed by the scholars of Prague, and had been admitted to a Master’s Degree at their University also. Although his doctrinal Protestantism had led him to conclusions far beyond those adopted by any Bohemian party, yet his English sense of justice and love of compromise often marked him out as a go-between and moderator in the controversies of his adopted countrymen. He now came forward to suggest the senses in which the Articles of the Taborites might be accepted, without injury to either party. But, although the Calixtines were anxious to find a method of reconciliation with the Taborites, the latter were guided on this occasion by much fiercer spirits than Peter Payne.

[Illustration]

The chief of these extreme advisers was John of Z̆elív, who had so excited the Utraquists, on the occasion of that first riot, when the Councillors of the New Town were thrown out of the windows. He now demanded the deposition of those Councillors of the Old Town who were opposed to the Taborite doctrines. This point, too, was conceded; yet, for some reason, not clearly ascertainable, the Taborites were still dissatisfied, and on August 22nd they left Prague.

But the second hindrance to the establishment of peace in Bohemia was to have an even more marked effect in hastening on the new war. It was not only the Taborites who distrusted their new ruler; Sigismund soon provoked against him many of those who had been most desirous for peace. One of the first points which roused their opposition, was his demand that the ornaments of the churches and the royal treasure should be used for the payment of the foreign soldiers, who had just been employed in the invasion of Bohemia. He also began to renew the old and evil policy of pledging the monasteries and the royal castles to the nobles. Lastly, although he had encouraged the citizens to hope that he would sanction the Four Articles, he still declined to give them any formal approval, or even to make arrangements for a discussion upon them; nor would he give the citizens any security against the attacks of those fierce Catholics who still held the fortresses of Prague and Vys̆ehrad. These divisions of opinions were obviously too vital to permit of any friendly understanding between the two parties. So Sigismund soon after left Prague; and the suspicions between king and people rapidly ripened to a violent solution of their differences.

Sigismund had now adopted, to the full, the principle that no faith was to be kept with heretics; and, while he assured the Praguer of his desire for peace, he was appealing to the Pope and the electors to join a second crusade for the suppression of the heretics. The citizens first fully realised the treacherous character of Sigismund’s policy when they began to renew their attacks on the Vys̆ehrad. The possession of this fortress by the Catholics was a continual danger to the city; yet, when the Utraquists sent their next deputation to Sigismund, to entreat its acceptance of the Four Articles, he demanded that, even before the Articles should be discussed, the citizens of Prague should abandon their siege of the Vys̆ehrad. This demand received a still more startling interpretation a short time after, when the Town Council intercepted a letter from the king to the defenders of the fortress, urging them to make a sudden attack on the city, which he would second from another point.

With some difficulty the citizens now persuaded Nicholaus of Hus to bring a force of the Taborites to their help. The king had secretly arranged to send ships down the Moldau to the defence of the Vys̆ehrad; and the citizens had put chains across the island which lies below the fortress, so as to hinder the ships from passing. Nicholaus was set to guard this island; but not even the sense of a common danger could stifle the differences between the Calixtine leaders and the captains of the Taborites. The Royalists, in their fear of starvation, offered to surrender the Vys̆ehrad, if the king did not relieve them within a certain time. This proposal the citizens were willing to accept; but Nicholaus was so indignant at the terms granted to the garrison, that he abandoned the island and retired into the city. A nobleman, named Hynek of Crus̆ina, now undertook the defence of the city; and when Sigismund again arrived before it, he found it fortified against him.

Again, the division in his camp between the native nobles and his Hungarian and German followers speedily showed itself. Some Moravian barons advised him to abandon the attack, and frankly owned that they feared the flails of the rustics. Sigismund, whose sympathies were becoming more and more alienated from his countrymen, taunted the Moravians with cowardice and treachery. They thereupon sprang from their horses and declared that they were ready to go where the king would never be. Sigismund then ordered them to occupy a dangerous and marshy position on the low land in front of the city, while the Hungarians were to charge from a higher point. This double attack was at first successful, for the Utraquists fled in some confusion. But Hynek rallied their forces, telling them that the Lord would deliver their enemies into their hands. He and Nicholaus of Hus rushed forward gallantly with the others; and once more the fear of the flails of the rustics caused a panic among the Catholics. About five hundred of the Royalists were either killed or wounded, and the rout was complete. Then the men of Vys̆ehrad consented to surrender. But though their captors succeeded in conveying them safely into Prague, they could not save the church organs and images in the fortress from being destroyed by the crowd.

The war now raged fiercely on both sides; but while, in matters of physical cruelty, the Bohemians were as reckless as their opponents, on two important points there was a marked difference between the conduct of the rival armies. In the first place, the stern morality of the Utraquist leaders prevented any of those outrages on women in which the Hungarian soldiers freely indulged; and, secondly, the doctrine that no faith should be kept with heretics produced an utter unscrupulousness on the Imperialist side, in the observance of terms of truce or surrender, which cannot certainly be alleged, in the same degree, against the Bohemian leaders.

Yet, in the middle of their desperate struggle for national existence against German and Hungarian, the Calixtines and Taborites could not be induced to suspend their internal quarrels. Z̆iz̆ka, indeed, desired at first to adopt a more conciliatory policy than was customary with his colleagues; and he persuaded the Taborites to act with the citizens of Prague in offering the crown of Bohemia to the King of Poland. But even he soon felt compelled to adopt a more aggressive line of action; for the Calixtines had been so alarmed at the power of John of Z̆elív, that they had prohibited the further introduction of novelties in doctrine, and had deposed those Councillors of the Old Town who had been elected under the influence of John. Z̆iz̆ka was so alarmed at these proceedings, that he abandoned a siege which he was conducting in a distant part of Bohemia, and marched against the fortress of R̆íc̆an, which was in the near neighbourhood of Prague.

This fortress had long been a danger to the citizens; but they were perfectly well aware that Z̆iz̆ka’s present motive for marching against it was a desire to control the deliberations of the Town Councillors. Hynek of Crus̆ina was so indignant at Z̆iz̆ka’s conduct that he threw up the captaincy of Prague, and not long after adopted the cause of Sigismund. Z̆iz̆ka had his usual good success in the siege; but there is at least a doubt whether his proceedings were marked by his usual good faith. The Calixtine leaders had promised to spare the lives of the defenders of the fortress if they would surrender; yet, after the surrender was completed, Z̆iz̆ka burnt alive nine of the priests whom he found in the garrison. But neither the undoubted cruelty nor the possible treachery of this proceeding could prevent Z̆iz̆ka’s victory from producing the desired effect on the Calixtines; and they now consented to admit the Taborites to a free discussion of the points of difference between them and their rivals.

This discussion had at least one advantage. It showed clearly what was the point which the Taborites looked upon as the vital difference between themselves and the Calixtines. For, when the Masters of the Prague University brought forward a long list of subjects of controversy, one of the Taborite leaders complained that they had not come there to discuss all those points; but that they simply wished for a decision on the question whether they should or should not wear special vestments at the performance of the Mass. Jakaubek of Kladrau consented to limit the discussion to this one point; and, although no resolution was arrived at, the Taborites clearly saw that the majority in Prague were against them. The fierce spirit of fanaticism, which had already led the Taborites into such excesses, now roused them to fury against the Calixtines; and in one town, at least, they proclaimed that any priest who was found wearing a special dress at the celebration of the Mass, should be burned alive in his vestments.

But this dangerous division between the thinking and the fighting forces of the Utraquist party was checked by two events which were both of considerable importance in the history of the movement. The first of these was the death of Nicholaus of Hus, who was thrown from his horse as he was leaving Prague. This death naturally threw more power into the hands of Z̆iz̆ka; and he had always felt, much more strongly than Nicholaus, the necessity of maintaining the alliance with the Calixtine rulers of Prague. The other event, which drew the more moderate men of the two parties together, was the outbreak of a new division in the ranks of the Taborites themselves.

That a body, with the origin, constitution, and mode of life which have been already described, should develop new and unexpected phases of thought, might have been guessed from the beginning of the movement; but that the particular doctrine now broached should have caused division among any section of the Utraquists must sound very strange to modern ears. In any revolt against excessive priestly power, one would have expected that such a doctrine as Transubstantiation would have been the first to be attacked. Yet, while both Calixtines and Taborites were fiercely denouncing the civil power of the clergy, while they were attacking every outward badge which seemed to separate the clergy from the laity, they had yet shrunk with horror from any attack on the doctrine of Transubstantiation. When, then, Martinek Hauska, a leading Taborite preacher, began to denounce this doctrine, he roused the fiercest opposition among his Taborite colleagues; and two of their more learned members wrote, in February, 1421, to Jakaubek of Kladrau and John Pr̆zibram, to consult them about the best means for opposing this heresy. The answer to that question was only too easily given; for, while each party disagreed with every other on the definition of heresy, there was a striking unanimity about the right method of dealing with it when defined. So, while the Calixtines burnt one of the preachers of the new doctrine in Prague, the Taborites, doubtless finding them too numerous for such treatment, forcibly expelled them from Tabor.

Deserted and repudiated by all their neighbours, these unfortunate exiles wandered about in the woods, till their destitute condition,

## acting on their already excited fancy, drove them into a state of

## partial insanity. They plucked off their clothes, and declared that

they would return to the state of innocence. That men in such a condition would fall into acts of impurity seems highly probable; but it would surely be unjust to believe all the rumours circulated against people who had no opportunity of stating their own case. The main fact, however, of their living habitually without clothes seems to be generally admitted; it was that peculiarity which gained them their name of Adamites; and it was on that ground that Z̆iz̆ka seized and burnt fifty of them. They entered the fire smiling, declaring that they would reign that day with Christ in heaven.

While these events were weakening the opposition between the Calixtines and the main body of the Taborites, other causes were securing still more positive advantages to the moderate party in Prague. In April, 1421, Kutna Hora at last fell into the hands of the joint armies of the Taborites and Calixtines; and this victory was speedily followed by the capture of the town of Jaromír. Then C̆enĕk of Wartenberg, Ulric of Rosenberg, Hynek of Crus̆ina, and other noblemen who had revolted to Sigismund, came back to the Utraquist camp. John of Z̆elív seems to have been the guide and adviser of the Utraquist forces in this campaign, and he compelled C̆enĕk to make public confession of his wickedness in having betrayed the castle of Prague to the king. When this concession had been made, the nobles returned to Prague, and regained for a time some of their old power. That power was strengthened by the speedy capture of the castle of Prague, which up to this time had held out against the citizens; and the acceptance by the nobles of the Four Articles seemed to complete the reunion of parties.

On July 1, 1421, a great Assembly was held of nobles, knights, and citizens, at which the question was discussed whether they should once more recognise Sigismund as their king. The Moravian nobles were opposed to his deposition, while the stricter Utraquists were equally strong against recalling him; and the Estates at last came to a curious compromise, which was expressed in the following words: “That they will not have Sigismund for their king unless it is the will of God, and unless the famous Masters of Prague, the Bohemian lords, the communities of the Taborites, the knights, soldiers, towns, and other Bohemian communities, give their consent thereto.”

Then a Council of Representatives from all classes of the community was chosen to manage the affairs of State while the throne was vacant. And, if there had been anything of hesitation and compromise in the form of their decree, there was no sign of such feeling in their answer to the envoys whom Sigismund had sent to assert his claim to the throne. They drew up a long list of their reasons for rejecting him as king. The first grounds of complaint were the deaths of Hus, Jerom, and Krasa, and the encouragement which Sigismund had given to the Crusaders against Bohemia. They then dwelt on his surrender of Brandenburg without the consent of the Assembly; and they wound up their indictment by denouncing his rejection of the Four Articles. Sigismund answered this attack by again repudiating any sanction on his part to the deaths of Hus and Jerom; by declaring himself perfectly ready to hear discussions on the Four Articles; and, finally, by taunting the Utraquists with their burning of priests and churches.

But, although a want of confidence in Sigismund might bind together for a time the various sections of the Utraquist party; yet, on the other hand, the intense distrust which the treachery of C̆enĕk and the other nobles had caused, could not be removed by this superficial appearance of reconciliation. John of Z̆elív, though he had admitted the nobles to a kind of absolution, was foremost in mistrusting the repentance which had been accompanied with so much humiliation. A sudden invasion of Bohemia by the Silesians produced a new cause of distrust; for the nobles were suspected of having been very remiss in their resistance of the invaders. This brought to a head the suspicions which had originally been grounded on points of doctrinal difference; and the sterner members of the Utraquist clergy declared that they had no adequate security for the genuineness of the conversion of the nobles. John of Z̆elív followed up this attack by demanding the removal of all the clergy who adhered to the old ritual, and who would not sing in Bohemian. The Town Councils consented to the change, and John succeeded in thrusting into the vacant preacherships some supporters even of those doctrines which had been condemned by both sections of the Utraquist party.

But the fear of foreign invasion was once more to drive into the background for a time the internal divisions of the Utraquist party. The fiery energy of Martin V. had roused the electors of the Empire from the panic into which they had been thrown by the failure of the first crusade; and the Margrave of Meissen, the fiercest of the enemies of Bohemia, had begun a new invasion on his own responsibility. Z̆iz̆ka had been recently wounded in his only sound eye; but, at the rumour of the new attack, he at once hurried out to battle, and the men of Meissen fled before him. The rumours of the divisions between the nobles and the citizens had, however, encouraged the Meissener to renew their attack; and a few successes on their part induced Frederick of Hohenzollern to organise a second crusade among the princes of the Empire. The Bohemian peasants fled before the advance of the new army and took refuge in the town of Z̆atec. So in September, 1421, an army of two thousand Imperialists marched against Z̆atec, and the terrified citizens began to despair of resistance.

But their anxieties and dangers came to an unexpected end. As the watchers were gazing one day from the city walls on the camp of the enemy, their attention was caught by a sudden glow of fire. The flame rapidly spread through the camp, and all the tents of the enemy were consumed. To the astonished eyes of the watchers it seemed as if a miracle had been worked on their behalf; but the real explanation, though wonderful enough, was not connected with those interferences with the order of nature to which conventional phraseology has confined the name of miracle. The fact was that the Electors of the German Empire had heard that the terrible Z̆iz̆ka was approaching; and so the great army of the second crusade had burnt their tents and retreated without striking a blow.

[Illustration: Z̆IZ̆KA ON HORSEBACK AT THE HEAD OF THE FLAIL-BEARING TABORITES.

(_From an old picture copied in Dr. Toman’s pamphlet._)]

Sigismund had been absent in Hungary during this struggle, but he now advanced at the head of a Hungarian army to Brünn (Brno), committing every kind of barbarity on the way. It will be remembered that he had recently announced that he had never objected to a discussion of the Four Articles. He now summoned all the Moravian nobles before him, and threatened to put them to death unless they would abjure all those Articles. Apparently the nobles were not made of the same stuff as the sturdy preachers of Tabor and Prague; for, with two exceptions, all the Utraquist nobles of Moravia consented to abandon their creed and accept that of Sigismund.

Doubtless encouraged by this success, Sigismund marched to Kutna Hora at the head of an army of about eight thousand men. Z̆iz̆ka advanced to the relief of the town, and the townsmen themselves made a gallant defence; but some traitor opened one of the gates to the Imperial soldiers, and the massacre which followed on their entry made so deep an impression on the imagination of the Bohemians, that in later ages it was compared to the Massacre of St. Bartholomew. Z̆iz̆ka’s forces were now completely surrounded; and, on the 22nd of December, 1421, he found himself at the mercy of his opponents in a bitter winter and without any possibility of obtaining food. Sigismund now thought his victory secure; but he little knew with whom he had to deal. In spite of cold and hunger, Z̆iz̆ka kept his troops firm and patient till midnight. Then, having observed the weakest point in the royal army, he made a sudden and unexpected dash, broke through the Royalist lines, and was soon raising new forces and new provisions in the country. The Hungarians now scattered themselves about, plundering and ravishing in the neighbouring villages, when, suddenly, in January, 1422, a party of the plunderers were startled in an outlying village by the appearance of Z̆iz̆ka at the head of a new army. Sigismund was once more panic-struck. He ordered the town of Kutna Hora to be set on fire; fastened the councillors to his carriage, and fled as fast as he could go to the town of Deutschbrod (Nemecky Brod). Z̆iz̆ka, in spite of the hard frost, followed with all his horses and baggage-waggons; and he so completely routed Sigismund that twelve thousand of the Hungarian army were killed, and the King never again entered Bohemia during Z̆iz̆ka’s life.

But, in the meantime, the divisions in Prague were reaching their height. John the Priest (as John of Z̆elív was now called) had, on October 19th, struck a popular _coup d’état_. He had persuaded the people to depose the nobles from office, and to choose one man as captain of the city, with four others for each division of the town. The new Councillors, who were appointed under this arrangement, proceeded to summon to Prague a certain John Sadlo, who had been a zealous Utraquist, but who happened to have incurred the suspicion of the new rulers of the town. He was promised a safe-conduct; but, on arriving in Prague, he was seized and summarily executed. The moderate men of Prague now felt that a stand must be made; and they called a meeting at which Jakaubek of Kladrau and Peter Payne drew up certain Articles for the government of the clergy. Four directors were to be chosen to regulate the appointment to every church in Prague, and to prevent the introduction of novelties in ritual, unless publicly justified from Scripture. John was urged by his followers to resist this proposal; but he seems to have felt it better to give way, and to accept the three colleagues, who were combined with him in the administration.

But, however much such an arrangement might satisfy the champions of Utraquist orthodoxy, it could not restore the sense of order and stability which had been shaken by John’s overbearing proceedings, and especially by the murder of Sadlo. C̆enĕk of Wartenberg and other nobles again fled to Sigismund; and, although the citizens of Prague and the Masters of the University were far from being disposed to that course, they felt that the security to be obtained by the presence of a King would be their best guarantee against the encroachments of the extreme party. The King of Poland had rejected the offer of the crown; but the Duke of Lithuania seemed more ready to listen to the advances of the Bohemians. Apparently, however, his sympathies arose rather from a general Slavonic feeling, and a personal dislike of Sigismund, than from any doctrinal sympathies with the Utraquists. He had been a comparatively recent convert to Christianity; and he had all the consequent zeal for orthodoxy. The Calixtines assured him that they had no desire for separation from the Romish Church, and that they did not admit the charge of heresy. In the hope, therefore, of defeating Sigismund, and of bringing back the Bohemians to the Catholic Church, Witold of Lithuania consented that his nephew, Sigismund Korybut, should be sent to represent him in Bohemia.

Prince Korybut, however, insisted that, before he would enter Prague, Priest John should be deposed from his power. Those nobles who had remained faithful to the national cause were specially eager to carry out this understanding. They deposed all the Councillors both in the Old and New Town; and they arranged that each quarter should choose new Councillors for a year, of whom none should be priests or Masters of Arts. At the same time Has̆ek of Waldstein was chosen chief captain of the town. But the terror which John had excited among the nobles and richer citizens could not be removed by these arrangements. So on March 8th two councillors were sent to John, to ask him to come to the Town Council to consult with them. When he came, they asked his advice about the plan of campaign, and seemed to listen respectfully. Then they went on to urge him to make peace between the rival parties, before they went to battle. John answered that, if they desired peace, they must not take away houses from those to whom the Community had given them, nor must they depose faithful servants such as the late Captain of the town. Then, whilst they were still speaking, the burgomaster gave a sign; and the soldiers rushed in and seized Priest John and several of his friends, took them into an outer hall, and executed them. As soon as the people of the town heard the news, they rose in fury, broke into the Council House, seized and beheaded the leading Councillors, and compelled Has̆ek of Waldstein to fly for his life.

But it seemed as if the death of John had really deprived the extreme party in Prague of their chances of final success; for, when in May, 1422, Korybut arrived in Prague, he was able, with apparently little trouble, to remove the Councillors of the extreme party, and to restore the Calixtines.

For a time Korybut seemed to give new strength and coherence to the Utraquist movement; but his reign was not of long duration. Martin V. had been extremely alarmed at the sympathies shown in Poland and Lithuania for the Utraquist cause; and by his orders the Polish clergy persuaded King Ladislaus to organise a new expedition against the Utraquists, while they induced Witold of Lithuania to recall Prince Korybut. But, though the summons for a third crusade was sent out to Poles, Lithuanians, Swedes, and Norwegians, yet the Pope soon found that it was easier to cajole kings than to convert peoples. Not only did the Poles and Ruthenians refuse to serve in the crusade; but, in spite of Ladislaus’s rebukes, they hastened to take up arms for the Bohemians; and so the third crusade collapsed even more ignominiously than the former ones.

[Illustration: OLD PICTURE OF Z̆IZ̆KA IN HEAVEN.

(_From Dr. Toman’s pamphlet._)]

The fear of a foreign invasion being thus removed, the nobles resolved on a final struggle for power with the Taborites. Z̆iz̆ka had reluctantly consented to recognise Korybut as king; but the recall of the latter broke this link between the nobles and the Taborite leader. He had resented the treacherous murder of John of Z̆elív; and he had special causes of his own for distrusting the leading nobles. He himself belonged to that Order of Knights, or gentry, which was in continual rivalry with the greater nobility; while his intense religious zeal, and his scorn of caste, had drawn him close to the fiery peasants of Mount Tabor, and increased his contempt for the vacillations and treacheries of C̆enek of Wartenberg and Ulric of Rosenberg. The struggle which now followed was a fierce and bloody one; but it ended in the complete victory of Z̆iz̆ka, and the consent of the nobles to return to the popular cause. They were the more willing to come to terms as the King had just mortally offended Bohemian feeling by granting the province of Moravia to Albert, Duke of Austria, and had recognised him as his heir in Bohemia. Korybut had now escaped from his uncle and returned to Bohemia; and, though he was no longer recognised as their legal ruler, he was welcomed as an ally and a captain in their wars, and he marched with the united Utraquist army into Moravia, to deliver it from Albert of Austria. Z̆iz̆ka, though now completely blind, also led his forces into Moravia.

But in October, 1424, he was seized with a sudden illness and died. His death naturally created a great sensation; and it is a proof of the substantial success of his work that the changes which were expected to take place, in consequence of his death, were much greater than any that actually occurred. A section, indeed, of his more immediate personal followers did form themselves into a separate party under the name of the “Orphans”; but though, like Z̆iz̆ka, they were more moderate in their doctrines than the rest of the Taborites, they continued, for all practical purposes, to act with the latter; nor did Sigismund find that the terror, which the name of Hussite had inspired, had at all diminished. A married priest named Procop rapidly rose to the position which Z̆iz̆ka had held; and so far was he from slackening the zeal of his followers that he soon introduced a more aggressive element into the warfare. Tired of remaining so long on the defensive, he resolved that the Germans and Hungarians should feel something of the misery which they had inflicted on Bohemia; and he began a series of invasions of Austria, Bavaria, and Hungary, which considerably added to the terrors which had been produced by Z̆iz̆ka.

Curiously enough, the changes in the Calixtine party became more noticeable at this time than among those who seemed more likely to be affected by Z̆iz̆ka’s death. Jakaubek fell at this time into the background, and John Pr̆zibram came more to the front. Pr̆zibram was one of those bitter theologians who delight to dwell on the negative side of their doctrines, rather than on those that tend to unity and positive faith. He had been willing enough to maintain the cause of the Four Articles of Prague against the Catholic priests; but, now that the Catholic cause seemed lost in Prague, he began to express so offensively and insultingly his opposition to the Taborites, that he disgusted the more moderate men of his own party; and on Christmas Day, 1426, he demanded, in a further discussion, that the Hussites should specially condemn the doctrines of Wyclif.

This proposal produced a definite change in the position of Peter Payne. Although his doctrinal convictions were probably well known, yet, in the interests of peace and order, he had hitherto been willing to co-operate with the Calixtines in checking the excesses of the Taborites. But the attack on his distinguished countryman, to whose writings he probably looked for guidance more than to those of Hus, was too much for his personal and patriotic sympathies, and he eagerly took up the cause of Wyclif. The decision of the meeting, however, was against the English reformer; and Korybut, who shared his uncle’s dislike to the heretical position into which the Hussites had been forced, seized upon this resolution as a sign of their desire to return to union with the Church. So he sent messengers to Pope Martin to assure him that this decision represented the real feeling of the country.

But this unfortunate step, instead of producing reunion with Rome, only called out new divisions in the Utraquist party. John Rokycana, the preacher at the Teyn Church, heard of these negotiations; and, though a strict and zealous Calixtine, he was a warm patriot, and by no means disposed to put either his faith or his nation at the feet of either Emperor or Pope. So in April, 1427, he preached an alarmist sermon warning the people that their interests were being betrayed. The people sprang to arms; Korybut was imprisoned; and Pr̆zibram and several of his allies were banished from Prague. But, to prove that the movement had a national rather than a doctrinal purpose, Rokycana and his friends passed a resolution in favour of at least a modified form of Transubstantiation. Thus Peter Payne was compelled to take his part with the Taborites, while a new division was formed among the Calixtines themselves.

But in the meantime the aggressive policy of Procop had roused Martin V. to new energy; and since Germans, Hungarians, and Poles had each in turn failed him, he entrusted the management of a fourth crusade to an Englishman. This was the celebrated Cardinal Beaufort, who was now appointed legate for Bohemia, Hungary, and Germany, and under whose auspices a special Hussite tax was raised throughout the Empire. The Margrave of Brandenburg and the Archbishop of Trier took the leading

## part in the command of the army; and in July, 1427, the new crusaders

entered Bohemia and began the siege of Kladrau. While they were almost hoping to capture the town, Procop suddenly advanced against them at the head of the united Utraquist army. Immediately the strange panic, which had become traditional at the approach of the Utraquists, seized upon the enemy; and they fled to the town of Tachov, which was at that time in their hands. Here Beaufort met them, reproached them with their cowardice, and persuaded them to prepare for battle. But no sooner did Procop’s army again appear in sight than the panic once more returned. Beaufort, enraged, seized the banner of the Empire and tore it to pieces in their presence. But the sense of fear was too strong, even for soldierly dignity; and at last the indignant Cardinal was swept away in the flight. Several new victories followed, though Pilsen (Plz̆en) still held out against the Utraquist armies. Beaufort demanded that a new anti-Hussite tax should be raised, and at the same time sent a command to the men of Pilsen that they should abstain from a proposed discussion with the Hussites on points of doctrine. The discussion took place notwithstanding; and Rokycana and Peter Payne were appointed to represent the Utraquist party.

The Cardinal might have spared his fears; for the result of the discussion was to widen the gulf, not between the Catholics and the Utraquists, but between the Calixtines and the Taborites. This led to other discussions between the two Utraquist parties, of so fierce a kind that it seemed as if their enemies might almost succeed in profiting by their divisions. But those enemies were now becoming thoroughly exhausted. The raids of Procop had brought home to Germans and Hungarians the danger of provoking the Bohemians too far; while among many of the German citizens the question was beginning to be asked, whether a cause which enabled untrained peasants to strike terror into the best armies of Europe was not perhaps the cause of God. Under these circumstances the cry for a Church Council to settle these matters by discussion, rather than by force of arms, was becoming general, and, much as the Pope loathed such an idea, he found the ground cut from under his feet by the desertion of his most sturdy supporter. The war between France and England had suddenly received a new turn by the appearance of Joan of Arc; and Cardinal Beaufort’s anxiety for the success of his country decided him on the desperate step of employing the money and men whom he had raised to fight against Bohemia in the war against France. Alarmed as the Pope and his friends were at this sudden desertion, they hoped for a time that the wonderful Maid might herself take up their cause against the heretics. But when this hope was cut short by her defeat and imprisonment, the cry for a Council became again strong, and Martin was even told that, if he sincerely desired to put down the Hussites, he would prove it by granting the discussion.

[Illustration: CHODI BOHEMIAN PEASANTS OF THE BAVARIAN BORDER.]

The fiery Pope, however, was determined to make one last appeal to arms; and this time he chose an Italian cardinal, Giuliano Cesarini, to organise a crusade. Before the crusade could start, Martin V. died; but Cesarini was as determined as the Pope had been on leading the expedition to its triumph. The Margrave of Brandenburg was again appointed commander, though the suspicions which his previous flight had caused were so great, that the Cardinal and the Electors insisted on checking his power by a Council of Nine. Sigismund declared his approval of the crusade, and then wrote to Prague to assure the citizens of his desire for peace.

In the meantime Procop had rallied his forces and advanced to the borders of Bavaria; but they waited so long for the enemy that their food began to fail, and some of the troops dropped off to forage for supplies. The Germans, encouraged by this laxity, once more advanced to the town of Tachov. The Cardinal desired them to storm the town; but the generals decided to delay the attack; and the townsmen succeeded in so well fortifying the town that the German army abandoned the siege, and finally retreated to Taus (Domaz̆lic̆e). In the meantime the Bohemians had collected their forces, and on Aug. 14, 1431, they advanced towards Domaz̆lic̆e, singing one of their favourite hymns, “Kdoz̆ jste Boz̆i bojovnici”--“Ye who are the soldiers of the Lord.” The Cardinal went up the hill to consult the Duke of Saxony about the arrangements of the battle, when suddenly he observed a strange confusion, and heard loud cries in the camp of the Margrave of Brandenburg. Soon after, Frederick himself came hastily to him, to tell him that his army was in full flight and could not be checked. The panic quickly spread; and this time it was so complete, that even the waggons and firearms were left behind; while among the spoil the Bohemians had the satisfaction of finding, not only the coat and crucifix of Cardinal Cesarini, but even the Papal Bull sanctioning the crusade against Bohemia. So ended the fifth and last attempt to crush out the Hussite heresy by force; and it was now to be tried whether the Doctors of the Church could succeed in convincing the heretics who could not be conquered by the sword.