Bohemia, from the earliest times to the fall of national independence in 1620 / With a short summary of later events

by C. Edmund Maurice

ENTRANCE INTO FORTIFIED PART OF TABOR.

But, though men like Jakaubek of Kladrau had an important part to play in the coming struggle, it was from the third Bohemian party that there were to be drawn the most determined fighters, and the most impressive figures, in the struggle of Bohemia against the German Emperor. This party had been founded by those fiery spirits who had been banished from Prague by Wenceslaus; and they derived their name of Taborite from the mountain which they had made their chief place of refuge after their expulsion from Prague. So great was the enthusiasm which they caused that, when Wenceslaus forbade any further visits to Tabor under penalty of death and confiscation of goods, large numbers of the peasantry willingly sacrificed all their possessions, and risked the chance of death, to unite themselves with this chosen band. A community so formed naturally developed very remarkable qualities; and a stern Puritanical gloom, combined with the Puritanical nobleness of aspiration, rapidly showed itself among them. Rich and poor shared their food with each other; no strife or theft was permitted; intoxicating liquors were excluded from the mountain; and not only was gambling forbidden to the elders, but even the children were deprived of their games. Such is the account given of the Taborites by a somewhat hostile chronicler, who thus proceeds to describe their manner of passing the day:

“Having then completed the moderate refreshment of the body, the priests rise with the people to give thanks to God. They march round the Mount of Tabor, bearing the venerable Eucharist—the virgins preceding the Sacrament, and the men and women in their squadrons following, all shouting and singing psalms as seems convenient. When this procession is finished, they exchange farewells with their clergy, not bending to the right or left lest they should trample on the wheat; and so they come to the place whence they started.” These people, already prepared for religious enthusiasm by the stern discipline of such a life as this, were kindled yet further by fiery sermons, founded chiefly on the visions of the Apocalypse, in which prophecies were delivered of the speedy coming of Christ, and the reign of the Saints, which was to be hastened by the putting to death of the enemies of Christ. They were told that they were to bathe and sanctify their hands in the blood of their enemies; and that, while they were to imitate the zeal and indignation of their Master, this was not the time to imitate His gentleness. All human learning, said the fiercer of the preachers, was to be treated with contempt; and the taking of degrees at the University was a vanity.

Nor was it only the training, which they had received from their preachers, that prepared the Taborites for the part which they were to play in the coming struggle. Z̆iz̆ka was eminently fitted to be the hero of a revolutionary party. To a fiery sincerity, and a steady devotion to that high ideal of life which was implied in the Taborite creed, he united a genius for leadership and organisation which the greatest generals might have envied; a statesmanlike instinct for seizing the right moment and the right course of action; and a savage ferocity which none of his opponents could surpass.

HOUSE IN TABOR WITH OLD TABORITE COMMUNION TABLE IN FRONT OF IT.

But, though this fiery band, and their uncompromising leader, were to give the tone to the struggle which was fast approaching, one passing hint was given, before the outbreak of the war, of the presence among the Bohemians of gentler spirits who would gain a hearing at a later and more appropriate time. One or more of those Taborites, who had not imbibed that contempt for learning which had been inculcated by their wilder preachers, applied to the Masters of the Prague University, to know whether war on behalf of religion was not forbidden by the command to Peter to put up his sword into his sheath. Jakaubek answered, on behalf of his colleagues, that, though a war for the propagation of the Faith was undoubtedly forbidden to Christians, yet a defensive war for the protection of the Faith was certainly lawful.

This question, as has been already suggested, has more importance as a prophecy of future religious developments than as a characteristic utterance of the period. But the answer has a more immediate significance, as indicating a policy which was to separate the learned professors of the University from the more aristocratic section of the Calixtines. This difference has already been referred to above; but it requires to be emphasized and developed. In the case of C̆enek of Wartenberg the difference seems to have been partly due to a sense of loyalty to the House of Luxemburg, and to a shrinking from some of the violences in which the Taborites indulged. But C̆enek’s prominent position in his party was not due solely to his personal qualities or even to his personal rank. It was also largely derived from the guardianship which he possessed over the lands of Rosenberg; and this position must also be considered as colouring the character of his policy.

Ulric von Rosenberg, like his guardian C̆enek, played a somewhat questionable and uncertain part in the coming struggle. But the times and circumstances of his changes of position lead one to attribute to him somewhat different motives of action from those which influenced his guardian. He seems to have begun his career as a decided Utraquist; but his subsequent oppressions of his Utraquist dependents show a bitterer change of feeling than can be laid to the charge of C̆enek; while his special opposition to Z̆iz̆ka seems to mark the real ground of his questionable policy. In mere doctrine he may have had some sympathy with the reforming movement; but he was soon alarmed by the democratic character of the Taborite party and of its leader; and the great power which had been so long wielded by the Rosenbergs, was thrown, in the main, into the defence of aristocratic privileges and feudal rights. For the moment, however, the nobles could put forward the excuse that they were supporting the claims of a Queen, who was not stained with the blood of Hus, nor committed to an anti-national policy; and, it was on her behalf that C̆enek now organised a standing army, and seized into his hands several important fortresses.