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

by C. Edmund Maurice

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.

CHODI BOHEMIAN PEASANTS OF THE BAVARIAN BORDER.