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

by C. Edmund Maurice

But it was evident that neither party desired that Bohemia should be at the mercy of the Emperor of Germany, and it was therefore necessary to choose two Councillors to govern the kingdom during Ladislaus’ minority. Ulric of Rosenberg, who had now become the leader of the Catholic party, decided to hold aloof, for a time, from politics; and, consequently, Meinhard of Neuhaus, who had represented the ultra-moderate party of the Utraquists, was chosen as the best protector of the Catholic interests in the Council, while a nobleman named Ptac̆ek represented the party of Rokycana.

The disorder which naturally arose in a country divided by factions, and without a recognised king, was further increased by the revival of those theological disputes, which had fallen, for a time, into the background. The Taborites, whom their enemies had, no doubt, supposed to have been crushed at the battle of Lipaný, had proved themselves a still vigorous force in the struggle against Albert; and Ptac̆ek became extremely jealous of their power, and desired to suppress them. A quarrel between one of the leading Taborites and some of the Silesians led to a Silesian invasion of Bohemia, and gave Ptac̆ek an excuse for demanding the suppression of the Taborite League. Rokycana for the moment intervened to make peace among the parties, and attempted to secure a free discussion of points of difference. At first the Taborites were unwilling to come to these discussions, declaring that they were afraid of Ptac̆ek’s tyranny, and appealing to Sigismund’s former promise that they should not be compelled to change their ritual; but at last, after actual violence had been resorted to, and the Taborite town of Vodnian had been taken by storm, both parties consented to a meeting at Kutna Hora for a final discussion of the points at issue. Two presidents were chosen for the conference, Wenceslaus of Drachov, as representing the Calixtines, and Peter Payne, as the champion of the Taborites.

Payne had recently called out an unexpected burst of enthusiasm among his Bohemian friends. Returning, apparently, from a visit to Basel, he had been seized at Nürnberg by a nobleman named Burian von Gutenstein, and held as a prisoner. Burian offered to surrender him to Henry VI. of England; but Henry feared that he might be intercepted and rescued at Basel. That Council was now openly at war with Eugenius IV.; and, while the Pope was summoning an opposition Council at Ferrara, the Baseler, on their side, had declared Eugenius deposed, and had set up an anti-pope of their own. Many of those who had most earnestly wished for the meeting of the Council were now withdrawing their support from it; and Henry VI., who had been one of the first to urge its convocation, now denounced and feared it. He, therefore, advised Burian to send his prisoner direct to the Pope at Ferrara or Florence. This Burian was willing enough to do; but Eugenius was occupied with his contest with the Council of Basel, and with his attempt to help the Greeks against the Turks; and he found it difficult to deal properly with his proposed prisoner. Under these circumstances the Taborite towns cut the knot by offering to raise a large ransom for Payne. This was accepted by Eugenius, and Payne was restored to the Taborites amid great enthusiasm.

Thus, in spite of his foreign origin and of the offence which he had given by his recent decision, Payne was readily accepted by the Taborites as their spokesman at this, their final appearance as controversialists. Nay, so ready were they to abandon, in his favour, some of their strongest feelings, that they actually rebuked Pr̆zibram for disputing with Payne in the Bohemian language, since the Englishman was unable to understand it. The questions in dispute seem mainly to have turned upon the nature of the presence of Christ in the Sacrament; and the controversy grew so hot that Koranda, the Taborite priest, made the same challenge to Pr̆zibram which Hus had formerly made to the Masters who wished to condemn Wyclif; namely, that, if convicted, he would be willing to be burnt as a heretic, provided that his opponents would consent to the same punishment in case of conviction. Finally, the discussion was referred to the next Assembly of the Estates of Bohemia, an Assembly which, under Ptac̆ek’s influence, readily decided in favour of the Calixtines, as against the Taborites.

Ulric of Rosenberg, who had previously held aloof from the discussions of the Assembly, now saw his opportunity in the division of his enemies; and he hoped to use the Calixtines as allies in crushing out their more formidable opponents. But, while this scheme was still in a state of preparation, Ptac̆ek died, and the discussion of the Utraquists was temporarily brought to an end by the rise of a new leader.

This leader was a young man of twenty-four named George of Podĕbrad. His father had been a friend and protector of Z̆iz̆ka; and his family had been more steadily identified with the Utraquist cause than most of the nobles of Bohemia. He was the godson of Z̆iz̆ka, had distinguished himself in the war between Ladislaus and Albert, and had since been made the captain of the Bunzlau (Boleslav) Circle, a specially Protestant district. He seems to have had a singular gift of inspiring confidence, and a diplomatic power of seizing opportunities. Although he defended the claims of Rokycana to the archbishopric, the Taborites were at first as zealous as the Calixtines in welcoming him as a leader; and he adroitly contrived to bring to the front once more that proposal for the recognition of the Compacts of Basel, which appeared to be a bond between the different sections of the Utraquists. Nor was it to the Utraquists alone that he at first appealed for support; for his demand that the Emperor should surrender Ladislaus to the Bohemians attracted the sympathies of the more patriotic Catholics. By his help negotiations were opened with Emperor and Pope; and the death of Eugenius IV. seemed to open a new chance for the concession by the Papacy of some of the Utraquist demands. But, though Pope Nicholaus might be willing, for a time, to use friendly words, the Emperor Frederick was more uncompromising, and he absolutely refused to restore the young king to the Bohemians.

George of Podĕbrad now decided to make himself more completely master of the situation; and a quarrel which had recently broken out between the Bohemians and Duke William of Saxony gave him an excuse for raising a large force of soldiers. His work was soon simplified by the action of his opponents. Cardinal Carvajal, coming to Prague to negotiate about the demands of the Bohemians, expressed a desire to see a copy of the actual Compacts of Basel; and, on getting it into his hands, he tried to carry it away from the city. Several of the Utraquist leaders followed him, and forced him to surrender the document; but this attempt finally destroyed any hope which the Utraquists might have cherished of a compromise with the Catholics. The sincere Utraquists at once drew together; while Meinhard of Neuhaus openly took the Catholic side. The excitement in Prague became intense, and George of Podĕbrad seized the moment to march to the city. After a short pretence of negotiation, he suddenly attacked the town on the 3rd of September, 1448, and captured it by assault. Rokycana was welcomed back in triumph, and Meinhard of Neuhaus was thrown into prison, where he soon after died.

Although George had acted as the champion of the Utraquists in their struggle against Albert and Neuhaus, his first object in seizing the power into his hands was to restore order in the country. For that purpose, he wished to conciliate the Catholics, as much as the Utraquists; and he brought into office Zdenek of Sternberg, one of the fiercest of the Catholic party. He even succeeded in gradually drawing the Rosenbergs to his side; though, at the same time, he always treated Rokycana as his chief adviser, and was urgent for his recognition as archbishop. This policy was extremely resented by the Taborites, and they were ready to combine, even with the discontented Catholics, against him.

When, then, in 1452, George was at last chosen Administrator of the kingdom, he found opposition to his authority, not only in the extreme Roman Catholic centres of Budweis (Budejóvice) and Pilsen (Plz̆en), but also in Tabor, and other Taborite towns. George, however, had now risen to the position of a national leader, accepted by all those who preferred the order and unity of Bohemia to the triumph of any particular party. Rokycana, on his side, had gained an influence among the Utraquists, as a whole, which made the resistance of any section of them far less formidable than it had been in former days. Moreover, the chief interest of the country was, for the moment, centred rather in the recovery of their king than in the decision of any theological doctrine; and, in their desire to rescue Ladislaus from Frederick, the Bohemians received the sympathy of the Hungarians, and even of the Austrians.

This discontent with Frederick led to actual preparations for war on the part of the three nations aggrieved by his action; and George, in his capacity of Governor of Bohemia, had an excuse for raising forces without at once declaring the purpose for which they were to be used. When, however, his preparations were complete, in August, 1452, he suddenly marched against Tabor. At first the Taborite priests were disposed to rouse the citizens to their usual attitude of determined resistance; but, as soon as George appeared before the town, the old unconquerable spirit vanished; the citizens were seized with a panic, and consented to recognise George as Governor. Still, it might have seemed as if this recognition was to be merely a part of a compromise, according to which the rights and liberties of the Taborites were still to be recognised; but when, in pursuance of this belief, they sent their Bishop Nicholaus and their favourite priest, Koranda, to Prague, to discuss their points of difference with the Calixtines, Nicholaus and Koranda were suddenly seized and imprisoned, until they would consent to yield to Rokycana’s authority. Even this did not kindle the old spirit of the Taborites; and, in December, 1452, the Calixtine priests entered Tabor, and celebrated Mass with those rites and ornaments which the Taborites had fought so hard to suppress.