# The Story of Bohemia/Chapter 4

Chapter IV.
FROM CHARLES IV TO THE HUSSITE WARS.
CHARLES IV.
While Charles was in France with his father, a dispute was going on between Pope Clement VI and Louis, the German emperor. The Pope finally succeeded in winning the electors to his side, Louis was deposed, and the Bohemian king elected in his place. As King of Bohemia he was the first of that name; but as emperor he is known in history as Charles IV.
Although duly elected, Charles was by no means in possession of the imperial crown; and, for a while, war with Louis seemed to be inevitable; but when hostilities were on the point of breaking out, Louis died, and Charles imagined now that he could secure the prize without any opposition. But here he was mistaken. Two of the electors declared the election of Charles null and void, and began to look about for another candidate. But it seems that the imperial crown was not so very desirable, judging from the scarcity of aspirants to the dignity. It was first offered to Edward of England, who refused it; then to the Margrave of Meissen, who likewise declined the honor; and finally to Count Günther of Schwarzburg, who accepted it. This Günther was a mercenary adventurer, who had served under various princes, and who cared so little for the imperial crown that when Charles offered to buy it of him, he gladly accepted the proffered sum of 20,000 pounds of silver.
As Bohemia had always had a great deal of trouble ​from the interference in her affairs by the German emperors, it was of great moment to Charles to have undisputed possession of the imperial throne. He therefore attempted, by various diplomatic measures, to win over the opposing electors. His wife Blanche having died, he married Anna, the daughter of the Elector of Palatinate upon the Rhine, and gave his own daughter in marriage to Rudolph, the Duke of Austria. By these measures he succeeded in obtaining undisputed possession of the imperial throne.
The political events in the reign of Charles IV are not of much significance. Although he had obtained an excellent military training under his warlike father, and had carried himself valiantly in the few battles that he had engaged in, nevertheless he had no love for war, and avoided it at all costs. He devoted his whole time to the improvement of his kingdom, so that the history of his reign is more a record of the reforms he introduced than any account of political events.
Even before the death of his father, Charles had succeeded in inducing the Pope to change the bishopric of Prague to an archbishopric.Archbishop in Prague. This was an event of the greatest importance. As a bishopric, Bohemia was under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Mayence; and in those days, when Church and State were inseparable, this often caused a great deal of inconvenience, if not hardship, to the government. The negotiations for this change afford a curious illustration of the geographical knowledge of those times. Charles was required to take an oath that Mayence was a distance of twelve days’ journey from Prague, and that, to reach it, the Bohemians were obliged to cross foreign territory; and further, ​that the Čech tongue was Slavonic and not Teutonic. The first Archbishop of Bohemia was Ernest of Pardubic, a man of much learning, and greatly beloved on account of his goodness and integrity.
In the year 1347, Charles was crowned in Prague as King of Bohemia, the ceremony being performed by the new archbishop. The Coronation.For the occasion, Charles ordered a beautiful crown to be made of the purest gold, and, lest it should meet the fate of the old crown of Bohemia, he had it placed upon the head of the skeleton of St. Václav, whose remains rested in the cathedral at Hradschin. Later, he obtained from the Pope a document pronouncing a fearful curse upon any one who would dare touch with sacrilegious hands this national treasure. Owing to the fact that the crown was kept in the tomb of Bohemia’s patron saint, it is always called St. Václavian.
In 1354, Charles, together with his wife Anna, undertook the journey to the capital of Christendom, Journey to Rome.to be crowned by the Pope as King of the Romans. He was received in the Italian cities with great demonstrations of joy, which, however, were not sincere. After his coronation, while tarrying in the city of Pisa, he was attacked by the people and soldiers, and had not his attendants performed prodigies of valor, both he and his wife would surely have been cut to pieces by the enraged populace. Thanking God for his deliverance, and liberally rewarding his guards, he hurried out of the country. The University.In 1348 the Pope issued a bull for the establishment of a university in Prague. This may be regarded as the great event in the reign of Charles IV.
​There had been opportunities for higher education in the country connected with the monasteries and collegiate churches; but none of these had the power to grant degrees, and a college degree was one of the requisites for candidates to some of the highest offices in the State. As there was no university in the whole of the German Empire, students aspiring to those honors were obliged to journey either to Paris or to Bononi in Italy, either of which incurred much hardship and great expense.
As Charles had obtained his education in Paris, he modeled the new university after the one in Paris. There were four faculties—Theology, Jurisprudence, Medicine, and Philosophy. The permanent head of the university was the Archbishop of Prague; but a rector was elected every year, who had direct supervision of the different faculties. The head of each faculty was a deacon, also elected for a year. The elections were carried on by nations of which there were four; viz., Bohemian, Bavarian, Polish, and Saxon. The Bohemian electors included Hungarians, Moravians, and other Slavic peoples; the Bavarian, all Germans; the Polish, students from Silesia and Russia; the Saxons, Danes and Swedes.
At first the professors delivered lectures in their own houses; those of theology, in some of the churches. The same year the university was organized, a college was built which provided lecture halls for twelve professors.
The university had a direct influence upon public education; for whoever desired a degree was required not only to pass all the examinations, but to spend two years in teaching in some of the parish schools ​ CHARLES IV FOUNDING THE UNIVERSITY OF PRAGUE. ​of the country. Having fulfilled these requirements, the student received the degree of Bachelor; but this did not entitle him to lecture in the university, this privilege being enjoyed only by those who possessed the degree of Doctor or Master. The Bachelors, however, were permitted to read lectures approved by the faculties of some other university.
The growth of the university was something phenomenal. In less than fifty years from the time it was founded, there were 200 Doctors, 500 Masters, and 30,000 students.
The rapid growth of this institution was due to the encouragement given it by the emperor. He not only richly endowed it, providing it also with good libraries, but he took a personal interest in the work. He was present at the lectures and public disputations, at times even neglecting his meals in order to hear the closing of the debates.
Charles was also a patron of art. Under his direction there was formed a fraternity of painters, sculptors, carvers in wood, and jewelers. This, to a certain extent, answered the purpose of an Academy of Arts, and continued in existence till the eighteenth century.
He also passed many wise measures for the encouragement and protection of trade and agriculture.
Under his wise administration of laws the country prospered, increasing in wealth and population. This was especially the case with Prague, whose ancient limits of Old Town and Small Side became far too narrow to accommodate the increased population. Charles, therefore, laid out a suburb, which he named Carlstadt, but which the people persisted in calling ​New Town. The growth of New Town was very rapid; for Charles not only granted special privileges to those who builded there, but put up many fine residences at his own expense, renting them upon very easy terms. Among the other structures that were put up by Charles was the cathedral at Hradschin, which was enlarged and partly built in this reign, the fortress of Carlstein, numerous churches and monasteries, and the stone bridge across the Moldau. The fortress of Carlstein was intended to be impregnable to all the munitions of war used in those days, and was to be the safe for the crown jewels and other valuables of the kingdom
Among the many good qualities of this king, that which especially won him the hearts of the people was the respect he showed for their native language.Bohemian Language. A number of rulers before him had shown a strong preference for the German tongue; and this is by no means surprising, since so many of the rulers, as well as the noblemen, had gone to Germany to get their wives. In regard to foreign wives, Charles was not the exception; but he early appreciated the importance of the cultivation of the vernacular as the means of information among the masses, and so he set the example of using the language himself. After his ten years’ stay in Paris, he had entirely forgotten the language of his noble mother; but he set to work, and soon was able to read and write as readily in Bohemian as in any of the other four languages that he was master of.
Under his patronage, many books were translated ​into Bohemian; and further to encourage the cultivation of the native tongue, a convent of Slavonic monks was established in New Town. This was used as a means to cultivate friendly relations between Bohemia and other Slavonic nations. The Bohemian language became the language of court and in the government of cities and towns; but in the previous reigns, the German tongue had gained such an ascendency that even so energetic a ruler as Charles was not able to stem the tide of foreign influence.
In the year 1356 a Diet was held at Prague, at which Charles offered to the consideration of the States a new code of laws, called Majestas Carolina;Reform in Law. but it was rejected, only some of the provisions being embodied in the laws of the land.
The laws of Bohemia, like those of Germany, France, and England, had an historical basis, the decisions of the Supreme Court being recorded and used as precedents. These records were kept in Latin, although the discussions were in the vernacular. The sessions of the court were open to all; the accused could plead his own case or have counsel. At first there was a jury, but later it was discontinued. The grave faults in the laws were, that the judges appealed too often to the so-called God’s judgments. Ordeals were common, and the casting of lots also. Confusio, or Error, was also resorted to. Thus, if a person became confused or stammered, it was said that God had judged him. Charles declared that such practices were a wicked tempting of Providence, and therefore they were abolished.
More stringent laws were passed in regard to robbers. A law was passed providing that, even if such a ​criminal were pardoned so that he escaped the gallows, he was to remain dishonored forever.
Although Charles introduced many reforms, what he did came far short of what he would have liked to do. During the reign of his father, the nobility were left to be absolute rulers over the peasants upon their estates; and now, if Charles would be at peace with them, he must leave them to a considerable extent in the enjoyment of their assumed privileges. This is well proved by their refusal to accept the Majestas Carolina. Some of the provisions of this code of laws were such as to make one shudder at the inhumanity of those times, when such laws could be proposed and rejected. Some of the provisions were as follows: “It is not becoming for a lord to put out the eyes of his people or of strangers. Should any one be guilty of this, he falls into the displeasure of the king, and his goods to his mercy. A lord must not carry himself proudly to lay upon the block and cut off the limbs of his subjects.” One would naturally infer that, at times, some of the lords had resorted to such horrible modes of punishment, otherwise Charles would not have incorporated this law in his Majestas Carolina.
Some of the laws in vogue at this time prove the wide difference between peasants and the higher classes. Thus if peasants or citizens had wronged each other, they were permitted to fight with clubs, not swords; for they were chlapi (churls). But if a person of lower birth hit one belonging to one of the upper classes, his hand was cut off, and he was obliged to give security that he would not seek vengeance. Should a peasant strike his lord, his head was forfeit; the lord, however, could do with him what he pleased.
​The emperor alone could not change such barbarous laws; but he did what he could to alleviate the condition of the poor people and to some extent redress their wrongs. The week before Easter and the week following were devoted to hearing the cause of the poor and oppressed. Charles, as judge, sat upon a throne put up at the main entrance to the court of the palace, where the widow, the orphan, and the peasant could bring their grievances without any ceremony, and receive quick justice. In his travels over the country, he often stopped in the various towns to hear the cause of the oppressed.
In a season of great want he ordered the building of a wall about the city so as to give the poor people employment. It was no wonder that the people blessed him, calling him the father of their country.
Shortly after the Diet held in Prague for the consideration of reforms needed in the administration of law, The Golden Bull.an imperial Diet was held in Nuremburg. Delegates from all the States composing the empire were present, and many important measures were discussed; but what rendered this Diet memorable was the passage of the set of laws known as the Golden Bull. This decree, which, a German author says, was the only good thing that the Emperor Charles IV did for Germany, remained for centuries the fundamental law, governing and holding together the loose confederation of States composing the German Empire.
The Golden Bull fixed the number of electors at seven, three ecclesiastical and four secular. They were the Archbishops of Mainz, Treves, and Cologne; the Count Palatine of the Rhine; the Duke of Saxony; the ​Margrave of Brandenburg, and the King of Bohemia. Each of these princes was to hold a high office under the emperor, those of the princes being merely nominal, while those of the clerics were real.
The other articles in the Golden Bull provided for the regulation of taxes, disposition of the revenue, coinage of money, limitations of the rights and privileges of cities, and various other laws concerning the government of the empire.
The Golden Bull, so excellent in itself, met with hot displeasure from the Pope, who could not look on with indifference when he found himself without any voice in the elections for the emperor. As a compensation for this slight, Charles was obliged to grant many concessions to the clergy.
Charles IV was very pious, spending much time in fasting and prayer; and partly on account of his own religious tendencies, The Growth of Clerical Power.and partly on account of the pressure of events, he granted many favors to the clergy. Many new churches and monasteries sprang up, and the old were endowed and improved in appearance. At the present time, to the five millions of inhabitants in Bohemia, there are nineteen hundred parish churches, while in the time of Charles there were twenty-three hundred, and the population was only about three millions. Not only did the churches increase in number, but also in wealth, which was especially the case with the higher ones. Thus the Archbishop of Prague had the revenues coming from four hundred villages and some dozen cities, which enabled him to hold a court equal in magnificence to some of the princes of the empire. The higher clergy lived in idleness, luxury, and indulged ​in all manner of dissipation; and the lower priesthood followed their example as far as they were able. Many persons totally unfit for a clerical life succeeded in securing benefices with large incomes, and then lived like great lords, their duties being performed by some hired substitute. As church service became more and more perfunctory, clerical life became easier; consequently, more young men crowded into it than into any other profession, until there were far more priests than places. To provide all with something to do, or rather with some income, the larger churches were permitted to have several priests, each to be paid mostly by what he could make in performing the various church duties, such as christenings, burials, confirmations, and the like. This distribution of labor led to much jealousy and hatred. The greed of the priests drove them to conduct that was scandalous; fierce brawls were an every-day occurrence, and even bloody fights were indulged in.
In granting so many privileges and concessions to the Church, Charles IV acted from the purest motives; but the results were evil, and that continually. He sowed the land full of dragon’s teeth, which, springing up in the following reigns, so tore and lacerated the country that it barely escaped with its life.
One of the most grievous faults of Charles IV was his excessive fondness for his family. The Prince Václav.When his son Václav was born, the public manifestations of joy ordered to be made by the king were ludicrous, if not blasphemous. Then, in his anxiety to secure the succession to this infant, he had him crowned King of Bohemia when a mere child. Nor was this all; in direct violation of the provisions of ​the Golden Bull, the boy was also elected King of the Romans. Doubtless these premature honors were the cause of much of the incompetency of Václav, and the dire misfortunes that came to the country because of it. Death of Charles IV.Charles IV died in 1378, in the sixty-third year of his age. He was buried in the cathedral at Hradschin, where his body rests to this day.
In regard to personal appearance, Charles IV was rather small and thick-set; Personal Appearance.he was somewhat round-shouldered, his head and neck thrust forward; his face was broad, his features coarse, his eyes large. He dressed in plain black broadcloth, without any ornamentation whatever, his coat being buttoned up to his chin. His favorite pastime was whittling. He whittled on all occasions, even when sitting as judge and listening to the most serious cases. At times it seemed that he was paying more attention to his knife than to the pleadings of the counsel; but the decisions he gave proved that he had not lost a word.
In the management of his domestic affairs, Charles was economical to stinginess; but in great undertakings he showed a generosity truly princely.
In affairs of state he listened patiently to his counselors, but generally acted according to his own mind, and a decision once reached was held as final.
Although five centuries have passed since this Father of Bohemia lived—and since that time fearful storms and changes have come over the country—yet, at the present time, no one can travel over the land without meeting on every side works that perpetuate the name of Charles IV, rendering it dear to every Bohemian heart.
SOCIAL CONDITION AND CIVILIZATION IN BOHEMIA IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY.
As early as the thirteenth century the people began to be divided into two nations, the Germans and Bohemians. Nationality.The Bohemian language was used at first by the native nobility, the clergy, and the common people; the German, in the royal cities and villages settled by German immigrants. The German settlers brought with them their own customs and habits, which differed considerably from those of the natives; but, in course of time, the two civilizations became blended, although it must be confessed that the Bohemians became far more German than the Germans Bohemian. This was due to the fact that, for several reigns, both the rulers and the nobility showed a morbid preference for everything that was foreign.
Had it not been for the denationalizing tendency, the German immigrants would have been a benefit to the country. They generally were industrious and enterprising, and aided considerably in developing the resources of the country. It was mostly due to them that the silver-mines of Kuttenberg and German Brod became such a source of wealth. They also helped to improve the manufactures of the country. Yet these were not in a high state of excellence; for linens were imported from France and Bavaria, broadcloths from Ghent, and Bohemian goods found a market only in Poland and Hungary.
The unfavorable side of the German colonists was that, in time of war, they invariably joined the side of the enemy.
Like most Slavonic nations, the Bohemian people ​leaned chiefly to the cultivation of the soil, Agriculture.preferring this to the more active life of tradesmen and merchants. This was not only the case with the peasants, but noblemen and great prelates gained most of their wealth from agriculture. As a result of this, grain was exported to the surrounding countries.
In the earlier history of Bohemia we find the people a peace-loving race, that would not engage in war, only in case of self-defense.War. But in course of time the heroic sentiments of the days of chivalry penetrated among the lowest classes, and a military hero became the highest ideal of greatness. Thus peasant youths were eager to enlist into the armies of lords that had won military renown.
The spirit of chivalry that had borne such excellent fruit in the past century began to wane. Chivalry.Tournaments, indeed, were still engaged in, and a sort of knightly gallantry was kept up; but the spirit of humanity and genuine politeness had passed away, leaving in its place nothing but empty show and stiff formality.
During the reign of John, the old Slavonic styles of dress were mostly abandoned, the higher classes adopting French styles. Dress.The men delighted in long beards and long, curling locks; instead of caps, they wore high-cornered hats of various colors; their coats were short and narrow, with wide, pointed sleeves that hung at the side like inverted mule’s ears; knee-breeches and tight boots finished the costume, unless we regard the belt—behind which there was always a knife or a sword—as a part of the dress.
​One of the most pleasant features of life in Bohemia at this time was the sacredness of home and the fidelity of wives and husbands to their marriage vows. Although youths and maidens indulged in free social intercourse, and dancing was the most common amusement, the principles of morality were so deeply rooted in their minds that they rarely overstepped the limits of virtue and chastity. In conversation, however, there was not so much delicacy as at the present time, many expressions being used that would appear coarse to us. But in this the Bohemians were not greater sinners than other nations of those days, as is proven by contemporary literature.
During this century the people clung, with implicit confidence, to the teachings of Rome. Religion.But when the clergy became so corrupt that they did not even take the pains to conceal their scandalous lives, the more thoughtful people began to wonder if the Church could be considered holy when its chief leaders were so utterly debased. The schism in the Church of two Popes, the one at Rome and the other at Avignon in France, struggling for the ascendency, also furnished material for this speculation.
There was a school connected with each convent; but in these mostly religion was taught. Schools.The schools where the boys could obtain the rudiments of education were the parish and village schools. As might be expected, the girls received no education whatever. After the establishment of the university in Prague, the common schools were greatly improved, since so many students, on the point of graduation, were engaged in teaching in the villages. ​At this time there were in Bohemia 13,360 villages, 300 towns, and 100 fortified cities. In the larger towns and cities, there were schools connected with the churches or monasteries, where boys obtained quite a thorough education, such education being sought with a view to official or clerical life.
During the reign of Charles, architects from other lands were invited into the country, and many beautiful churches commenced. Art and Architecture.The most promjnent of these were the St. Vitus Cathedral, the Church of Mary of the Snow in New Town, and the Slavonic convent of Emaus. The public buildings were the royal palace and the chateau of Carlstein.
Æneas Silvius, the historian, declared that there was no other European State that equaled Bohemia in the number, size, and magnificence of its churches.
Among the painters may be mentioned Theodoric, who painted the frescoes in Carlstein; Zbysek of Trotiny, famous for miniature-painting. His pictures excel in vividness, originality, brilliant coloring, and fine finish. Some of them are still extant, being kept in the museum at Prague. Hodek also helped with the frescoes of Carlstein, but he was famous for the many illuminated pontificals that he executed for the bishops and higher clergy.
Mathew Hutsky was at the head of the fraternity of artists. He is chiefly known as the teacher of Ferdinand from Eyser, who afterwards became famous as a painter.
​The fragments that have been left of the Kralsdvorsky Rukohis (Queen’s-court MS.) show that the Literature.native literature had reached a high state of development long before the age of Charles IV. Besides the native literature, there was much that was introduced into the country from other nations. Bohemian kings and noblemen spent much of their time in Paris, which was then the Rome of the civilized world, and through their instrumentality the intellectual wealth of France was brought to Bohemia. Thus they were familiar with the tales of King Arthur, and those of Guido of Colonna, about the siege of Troy, and the then famous epic “The Alexandriad.” The Alexandriad in the Bohemian language was more an adaptation than a translation. The diction is rich and polished, the style beautiful, the verse full and melodious. Legends of saints were one of the most favorite forms of literature; and mystery plays were acted at this time.
Smil Flaska was one of the most popular of poets. “The Nova Rada” (New Council) was regarded as his best work. A young lion, about to assume the government, calls upon all the creatures of the forest to give him counsel, which each does according to his own character and mode of life. There is some wit and humor in the poem; but its popularity was, doubtless, due to the fact that it flattered the vanity of the king by advancing the idea that royalty in itself was endowed by Heaven with wisdom superior to that of all other mortals of the realm.
A writer of much originality and independence of thought was Thomas of Stitný; but of him we shall speak hereafter.
THE BOHEMIAN REFORMATION.
We have now reached the most important period in Bohemian history, that of the Reformation of the fifteenth century. This great movement, which stirred the nation to its lowest depths—and, indeed, almost effected its ruin—has by some short-sighted critics been attributed to the teachings of John Hus, but a more fallacious theory could hardly be advanced. The nation had reached a state of high intellectual advancement on the part of the laity, and gross corruption on the part of the clergy, which made a reformation inevitable, even if there had been no such a man as Hus. Another error that is taught by many authors is, that the Reformation was due to the influence of the doctrines of Wycliffe, as expounded by some of the doctors of the university, and especially by Hus. These teachings did have considerable influence; but they would never have produced such tremendous results had not the ground been so well prepared to receive them.
One of the main causes that led to the Reformation was the establishment of the University of Prague. This elevated the standard of culture and intelligence, and prepared the people for the teaching of the forerunners of Hus.
THE FORERUNNERS OF HUS.
Charles IV, seeing the gross immorality of the clergy, cast about for some means to remedy this evil. Conrad Waldhausen.With this end in view, he invited to Prague an Augustine monk, Conrad Waldhausen, who had gained much popularity in Vienna on account of his zealous preaching. At first Waldhausen was ​imade the rector of the Church of Leitomeric, but later was promoted to that in the Teyn Church in the Old Town. The only preaching at this time was that of the begging friars, the parish priests thinking they did their whole duty when they recited the mass, or went through some of the prescribed Church services. Waldhausen was a great preacher, and his native eloquence was rendered all the more effective by his burning zeal to reform the clergy as well as the laity. The best account of Waldhausen is given by Benes Krabice, of Veitmil, who speaks as follows:
“In the year 1369, on the Feast of the Conception of the Virgin, died that illustrious preacher, Brother Conrad, rector of St. Mary ante Lætam Curiam, in the city of Prague. An Austrian by birth, a man of great learning and greater eloquence, he saw, when he came to Bohemia, all men given up to excesses, luxury in many respects exceeding all limits; and through his preaching so reformed the people that many put aside the vanities of the world, serving God with zeal.”
Among the good things that this man did, was one especially great and memorable: “The ladies of Prague, who had hitherto worn large and magnificent mantles, as well as other clothes ornamented in the most extravagant manner, put away these things, and went daily in plain clothing to hear the words of this distinguished man He preached also dauntlessly against usurers, and other unjust possessors of property, and especially against those religious persons who had obtained orders through simoniacal practices. As a result of this, the begging friars rose up against him, loading him with abuse. But he, a man of perfect love, endured it all with patience for God’s sake.”
​A man of even greater talents, and one whose labors for reform produced more permanent results was
MILIČ OF KREMSIER.
Milič was by birth a Moravian, who was unacquainted with the German language until he studied it so as to be able to preach both to the Germans and Bohemians. He held several positions of trust and honor. For some time he was the chief official in the imperial chancery, and later a canon in St. Vitus Cathedral. In 1363 he resigned his honors and preferments, determined to follow Christ in poverty and humility. The archbishop in vain tried to retain his services. He said to Milič: “What better thing can you do than help a poor archbishop to feed the flock intrusted to his care?” But the sturdy evangelist remained unmoved in his decision to preach the gospel to the poor. For some time he preached in the small town of Klatov; but, beginning to enjoy life, he thought it was a temptation of the evil one to lead him back to the paths of ease; and so he gave up his charge, returned to Prague, and began preaching in St. Nicholas on the Small Side.
At first, Milič had but few hearers, and some of those mocked his Moravian accent; but his earnestness of purpose soon won him the esteem of the people, and his words began to be discussed in all parts of the city. At length he became so popular that, in order to give all who wished to hear him the opportunity to do so, he was obliged to preach several times a day in different parts of the city.
Through his excessive zeal against the moral depravity of those times, and his unceasing study of the ​Apocalypse and the Prophets, his mind became filled with extraordinary ideas respecting the latter days, the coming of Antichrist, and the end of the world. Himself fearing that his views might be erroneous, he resolved to undertake a journey to Rome to seek light upon these subjects. The Pope and other dignitaries of the Church received him with much kindness and consideration, and, it seems, put his mind to rest in regard to these questions; for when he returned to Prague they no longer were the prominent topics of his discourses.
When Conrad Waldhausen died, Milič took his place in Teyn Church. He preached there daily in German, while another priest delivered in Bohemian, in St. Giles’s Church, the sermons that Milič had prepared.
One of the reforms instituted by Milič was entirely unique in the history of his country. There was in the city of Prague a collection of buildings known as “Venice,” which was the resort of women who led a life of shame. Milič took upon himself the task of preaching to these women, to restore them, if possible, to a life of virtue. In this labor he was remarkably successful. But he soon saw that, if he would keep the women in the path of virtue, some means of sustenance must be provided. By private subscriptions he raised funds to secure several houses to serve as an asylum for these unfortunates. The place was called Jerusalem, and sometimes as many as three hundred women had a home there. Many benevolent ladies were induced to take girls from this institution into domestic service; but still the number remaining was so large that at times Milič was put to his wit’s ​end to know how to provide for them; and what made it all the harder for him was, that his motives were misjudged and willfully misrepresented.
This species of benevolence was entirely original with Milič and when he died, the institution went into decay, since there was no one who appreciated its importance.
The popularity of Milič excited the jealousy and hatred of the priests to such a pitch that they drew up an accusation against him in twelve articles, and sent it to Pope Gregory XI, who was then at Avignon. The charges against him were so serious that the Pope became alarmed, and issued bulls, not only to the emperor, the Archbishop of Prague, and to the Bishop of Litomysl, but even to the Bishops of Olmutz, Breslau, and Cracow, warning them against the spread of such fearful heresies. Milič again repaired to Avignon to plead his own case, which he did so well that he was acquitted of all charges of heresy, and treated with marked distinction. Shortly after he was taken ill and died (1374).
One of the great services that Milič rendered his country was Thomas of Stitnýthat he directed the mind of so great a man as Stitný into channels that led to so much beneficent literary activity.
When the University of Prague was founded, in 1348, Thomas was a young man, and he at once left his father’s house to seek the advantages that the new school offered. The main subject studied in the higher institutions of learning was scholasticism, the best minds wasting their energies in empty philosophical discussions. Thomas Stitný, however, possessed a mind so clear, so deep, and penetrating, that he soon ​saw the vanity and uselessness of such speculations. Since religion interested him above all other things, he now adopted it as a special theme of study; but his aims were practical, not speculative. He declared that it was his aim to bring the truth so vividly before the minds of his hearers that they might learn to shun evil and be inspired to follow the good. In direct opposition to the custom of those times, he wrote in Bohemian instead of Latin. He said that he did not wish to fence up Christian teaching by a Latin wall, but that his aim was to render it accessible to all the people. Stitný’s style was so simple, so direct, and clear, that the people were as eager to read his books as they had before been to hear the preaching of Milič.
The learned men of the University of Prague rose up against Stitný. They declared that, by making knowledge accessible to the people, he but made it vulgar, lowering it to the comprehension of the illiterate masses. But he was not to be baffled from his purpose by any such sophistry. He replied: “St. Paul wrote his epistles to the Jews in Hebrew; to the Greeks, in Greek; why, then, should I, being a Bohemian, hesitate to write to my countrymen in Bohemian? I will write in Bohemian, for God loves a Bohemian as well as he does a Latinist.”
Stitný’s works consisted of twenty-six small pamphlets, treating mostly of religious and ethical subjects. They were diligently copied, circulated, and eagerly read, and exerted a lasting influence upon the development of the native tongue.
Another pupil of Milič was the distinguished preacher, Matthias of Janov. After studying in Prague, ​Matthias went to Paris, where he remained six years, receiving the degree of Master of Arts.Master Mathias, of Janov. From this he was called Magister Parisiensis, by which title he is generally known in old writings.
In his younger days Matthias was very ambitious of honor, fame, and wealth. He even undertook a journey to Rome to petition the Pope for a canonry in Prague; and, later, succeeded in obtaining the position of confessor in St. Vitus Cathedral. Like Milič, he gave up all his honors, devoting his life to the preaching of the gospel. Matthias was very loyal to the Church; for, although his study of the Scriptures led him to doubt some of the accepted doctrines, he was ever ready to recant whenever he was asked to do so. The two ideas which seemed to have taken possession of his mind were the importance of the study of the Scripture, and that the Spirit of God would guide one to the knowledge of the truth. He made the Bible his daily companion, preferring it to the works of the fathers. He said that some people found comfort in the relics of saints, but that he cared nothing for such things, since when he had his Bible, he had his all in all. This, coming from a man standing so high, both in regard to learning and to sanctity of life, exerted a powerful influence; and, doubtless, it was due to his teaching that the Taborites afterwards made the study of the Bible an every-day duty, so that the common women knew more of its teachings than many a priest.
John Protiva was the first priest appointed to fill the pulpit of the Bethlehem Chapel,Master John Protiva. which afterwards became so famous on account of the preaching of Hus.
​Protiva tried to reform the Church, but he soon came to the conclusion that nothing but complete reconstruction could save it from moral ruin. Most of the writings of Protiva are lost, but their tendency is learned from the reference made to them by other authors. They were the source from which Peter Čelcičky, the founder of the sect of the Moravian Brethren, drew most of his arguments.
One of the curious things in the life of this man was that, at the Council of Constance, he appeared as one of the witnesses against Hus.
From the above sketches it may be seen that when Hus appeared upon the scene as a popular preacher and reformer, he had the ground well prepared for his reception. Sigmund with truth could say to the prelates at Constance that the sect of which Hus was the leader and exponent was no new thing, but had originated when he (the emperor) was a mere youth.
KING VÁCLAV IV.
The Emperor Charles left three sons, the eldest of whom succeeded his father in the government as Václav IV. Sigmund, the second, received as his inheritance, Brandenburg; and John, parts of Tower and Upper Lusatia. Moravia was in the hands of Jost, a cousin of Václav. At the death of Charles’s second brother, the County of Luxemburg fell again to the Bohemian crown.
Sigmund married Maria, the daughter of the King of Hungary, thus securing the crown of that country. This made him a powerful ruler, and, to a considerable extent, affected the interests of Bohemia.
King Václav in no respect equaled his illustrious ​father. He not only lacked his ability to govern, but he was too indolent to make use of the talents that he did possess. All tasks that required persistent effort soon wearied him, and unlooked-for difficulties only roused his temper, which was so ungovernable as to lead him into many cruelties. Being passionately fond of hunting, he kept about him a large drove of hounds, one of these, a huge monster, sleeping in the king’s chamber. It was believed that this hound caused the death of Queen Johanna, Václav’s first wife. Václav also indulged in all manner of gross dissipations; such as drinking, gambling, and carousing about in the night. Yet he was no spendthrift; the crown treasury was in a good condition, and the taxes were reasonable. For this reason he was liked by the common people; and he, in turn, preferred their company to that of the nobility. As far as he dared, he gave the offices of the crown to the knights, zemans, and even to citizens, seeking their counsel rather than that of the classes above them. This partiality for the common people brought upon him the deadly hatred of the lords and prelates.
In the first fifteen years of his reign, the country enjoyed perfect peace and prosperity. The administration of laws was so excellent that it was said a person could carry pots of money upon his head without any fear of being robbed.
The last task that Charles attempted to accomplish, just before his death, was to settle the difficulty between the two rival Popes,The Great Schism. Urban VI of Rome, and Clement VII of Avignon; and King Václav likewise tried to do this good work. For this reason several Diets were called; but the ​States were so divided in their allegiance to the Popes that nothing was accomplished. At these Diets, Václav also took the part of the cities that, at this time, were at war with the nobles, who tried to curtail their corporate privileges. But in this he also failed of accomplishing his purpose. The cities were defeated and deprived of many of their ancient rights. These failures so vexed Václav that he determined to throw up the imperial crown; but a reconciliation between him and the princes of Germany was effected at the Diet in Eger, where he also entered into negotiations concerning his second marriage. He married Sophia, the daughter of Duke John of Munich. She was a very accomplished and enlightened princess, and later proved a warm friend of the followers of Hus.
While King Václav was attending the Diet at Eger, a serious disturbance occurred in Prague. A priest carrying a eucharist was mocked by a Jew.Massacre of the Jews. This so enraged the populace that they rushed into the Jews’ quarter, and massacred about three thousand of the inhabitants.
King Václav early began to manifest a dislike of the higher clergy on account of their pride and lordly assumptions. Vàclav’s Dislike to the Clergy.This hatred was provided with abundant fuel by the actions of the Archbishop John of Jenstein, a man of sound morals, but a fanatic in regard to his theories of the worldly power of the Church. In his attempts to show his own authority, that prelate had many quarrels with the lower clergy and with the doctors of the university, and even with the king. On one occasion, one of the friends of Václav having been wronged by the archbishop, the king had that prelate arrested, keep​ing him in confinement until the wronged man could obtain restitution from the archbishop’s own estates. On another occasion two theological students, having been arrested and put to death by the orders of the king’s chamberlain, although the king approved of the act, the archbishop, nevertheless, excommunicated the chamberlain.
King Václav had obtained, as a mark of special favor, the proclamation of the Year of Jubilee by Pope Boniface IX. He attached the greatest importance to this, intending to make it a time of great rejoicing in Prague. But all his plans were thwarted by the churly archbishop, who positively refused to do anything in preparation for that season of grace.
The ill-feeling between the king and the archbishop reached its climax in the quarrel about the Abbey of Kladrau.John of Nepomuk. Václav had determined to establish another bishopric in Bohemia, intending to use for this purpose the Benedictine convent of Kladrau, and was only waiting till the abbot, who was quite old, should die. Here again his plans were thwarted by the archbishop. Learning of the death of the abbot, the archbishop, through his vicargeneral, John of Nepomuk, immediately appointed a successor. When Václav heard of this, his rage knew no bounds, and he swore a fearful vengeance upon the proud priest. His courtiers, fearing that serious evils might result from such an open rupture with one of the dignitaries of the Church, did all in their power to quiet him, and finally he consented to have an interview with the offending prelate. But no sooner did Václav set his eyes upon his enemy than his wrath burst out afresh, and he ordered his immediate arrest, ​together with his vicar-general and three other priests, canons of Prague. The archbishop saved himself by flight; but the three priests were taken to the city hall, where they were compelled to suffer for the misdeeds of their superior. Václav, determined to discover who was most to blame for this act, done in direct opposition to his expressed wishes, had the poor canons tortured, himself applying the burning candles to their flesh. Doubtless all four would have been put to death; but the king’s wrath cooling somewhat, he bethought himself that the death of so many priests might bring him into trouble. He therefore released three of them; but John of Nepomuk was so horribly mutilated that he could not live, so he was ordered to be cast into the river Moldau (March 20, 1393).
The following centuries a host of legends were invented by the Jesuits about this John of Nepomuk, until they succeeded in having him canonized; and the poor, deluded people were taught to regard him as the chief saint of the country.
Several attempts at a reconciliation between the king and the archbishop were made, but they were unsuccessful, owing to the stubbornness of the king, who imposed too hard conditions. At last that prelate betook himself to Rome to plead his own case before the Pope. But in this emergency he was forsaken by his own chapter, and the Holy Father, seeing more gain from a friendship with Václav than with his unpopular archbishop, declined to give him any satisfaction. Disappointed in his hopes, the archbishop returned to Bohemia and resigned his office.
The displeasure of the nobility at being pushed aside and the offices of the kingdom given to the ​lower classes, finally found expression in a conspiracy to deprive Václav of the government.Revolt of the Nobles. The conspiracy was headed by his brother Sigmund and cousin Jost of Moravia. King Václav was seized by the conspirators and held prisoner until he should promise that henceforth all offices of the crown were to be filled from the nobility, and that the king should not undertake anything of importance without their consent. As Václav refused to comply with their demands, they kept him prisoner, Jost being appointed by them regent.
In the meantime, Václav’s brother John came into the country, raised an army, and prepared to make war upon the rebellious nobles. The case of Václav was not so very desperate, since all the common people were upon his side, and the burggraves of ail the citadels had remained loyal to him. Prince John easily obtained possession of Prague; but the nobles fled, taking with them the king. The war was kept up for some time, until they were compelled to restore Václav to the government. Peace, however, did not last long. Prince John dying shortly after, the lords again took up arms against their king, and this time he was compelled to give them a share in the government. Indeed, for a while they had entire control of the government, and showed the king their independence of him by putting to death four of his favorite courtiers.
These domestic disturbances greatly diminished the respect for Václav abroad. The princes of the empire complained Vàclav loses the Imperial Crown.that he neglected the interests of Germany, and appointed a meeting, where they discussed the advisability of deposing ​him. This action roused the king from his lethargy. He called an Imperial Diet, where, besides other business, it was decided to end the schism in the Church by asking both Popes to abdicate and electing a new Pope in their place. But no sooner was this decision made known to the Roman Pope Boniface, than that pontiff began in turn to fight the interests of Václav, and it was due to his influence that he was deposed from the imperial dignity, and Ruprecht Palatine elected in his place as King of the Romans.
About this time the same misfortune befell Sigmund in Hungary that, through his aid, had befallen his brother in Prague—he was taken prisoner by his own lords, and kept in close confinement. Václav, however, showed himself far more brotherly than Sigmund had done. He raised an army, and, in five months, the lords were compelled to set their king at liberty.
King Václav, counting upon the gratitude of his brother for the services he had rendered him, determined to ask his aid in freeing himself from the detested yoke of the nobles. For this purpose he invited him to Prague and gave him a share in the government. Sigmund repaid this confidence with the blackest treachery. He seized Václav, cast him into prison, and himself usurped the government. Later, he appointed a regent and went to Vienna, taking with him his royal prisoner. But he had scarcely left the country when an insurrection broke out against him, and he hurried back to restore order. His cruel treatment of the citizens of some of the rebellious cities struck terror into the hearts of the people, and they submitted to his government without ​much further resistance. He remained in the country for some time, extorting money by all manner of illegal methods, until an insurrection in his own kingdom compelled him to leave the country.
After some months of imprisonment, Václav succeeded in making his escape, and returned to Bohemia. He was hailed as a deliverer, and many, of the lords, who had formerly been his enemies, gladly took up arms to help to reinstate him in the government. The adherents of Sigmund were driven out of the country, and Václav, reorganizing the government after his own heart, began to rule with considerable energy.
The rest of the reign of King Václav is mostly taken with the attempts to settle the difficulty between the rival Popes, and the troubles at home that arose out of the abuses in the Church. These will be related in the chapter on John Hus.
JOHN HUS.
There is no name in the history of Bohemia that, even at the present time, rouses on the one hand so much admiration and enthusiasm, and on the other so much hatred and fanaticism, as that of John Hus, the martyr of Constance. Hus, without question, is one of the most illustrious characters in history. In his perception of religious truth, he was as far in advance of the clergy of his day as the enlightened men of the present day are ahead of those of the fifteenth century. Yet he does not commend himself to our notice so much on account of his intellectual ability, but rather on account of his life-work as a reformer.
As has been related, there were several men before the time of Hus who had raised their voices against ​ JOHN HUS. the crying abuses in the Church; but their labors afforded only a temporary relief. The abuses remained, and, indeed, seemed to increase rather than diminish. This was due, to some extent, to the dual Papacy. The Pope at Avignon attempted to hold a court equal in splendor to that of his rival at Rome; and as enormous sums of money were needed for this purpose, he ​resorted to new and unheard-of methods for extorting it from the people. He asked more and more for confirmation to a bishopric, and usurped the right to make appointments that had formerly been exercised by the local authorities. Finally, benefices were sold to the highest bidder, or given away for services done to his Holiness. Boniface of Rome started the practice of giving away benefices, even before they were vacated. His example was followed by the bishops, until simony became the general custom, and the Church was full of men totally unfit for a clerical profession.
Another great evil in the Church was the enormous number of endowments. The idea of vicarious devotion had become so general that the court, the nobility, and even the wealthy citizens, had their family chapel or altar in some church where a special priest was appointed to serve mass and say prayers for the souls of his patrons. The number of clerics thus officiating increased to such an extent that one church in Prague had three hundred priests connected with it. The common parish churches usually had from ten to twenty. Most of these were supported by the endowments; besides this, they obtained considerable money upon various pretexts, and so were able to live in luxury and ease.
The high-handed treatment that Archbishop Jenstein received at the hands of King Václav, and the immunity of the latter from punishment, did much to weaken the power of the clergy in Bohemia. Jenstein’s successor, Archbishop Olbram, was so subservient to the wishes of the king that nothing is heard of him for the whole time he was in office. These facts explain why it was that the preachers who denounced ​so bitterly the corruption of the Church and advanced various new doctrines, met with little or no oppositon.
After the death of Archbishop Olbram, the chapter elected Zbynek of Hazenburg as his successor. Zbynek had little knowledge and less learning, and owed his preferment to a successful military expedition intrusted to him by the king. It was said that he began to learn the alphabet after his elevation to the bishopric. Yet he possessed business-like habits, and manifested considerable good-will to work a reform in the Church.
At this time there was no man so popular in Prague as Hus. He was dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, later rector of the university, the confessor of the queen, and preacher of Bethlehem Chapel. Archbishop Zbynek looked upon him with much favor, intrusting him with various important duties. This friendship might have continued much longer than it did, but for the excessive zeal of some of the followers of Hus. The first serious trouble arose in regard to the teachings of Wycliffe, the English reformer. Owing to the marriage of Princess Anna of Bohemia to Richard II of England, there had been much intercourse between the two countries, and thus it was that the writings of that great man were introduced into Bohemia. They were eagerly read, and discussed with so much interest, that the matter was brought before the university. Forty-five of the Articles were condemned as heretical, and orders were issued that no one was to teach or maintain them either in public or private.
But public opinion had progressed too far for any such order to be obeyed. Even before the Articles were condemned, several learned men, among them Hus, declared that the said Articles were so separated ​from their context as to have an entirely different meaning from what was meant by the author, and that such adulteration of books was worthy of the most severe punishment. Hus’s defense of Wycliffe’s Articles brought a rupture between him and the archbishop. The enemies of Hus sent reports to Rome that heretical doctrines were disseminated in Bohemia, and that not only Hus, but the king and the archbishop, favored them. Gregory XII sent orders to the archbishop that all such heresies should be immediately extirpated. After much consultation and many discussions of the matter, the archbishop requested that all the books of Wycliffe should be brought to him for examination, that he might be able to point out what parts were heretical. It shows the influence of ages of superstition upon the human mind, that the learned doctors of the university, among them Hus, complied with this request. They probably imagined that, by virtue of his sacred office, the illiterate prelate was endowed with some mysterious power of discrimination, and so could judge of the substance of works that he could scarcely read.
The shrewd prelate would not expose his ignorance by pointing out errors, so he devised a more ingenious plan. He persuaded the Synod that was to assist him in the examination, to condemn all of Wycliffe’s works as heretical, and ordered them to be destroyed by fire; and, lest the action should be opposed, all preaching in the chapels was to be immediately stopped; this order being aimed especially against Hus.
The university entered a protest against this decision, declaring that the archbishop had no right to destroy books that were the property of its members, ​who had the privilege of examining all kinds of doctrine. They said, if this principle should be adopted, it would be necessary to destroy the works of most of the pagan philosophers. King Václav supported the university, and requested the archbishop to suspend his intended action until the matter could be laid before the newly-elected Pope, John XXIII. But he heeded not the words of the king, and had the books burned without any delay. The books were beautifully written and richly bound, and their destruction was a serious loss to the owners; therefore, King Václav ordered the archbishop to make good the loss; and upon his refusal to do so, his estates were sequestered.
An event of grave importance, far-reaching in its results, was the action of the king in regard to the university. The German Exodus from the University.When Charles IV established the University of Prague, he aimed to make it the great institution of learning for the whole empire. It was with this end in view that he divided it into four nations—the Bohemian and Polish representing the Slavonic population, and the Bavarian and Saxon, the Teutonic. The founding of the University of Cracow, in 1400, drew away most of the Polish students, so that the Polish nation was virtually represented by the German, which gave that nation the whole control of the elections. The significance of this came out in connection with the Council of Pisa.
The European rulers failing in their attempts to settle the difficulty between the rival Popes, determined to call a great Council, to meet at Pisa, whose purpose should be the election of a new Pope, and reform of the Church in head and members. The reform party hailed the news with joy, but the higher clergy, ​who reaped much benefit out of the existing disorders, became alarmed, and did all in their power to bring the proposed Council into discredit. When King Václav expressed his desire that the nation should for the time being remain neutral in regard to the two Popes, he met with much opposition, even from the archbishop. He therefore appealed to the university; but this was divided into two parties—the Bohemian, in the minority, approving of the king’s decision, and the German, opposing him. Hus and his friends grasped the opportunity to free themselves of the foreign yoke. They proposed a change in the constitution of the university; viz., that the natives should have three votes and the foreigners but one. At first, King Václav looked upon this innovation with displeasure, and severely reprimanded Hus for constantly causing disturbances; but being convinced of the justness of the request, he issued the following proclamation:
“Although it is necessary to love all men, yet charity ought to be regulated by the degrees of proximity. Therefore, considering that the German nation, which does not belong to this country, has, as we have learned, appropriated to itself, in all the acts of the University of Prague, three votes, whilst the Bohemian nation, the legitimate heir of this realm, has but one; and considering that it is very unjust that foreigners should enjoy the privileges of the natives to the prejudice of the latter, we order, by the present act, under the penalty of our displeasure, that the Bohemian nation should, without any delay or contradiction, enjoy henceforth the privilege of three votes in all councils, judgments, and elections, and all other academic acts and dispositions, in the same manner as ​is practiced in the Universities of Paris, Lombardy and Italy.”
The German professors and students met the proclamation with great indignation, and entered into a solemn agreement rather to emigrate from Prague than submit to so infamous a regulation. They made strenuous exertions to secure a revocation of the order; but King Václav remained inexorable.
The Germans then prepared to put the threat into execution. To make their departure more imposing, it was agreed that they should all start upon the same day. In the summer of 1409, a strange sight met the eyes of the country people. The highways leading to Prague were filled with motley crowds of angry Germans; professors, students, and attendants were moving away in all manner of vehicles that could be impressed into service for the occasion. Some authorities say that 20,000 men left Prague that day; but Tomek puts the number down to 5,000. But whether the number was 20,000 or 5,000, their departure was a grievous loss to the city. Sigmund, writing to the Council of Constance, in 1416, deplored this loss in the following words: “That splendid University of Prague was counted among the rarest jewels of our realm; for of all the universities of the German nation, it bore, not undeservedly, the name of being the greatest. Into it flowed, from all parts of Germany, youths and men of mature years, alike through love of virtue and study, who, seeking the treasures of knowledge and philosophy, found them there in abundance.” All this at once ceased. The university became small in numbers, and still smaller in influence; and both the city and the country were great losers thereby.
​As might be expected, this misfortune was laid at the door of Hus and his friends. Probably the worst feature of this was the bad reputation that Bohemia gained throughout the empire by the evil reports spread by the German professors and students. To this was due, doubtless, the malicious hatred that manifested itself on the part of the Germans against the Bohemians during the long wars that followed.
Another Indulgences.matter that brought Hus into ill repute among the clergy was his opposition to the sale of indulgences.
In 1411, Pope John XXIII declared a crusade against Ladislav, King of Naples, charging him with heresy. He promised plenary indulgences to all who should either take part in person or aid it with funds. In Bohemia, the sale of these indulgences was intrusted to Tiem, the Dean of Passau, who obtained permission for this both from the king and the archbishop; but only under certain conditions. He, however, did not keep the conditions, but sold the documents to various priests, allowing them to make what they could in retailing them. As this traffic was held in no good repute in Bohemia, it was taken up by priests that were notorious for their grossly immoral lives, and carried on in a most scandalous manner.
Hus denounced the traffic, warning the people not to squander their money for these worthless promises. The matter was brought before a Synod of the University, and it decided that, since this came from the Pope, Christians were bound to treat it with reverence, even if they could not agree with it.
Hus made a declaration that showed that he was ​no longer in spiritual bondage to the Pope. He said: “I term the doctrines of Christ’s apostles apostolic commands, and, in so far as the commands of the Pope of Rome agree with those doctrines, I am willing to obey them; but when I see the contrary, I shall not obey, even if ye place fire before me to consume my body.” Hus not only continued to exhort the people against the indulgences, but he sent letters to various parts of Bohemia, Moravia, Poland, and even to Hungary, warning the people against this traffic. This diminished the sale of the indulgences, and, moreover, helped to cultivate a spirit of resistance to all ecclesiastical authority.
To quiet the disturbances that were constantly arising, a Synod was held in Bohemian Brod. At this Synod, Master Jacobek stated that the real point at issue was whether human ordinances, proceeding from a hierarchy composed of mortal, and consequently fallible beings, were to be obeyed in preference to the commands of God.
This Synod accomplished nothing, and, the disturbances in the capital constantly increasing, King Václav requested Hus to leave the city for a while. This, however, only helped to spread the new doctrine. Such immense crowds flocked to hear the preaching of Hus, that he was obliged to address the people in the open air. Besides this, he had time to write various articles, which, being in the mother tongue, were eagerly sought and read by the common people.
While these things were going on in Bohemia, Sigmund had been elected King of the Romans, and while on an expedition to Italy to aid the Pope against Ladislav, he persuaded that pontiff to call a General Coun​cil, which was to meet in Constance, in 1413. Sigmund therefore sent an invitation to Hus to appear before the Council and defend his cause, promising him his imperial safe-conduct, so that he might come and go with perfect safety. Hus was not only willing, but eager, to obey the summons, and immediately repaired to Prague to prepare for the journey. He presented himself for examination before the papal inquisitor, who, hearing his case in the presence of several nobles and prelates, declared him free from every suspicion of heresy, and gave him a written statement to that effect. Moved by this example, the archbishop gave him a similar testimonial.
Hus started on his journey for Constance, October 11, 1414. Before leaving his native land he exhorted the people to be steadfast in maintaining God’s truth, and to pray for him that he might have grace and wisdom for the coming ordeal. King Václav gave Hus an escort of three noblemen—Sir Václav of Duba, Knight John of Chlum, and Sir Henry of Chlum. The imperial safe-conduct was secured before the party reached Constance.
Although Hus had been warned while still in Prague that, once in the power of the angry prelates, he would never return to Bohemia, he had so much confidence in the justness of his cause that he had no fear; and he was reassured in this by the kind reception given him by the Pope. He soon found that this confidence was entirely misplaced. Without any explanation, he was seized and cast into prison. Sir Chlum at once went to the Council, and said to the Pope in the presence of the cardinals: “Holy father, this is not the promise made by your Holiness to me ​and my uncle. I brought Master Hus here under the safe-conduct of my lord, the King of the Romans, and your Holiness said that had Hus killed your own brother, he should be safe here, and you would neither let nor hinder him; and lo! here he is arrested while under the protection of the aforesaid safe-conduct.”
The Pope replied little to this, but, taking Sir Chlum aside, he said to him: “You know on what a footing my own affairs are here with the cardinals. They delivered Hus into my hands, and I was obliged to receive him into captivity.” This declaration was probably true, for this Pope was soon after deposed and imprisoned by the Council.
At first Hus was kept in a house where one of the cardinals lodged; but, for greater security, he was removed to a Dominican convent on the shores of Lake Constance, and thrust into a cell three feet wide and seven feet long.
Lord Chlum strained every energy to secure his release, but all in vain. He hoped that as soon as Sigmund arrived he would compel the cardinals to respect the safe-conduct, but in this he was bitterly disappointed. The wily priests soon convinced the emperor that it was not binding upon him to keep faith with a heretic.
The trial of Hus lasted for several days. There was much discussion about all sorts of questions that were of no importance. All manner of absurd charges were brought against him, and sustained by false-hearted priests, who hated him because he had spoken against their depraved lives. But the gist of the whole matter was, that he denied the authority of the Pope and the cardinals, and insisted on referring all to Scripture ​and reason, He was ever ready to be instructed, but he asked for real instruction, an intelligent explanation sustained by Scripture text, and not the mere dictum of the Council. What especially offended the members of the Council was his persistent denial that the Pope and the cardinals constituted the Church, he claiming that the Church was the whole body of people of all ages and nations destined for salvation. As for the infallibility of the Pope, Hus used the flight and subsequent deposition of John XXIII as a striking refutation of this doctrine. The doctrines advanced by Hus were of so radical a nature that, once admitted, the power of the Church would have been forever undermined. Besides this, he had injured the Church in other ways. By his open denunciation of the greed and gross immorality of the priests he had weakened discipline; by his open denial of absolute authority he had awakened the spirit of resistance; and by his war against the sale of indulgences he had not only diminished the income of the Church, but had brought these methods of raising funds into disrepute. The clergy, therefore, had abundant cause for hating him, and the Council would have condemned him to death without any mercy, but that, for reasons of policy, they feared to do so. A remonstrance had come from Bohemia, to which were attached the seals of two hundred and fifty noblemen, and even Poland sent messengers asking for fair treatment of so illustrious a prisoner. The Council, therefore, honestly tried to save Hus’s life, if it could be done without compromising their own infallibility. The most eloquent prelates were sent to him to induce him to submit to the Council and recant his doctrines. His own friends implored him with ​tears in their eyes, if it were possible, that he should accept the instruction of the Church. His final answer was as follows:
“The bishops bid me acknowledge before you my errors. If this were possible, merely by the loss of honor of a mortal man, they would perhaps have persuaded me to do so. But I stand here before the face of Almighty God, and I can not do it without dishonor to Him, and the reproaches of my own conscience; because I feel convinced that I have never taught those things of which I am accused; but that I have at all times believed, written, and taught the contrary of it. How could I lift my eyes to heaven, how could I show my face to those whom I have taught—whose number is very great—if I were to unsettle their minds about those things, of which at present they have no doubt? Dare I by my example cast doubt into so many souls and consciences instructed by the words of Holy Writ and edified by the pure doctrine of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ? No! I shall never let it appear that I have more regard for this mortal body than for the eternal salvation of those souls.”
As Hus could not be induced to recant, he was condemned to be burned at the stake. The day fixed for the execution of the sentence was July 6, 1415. Weak and emaciated from illness and persecution, he was taken from his filthy dungeon and led to the place of execution, which was some distance out of the city. He was divested of his garments, tied to the stake; a high paper-cap, decorated with pictures of devils was placed upon his head, and the bishop ordered the torch to be applied to the fuel piled up about him, while he commended his body to the flames and his soul to the ​devil, to which the condemned man replied: “And I commend my soul to the Lord Jesus Christ.”
As the wood had been piled up to his chin, the smoke soon suffocated him, so that his agony did not last any longer than it would take to repeat two or three pater-nosters. His clothes were also thrown into the flames; and when everything was consumed, the ashes were carefully collected and cast into the Rhine, this precaution being taken lest they should be taken by his friends and carried home as sacred relics.
Thus perished one of Bohemia’s greatest sons, a man with a character so pure that even his bitterest enemies could bring no charges against him. He fell a victim to the fanatical rage of his enemies, and the treachery of Sigmund, who advised the cardinals not to spare his life, even though he should recant.
The sorrowing friends of Hus returned to Bohemia bearing the woeful tidings. The country was plunged into the most profound grief. Hus had been beloved as a preacher before; but now he became enshrined in the hearts of his countrymen as a martyr and a saint. The words, uttered by the voice forever hushed, became doubly precious. His writings were studied with utmost zeal, and as they were followed out, Bohemia was soon on the high-road to Protestantism. And yet Hus was no Protestant, but died as a good Catholic. He defended himself against the imputation of doubting the doctrine of substantiation; he believed in the mass; and it is known that, before his execution, a monk came to his cell, heard his confession, and granted him absolution. That his doctrines would ultimately have led him to Protestantism, can be proved by the following illustration. While at Constance, his followers in ​Bohemia began to administer the communion in both kinds, bread and wine; but not feeling sure of their ground, they wrote to Hus, asking his opinion upon the subject. Hus immediately turned to the New Testament, and, finding that such was the practice in the primitive Church, he decided that this was according to Scripture, and hence correct, totally ignoring the decisions of the Councils and the reasons given by the Church for withholding the cup from the laity. After this decision, the chalice became the symbol of the followers of Hus; consequently they went by the name of Calixtines.
The story of Hus would be incomplete without some account of his friend and fellow-martyr, Jerome of Prague. Jerome of Prague.Hearing of the danger to which Hus was exposed, Jerome hastened to Constance to lend him such assistance as he was able; but on the way, being warned that he could do no good, but might lose his own life, he turned back. It was, however, too late. He was arrested, brought back to Constance, and, at the instigation of the treacherous Sigmund, brought before the Council for trial. He defended his case with so much learning and eloquence that some of the more enlightened cardinals declared that his eloquence equaled the best that could be found in the Greek and Roman masters. When threatened by death, in a moment of weakness, Jerome promised to recant; but when he appeared at the Council, what was the amazement of the assembled prelates, when, instead of a recantation, he pronouced a glowing eulogium upon Hus. This settled his fate. He was burned May 30, 1416, upon the same spot where Hus had suffered.
​A short distance out of the city of Constance there is a walk shaded with trees, leading into an open field. At the end of this walk there is an iron fence inclosing a huge boulder overgrown with ivy and periwinkle. This marks the spot where John Hus and Jerome of Prague gave up their lives for their convictions.
* ↑ Latin, Italian, French, German.
* ↑ In Bohemia the peasants live in villages; consequently there are many more villages to a given population than in the United States, where the farmers live on isolated farms.