Hus Again Rector.
Since 1378, there were two sets of rival popes most lustily pelting one
another with papal curses. The Council of Pisa in 1409 deposed popes
Benedict XIII and Gregory XII as heretics and schismatics and then
elected Alexander V, who died on May 11, 1410, most probably poisoned by
"Diavolo Cardinale" Cossa, who then became Pope John XXIII. Now there
were three popes and a three-cornered fight. To make the good old times
still more interesting, three rivals struggled for the crown of the Holy
Roman Empire.
[Illustration: POPE ALEXANDER V]
Though King Wenzel demanded strict neutrality, Archbishop Sbynko sided
with Gregory XII, and at the University the Bohemian "nation" under the
lead of Hus was the only one to remain neutral. Wenzel was bitter and
on Jan. 18, 1409, decreed the Bohemian "nation" three votes and the
three German "nations" one vote in all University affairs.
Aeneas Sylvius, later Pope Pius II, estimates that 200 German professors
and students on May 16, 1409, left Prag and founded the University of
Leipzig and spread the news of the Bohemian heresies and hatred of Hus.
At Prag Hus was now at the height of his influence, enjoying the favor
of the Court; he was again elected Rector of the University.