Transcriber’s Note: The Czech language uses the caron character above
letters (e.g. č). This book, however, was printed with the breve
character (c̆) which has been retained.
The Story of the Nations.
BOHEMIA.
THE STORY OF THE NATIONS.
1. =ROME.= By ARTHUR GILMAN, M.A.
2. =THE JEWS.= By Prof. J. K. HOSMER.
3. =GERMANY.= By Rev. S. BARING-GOULD, M.A.
4. =CARTHAGE.= By Prof. ALFRED J. CHURCH.
5. =ALEXANDER’S EMPIRE.= By Prof. J. P. MAHAFFY.
6. =THE MOORS IN SPAIN.= By STANLEY LANE-POOLE.
7. =ANCIENT EGYPT.= By Prof. GEORGE RAWLINSON.
8. =HUNGARY.= By Prof. ARMINIUS VAMBÉRY.
9. =THE SARACENS.= By ARTHUR GILMAN, M.A.
10. =IRELAND.= By the Hon. EMILY LAWLESS.
11. =CHALDEA.= By ZÉNAÏDE A. RAGOZIN.
12. =THE GOTHS.= By HENRY BRADLEY.
13. =ASSYRIA.= By ZÉNAÏDE A. RAGOZIN.
14. =TURKEY.= By STANLEY LANE-POOLE.
15. =HOLLAND.= By Prof. J. E. THOROLD ROGERS.
16. =MEDIÆVAL FRANCE.= By GUSTAVE MASSON.
17. =PERSIA.= By S. G. W. BENJAMIN.
18. =PHŒNICIA.= By Prof. GEO. RAWLINSON.
19. =MEDIA.= By ZÉNAÏDE A. RAGOZIN.
20. =THE HANSA TOWNS.= By HELEN ZIMMERN.
21. =EARLY BRITAIN.= By Prof. ALFRED J. CHURCH.
22. =THE BARBARY CORSAIRS.= By STANLEY LANE-POOLE.
23. =RUSSIA.= By W. R. MORFILL, M.A.
24. =THE JEWS UNDER THE ROMANS.= By W. D. MORRISON.
25. =SCOTLAND.= By JOHN MACKINTOSH, LL.D.
26. =SWITZERLAND.= By Mrs. LINA HUG and R. STEAD.
27. =MEXICO.= By SUSAN HALE.
28. =PORTUGAL.= By H. MORSE STEPHENS.
29. =THE NORMANS.= By SARAH ORNE JEWETT.
30. =THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE.= By C. W. C. OMAN.
31. =SICILY: Phœnician, Greek and Roman.= By the late Prof. E.
A. FREEMAN.
32. =THE TUSCAN REPUBLICS.= By BELLA DUFFY.
33. =POLAND.= By W. R. MORFILL, M.A.
34. =PARTHIA.= By Prof. GEORGE RAWLINSON.
35. =AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH.= By GREVILLE TREGARTHEN.
36. =SPAIN.= By H. E. WATTS.
37. =JAPAN.= By DAVID MURRAY, Ph.D.
38. =SOUTH AFRICA.= By GEORGE M. THEAL.
39. =VENICE.= By ALETHEA WIEL.
40. =THE CRUSADES.= By T. A. ARCHER and C. L. KINGSFORD.
41. =VEDIC INDIA.= By Z. A. RAGOZIN.
42. =WEST INDIES and the SPANISH MAIN.= By JAMES RODWAY.
43. =BOHEMIA.= By C. EDMUND MAURICE, M.A.
44. =THE BALKANS.= By W. MILLER.
45. =CANADA.= By Sir J. G. BOURINOT, LL.D.
46. =BRITISH INDIA.= By R. W. FRAZER, LL.B.
47. =MODERN FRANCE.= By ANDRÉ-LE BON.
48. =THE FRANKS.= By LEWIS SERGEANT.
49. =AUSTRIA.= By SIDNEY WHITMAN.
50. =MODERN ENGLAND.= Before the Reform Bill. By JUSTIN
MCCARTHY.
51. =CHINA.= By Prof. R. K. DOUGLAS.
52. =MODERN ENGLAND.= From the Reform Bill to the Present Time.
By JUSTIN MCCARTHY.
53. =MODERN SPAIN.= By MARTIN A. S. HUME.
54. =MODERN ITALY.= By PIETRO ORSI.
55. =NORWAY.= By H. H. BOYESEN.
56. =WALES.= By O. M. EDWARDS.
LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, E.C.
[Illustration: SMALL RING OF PRAGUE.]
BOHEMIA
FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE
FALL OF NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE
IN 1620; WITH A SHORT SUMMARY
OF LATER EVENTS
BY
C. EDMUND MAURICE
AUTHOR OF THE “REVOLUTIONS OF 1848-9 IN ITALY, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, AND
GERMANY,” “RICHARD DE LACY: A TALE OF THE LATER LOLLARDS,” &C.
_Corresponding Member of the Royal Bohemian
Society of Sciences_
_SECOND IMPRESSION_
London
T. FISHER UNWIN
PATERNOSTER SQUARE
COPYRIGHT BY T. FISHER UNWIN, 1896
(For Great Britain).
PREFACE.
Few countries have been more strangely misunderstood by the average
Englishman than Bohemia has been. The mischievous blunder of some
fifteenth century Frenchman, who confused the gipsies who had just
arrived in France with the nation which was just then startling Europe
by its resistance to the forces of the Empire, has left a deeper mark
on the imagination of most of our countrymen than the martyrdom of
Hus or even the sufferings of our own Princess Elizabeth. The word
“Bohemian” has passed into newspaper slang; and it has been so often
quoted in its slang sense by people who ought to be more careful in
their language, that it has really hindered the study of the real
country which it misrepresents. The few who care to hear anything
more of a people so strangely slandered, have often been yet further
blinded by their readiness to accept as absolute truth the prejudices
of the German and Magyar opponents of the Bohemian national feeling.
From these sources they have derived an impression of a set of narrow
Ultramontanes, who, oddly enough, combine their religious bigotries
in favour of Roman Catholicism with a reliance on Russia in political
affairs. These prejudices ought certainly to yield to an acquaintance
with the people in their own country. A Roman Catholicism, tempered
by an enthusiasm for Hus and Z̆iz̆ka and King George, can scarcely be
a very obscurantist form of creed; and an intense feeling of national
distinctness can hardly be compatible with an anxiety to be absorbed
by the great North-eastern Empire, though undoubtedly it produces
a stronger repulsion against the equally denationalising force of
Pan-Germanism. Perhaps a careful study of the history of a country
so much misunderstood will be the best preparation for a fairer
appreciation of its present difficulties.
I have now to thank the many kind friends who have helped me in my
work. Of these the chief helper has been Professor Mourek. During
the whole of my stay at Prague I received every assistance from him
which a foreigner studying in that town could possibly require; and
since I have returned to England he has helped me most energetically
in procuring various illustrations necessary for my book. I have also
to thank Count Leo Thun (the cousin of the late Governor of Bohemia)
for many useful hints and introductions. I should also thank Mr.
Custos Borovsky, of the Rudolfinum, for the kindness with which he
supplied me with introductions during my visits to other towns in
Bohemia and Moravia. I should also thank Professor Rez̆ek for many
useful hints, especially about the difficult reign of Ferdinand I.
Professor Kalausek I have to thank for hints about the earlier period.
Professor Tomek I must thank for allowing me to use the map of Prague
which appears in my book. I must also thank Dr. Toman for the use of
the curious pictures of Z̆iz̆ka. For help in my work in other towns I
must thank Father Wurm, of Olmütz (Olomouci); Mr. Palliardi, of Znaym
(Znojem); Professor Brettholz, of Brünn (Brno); the Sub-librarian of
C̆aslau; Professor Lemminger, of Kuttenberg (Kutna Hora); Mr. Gross,
of Krumov; Father Fuc̆ik, of Prachatice; Professor Strnad, of Pilsen
(Plz̆en); Monsignore Rodler, of Budweis (Budejóvice); the Keeper of the
Archives at Wittingau (Tr̆ebon̆), and Professor Sedlac̆ek, of Tabor. I
also wish to thank Mr. C̆elakovsky, of the Town Archives of Prague, for
the suggestion about the relation of the early Utraquist rising to the
differences between Bohemian workmen and German employers (see Chap.
ix. pp. 231, 232).
The question of when and how far to use the Bohemian names of places
is one of some difficulty. My own instinct would be to use them
wherever possible. But it cannot be denied that there are cases in
which the German forms are so well known to English readers, and some
in which the Bohemian names seem so unpronounceable, that it would be
affectation to follow the strict rules of national expression. Praha,
of course, has been hopelessly Anglicized into Prague; and Olomouci,
Cheb, Brno, and Plz̆en have been as certainly Germanised into Olmütz,
Eger, Brünn, and Pilsen. Even in these cases I have on some occasions
added the Bohemian names in brackets. But it was so difficult to know
what names of Bohemian towns are generally known in England, that I
may sometimes seem to have been inconsistent in my practice. Only let
me assure my readers that my wish has been to impress on them the
distinctive character of the Bohemian language, and at the same time to
secure the recognition of any places with whose names they are already
familiar.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
I.
FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD OF BOHEMIAN HISTORY TO THE HUNGARIAN
INVASION 1-17
(-885.)
Characteristics of Bohemian history--Story of Queen
Libus̆a--Early Slavonic kingdom--The struggle with the
Franks--Resistance to Frankish “conversions”--Boris of
Bulgaria and Methodius--The Cyrillic language--Cyril
and Methodius in Moravia--Career of Svatopluk--Renewed
struggle with the Franks--Conversion of Bor̆ivoj--The
Slavonic ritual--Opposition of Svatopluk and his
courtiers to Methodius--The appeal to the Pope--The
“Pilatici”--Approval of the ritual by John VIII.--Wiching’s
fraud--Svatopluk and Arnulf--Expulsion of the
Methodian Christians from Moravia--Death of Svatopluk--Mojmir
and the Slavonic ritual--The Hungarian invasion.
II.
BOHEMIAN SAINTS AND WARRIORS IN THE TENTH CENTURY 18-32
(885-997.)
Bohemian feeling about the saintly and the military
character--Svatopluk’s struggle and fall--Separation of
Bohemia from Moravia--Reigns of Bor̆ivoj and Vratislav--The
heathen reaction under Drahomíra--Life, death, and
character of St. Wenceslaus--Reign of Boleslav the Cruel--Rise
of the Vrs̆ovici--Boleslav the Pious--Life and death
of St. Adalbert.
III.
RELATIONS OF BOHEMIA TO POLAND AND TO THE EMPIRE IN THE
ELEVENTH, TWELFTH, AND THIRTEENTH CENTURIES 33-66
(997-1253.)
Effect of the Hungarian invasions on the position of
Bohemia--The struggles between Bohemia and Poland--Romantic
stories of Oldr̆ich and Brac̆islav--Revival of
the Slavonic ritual--Brac̆islav’s victories in Poland--The
scene in the Church at Gnesen--Invasion of Bohemia by
Henry III.--The Pr̆emyslovci made hereditary Dukes--Spitihnĕv’s
anti-German policy--Election and policy of
Vratislav--The family opposition and its results--Relations
with Henry IV.--The first Bohemian king--Relations with
the Hohenstauffen--Vladislav’s policy and the opposition
of the nobles--Frederick Barbarossa--The second King of
Bohemia--Bohemians in Italy--Summary of Vladislav’s
reign--New disorders--Election of Pr̆emysl--Divisions in
the Empire and their effect on the Bohemian position--Contests
of King and Priest--Breach between Bohemia
and the Empire--Conquest of Austria by Bohemia--Accession
of Ottakar II.
IV.
THE GROWTH OF BOHEMIAN LIFE FROM ACCESSION OF PR̆EMYSL OTTAKAR
I. TO DEATH OF PR̆EMYSL OTTAKAR II. 67-106
(1198-1278.)
Relative importance of Constitutional questions in different
histories and at different periods--Causes of decline of
early Bohemian liberties--Policy of Pr̆emysl Ottakar I.--The
German settlement in Poric̆--Extension of its privileges
to other towns--Special position of Moravia--The
town-rights of Brünn--The Mongol invasion--Collapse of
Europe--Pope and Emperor--King Wenceslaus I.--First
check of the Mongols--Impulse given by these events to
the movement for municipal liberty--Towns as a check on
the nobles--Power of the jury--Effect of this movement
on trade--On political capacity--Pr̆emysl Ottakar II.--His
relations to nobles and clergy--Difficulties between towns
and monasteries--Ottakar’s policy in that respect--His
foreign policy--Circumstances of the annexation of Austria
to Bohemia--The marriage with Margaret--Relations of
Ottakar to Vienna--The struggle in and conquest of Styria--Story
of conquest of Carinthia and Carniola--Ottakar’s
tyranny in Styria--Ottakar’s relations with Hungary--Anarchy
in the Empire--Refusal of Imperial Crown by
Ottakar--Long discussions and divisions among the
Electors--Circumstances of the election of Rudolf of
Hapsburg--Ottakar’s protest--Pope Gregory X. and Bruno of
Olmütz--The Council of Lyons--Rudolf’s claims on
Ottakar’s conquests--The first war between Ottakar and
Rudolf--Surrender of the conquered lands to
Rudolf--Differences about the terms of peace--Rudolf’s
difficulties between towns and archbishops--Falling off of
Rudolf’s supporters--The conspiracy in Vienna and its
suppression--The final war--Battle of the Marchfeld and
death of Ottakar--Estimate of the work of Pr̆emyslovci--Causes
of Ottakar’s fall.
V.
TIME OF ANARCHY IN BOHEMIA FROM DEATH OF OTTAKAR II. TO
ACCESSION OF CHARLES IV. 107-129
(1278-1346.)
Rudolf’s moderation as a conqueror--Impossibility of his
policy--Kunigunda and Otto of Brandenburg--Treachery
and tyranny of Otto and his followers--The famine--Return
of King Wenceslaus II.--Zavis̆ of Falkenstein--Marriage
of Wenceslaus--Intrigues and death of Zavis̆--Policy
of Wenceslaus--Death of Rudolf and new
divisions in the Empire--Albert’s concessions and election--Relations
of Wenceslaus to Hungary--Death of Wenceslaus
II., and accession and murder of Wenceslaus III.--Struggles
between Rudolf of Hapsburg and Henry of
Carinthia for Bohemia--Election of Henry of Luxemburg
as Emperor--Election of John as King of Bohemia--His
prospects and promises--The Archbishop of Mainz--Henry
of Lipa--The towns and the nobles--Audacity of Henry of
Lipa--Return of John--Civil war in Bohemia--Practical
victory of Henry--His intrigues against Elizabeth--John
and the citizens of Prague--Difficulties of Elizabeth--Prosecution
of Bishop John--Cruelty of John--Charles as
Governor of Bohemia--Intrigues of nobles against him--Resistance
of Charles to John--Friendliness of Pope
Clement to John and Charles--The Slavonic ritual--Election
of Charles as Emperor--Battle of Crecy and
death of John.
VI.
REIGN OF CHARLES IV. 130-153
(1346-1378.)
Difficulties of explaining Charles’s career by his
antecedents--Influences of his Paris experiences on him--Earlier
attempts at “higher education” in Bohemia--Charles’s
aims in founding his University--His plans--The “Four
Nations”--Immediate effects of the foundation--The New
Town of Prague--Foundation of Carlstein--The Majestas
Carolina--Reasons for its withdrawal--Its merits and
defects--Abolition of the fire and water tests--Appeal
granted to the Serfs--Connection of “Charles I.” of
Bohemia with “Charles IV.” of Germany--The Golden
Bull--Resistance to the Emperor, and his way of meeting
it--Concession to the House of Hapsburg--Relations of
Charles with young Louis of Bavaria, in the Tyrol, in
Brandenburg--His relations with Italy, Rienzi, Petrarch--Attempt
to make the German Empire hereditary.
VII.
THE REFORM MOVEMENT FROM THE DIET OF 1359 TO THE RETIREMENT OF
THE GERMANS FROM THE PRAGUE UNIVERSITY 154-187
(1359-1409.)
Movements of thought in the thirteenth century--Uncertainty
in their direction--The “Beghards” or “Picards.”--Position
of Charles in relation to religious reform--The
Diet of 1359--Charles’s ideas of reform--Conrad Waldhauser--The
Bohemian language question--Milic of
Kromĕr̆íz̆--Thomas of S̆títný--Growth of Bohemian literature,
and opposition of the “Masters” to it--Death of
Charles--Accession and character of Wenceslaus IV.--His
relations with the Pope--His quarrels with the clergy--Archbishop
Jenstein’s opposition--Death of John of
Nepomuc and its consequences--Wenceslaus’s relations
with the nobles--Power and policy of the Rosenbergs--Imprisonment
of Wenceslaus by the nobles--John and
Sigismund--Violence of Wenceslaus--Opposition of the
Electors to him--His deposition in 1400 from the Empire--Sigismund’s
policy in Prague--The second imprisonment
of Wenceslaus and his escape--Matthias of Janov--Founding
of the Bethlehem Chapel--Early career of Jan
Hus--Relations of the English and Bohemian Reformations
to each other--The Prague University proposals of
1403 against Wyclif--Attitude of Hus towards Wyclif--Unique
theological position of Hus--Zbynĕk and Hus--Wenceslaus
and the Council of Pisa--Attitude of rival
parties--The votes of the “Nations”--Hesitations and final
decision of Wenceslaus--The German resistance to the
decree--The two sides of the question--Retirement of the
Germans from Prague.
VIII.
FROM THE RETIREMENT OF THE GERMANS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF
PRAGUE TO THE DEATH OF HUS 188-220
(1409-1415.)
Injustices of Hus’s opponents in reference to the voting
question--Election of Alexander V.--New attacks on
heresy--Hus’s answers--Queen Sophia--The burning of
Wyclif’s books--Wenceslaus and John XXIII.--Intervention
of Sigismund--Pope John’s crusade--The sale of
indulgences--Opposition of Hus--Revolt of his followers
from him--First appearance of Jerom in Bohemian controversy--Effect
of his interference--The treacherous
execution of the opponents of Indulgences--Michael de
Causis--Hus’s retirement from Prague--The “De Ecclesia”--Jakaubek
of Kladrau--Banishment of Pálec̆ and Stanislaus--Intervention
of Sigismund--The safe-conduct--The
arrival at Constance--Promises of Pope John--Michael
and Pálec̆--Imprisonment of Hus--“The Cup for the
laity”--Hus’s letter and its perversion--Sigismund at
Constance--Deposing Popes--Jerom at Constance--The
Bishop of Litomys̆l and the Bohemian nobles--The trial
of June 5th--Of June 7th--Sigismund’s anger with Hus--June
8th--Deposition of Popes and of Kings--“Abjure”--Chlum’s
handshake--Sigismund’s condemnation of Hus--Last
letters and interviews--Condemnation of “the
Cup”--The final scene at the Council--The martyrdom.
IX.
FROM THE DEATH OF HUS TO THE FIRST CORONATION OF SIGISMUND 221-260
(July 6, 1415-July 28, 1420.)
Differences between Hus and his followers--Effect of his
death--The Interdict on Prague and its results--Attitude
of Wenceslaus--Of Sigismund--Jerom’s trial and death--Quarrel
with the Council about the bishopric of Olmütz--Growing
differences among the Utraquists--Nicholaus of
Hus--Z̆iz̆ka--Effect of their action on Wenceslaus--Election
of Martin V.--End of Council of Constance--Scene
between Z̆iz̆ka and Wenceslaus--The “New Town”
of Prague--John of Z̆elív--The Defenestratio--Anger and
death of Wenceslaus--Attitude of Sigismund--C̆enek of
Wartenberg--Conditions offered to Sigismund by the
Assembly--Queen Sophia--The three parties in Bohemia--Mode
of life of the Taborites--Z̆iz̆ka’s character--The
appeal for peace--Differences between the Calixtine
nobles and the Calixtine citizens--Ulric of Rosenberg--First
struggle between the nobles and the Taborites--The
compromise--The Kuttenberg persecution--Sigismund’s
demands--Z̆iz̆ka’s surrender of Pilsen--“No faith with
heretics”--Sigismund’s lies--C̆enek’s double treachery--Z̆iz̆ka’s
cruelties--The march of the Taborites to Prague--Forcible
Reformers--Sigismund’s retreat--The First anti-Hussite
“Crusade”--Frederick of Hohenzollern and the
Margravate of Brandenburg--Differences in Sigismund’s
camp--New burnings of Utraquists--The battle of Z̆iz̆kov
Hora--More differences in the camp--The “Four Articles
of Prague”--The discussion--The compromise--Coronation
of Sigismund.
X.
FROM THE FIRST CORONATION OF SIGISMUND TO THE OPENING OF THE
COUNCIL OF BASEL 261-289
(1420-1431.)
Demands of the Taborites--Peter Payne--John of Z̆elív--Withdrawal
of Taborites--Differences of the Calixtines
with Sigismund--His retirement from Prague--Nicholaus
of Hus--Hynek of Crus̆ina--The battle of the Vys̆ehrad--Differences
of the Bohemians from their enemies in the
war--New divisions among the Utraquists--The siege of
R̆íc̆an--The “vestment” controversy--Death of Nicholaus
of Hus--Martinek Hauska and Transubstantiation--The
Adamites--Z̆iz̆ka’s treatment of them--Capture of Kuttenberg
and Jaromír and return of the nobles to the Utraquists--Resolution
of the Assembly about Sigismund--New
quarrels between nobles and citizens--The “Second
Crusade”--The siege of Z̆atec--The “miracle”--Cruelties
of Sigismund in Moravia--The capture of Kuttenberg--Z̆iz̆ka
at bay--The recapture--Z̆iz̆ka’s final victory over
Sigismund--Tyranny of John of Z̆elív in Prague--“Prince
Korybut”--Betrayal and death of John of Z̆elív--Collapse
of the “Third Crusade”--Z̆iz̆ka’s struggles with the nobles--His
final victories and death--Procop the Great--The
new war policy of the Bohemians--Pr̆zibram and Peter
Payne--Korybut’s blunder--John Rokycana--The “Fourth
Crusade”--Cardinal Beaufort--The siege of Mies--The
rout of Tachov--New discussions--Demands for a Council--Death
of Martin V.--Cesarini and the “Fifth Crusade”--The
flight from Taus--End of the “Crusades.”
XI.
FROM THE OPENING OF THE COUNCIL OF BASEL TO THE FALL OF TABOR 290-322
(1437-1452.)
Reasons for the meeting of the Council of Basel--More
lies of Sigismund--The peasant risings in France and
Germany--Bohemian towns in German hands--Meeting
of the Council--Arrival of Bohemians in Basel--Rokycana
and Peter Payne--Policy of Cardinal Cesarini--The first
meeting--Procop and Cesarini--Rokycana on “the Cup”--Difference
of Rokycana from his colleagues--Peter
Payne--The English opposition--Cesarini sows division
among the Utraquists--End of the first stage of the discussion--Growing
differences--Rokycana and Pr̆zibram--The
delegates from Basel--Final struggle between the
nobles and Procop--Battle of Lipaný and death of Procop--C̆apek
and the Orphans--Meinhard of Neuhaus--Negotiations
with Sigismund--The “Compacts of Basel”--Election
of Rokycana to the Archbishopric--Restoration
of Sigismund--His new treacheries--Flight of Rokycana--Peter
Payne as judge--Effect of his decision--Revolt
of Rohac--Sigismund’s retirement and death--Struggle
between Albert of Austria and Ladislaus of Poland--Acceptance
of Albert’s son Ladislaus as King of Bohemia--Meinhard
and Ptac̆ek--New discussions between Calixtines
and Taborites--Last appearance of Peter Payne--Story
of his imprisonment and ransom--Rise of George
of Podĕbrad--Treachery of the Basel delegate--Capture of
Prague and death of Meinhard--George’s policy--Opposition
and fall of Tabor.
XII.
FROM THE FALL OF TABOR TO THE DEATH OF GEORGE OF PODĔBRAD 323-340
(1452-1470.)
George’s attitude towards the young king--Entry of Ladislaus
into Prague--His Catholic sympathies--His death--Candidates
for the throne of Bohemia--Election of George--Significance
of this election in European history--George’s
moderation--His relations with Matthias of Hungary--Pius
II. and the Turks--Resistance to George in Moravia
and Silesia--The revolt of Breslau--The compromise--Increase
of George’s power and influence--Pius II.’s
change of feeling--His condemnation of the Compacts of
Basel--Fantinus de Valle and King George--George’s
defiance of the Pope--Frederick III. and King George--Pius
and the revolt of Breslau--Growing opposition in
Bohemia to the king--Death of Pius II. and election of
Paul II.--The deferred greeting--The Bull of deposition--Zdenek
of Sternberg--The rebellion of the nobles--Losses
of George--Election of Matthias--The insulting
terms of peace--George’s defiance of Pope and princes--His
victories and death--Death of Rokycana.
XIII.
FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE BOHEMIAN BROTHERHOOD TO THE ACCESSION
OF FERDINAND I. TO THE THRONE OF BOHEMIA 341-373
(1419-1526.)
Parallels between English and Bohemian history--Likeness
and difference between the Bohemian Brothers and
the English “Friends”--Contrast between English and
Bohemian traditions--Peter of Chelc̆ic--His early career--Relations
with Rokycana--Change of Rokycana’s policy
towards the Brothers--Gregory persecuted by Rokycana--Organisation
of the Brotherhood--Further persecutions--Death
of George and accession of Ladislaus II.--Denunciations
by the “Masters” of Prague--Death of Gregory--His
warnings to the Brothers--Growth of the Brotherhood--Lukas
of Prague--Struggle between Lukas and Amos of
S̆tekna--The compromise with the world--New persecutions--Bohuslav
of Hassenstein--Amos’s denunciations--Ladislaus
offends the Constitutionalists--The protectors
of the Brotherhood--The examination at Prague--The
Printing Press--Ladislaus’s appeal to Moravia, and its
repulse--Persecution in Bohemia--Erasmus and the Brothers--Death
of Ladislaus--Decline of freedom in Bohemia--The
struggle between the towns and the nobles--King
Louis--Lev of Roz̆mital and Pas̆ek of Wrat--Louis’s reforms--Luther’s
appearance--Luther and Hus--Luther’s
warnings to the Utraquists--Gallus Cahera--Pas̆ek’s new
intrigues--The tyranny in Prague--Louis’s vain resistance--Lev
of Roz̆mital and Henry of Rosenberg--The Turkish
invasion--Louis’s vain appeal--His flight and death--Battle
of Mohács--Election of Ferdinand I.
XIV.
REIGN OF FERDINAND I. 374-405
(1526-1564.)
Questions at issue in Bohemia at the time of Ferdinand’s
accession--Ferdinand’s mistakes--The Turkish war--Ferdinand’s
reforms in Prague--Soliman’s siege of Vienna
and its repulse--Final fall of Pas̆ek and Cahera--Ferdinand’s
aims--The Brothers and the Anabaptists--Conrad
of Krajek--The Confession of the Brotherhood--John
Augusta--Luther’s relations with the Brotherhood--His
defence of their Confession--Ferdinand’s attacks on the
Brotherhood--Utraquist opposition to the “Compacts”--Augusta
with Calvin and Luther--Luther refuses to
Germanise Bohemia--Growth of Lutheran principles in
Bohemia--The Bohemians and the Schmalkaldic war--The
League for Bohemian Liberty--The insurrection of 1547--Consequences
of its failure--Renewed persecution of the
Brotherhood--The Litomys̆l Brothers--Arrest and torture
of Augusta--Ferdinand’s ingenious cruelty--Expulsion of
the Brothers from Bohemia--Their settlement in Poland--Removal
to Prussia--Their treatment in Prussia--Ferdinand’s
difficulties with the “local” claims--The “Estates
of the Circles”--The Komora Dvorska and its uses--Catholics
and Utraquists--New torture of Augusta--Ferdinand’s
appeal to Moravia and its repulse--Augusta’s
difficulties with the “Elders”--Protestant hopes from
Maximilian--Power of the Jesuits--New persecution of
the Brothers--Augusta’s position--The final attempt at his
conversion--His verbal concession to Utraquism and its
misrepresentation--His last imprisonment and final release--Death
of Ferdinand.
XV.
FROM THE DEATH OF FERDINAND I. TO THE BEGINNING OF THE
REACTION UNDER RUDOLF II. 406-424
(1564-1600.)
Progress of despotism in Bohemia--Ferdinand’s great
excuse--The fall of Utraquism--Character and policy of
Maximilian--His special difficulties--National feeling of
the Brotherhood--Blahoslav and Augusta--Lutheran desire
for uniformity--Augusta’s defeat and death--The
“Bohemian Confession”--The Conference of 1575--Consequences
of its failure--Change of policy and death
of Maximilian--Character and tendencies of Rudolf II.--Revival
of Art and Science--Use of it by the Jesuits--Struggle
of Jesuits with the Brothers--Difficulties of the
Brotherhood--The expulsion of the Krajeks and its consequences--Jesuit
successes--Resistance of Moravia--Peter
Vok von Rosenberg--General character of the struggles.
XVI.
FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE REACTION TO THE DEATH OF RUDOLF II. 425-453
(1600-1612.)
Causes of Rudolf’s change of policy--The Turkish question--Growth
of power of the Komora Dvorska--Rudolf’s
insanity--Opposition of his family to him--The Edict of
1602--of 1604--Bocksay’s insurrection--Growing opposition
to Rudolf--Karl von Z̆erotin--His training, character,
and policy--Rudolf removes him from office--His relations
with Illyezhazy--His championship of Matthias--Differences
between Rudolf and Matthias--Lichtenstein and
Berka--The Moravian rising--Christian of Anhalt--Z̆erotin’s
feelings about war--Alliance between Hungary,
Moravia, and Austria against Rudolf--Wenceslaus Budovĕc--His
struggles for religious liberty in Bohemia--His
opposition to Matthias--The Assembly of 1608--Importance
and originality of Budovĕc’s demands--Rudolf’s resistance--Failure
of Matthias in Bohemia and success
elsewhere--Lobkovic, Martinic, and Slavata--Adam of
Sternberg--Resolution of Bohemian Protestants to resort
to armed resistance--Bohemia and Silesia--Rudolf’s final
resistance to the Protestants--Budovĕc’s leadership--The
Defenders--Peter Vok of Rosenberg--Rudolf’s final concession--The
Letter of Majesty--The Archduke Leopold--The
peacemakers--Concession by Rudolf to Matthias--The
Passau plot; its rise, horrors, and end--Flight of
Leopold--Matthias crowned at Prague--Last hopes and
death of Rudolf.
XVII.
FROM THE DEATH OF RUDOLF II. TO THE BATTLE OF THE WHITE HILL 454-482
(1612-1620.)
Matthias’s difficulties--Policy of Z̆erotin--Erasmus von
Tschernembl--His differences with Z̆erotin--Z̆erotin and
Khlesl--Relations of Bohemia to Moravia and Silesia--Policy
of Khlesl--The Transylvanian question--Khlesl
worsted by Z̆erotin--Election of Matthias as Emperor and
its results--The nobles and the towns--Results of their
quarrels--The provincial question again--“Hapsburgs or
no Hapsburgs?”--New persecution--Ferdinand of Styria--Khlesl’s
change of policy--The Troppau question--Fall
of Z̆erotin--Election of Ferdinand as King of Bohemia--The
renewed persecution--The Assemblies of 1618--The
Defenestratio--The Provisional Government--Fall of
Khlesl--Alliances on both sides--Deaths of Maximilian
and Matthias--Silesia, Lausitz, and Moravia join the
Bohemians--Thurn’s invasion of Austria and its end--Bethlen
Gabor, and the rising in Hungary--Election of
Frederick as king--Discontent of the peasantry with the
movement--Difficulties of the Assembly--Bethlen’s successes
and failures--Maximilian of Bavaria--The final
invasion--Battle of the White Hill.
XVIII.
FROM THE BATTLE OF THE WHITE HILL TO THE PRESENT TIME 483-509
Completeness of the overthrow of Bohemian independence
in 1620--Execution of leaders of insurrection--Persecution
of Protestant preachers--Triumph of the Jesuits--Their
absolute power--Destruction of memorials of Protestant
leaders--Loc̆ika’s protest and death--Resistance and overthrow
of Kuttenberg--Z̆erotin and Ferdinand--Resistance
of Z̆erotin and Sabovsky--Penal laws against Protestants--Their
expulsion in 1627--Overthrow of constitutional and
municipal liberty and national independence--Crushing
out of the language--Career of Comenius--His life before
leaving Bohemia--His allegory--He settles at Lissa--“Janua
aurea”--The “Didactica”--Invitation to Sweden--Comenius
and Hartlib--Success and failure in England--Milton’s
letter to Hartlib--Comenius in Sweden--At
Elbing--Comenius and De Geer--Disappointment at peace
of Westphalia--Election as Bishop of Brotherhood--Effect
of his addresses--His later labours--Results of his work--General
stagnation in Bohemia--Accession of Maria
Theresa and its results--Suppression of the Jesuits--Joseph’s
Edict of Toleration--Shortcomings of his religious
policy--Of his educational policy--His opposition to Constitutional
liberty--His abolition of serfdom--Leopold II.--Revival
of Bohemian Literature--Frantis̆ek Pelc̆el--Caspar
von Sternberg--Josef Dobrovsky--Leopold II. and
Dobrovsky--The National Museum--The Königinhof MS.--S̆afarik
and Palacký--The Grünberg MS.--The controversy
about these MSS.--Palacký’s History--The discovery
of ancient peasant art--Later controversies.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
SMALL RING OF PRAGUE _Frontispiece_
LIBUS̆A’S BATH JUST BELOW THE VYS̆EHRAD 9
CYRIL AND METHODIUS, FROM THE WINDOW OF A CHURCH IN
CAROLINEN-THAL 13
TOMB OF ST. LUDMILA 23
CHURCH BUILT BY ST. ADALBERT AT PRACHATICE 31
RADNICE BRNE: OLD DOOR OF TOWN COUNCIL HOUSE OF BRÜNN 73
JÍHLAVA (IGLAU), THE GREAT MINING CENTRE IN MORAVIA 77
CATHEDRAL OF OLMÜTZ ON SITE OF CASTLE WHERE WENCESLAUS III.
WAS MURDERED 117
LIKENESS TAKEN FROM CHAPEL IN CARLSTEIN 131
CARLSTEIN (KARLUV TYN) 135
MAPS SHOWING GROWTH OF PRAGUE UNDER CHARLES IV. 138, 139
STATUE OF CHARLES IV. NEAR HIS BRIDGE IN PRAGUE 152
KRUMOV, ONE OF THE CHIEF SEATS OF THE ROSENBERGS 169
VILLAGE OF HUSINEC 175
HUSINEC, SHOWING COTTAGE WHERE HUS WAS BORN 176
JAN HUS 179
THE GREAT RING OF PRAGUE. SCENE OF MURDER OF THE OPPONENTS
OF THE INDULGENCE 201
MARKET-PLACE OF PRACHATICE, THE TOWN WHERE HUS AND Z̆IZ̆KA
WENT TO SCHOOL 228
ENTRANCE INTO FORTIFIED PART OF TABOR 237
HOUSE IN TABOR WITH OLD TABORITE COMMUNION TABLE IN FRONT
OF IT 240
FIGURE OF MINER WITH MINING LAMP AND STAFF IN CHURCH OF ST.
BARBARA AT KUTTENBERG (KUTNA HORA) 244
KUTNA HORA, OFFICE WHERE THE COINS WERE STRUCK BY THE ITALIANS
BROUGHT TO KUTNA HORA BY WENCESLAUS II. 245
TOWN COUNCIL HOUSE OF PILSEN (PLZ̆EN) 246
THE CASTLE OF PRAGUE 251
VIEW OF PRAGUE SHOWING Z̆IZ̆KA’S HILL TO THE NORTH-EAST 256
ROAD NEAR TABOR, SHOWING TOWN WALL 263
Z̆IZ̆KA ON HORSEBACK AT THE HEAD OF THE FLAIL-BEARING TABORITES
(FROM AN OLD PICTURE COPIED IN DR. TOMAN’S PAMPHLET) 275
OLD PICTURE OF Z̆IZ̆KA IN HEAVEN (FROM DR. TOMAN’S PAMPHLET) 281
(CHODI) BOHEMIAN PEASANTS OF THE BAVARIAN BORDER 287
JOHN ROKYCANA 295
ZNAYM (ZNOJEM), SCENE OF SIGISMUND’S DEATH 313
GEORGE OF PODĔBRAD, FIRST HERETIC KING OF BOHEMIA 327
JOHN AUGUSTA 381
MORAVIAN WOMAN 429
HALL IN THE CASTLE OF PRAGUE FROM WHENCE MARTINIC AND SLAVATA
WERE THROWN 468
PLACE IN FRONT OF TOWN COUNCIL HOUSE OF PRAGUE WHERE THE
BOHEMIAN NOBLES WERE EXECUTED AFTER THE INSURRECTION 485
STATUE OF ST. JOHN NEPOMUC 486
CHURCH OF ST. BARBARA AT KUTNA HORA 488
JOHN AMOS KOMENSKY 492
SLOVAK WOMAN FOUND IN PARTS OF MORAVIA AND ALSO IN HUNGARY 505
BOHEMIAN WOMAN WITH “DOVE” HEAD DRESS AND NATIVE WORK 507
[Illustration: BOHEMIA AND MORAVIA.
T. FISHER UNWIN, PATERNOSTER SQUARE, LONDON, E.C.]
THE STORY OF BOHEMIA.
I.
FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD OF BOHEMIAN HISTORY TO THE HUNGARIAN INVASION.
(-885.)
The history of a lost nationality is necessarily tragic and can rarely
be commonplace. In the case of Bohemia the interest is increased by
the variety of the parts which she was forced to play, each of which,
while of great value to the world, assisted in some degree to hasten
her ruin. Thus, for instance, the intense desire to maintain her own
independent life brought her into collision with neighbouring States
which were determined to crush or to absorb her; while, on the other
hand, her position as the champion of a race, of which she was but one
member, dragged her into further quarrels that were not necessarily
the result of her geographical position. And, lastly, the very desire
to maintain her national existence, and to defend the freedom of her
Slavonic kinsmen, constantly compelled her to mix in the quarrels of
that larger world with which she and they had so little sympathy; and
even to accept a share in the responsibilities of that Empire, which,
calling itself Roman, was always becoming more and more Teutonic, and
therefore more anti-Slavonic.
And in that struggle between Teuton and Slav the one thing which, from
the earliest to the latest times, has been the most prized treasure,
and the subject of the fiercest championship of the Bohemian, is his
language. Every effort for constitutional government and national
liberty has always directly connected itself with this aspiration for
the preservation, development, and general recognition of this great
right. Sigismund, in the time of his most cruel attempts to crush
out the freedom of his subjects, was denounced as “the enemy of our
language,” rather than of our nation. Hus is honoured, even by Roman
Catholic Bohemians, as the assertor and developer of their language.
It was the great crime of Joseph II. that he desired to destroy it.
If we could have talked with a Bohemian Christian of the ninth or
tenth century, we should have found his deepest feelings stirred by a
reference to the language which was then assuming its first shape; and
the same subject has the deepest interest for the Bohemian patriot of
the nineteenth century, now that his language has become one of the
most varied and expressive of modern Europe.
Nor must we forget the connection of the ecclesiastical independence
of Bohemia with her most vivid political life. From the time when the
mission of Cyril and Methodius brought to the front the question of a
Slavonic ritual, and of an ecclesiastical organisation, which was to
be separated as far as possible from Teutonic influences, to the time
when Bohemia sank before Ferdinand in the struggle between national
Protestantism and Imperial Romanism, the questions of Bohemian language
and Bohemian self-government were mixed up continually with the claim
to be guided in spiritual things by a clergy who preached and prayed in
the Slavonic language.
Even the earliest traditions show that long before the introduction
of Christianity the Bohemian ideal of national life had been totally
different from that of the surrounding nations. The poem of “The
Judgment of Libus̆a,” which seems to embody the earliest picture of
Bohemian life, is no Iliad or Niebelungen Lied, no story of robber
dens or rapes of the Sabines, but the representation of a peace-loving
nation trying to uphold traditions of communal ownership of land, and
the gentle guidance of the wisest in judicial affairs, modified by an
organised expression of popular opinion.[1]
So great an impression did the poems, in which this ideal is set forth,
produce on the Bohemian mind, that extracts from them are translated at
full length by the chronicler Cosmas, who took an active part in the
bustling politics of the eleventh century, when these ideals must have
seemed to belong to a very distant past.
According to this writer, certain people who had been scattered by
the failure of the Tower of Babel, wandered into Germany where they
found various wild beasts. One party in the course of their wanderings
found a plain lying near the mountain Rip, and between the rivers Ogra
(Eger), and Wlitawa (Moldau). This plain they called Bohemia after the
eldest of the party named Boemus. Here they founded a peaceable and
communistic settlement where they desired to make war on none but the
beasts. But, some ambitious men having introduced the evil of private
property, it became necessary to choose a judge to decide the disputes
which now unavoidably arose. So they chose as their judge their best
man named Crocco, who founded a camp. He had three daughters, of whom
the eldest was skilled in medicine, the second was a kind of religious
teacher, who instructed the people in the worship of Oreads and Dryads;
while the third, Libus̆a, was distinguished for her political wisdom
and foresight, and was supposed to be an inspired prophetess.
Libus̆a was accordingly chosen to the judicial office on her father’s
death. But Crocco’s formation of a camp seems to have stirred the
military spirit in the Bohemians; and the story which follows clearly
indicates the transition from the earlier and more peaceable stage to
the later developments of national organisation. Two powerful chiefs
are disputing for the land, which has come to them from their father.
The question is submitted to Libus̆a, as the chief judge. On the day of
the trial she appears in great state, summons before her the heads of
the different families or tribes, and submits to them her proposals for
settling this question. She declares that, according to the old custom
of their people, the land ought either to be equally divided between
the brothers, or else they ought to share it in common. The leaders of
the tribes, after collecting in some way the votes of the assembly,
decide that the land is to be held in common, basing their judgment
also on the old traditions of the nation. Thereupon the elder of the
disputants rises in anger, and declares that he ought to have retained
the land in right of primogeniture, and further that the Bohemians
ought not to submit any longer to women, who were fitter for receiving
the advances of wooers than of dictating laws to soldiers.
Then follows a scene which seems at once to fix the point of change
arrived at, and to make the circumstances more familiar for ordinary
readers by the parallel which it suggests with a familiar transition to
military kingship recorded in the Second Book of Samuel.
Libus̆a, anxious to warn her people of the full effect of the course
they are taking, sets forth to them the dangers of a military monarchy.
Beginning with a reference to the story of the petition of the frogs
to Jupiter, she reminds them that it will be more easy to choose a
chief than to remove him. “Before him your knees will tremble, and your
tongue cleave to your mouth. You will with difficulty answer, ‘Yes,
sir! yes, sir!’ He will condemn men by his nod without your judgment
being taken; he will cut off the head of one, and throw others into
prison; some of you he will make slaves, and others exactors and
torturers; others, again, he will make cooks or bakers or millers. He
will appoint you as tribunes or centurions or cultivators of his vines
and wheat, as armourers and preparers of skins. He will reduce your
sons and daughters to subjection, and will carry off the best of your
horses and mares and cattle to his palace. He will take what is best
from your fields and plains and meadows and vineyards, and turn them to
his own use.” But though the criminal folly of the change proposed is
indicated as clearly by Libus̆a as by Samuel, yet in both stories we
find by a strange contradiction the same half-mystical enthusiasm for
the person of the first king.
Libus̆a, unable to resist the popular demand that she should take a
husband and give the Bohemians a king, tells the people to go to a
certain village where they will find a man ploughing with oxen. Him
they are to greet as their king, and his posterity will rule in this
land for ever. The messengers plead that they do not know the way to
the village. Libus̆a answers that if they will follow her horse it
will guide them. They obey; and they at last arrive at the village
of Stadic, where they find Pr̆emysl ploughing. They call on him to
change his dress and mount the horse, as Queen Libus̆a and all the
people demand him as their ruler. Pr̆emysl therefore sets free his
oxen, telling them to go whence they came, and strikes his goad into
the ground. The oxen vanish from sight, and the goad puts forth leaves
and fruits. Then Pr̆emysl comes with the messengers; but he insists on
taking with him his ploughman’s boots, that his successors may be made
humble and merciful by the memory of the state from whence they sprung;
“and these boots,” says Cosmas (writing in the eleventh century), “are
preserved at Vys̆ehrad to this day in the Duke’s chamber.”
There is another legend which still more quaintly marks this transition
from mild and readily accepted rule to the era of physical force.
According to this story the maidens of Bohemia founded a city which
they called Dĕvín from Devina, “a maiden.” The young men to maintain
their independence set up an opposition town called Hrasten. The
intercourse between these rival towns seems to have been sometimes
friendly and sometimes hostile; but always apparently on equal terms as
long as Libus̆a lived. After her death, however, the men won the day,
and ever afterwards held the women under their control.
But the golden age of Queen Libus̆a is long past, when we catch sight
of the Bohemians in even the earliest period of authentic history.
First we have a dim vision of a great Slavonic Empire stretching
northwards to the Spree, and eastwards to the Carpathians; of struggles
with Avars and Huns, and, above all, with the Franks. Then suddenly,
as the dim mist clears a little, we find that the Franks have become
Christian, and the great struggle between German and Slav, hinted at
already in the poem of “Libus̆a’s Judgment,” has begun in earnest. The
centre of resistance to the German, however, is not in Bohemia, but in
the neighbouring Slavonic dukedom of Moravia; and it gathers round a
prince named Rostislav, who is encouraging both Moravians and Bohemians
to stand firm against those peculiar ideas of Christianity, which
Charles the Great and his descendants tried to thrust upon reluctant
nations by fire and sword. Some Bohemians had indeed been compelled
by Louis, the grandson of Charles the Great, to accept baptism; and
Christian Bohemia owned the authority of the German Archbishop of
Regensburg.[2]
But the Duke of Bohemia, encouraged by Rostislav, still held out
against the Carlovingian form of Christianity; the Moravians defeated
Louis in 849, and Rostislav strengthened his own position as the
champion of Slavonic independence by an alliance with the Bulgarians.
This alliance was to produce results very unexpected at the time by
Rostislav, and powerfully affecting the future of Moravia and Bohemia.
Boris, the powerful king of Bulgaria, had received at his Court a
Christian monk named Methodius, the son of a patrician of Thessalonica.
Apparently Methodius had originally been brought to the Bulgarian Court
on account of his artistic talent; but he was also a very zealous
Christian; and when Boris ordered him to paint such a picture, in
the hall of his palace, as would strike terror into all who saw it,
Methodius improved the occasion by painting a picture of the Last
Judgment. The inquiries and explanations that followed prepared the way
for the acceptance of the new faith by the king of Bulgaria and his
subjects.
[Illustration: LIBUS̆A’S BATH JUST BELOW THE VYS̆EHRAD.]
But the Greek missionaries found that the want of a written language
prevented them from giving their Slavonic converts full instruction in
the details of the Christian creed. Methodius, therefore, called in the
help of his brother Cyril, who had been occupied in the conversion of
the Chazars, a people whose country lay a little to the north of the
Bulgarian kingdom.
Cyril was a learned monk, who had been trained at the Court of
Constantinople, and was well skilled in various languages. Taking
the Greek alphabet as his basis, but altering its form, he invented
a written language for the Slavonic race, into which he translated a
liturgy, several books of the Bible, and some of the early Fathers.
The news of the conversion of the Bulgarians quickly came to the ears
of Rostislav, for the great Bulgarian kingdom touched the eastern
side of Moravia; and the recent alliance had brought the two peoples
into closer intercourse. Unwelcome as Christianity had seemed to the
Moravians, when presented to them as a demand of Frankish invaders, and
taught in an unknown tongue, its lessons came with a very different
force when urged by pious and peaceable monks, recommended by friendly
kinsmen, and expounded in a language intelligible to the converts.
Rostislav no doubt quickly perceived that the new teaching might form
a valuable link in the alliance of the Slavs against their enemies.
He appealed to the Emperor of the East to send Cyril and Methodius to
Moravia; and, when they arrived at the town of Devina, Rostislav and
his followers went out to welcome them; and after Cyril had retired
from the mission, Methodius was recognised by the Pope as Archbishop of
Moravia and Pannonia.