prepared to resist and oppose him. Stanislaus of Znojem and Stephen
Pálec̆ had been released from their imprisonment at Bologna, at the
request of Wenceslaus; and since their return to Prague they had
gradually drifted into the ranks of the opponents of reform. Stanislaus
had been the first to show this change. The charge of heresy on which
he had been arrested had been based on a pamphlet dealing with Wyclif’s
doctrines. He pleaded that the apparent Wyclifite tendency of the
pamphlet was due to its incompleteness; and, when ordered to finish it,
he did so in a sense hostile to the doctrines of Wyclif.
It will be remembered that, though Hus had repudiated many of the
doctrines of the English Reformer, he had yet opposed the general
condemnation of his works, and had spoken warmly of his character.
Therefore Stanislaus’ attack upon Wyclif paved the way for an open
opposition to Hus. Pálec̆, indeed, had remained on the side of his old
leader during the struggle with Zbynĕk, but the opposition to the Papal
Bull drove him also into the orthodox ranks. The cry of cowardice has
been raised against him by the friends of Hus, and seems, indeed, to
have been sanctioned by Hus himself. But, unscrupulous and malignant as
Pálec̆ afterwards showed himself, it may be doubted whether the charge
of cowardice was, in this instance, a just one. It must be remembered
that in his previous opposition to Popes, Hus had protected himself by
the well-recognised formula that the Pope had been misinformed on the
condition of affairs in Bohemia. On this occasion the question at issue
was not so much one of information about special facts as of clear
moral principles; and the issue of the Bull took away all possibility
of throwing the blame of the Pope’s action on misleading advisers.
Moreover, the opposition of Hus was no longer covered by the authority
of the King. Wenceslaus, having once committed himself to opposition
to Gregory, was not disposed to inquire too curiously into the
methods which were used to suppress the fallen Pope. He had therefore
sanctioned John’s Bull, and thereby approved the crusade. It may well,
therefore, have been that Pálec̆, though willing to resist the ordinary
current of clerical opinion, might yet doubt the lawfulness and
propriety of setting himself against his spiritual and temporal rulers.
At any rate, when Hus brought before the Masters of the University his
proposal to denounce the crusade and its methods, Pálec̆ and Stanislaus
headed the opposition to their former leader, and won the majority of
the Masters to their side.
But Hus was not to be silenced. He continued to preach and write
against the sale of indulgences; and he proposed to hold a discussion
on the Papal Bull in the Carolinum, a college founded for the clergy
by Charles IV. He was now compelled into a position which seems to
anticipate the more advanced Reformers of the following century; for
when the new Archbishop, Albik, called on him to obey the Apostolic
commands, he answered that the Apostolic commands were those contained
in the teaching of Christ and His Apostles; that, so far as the Pope’s
commands agreed with them, he would obey them gladly; but that, if
they did not agree with them, he would not obey them, if the fire were
kindled in his presence.
Hus was now at issue with old friends, with the leaders of learning,
and with the rulers of Church and State. It was therefore with
special satisfaction that he must have hailed a new supporter who
came to his aid at this crisis. This was a young Bohemian nobleman,
named Hieronymus, or Jerom. He has often been credited with the
first introduction of Wyclif’s works into Bohemia, though some
historians have thrown doubt on this claim. Whether it were so or
not, he certainly now formed a link between the reforming leaders
and the fashionable world, which did not previously exist. His easy
circumstances and noble birth gave him entrance to the Court circles of
Europe; and his attractive manners, splendid dress, and love of display
gained him fame and popularity. Moreover, he had found great delight
in exciting discussions on doubtful points of theology in the various
Universities which he had visited. He began these discussions at
Heidelberg, apparently against the wish of the University authorities.
He had visited Oxford, whither a reputation for heresy had preceded
him; and he had specially provoked the opposition of Gerson, the
Chancellor of the Paris University, by the controversies which he had
inaugurated in that famous centre of learning. He now plunged boldly
into the dispute about the sale of indulgences. His brilliant and
polished oratory threw into shade for the time the simpler eloquence
of Hus. He was followed home, on one occasion, by a large crowd of
students; and the reforming movement began to attract the sympathies of
the younger nobles.
But it soon became evident that the new converts would bring more zeal
than dignity to the camp of the reformers. The forms of ridicule of the
clerical party indulged in by these fiery spirits can scarcely have
been welcome to the soberer reformers who had been first drawn to the
teaching of Hus. Thus, for instance, a procession was organised, which
marched through the streets of Prague, and in which the chief figure
was a student, who was dressed as a woman of ill-fame, wearing round
her neck an imitation of the Papal Bulls. Such demonstrations as these,
when accompanied by satirical songs, naturally led to disorder and
riot. Wenceslaus, who was divided in feeling between his friendliness
to Hus and his desire to enforce his own decrees, tried in vain to
effect a compromise between the contending parties, and, finding
reconciliation or even partial restraint impossible, he forbad the
reformers to offer any further opposition to the sale of indulgences.
This decree at once called out the sterner and nobler side of the
reforming spirit. In spite of the king’s prohibition, three young
men came to the church where the champions of the indulgences were
preaching, and made a public protest against the preacher’s words. The
intruders were promptly secured by the officials of the town council,
and were at once taken to the Great Ring. A large crowd gathered to
see what was intended, and Hus came forward to remind the councillors
that he was the first promoter of the opposition to the indulgences,
and that they ought therefore to punish him before they punished
these young men. The Councillors gave an answer which seemed to imply
that the prisoners should not be injured; but no sooner had the crowd
dispersed than the youths were taken into a side street and summarily
executed.
Great excitement followed this treachery; and numbers of people paraded
the streets declaring their readiness to die for the truth. Hus, from
his pulpit, praised the young men who had been executed, and exhorted
his hearers to stand by the truth.
Another opponent now came forward to give new impulse to the attacks
on Hus. This was a German priest of questionable antecedents, called
Michael de Causis. He drew up a list of articles against the reformer,
which revived, more definitely, the charge of sympathising with
Wyclif’s doctrine, both as to the Sacraments, and the interference
of secular authorities with the property of the clergy. With these
charges Michael now combined the accusation of stirring up the people
against the bishops, and making ill-feeling in the University. Pope
John, already indignant at the opposition to his Bull, was roused by
these charges to more decided action. He excommunicated Hus, and laid
an Interdict on Prague. Several Germans tried to give practical force
to this sentence by rushing armed into the Bethlehem chapel, and
attempting to kill Hus; but his friends rallied round him, and the
assassins were forced to retire.
[Illustration: THE GREAT RING OF PRAGUE. SCENE OF MURDER OF THE
OPPONENTS OF THE INDULGENCE.]
During all this time Wenceslaus seems to have shown towards Hus a
forbearance such as he hardly ever exhibited towards others who crossed
his path. Doubtless one must trace in this conduct the influence of
the queen; but, to whatever cause it was due, it did not fail to
affect the feelings of Hus. He was shocked at the amount of disorder
and bitterness prevailing in Prague; and he was grieved to think that
he was, to some extent, the cause of it. The desire for peace and
concession which these considerations produced was naturally quickened
by personal gratitude to the King; and he now consented to leave
Prague for a time, and to retire to Austi, where he remained under the
protection of a powerful noble.
It was during this retirement that he composed the book “De Ecclesia,”
which was to cost him so dear. In this he declared, more distinctly
than before, his disbelief in the necessity of the Pope and Cardinals
as a part of the constitution of the Church, and his belief in the
essential equality of all Orders of the clergy. But his retirement
from Prague brought no cessation to the fierceness of the controversy.
Jakaubek of Kladrau, who now took the lead among the friends of Hus,
demanded a reformation of the lives of the clergy, and declared that
no peace could be made till these were amended. Wenceslaus once more
stepped in as peacemaker. He appointed a commission of four, to which
the representatives of the opposite parties were to present their
different statements for consideration and arbitration. Stanislaus and
his friends drew up an address, in which they spoke of the Church,
“whose head is the Pope, and whose body is the Cardinals.” For this
Jakaubek and his friends proposed to substitute the words, “whose head
is Jesus Christ our Saviour, and His representative is the Pope.” When,
however, the opposite parties came before the arbitrators, Stanislaus,
Pálec̆, and their friends refused to submit to the order of discussion
suggested by the commissioners; whereupon Wenceslaus cut short the
proceedings by banishing from Bohemia Stanislaus, Pálec̆, and two of
their friends, as disturbers of the peace.
In the meantime Hus had been vexed with scruples of conscience, as
to whether he had violated his duty in consenting to leave Prague,
and to abandon his pulpit at the order of the King; and, after vainly
endeavouring to satisfy himself by a comparison of quotations from St.
Augustine and others, he at last came back to Prague, though he could
not at once make up his mind so far to defy the king as to return to
his pulpit in the Bethlehem Chapel. While he was in this hesitating
state, the crisis arrived which was to solve his difficulties for him,
and give him the longed-for opportunity of vindicating his teaching
before the world, without directly defying the King of Bohemia.
In August, 1414, Sigismund once more arrived in Prague. He had
contrived, on the death of Count Rupert, to get himself elected Holy
Roman Emperor, but had afterwards reconciled Wenceslaus to this
arrangement, by promising to recognise the latter as Emperor, during
his life, if Wenceslaus would allow him to retain the name of King of
the Romans, which implied heirship to the Empire. This promise seems
to have been very ill-kept; but probably Wenceslaus was too busy with
his Bohemian troubles to care to enforce a claim which had formerly
proved so irksome to him. At the period at which we have arrived, he
was contented to leave both the dignity and power to his brother.
Circumstances now afforded a splendid opening for the display of both.
The quarrel between John and Ladislaus, after being patched up by a
temporary peace, had broken out again so fiercely that John had been
forced to fly from Rome, and to take refuge in Bologna. From thence he
appealed to Sigismund to call a new Council for the settlement of the
troubles of the Church, and the final suppression of the schism in the
papacy; and he consented that it should be held in the free, Imperial
town of Constance. Hus also saw his opportunity in this Council, and
he appealed to Sigismund to secure him a public hearing before it.
Sigismund readily consented, and promised also to give a safe-conduct
for the purpose. Before starting, however, Hus secured from the new
Archbishop, Conrad, and from the chief Inquisitor in Bohemia, letters
declaring their belief in his orthodoxy. He then put himself under the
special care of John of Chlum and Wenceslaus of Duba, and, under their
escort, he started from Prague, without waiting for the arrival of the
safe-conduct. To judge by some expressions in his letter to Sigismund,
and still more by a letter which he left at Prague, to be opened by
a friend in case of his death, Hus had already a gloomy anticipation
of the fate which awaited him. But his spirits rose as the journey
continued; for everywhere he met with kindness and hospitality, even
from the Germans, and at Nürnberg he was chosen to preach before the
nobles and clergy. So, with raised hopes, on the 3rd of November, 1414,
he arrived at the town of Constance.
He and his friends were somewhat startled to find that the inn at which
he lodged was close to that already occupied by the Pope, who had so
recently excommunicated him. John of Chlum and Henry of Lac̆embok
decided that the best course would be to go at once to the Pope, and
tell him that Hus had arrived, under the promise of safe-conduct from
the Emperor. The Pope answered that he had no desire to hinder Hus in
any way; that he had no wish to do him any violence; and that Hus might
remain safe in Constance, even if he had killed the Pope’s own brother.
The arrival, two days later, of a messenger from Sigismund bearing the
safe-conduct must have further confirmed Hus’s sense of security; and,
so safe did his friends suppose him, that a rumour even spread among
some of them that he was to preach before the Council.
But, in the meantime, there had arrived in Constance two enemies far
more deadly to Hus than Pope or King. These were Michael de Causis,
the German priest, and Stephen Pálec̆, his former friend and recent
opponent, who had so lately been banished from Prague as a disturber
of the peace. They agreed to draw up extracts, chiefly compiled from
Hus’s book “De Ecclesia,” some of them tolerably accurate, others
perverting his meaning. These Pálec̆ carried about among the Cardinals,
bishops, and friars, and he stirred them up to take action against
Hus. At last, on the 28th of November, while Hus was at dinner, there
arrived at his house two bishops, the burgomaster of Constance, and
a German gentleman. Not knowing Hus by sight, they first applied to
John of Chlum for an opportunity of speaking with Hus, on behalf of
the Cardinals. Chlum seems at once to have suspected treachery, and
he told them that Hus had come to Constance to speak publicly before
the Emperor and Council, and that he was under the protection of the
Emperor’s safe-conduct. The bishops answered that they had come in
the interests of peace and to prevent disorder. Then Hus, rising from
table, came to them, and said that, though he had come to speak to the
whole Council and not to the Cardinals only, yet, if the Cardinals
desired it, he would come to see them.
When he was brought to the palace, the Cardinals told him that they had
been informed that he taught many errors. He answered that he would
sooner die than teach errors, and he would amend any if they were shown
to him. Then the Cardinals went away for a time, leaving him under the
guard of soldiers. Still, they seem to have hesitated, and, in order
to obtain clearer proof, they sent a monk to try to entrap him into
confession of heresy. But, when this failed, Stephen Pálec̆ and Michael
de Causis urged them to arrest him. One point, which they strongly
pressed in proof of his heresy, was the practice which Jakaubek of
Kladrau had introduced since the departure of Hus, of administration
of the Communion in both kinds to the laity. Then they raised against
him the charge which he had so often denied, of a sympathy with
Wyclif’s opposition to the doctrine of Transubstantiation. They revived
the old grievances of the Germans in the matter of the University
votes, and then charged him with having incited to the plunder of the
clergy, and of having stood alone in the support of the doctrines of
Wyclif against both Germans and Bohemians. The Cardinals then sent a
messenger to Chlum, who had accompanied Hus to the palace, and told him
that he might leave Hus and return home. Chlum hastened to the Pope,
reminded him of his former promise, and insisted again on Sigismund’s
safe-conduct. Pope John answered that he had not ordered the arrest of
Hus, but that he could not resist the Cardinals.
Hus, in the meantime, had been hurried off to a Dominican convent,
in a suburb of Constance, and was there thrown into a damp prison.
Chlum was not, however, to be silenced; and he put up bills on the
great church at Constance, denouncing the Pope and Cardinals for their
breach of faith. Then he appealed to the Bohemian nobles who had come
to the Council; and they and the leading Polish nobles also prepared
a protest against the treatment of Hus, to be presented to Sigismund
on his arrival. In the meantime, the treatment of Hus showed a mixture
of cruelty and cunning on the part of his opponents. While, on the one
hand, the prison in which he was confined was so damp as to produce
fever, he was yet allowed to communicate freely with his friends; and
two of the letters which he wrote from prison had some influence on his
fate. In one of these he defended the practice, which Jakaubek was now
introducing, of Communion in both kinds. In the other he declared that,
even if he were condemned by false witnesses, his friends were not to
believe that he had forsaken the truth. This latter letter seems to
have fallen into the hands of Pálec̆, or some other enemy; and it was
at once perverted into the statement that, if he revoked and recanted
anything at Constance, he would still continue to hold and teach it
notwithstanding.
While these intrigues of the enemies of Hus were being reduced into a
literary form, Sigismund at last arrived at Constance. Most English
readers will remember the scene, as Carlyle has given it, of his
splendid appearance on his entrance into the Council, of his pompous
address about the need of suppressing the schism in the Church, and
of his rebuke to the man who ventured to correct his Latin--“Rex sum
Romanus et super grammaticam.”
The question of Hus’s imprisonment was brought before him by the
Bohemian and Polish nobles; and he at first protested, with much
indignation, against the violation of his safe-conduct. But the
necessity of dealing with the question of the Papacy compelled him,
for a time, to abandon further inquiry into the Bohemian heresies; for
the representatives of the Popes arrived soon after at the Council.
At first the discussion was confined to the consideration of the
disorders produced by the multiplication of claimants to the Papal
throne; and a demand was made for the simultaneous resignation of
all the rivals, in order that the ground might be cleared for a new
election. But it soon became evident that the case against John XXIII.
was based on very different grounds from the opposition to his rivals;
and fearing the consequences which might ensue, he fled from Constance.
The Duke of Austria, willing enough to hamper a Council presided over
by a member of the House of Luxemburg, lent his aid to this scheme, and
John escaped to Freyburg. He was, however, seized and brought back; and
he was soon after degraded from the Papacy, on account of his horrible
crimes.
His attempted escape gave a new opportunity to the enemies of Hus. If,
they said, one prisoner of the Council could escape, why not another?
Hus was too lightly guarded at the convent; and he must be put under
safer charge. Therefore, on the night of March 24th, a guard of a
hundred and seventy armed men carried him off to a fortress, outside
the city, belonging to the Bishop of Constance; and there he was
chained night and day. Again his friends indignantly protested; but
Sigismund was now evidently falling under hostile influences. He had
been offended already with Hus for having come to the Council without
waiting for the safe-conduct; and he was persuaded that the fact that
Hus possessed that safe-conduct had been in some way suppressed.
Indignant at this rumour, Sigismund, on the 8th of April, by the advice
of the Council, revoked all the letters of safe-conduct which he had
granted. At last, on April 17th, commissioners were appointed to
report on Hus’s case.
It appears to have been about this time that Jerom also arrived at
the Council. His career, since the struggle against the indulgences
had been very unsatisfactory. He had first gone to Presburg to preach
before Sigismund, and had there been imprisoned. Escaping from prison,
he had made his way to Vienna; but had again been arrested there, and
had consented to submit to an examination by an Austrian bishop. Set
free on parole, he had broken his word and fled back to Bohemia, from
whence he addressed a taunting letter to the bishop. It was, therefore,
under the shadow of some discredit that he came to Constance, and
offered to answer any charges of heresy which might be brought against
him. At the same time he demanded a safe-conduct from Sigismund; and,
not being able to obtain it, he fled from Constance, to which he was
forcibly brought back by the officers of the Duke of Bavaria. He was
then imprisoned, and kept heavily ironed for nearly a year.
Hus accused him of having disregarded the advice of his friends;
and though it is not clear, whether this refers to his coming to
the Council, or to his conduct when there, it is certain that his
appearance must have made Hus’s position more difficult.
At last, on May 14, 1415, the nobles of Bohemia and Poland were able
to make their protest before the Council against the treatment of Hus.
They also indignantly complained of the insults and slanders which
were being circulated against the Bohemian nation, as if they were
profaners of the Sacrament, and guilty of all sorts of indecencies in
its celebration. The Bishop of Litomys̆l rose in answer to this to say
that he was the author of these reports; and that this desecration of
the Sacrament was the natural consequence of granting the cup to the
laity. Another bishop answered their reference to Hus’s safe-conduct
by saying that Hus only obtained it after his imprisonment. To this
the Bohemian lords retorted that John of Chlum had himself shown the
safe-conduct to the Pope before the arrest of Hus. They defended his
non-appearance at Rome in answer to the summons of the Pope; and they
produced the testimony of the University of Prague to his orthodoxy.
Then, after reiterating their denial of the charges made by the
Bishop of Litomys̆l, they wound up with a rather amusing outburst of
aristocratic feeling. The Bishop of Litomys̆l had demanded their names,
that he might know to whom he had to give answer. They had fancied that
their names were tolerably well known to him; but, for their part, they
were perfectly willing to give not only their own names, but those of
their ancestors. On a later occasion they produced the certificate
which the Bohemian Inquisitor had given to Hus.
At last, after repeated appeals, Hus was granted an audience on June
5th. But no sooner did he try to answer the various charges brought
against him, then all the Council howled at him, and, after demanding
that he should give a simple answer (Yes! or No!), were proceeding to
condemn him on the evidence of the falsified letter to his friends.
Fortunately Oldr̆ich and Peter Mladenovich, who had accompanied Hus
to Constance, heard the noise of the riot, and hastened to inform
John of Chlum and Wenceslaus of Duba. They went at once to Sigismund,
who was not present at the Council; and he sent the Count Palatine
and Frederick of Hohenzollern to order the Councillors to hear Hus
patiently. After some further disorder, the audience was adjourned to
the 7th of June.