five articles were again brought before the university, or rather before the forum of the Bohemian "nation," in which alone these doctrines had found adherents. The articles were again condemned, but with the limitation "that no member of the Bohemian 'nation' was to defend these articles in their false, erroneous, or heretical sense." As Palacký remarks, this restriction rendered the whole prohibition illusory.
During all this period the still-protracted schism in the Church reacted on the religious struggle in Bohemia. As both the Roman Pope, Gregory XII, and the Avignon Pope, Benedict XIII,[1] refused to renounce their claim to be considered the rightful Pontiff, the cardinals of both parties had—supported by the kings of Germany and France—decided that a Council should settle the question, and that in the meantime neither of the two claimants should be recognized as head of the Church.
Venceslas immediately attempted to enforce this decision in his hereditary lands, and on the refusal of the Archbishop of Prague to renounce his allegiance to Gregory XII he deferred the matter to the Prague University, a step entirely in conformance with the ideas of the time. Another general assembly of the members of the university now took place (1408), under the presidency of the Rector, Henry of Baltenhagen, a German. By the votes of the three German "nations," which overruled the Bohemian suffrages, it was decided that the university should continue to recognize Gregory XII as head of the Church.
Venceslas, who was then residing at Kutna Hora, summoned there representatives of both parties at the university, wishing to consult them on the subject of the deposition of Pope Gregory. The German deputation, headed by the Rector, Baltenhagen, was first received by the king. Baltenhagen cunningly avoided alluding to the subject on which his opinion had been asked, and drew the king's attention to the prevalence of "Wycliffism" in Prague. He declared that the good fame of Bohemia as a country free from heresy was imperilled. This was a point on which Venceslas felt very strongly. When, therefore, Hus and Jerome, as leaders of the Bohemian deputation, appeared
- ↑ Pope Boniface IX died in 1404, and was succeeded by Innocent VII, and then (1406) by Gregory XII. Benedict XIII had (1394) succeeded Clement VII as anti-Pope at Avignon.
