it, as it had been repeatedly offered to him by Bohemian deputations.
Witold assumed the title of "acknowledged" or "demanded"[1] King of Bohemia, and with his aid and consent his nephew Sigismund Korybut[2] equipped an armed force of about 5000 men to maintain Witold's claim to the Bohemian throne. This enterprise caused great excitement among the Slav populations of Eastern Europe. "The Poles at that time most sympathized with Bohemia, and desired a union between the two countries; still greater enthusiasm was shown by the Ruthenian population of the districts near Lemberg, who, belonging to the Greek Church were themselves utraquists."[3]
Korybut first marched into Moravia, from which country King Sigismund retired on the news of the arrival of the Polish prince. Korybut then entered Bohemia, and on his arrival at Časlav was enthusiastically received by many of the utraquist nobles. He soon afterwards (May 16, 1422) arrived at Prague and assumed the government of Bohemia, as far as the almost anarchical condition of the land rendered any government possible.
Ever since the battle of Nebovid and King Sigismund's retreat into Hungary (which had temporarily secured Bohemia from foreign invasion), the town of Prague had been convulsed by continuous struggles, nominally caused by differences of opinion among the priesthood with regard to questions, often very trifling ones, of doctrine or ritual. The passionate interest in these matters, and still more the thorough comprehension of them which the Bohemians of that age showed, can only be compared to the condition of the population of Constantinople during the continuance of the Eastern Empire. Still, these questions gradually tended to become only the pretence for struggles of which the inevitable opposition between aristocracy and democracy was the real cause. As was natural, the more aristocratic party at Prague relied on the support of the utraquist nobles,
- ↑ The German term is "Postulirter König von Böhmen"; according to the old Bohemian traditions it was only the coronation that fully conferred the title of King of Bohemia.
- ↑ This prince, to distinguish him from King Sigismund, is generally known by his father's name as Korybut, or as Korybutovič, i. e. son of Korybut. Following Palacký, I have adopted the former and shorter denomination.
- ↑ Palacký.
