persecution of the Bohemian Brethren, of which we read at this period. The founder of the community of Kunwald, Brother Gregory, was imprisoned by order of the king, and even put to the rack (1461). These endeavours to conciliate the Papal See, by attempting to suppress all sects that went beyond the demarcations of the Compacts, were entirely fruitless. The Roman Church had already decided to revoke the concessions which Žižka's and Prokop's victories had once forced it to make.
The successful policy of Poděbrad—though his most ambitious plan failed had secured Bohemia against all foreign enemies, and peace and order were also maintained. The prosperity of the country had greatly increased in consequence, and the people began to hope that the happy times of King Charles IV were returning. The University of Prague, which had suffered greatly during the troublous times, now again entered into full activity.
King George was not, however, destined long to secure quiet to his country. The ever-renewed religious struggle—an inevitable consequence of the antagonistic position of Bohemia with regard to the Western Church—now again broke out more strongly. The Pope demanded an immediate return to the exact ritual of the Western Church; he founded his demand on his interpretation of the king's oath before his coronation, to which allusion has already been made. Prolonged negotiations took place, in which King George, who had dismissed Mayer, was very badly served by his representatives. The king, seeing that a compromise between the Pope and the people of Bohemia was impossible, rallied firmly to the Compacts. In the month of August (1452) he specially assembled the Estates for the purpose of hearing the demands of the papal envoys, who had arrived at Prague, and the king's answer to them. The king made the memorable declaration that he would to his death remain true to the communion in both kinds, and that he was ready to risk his crown and his life for this object.[1]
This was a direct declaration of war against Rome; but
- ↑ Palacký. According to a not very reliable letter of an unknown diplomatic agent addressed to the German Electors (published by Bachmann, Urkunden, etc., from the Berlin archives), the king added that he considered communion in both kinds necessary for the salvation of the soul. The king afterwards denied having said this.
