PRAGUE
340
PRAGUE
of Bohemia was suspended. Mass was only cele-
brated in the monasteries and there behind closed
doors without the ringing of bells. For some time,
the Teutonic Knights had been fighting against the
natives of Prussia. In 1225 Pfemysl Ottokar II as-
sumed the cross; he wished to gain the favour of the
pope and Christendom. The name of the city of
Konigsberg preserves the memory of the king, who
was called not only the Golden but also the Iron.
About this time (1256) the first heresy appeared in
Bohemia; the Flagellants came from Germany (see
Fl.\gellants). In gratitude for the successful issue
of his struggle with Bela IV (battle of Kressenbrunn)
Pfemysl Ottokar II in 126.3 founded the Cistercian
monastery of Goldenkron, so named because of a
relic of the Crown of Thorns set in gold that had been
given by St. Louis. Ottokar's viceroy in Austria,
Peter of Rosenberg, founded the monastery of Hohen-
furt in expiation of his sins and for the salvation of the
souls of his ancestors. Bishop Jolm III of Bohemia
attended the Council of Vienna in 1276, which had
been summoned by the king. The council's nineteen
canons treat of the behaviour of the clergy, of the
penal power of bishops and abbots, and the relations
between Christians and Jews. The Jews were to be
distinguished by pointed hats, and on Good Friday
they were not to appear in public. Bishop Bruno of
Olmlitz had brought to Ottokar from the Council of
Lyons a letter written by the pope calling upon him
to support the election of Rudolph of Hapsburg as
Emperor of Germany. When Ottokar recommenced,
he was excommunicated; consequently it was not until
eighteen years after he had been killed in battle that
he was buried in consecrated ground in the Cathedral
of Prague. During this time, it is said, there were
not less than twenty-one thousand Beghards in Bo-
hemia. The country was also disturbed by off-shoots
of the Waldensians who called themselves "Apostolic
Bret hren ' ' , and "Bret hron of t he Holy Spirit ' ' . They
even wished to have wives and property in common
and sought to live underground. They claimed that
God did not trouble Himself about what happened
under the earth and so have been called Gruhen-
heimer.
Bishop John IV of Prague had taken part in pre- paring the decrees concerning the dispute between the Mendicant Orders and the secular priests, which were drawn up at Vierma. After his return, he desired to execute these decrees. The Mendicants were only to preach in their own churches and not there during the service at the parish church ; t hey were not in any way to encroach upon the pastoral work, and must have episcopal authority to hear confessions. The Mendicants appealed to their exemption and made loud complaint that the bishop denied the validity of confessions heard by them. The parish priests of Prague announced that they would publish the deci- sions of the Council of Vienna in their churches. The IVIendicants also made their preparations. Bishop John established the Court of the Inquisition as the council had desired. When in the course of a year, however, this court delivered to the State fourteen heretics who were burned at the stake, the bishop sent the Inquisitors away and opened their prisons. Com- plaint ha\-ing been made against him, he had to go to Avignon, and after an investigation of eleven years he finally returned home. After the suppression of the Knights Templar, their lands were given by King John of Luxemburg to other orders of knights, and he substilulcil religious houses foiiiulcd by him. He also cshibhshed the first Carthusian monastery in Bohemia, Maria Garten am Smi(tliow, and at Raud- nitz a monastery of ,\ugustinian Canons. The in- creasing prosperity of the Church reached its most flourishing period during the reign of Charles IV. The emperor had been educated at the French court; his teacher and friend Peter de Rosiferes was now
Clement VI. It was, therefore, not difficult for
Charles to obtain from him in 1344 a Bull raising
Prague to an archbishopric, with the suffragan Dio-
ceses of Olmiitz and of the newly founded Leitomischl.
The archbishop was to anoint and crown the Bohe-
mian kings; thus he was the Primate of Bohemia. The
first archbishop was St. Ernst of Pardubitz, the ad-
visor of Charles IV in his great undertakings. Charles
brought Matthias of Arras from Avignon to Prague
so that, with the aid of Peter Parler of Gmiind (in
Suabia), he might build the beautiful Cathedral of
St. Vitus, the corner-stone of which had been laid
by the emperor's father. It is yet unfinished. The
emperor even included his crown among the treasures
with which he thought to enrich the cathedral; from
that time it adorned the head of St. Wenceslaus. The
crown jewels were kept in the Castle of Karlstein
built by Arras. The chapel of Castle Karlstein was
built in the shape of a cross; its walls were inlaid with
Bohemian garnets on a gold ground, so that the lights
of the altar were reflected many hundred times. At
Emaus Charles founded an abbej' for Benedictines,
who were to use the Glagolitic Liturgy in celebrating
Mass. The foundation in which Charles was most
interested was the University of Prague, established
in 1348, the oldest German university. The arch-
bishop was to be its chancellor (Protector studiorum el
Cancellarius) . In 1349 Archbishop Ernst held the
celebrated provincial synod that defined the rights and
duties of the clergy. Corredores Cleri were provided
who were to supervise the carrying out of the Statuta
Ernesti and to supply what was lacking.
Now began a religious movement that plunged Bohemia and the surrounding countries into war, seriously retarded the growth of the Church, and left the See of Prague vacant for one hundred and forty years (1421-1561). For details of this period, see Hus AND Hussites; CoNSTA^•CE, Council of: III. The Repression of Heresy. These hundred years of religious unrest had prepared a fruitful soil for the Reformation. Matthias preached Luther's doctrines openly on the public roads; Thomas Milnzer and Gallus Cahera preached them in Prague. King Fer- dinand, who had taken up his residence on the Hrad- schin, checked the growth of Protestantism, but the war over the Hungarian throne and the struggle with the Turks impeded his efforts. The Utraquist Con- sistory of Prague obtained in Mistopol an adminis- trator who was even inclined to Lutheranism. During the Smalkaldic war the Bohemian Brethren united with the Protestants. After the battle of Mtihlberg (1547), the religious reformers, driven out of the cities of Bohemia, went to Poland and Prussia, which were added by the Bohemian Brethren as a third province to Bohemia and Moravia. The greatest aid received by the Catholic Church came from the Jesuits. In 1556, Peter Canisius brought the first twelve Jesuits to St. Clement's at Prague; their college there, called Clementinum, ranked with the Carolinum. In 1561, Prague again received an archbishop, Anton Brus of Miiglitz in Moravia. At the Council of Trent the archbishop sought to gain the cup for the laity, which Pius IV granted in 1567 for the countries ruled by Ferdinand. As, however, the result expected from this concession did not appear, the Utraquists becom- ing more largely Lutheran, Pius V recalled the permis- sion. Maximilian II was more favourable to Protes- tantism. In 1.567 he annulled the Compacta for the benefit of the Utrav. ists. Not only the lltraquistic Catholics, but also all I^traquists (Protestants) were to be tolerated. At the Diet of Prague they demanded the introduction of the Augsburg Confession. The "Bohemian Confession" was drawn up in twenty-five articles; it maintained Luther's teachings, but was indefinite on the doctrine of the Eucharist. 'The ad- ministrator of the consistory was to ordain their priests also, while fifteen defenders were to be added
