the estates at Prague in 1452 and declared that he would to his death remain true to the communion in both kinds, and that he was ready to risk his life and his crown in the defence of his faith. The Romanist party in Bohemia became yet more embittered against the king, and at a meeting at Zelena Hora (Grünberg) in 1465 many nobles of the Roman religion joined in a confederacy against him. In the following year Pope Paul II. granted his moral support to the confederates by pronouncing sentence of excommunication against George of Poděbrad and by releasing all Bohemians from their oath of allegiance to him. It was also through papal influence that King Matthias of Hungary, deserting his former ally, supported the lords of the league of Zelena Hora. Desultory warfare broke out between the two parties, in which George was at first successful; but fortune changed when the king of Hungary invaded Moravia and obtained possession of Brünn, the capital of the country. At a meeting of the Catholic nobles of Bohemia and Moravia at Olmütz in Moravia, Matthias was proclaimed king of Bohemia (May 3, 1469). In the following year George obtained some successes over his rival, but his death in 1471 for a time put a stop to the war. George of Poděbrad, the only Hussite king of Bohemia, has always, with Charles IV., been the ruler of Bohemia whose memory has most endeared itself to his countrymen.
George of Poděbrad had undoubtedly during the more prosperous part of his reign intended to found a national dynasty. In later years, however, hope of obtaining aid from Poland in his struggle against King Matthias induced him to offer the succession to the Bohemian throne to Vladislav (Wladislaus, Ladislaus), son of Casimir, king of Poland. No formal agreement was made, and at the death of George many Bohemian nobles supported the claim of Matthias of Hungary, who had already been proclaimed king of Bohemia. Protracted negotiations ensued, butVladislav
of Poland. they ended by the election of Prince Vladislav of Poland at Kutna Hora, the 27th of May 1471. This election was a victory of the national party, and may be considered as evidence of the strong anti-clerical feeling which then prevailed in Bohemia; for Matthias was an unconditional adherent of Rome, while the Polish envoys who represented Vladislav promised that he would maintain the Compacts. At the beginning of his reign the new king was involved in a struggle with Matthias of Hungary, who maintained his claim to the Bohemian throne. Prolonged desultory warfare continued up to 1478, when a treaty concluded at Olmütz secured Bohemia to Vladislav; Matthias was to retain the so-called “lands of the Bohemian crown”—Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia—during his lifetime, and they were to be restored to Bohemia after his death. Though Vladislav was faithful to his promise of maintaining the Compacts, and did not attempt to prevent the Bohemians from receiving the communion in both kinds, yet his policy was on the whole a reactionary one, both as regards matters of state and the religious controversies. The king appointed as government officials at Prague men of that section of the Utraquist party that was nearest to Rome, while a severe persecution of the extreme Hussites known as the Bohemian Brethren took place (see Hussites). Serious riots took place at Prague, and the more advanced Hussites stormed the three town halls of the city. The nobles of the same faith also formed a league to guard themselves against the menaced reaction. A meeting of all the estates at Kutna Hora in 1485, however, for a time restored peace. Both parties agreed to respect the religious views of their opponents and to abstain from all violence, and the Compacts were again confirmed.
As regards matters of state the reign of Vladislav is marked by a decrease of the royal prerogative, while the power of the nobility attained an unprecedented height, at the expense, not only of the royal power, but also of the rights of the townsmen and peasants. A decree of 1487 practically established serfdom in Bohemia, where it had hitherto been almost unknown. It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of this measure for the future of Bohemia. The rulers of the country were henceforth unable to rely on that numerous sturdy and independent peasantry of which the armies of Žižka and the Prokops had mainly consisted. Various enactments belonging to this reign also curtailed the rights of the Bohemian townsmen. A decree known as the “regulations of King Vladislav” codified these changes. It enumerated all the rights of the nobles and knights, but entirely ignored those of the towns. It was tacitly assumed that the townsmen had no inherent rights, but only such privileges as might be granted them by their sovereign with the consent of the nobles and knights. Civil discord was the inevitable consequence of these enactments. Several meetings of the diet took place at which the towns were not represented. The latter in 1513 formed a confederacy to defend their rights, and chose Prince Bartholomew of Münsterberg—a grandson of King George—as their leader.
Vladislav was elected king of Hungary in 1490 and many of the events of his later life belong to the history of Hungary. He married in 1502 Anna de Candale, who was connected with the royal family of France. He had two children by her, Anna, who afterwards married the archduke Ferdinand Louis.of Austria, and Louis. Vladislav died in Hungary in 1516. His successor was his son Louis, who had already been crowned as king of Bohemia at the age of three. According to the instructions of Vladislav, Sigismund, king of Poland, and the emperor Maximilian I. were to act as guardians of the young king. The Bohemian estates recognized this decision, but they refused to allow the guardians any right of interference in the affairs of Bohemia. The great Bohemian nobles, and in particular the supreme burgrave, Zdeněk Leo, lord of Rožmital, ruled the country almost without control. The beginning of the nominal reign of King Louis is marked by an event which had great importance for the constitutional development of Bohemia. At a meeting of the estates in 1517 known as the diet of St Wenceslas—as the members first assembled on the 28th of September, the anniversary of that saint—they came to terms and settled the questions which had been the causes of discord. The citizens renounced certain privileges which they had hitherto claimed, while the two other estates recognized their municipal autonomy and tacitly sanctioned their presence at the meetings of the diet, to which they had already been informally readmitted since 1508. At the first sitting of this diet, on the 24th of October, it was declared that the three estates had agreed henceforth “to live together in friendly intercourse, as became men belonging to the same country and race.” In 1522 Louis arrived in Bohemia from Hungary, of which country he had also been elected king. On his arrival at Prague he dismissed all the Bohemian state officials, including the powerful Leo of Rožmital. He appointed Charles of Münsterberg, a cousin of Prince Bartholomew and also a grandson of King George, as regent of Bohemia during his absences, and John of Wartenberg as burgrave. The new officials appear to have supported the more advanced Hussite party, while Rožmital and the members of the town council of Prague who had acted in concert with him had been the allies of the Romanists and those Utraquists who were nearest to the Church of Rome. The new officials thus incurred the displeasure of King Louis, who was at that moment seeking the aid of the pope in his warfare with Turkey. The king therefore reinstated Leo of Rožmital in his offices in 1525. Shortly afterwards Rožmital became involved in a feud with the lords of Rosenberg; the feud became a civil war, in which most of the nobles and cities of Bohemia took sides. Meanwhile Louis, who had returned to Hungary, opened his campaign against the Turks. He requested aid from his Bohemian subjects, and this was granted, by the Rosenberg faction, while Rožmital and his party purposely delayed sending any forces to Hungary. There were, therefore, but few Bohemian troops at the battle of Mohács (August 29, 1526) at which Louis was decisively defeated and perished.
The death of Louis found Bohemia in a state of great disorder, almost of anarchy. The two last kings had mainly resided in Hungary, and in spite of the temporary agreement obtained at the diet of St Wenceslas, the Bohemians had not succeeded in establishing a strong indigenous government which might have
