out, but Poděbrad succeeded in defeating the Romanist nobles. In 1451 the emperor Frederick III., as guardian of the young king Ladislas, entrusted Poděbrad with the administration of Bohemia. In the same year a diet assembled at Prague also conferred on Poděbrad the regency. The struggle of the Bohemians against Rome continued uninterruptedly, and the position of Poděbrad became a very difficult one when the young king Ladislas, who was crowned in 1453, expressed his sympathies for the Roman Church, though he had recognized the compacts and the ancient privileges of Bohemia. In 1457 King Ladislas died suddenly, and public opinion from an early period accused Poděbrad of having poisoned him. The Bohemian historian, Palacky, fifty years ago thoroughly disproved this accusation, and, though it has recently been revived by German historians, it must undoubtedly be considered as a calumny. On the 27th of February 1458 the estates of Bohemia unanimously chose Poděbrad as king; even the adherents of the Austrian party voted for him, not wishing at that moment to oppose the popular feeling, which demanded the election of a national sovereign. A year after the accession of Poděbrad Pius II. (Aeneas Sylvius) became pope, and his incessant hostility proved one of the most serious obstacles to Poděbrad's rule. Though he rejected the demand of the pope, who wished him to consent to the abolition of the compacts, he endeavoured to curry favour with the Roman see by punishing severely all the more advanced opponents of papacy in Bohemia. Poděbrad's persecution of the newly-founded community of the Bohemian brethren is certainly a blemish on his career. All Poděbrad's endeavours to establish peace with Rome proved ineffectual, and though the death of Pius II. prevented him from carrying out his planned crusade against Bohemia, his successor was a scarcely less bitter enemy of the country. Though the rule of Poděbrad had proved very successful and Bohemia had under it obtained a degree of prosperity which had been unknown since the time of Charles IV., the Calixtine king had many enemies among the Romanist members of the powerful Bohemian nobility. The malcontent nobles met at Zelena Hora (Gruneberg) on the 28th of November 1465, and concluded an alliance against the king, bringing forward many—mostly untrue—accusations against him. The confederacy was from its beginning supported by the Roman see, though Poděbrad after the death of his implacable enemy, Pius II., attempted to negotiate with the new pope, Paul II. These negotiations ended when the pontiff grossly insulted the envoys of the king of Bohemia. On the 23rd of December 1466 Paul II. excommunicated Poděbrad and pronounced his deposition as king of Bohemia, forbidding all Romanists to continue in his allegiance. The emperor Frederick III., and King Matthias of Hungary, Poděbrad's former ally, joined the insurgent Bohemian nobles. King Matthias conquered a large part of Moravia, and was crowned in the capital of that country, Brno (Brünn), as king of Bohemia on the 3rd of May 1469. In the following year Poděbrad was more successful in his resistance to his many enemies, but his death on the 22nd of March 1471 put a stop to the war. In spite of the misfortunes of the last years of his reign, Poděbrad's memory has always been cherished by the Bohemians. He was the only king of Bohemia who belonged to that nation, and the only one who was not a Roman Catholic.
See H. Markgraf, Über das Verhaltniss des Konigs Georg von Poděbrad zu Papst Plus II. (1867); Jordan, Das Konigthum Georgs von Poděbrad (1861); A. Bachmann, Ein Jahr bohmischer Geschichte (1876), and Urkunden . . . zur oesterreichischen Geschichte . . . im Zeitaller Georgs von Poděbrad (1879); E W. Kanter, Die Ermordung Konig Ladislaus (1906); Novotry, Uber den Tad Konig Ladislaws Postumus (1906). All histories of Bohemia, particularly that of F. Palacky (1836–1867), contain detailed accounts of the career of King George of Poděbrad.
(L.)
PODESTÀ (Lat. potestas, power), the name given during the later middle ages to a high official in many Italian cities. Podestàs or rectors were first appointed by the emperor Frederick I. when about 1158 he began to assert his Imperial rights over the cities of northern Italy. Their business was to enforce these rights; from the first they were very unpopular, and their arbitrary behaviour was a factor in bringing about the formation of the Lombard league and the rising against Frederick in 1167.
Although the emperor's experiment was short-lived podestàs soon became general in northern Italy, making their appearance in most communes about 1200. These officials, however, were now appointed by the citizens or by their representatives. They exercised the supreme power in the city, both in peace and war, both in foreign and domestic matters, but they only held office for a period of a year. In order to avoid the intestine strife so common in Italian civic life, it soon became the custom to select a stranger to fill this position. Venetians were in special request for this purpose during the 12th and 13th centuries, probably because at this time, at least, they were less concerned than other Italians in the affairs of the mainland. Afterwards in a few cases the term of office was extended to cover a period of years, or even a lifetime.
During the later part of the 12th and the whole of the 13th century most of the Italian cities were governed by podestàs. Concerning Rome, Gregorovius says that in 1205 “the pope changed the form of the civic government; the executive power lying henceforward in the hand of a single senator or podestà, who, directly or indirectly, was appointed by the pope.” In Florence soon after 1180 the chief authority was transferred from the consuls to the podestà, and Milan and other cities were also ruled by these officials. There were, moreover, podestàs in some of the cities of Provence. Gradually the podestàs became more despotic and more corrupt, and sometimes a special official was appointed to hear complaints against them; in the 13th century in Florence and some other cities a capitano del popolo was chosen to look after the interests of the lower classes. In other ways also the power of the podestàs was reduced, they were confined more and more to judicial functions until they disappeared early in the 16th century.
The officials who were sent by the Italian republics to administer the affairs of dependent cities were sometimes called podestàs. At the present day the cities of Trent and Trieste give the name of podestà to their chief magistrate.
The example of Italy in the matter of podestàs was sometimes followed by cities and republics in northern Europe in the middle ages, notably by such as had trade relations with Italy. The officers thus elected sometimes bore the title of podestà or podestat. Thus in East Friesland there were podestàs identical in name and functions with those of the Italian republics; sometimes each province had one, sometimes the federal diet elected a podestà-general for the whole country, the term of office being for a limited period or for life (see J. L. Motley, Dutch Republic, i. 44, ed. 1903).
Lists of the Italian podestàs are given in Stokvis, Manuel d'histoire; vol. iii. (Leiden, 1889). See also W. F Butler, The Lombard Communes (1906).
PODGORITSA (Croatian, Podgorica), the largest town in Montenegro; on the left bank of the river Moracha, and in a fertile valley which strikes inland for 18 m. from the shores of Lake Scutari to the mountains of central and eastern Montenegro. Pop. (1900), about 5500. Spread out on a perfectly flat plain, Podgoritsa has two distinct parts: the picturesque Turkish quarter, with its mosques and ruined ramparts, and the Montenegrin quarter, built since 1877, and containing a prison and an agricultural college. These quarters are separated by the river Ribnitsa, a tributary of the Moracha. A fine old Turkish bridge crosses the main stream. Podgoritsa receives from the eastern plains and the north-eastern highlands a great quantity of tobacco, fruit, cereals, honey, silk, livestock and other commodities, which it distributes through Plavnitsa, its port on Lake Scutari, and through Riyeka to Cettigne and Cattaro. After being captured from Turkey in 1877, Podgoritsa was in 1878 recognized as Montenegrin territory by the Treaty of Berlin.
PODIUM (Gr. πόδιον, diminutive of ποῦς, foot), the name in architecture for a continuous pedestal, or low wall on which columns are carried, consisting of a cornice or capping, a dado or die, and a moulded plinth. In the Etruscan and Roman temples
