The History of the Bohemian Persecution/Chapter 105
Chap. CV.
I. NOt without reason do we believe that the Kingdome of Antichrist was shewed to John under the forme of a beast, for it doth indeed appeare before all eyes, if we do but consider the cruelty, and madnesse of that beast both against the living and the dead, and against all things contrary to it, and therefore yet it remaines to be shewed what rage they exercised against livelesse things, Churches, Books, Images, Sepulchers, and the bones of the dead.
2, As for the temples, it is not necessary that we should remember or record how they did cleanse them from that heresie with their holy-water, a superstition (forsooth) among them for whom this sanctification by the Word of God and prayer which the holy spirit taught the Christians, (1. Timothy 4. 5. is not sufficient, this was ridiculous to the common people, but to the wise a clear and evident token of their hatred to the word of Christ, that they beat the Pulpits of the Churches from whence the Word of the Gospel sounded, and the Altars from which the Sacrament was distributed under both kinds, with rods, and whips, which was of all done in those chiefe cities Prague, Iglavia, Znoium, the Jesuites of Prague being about to purge their Temple which under Ferdinand was granted to the Brethren, they sprinkled powder upon the pavement and kindled it, thinking to root out the contagion of heresie with fire and smoak.
3. And because in most, if not all, the Churches, and Towers, and City-gates (in memory of the religion, of receiving under both kinds, maintained by the sword) there were erected Challices made of stone or brasse, they went about to take this away, a golden Chalice of great capacity in the Church at Prague was taken away, in the year 1623 the 23 day of Jannuary, and in its place the statue of Mary was erected, the picture of Ferdinand armed with a sword against the Hereticks, was placed in the room of George Rex, standing by with a sword in the maintenance of the Challice at Hradicius, they blotted out the picture of the cuppe which was over the doore of the house of Antonius and in the roome of it painted the Host, and under thar a cup turned upside downe with filthy thick water running out of it, and writ this, They have drunk up the dregs anda ll. At the lintell of the doore they writ this sentance in golden letters, [My house is a house of prayer, but not thy house O most cursed Calvin.] They carried out of the Church the most ancient Pictures of Litomeritius, Hus, and Ierom, and so burned them; afterwards they shewed their rage against the holy Martyrs.
4. How they set upon the books every one perhaps have already heard, a thousand bibles (that I might not mention other good books) were taken away by these Furies, that Antichrist might shew himself nothing inferiour to Antiochus (1 Macabees 1. 5, 9.) commonly they burned them (onely the Count of Nahud that most perverse Apostate having covered his holy books with silk and Gold (for hee was sumptuous & proud) having taken off onely the gold and the silver, commands that they should bee buried in the sink (himself being present ) but the manner was diverse, some having taken them away from the Christians did burne them privately at home simulating the modesty of Joochim (6. Jer. 23.) others brought them in baskets to the market-place, as was done at Fulneck; others brought them in carts without the walls, as was done at Zalicum and Frutnovia: others brought them in heaps to the Gallows, and other places destined for the punishment of mallefactors, as at Hraditium & so in great heaps burned them: but you shall see O good men! that the innocent ashes of these livelesse Martyrs being scattered, through heaven and earth, will spread further the doctrine which you would have abolished.
5. The adversary being unmindfull of Ovid;
Lions vent not their rage upon the dead:
And the fight ends when foes are vanquished.
But savage Wolves and Bears not onely prey
Upon the living, but the dead assay.
imitating the cruelty of Wolves and Beares counted a part of their glory thus to expresse their rage and madnesse upon the dead continually. It is a wonderfull beastiallity, not to be able to endure the living above ground nor the dead under ground, there are many examples of those, who were by these pulled out of their graves, and had their members burned at Horasdovisius, in the year 1621. The monastery which the Bohemian Brethren for a long time possessed was restored to the Monkes, who opened the graves of the Ministers of the word, first of all the bones of Iacob Welchi (both in name and in truth, two worthy men buried in the year 1600.) were taken up, which Severinus Budetius the Warden did with an iron barre, beat in pieces, using with all cursing words, and commanded that they should be burned in the Church-yard with the bones of lohn Popelius, lohn Iaphet, and Marthias Cobar, who were buried in the year 1599. 1614. 1616. and because the Barons of Squilive, the Lord of the place were buried in the same Church, the wicked warden visiting their sepulchres, tooke off from their bodies their rings and gold chaines, and whatsoever was precious, lastly, the body of Theobold Squiovius being taken out of the vault and out of the leaden chest wherein he lay, he commanded it being put into a woodden coffin, that it should be cast into some ditch about the Church-yard, and covered over with dung.
6. In the year 1623. the Church Czaslavia, being taken from the Christians, when they had found an Epitaph with this inscription, In the year 1424 upon Thursday lohn Lyski of Callis, departed this life, Governour of the Common-wealth, labouring in the name, and for the name of God, is buried in this place. Presently they put to their hands that they might remove him from thence, that had rested there for the space of two hundred years within one: but having digged very deep, they found nothing besides dust: their rage therefore being turned against the Tombstone (upon which his effigies were formerly ingraven but now worne our) they beat this to powder, and with the dust of the grave they sprinkled it upon the ground without the church, so forsooth taking revenge upon him being dead, who whilest he was alive troubled them living.
7. In the same yeare when that they were a purging the Church of Prague of the buried hereticks, they brought out a marble-stone, laid upon the grave of Rokizane, and beate that to powder, but they could not find the grave. Lastly, in the yeare 1630. when P. Lucas the Jesuite, the twenty fourth of December died, and there was in that place a most deep grave prepared for him, there was found at the bottome a certaine bedde of brick, which being plucked out, there appeared putrified bones with two cups, one of brasse, and the other of Waxe, uncorrupted, and a piece of Damaske cloth, the Reliques of his Priestly covering, long red hairs stuck still to his skull. These bones being gathered together, they brought them in a basket into the Vestry, untill they did know what their Superiour would command concerning them: but what was afterwards done with them, we doe not know, but what we do declare, was related to us by an eye-witnesse. So Rokizane having laine in his Sepulcher about 159 years and 7 moneth (for he died in the year 1471 the 21 of February) gave place to another.
8. At Trebovea there were extant some stony Statues of some dead Pastors, in the Church-yard, the eyes of which a Iesuite beat out with his mallet, hee being himselfe blind, blinded those that were before blind.
9, But yet their fury did not onely express it selfe against those that were already buried, I will not mention how they did deny them an honest buriall in the Church-yards, and forced them to bee buried in fields, gardens, high-wayes, and in those places that were set apart for the punishment of rogues. Certainly this was too barbarous that they did altogether deny, that some should bee brought out of their houses, and restored to our common mother the earth, for this onely end, that they might vomit out their hatred against those that slept in Christ, and that they might deterre the living almost killed with the stink of their carkases, from the imitation of their constancy, this happened to a most holy man, John Mathrada Muslen, preacher at Kutiberg, at Saint Batbera, who dying at his own house (in the yeare 1625 the 4. of October, who being privily returned from banishment departed;) the Arch-Deacon Apian, denied altogether that he should be buried, not suffering himself to be wrought upon either by intreaties or by offers of money; at length after eight days, some good men by stealth taking away his carkasse in the night time buried it in a certaine place. That Belial in vain inquiring after the authors of so great wickednesse, and threatning death unto them, for a little while after the thirty of October the like example of charity was showed to one whom the Pastor did use with the like cruelty, for a little sonne of his baptized else-where.
10. Why should I produce more examples of their cruelty, O that it were lawfull to write upon the fore-heads of these men, that which Semirames is reported to have commanded, should bee writ upon his chests, If thou hadst not beene a wicked man thou, wouldest not have disturbed the quiet of the dead.
11. Yet perhaps it would not bee farre from our purpose, to hint out how they did expresse their rage upon the very name of Frederick (meerely for the hatred of that most pious Prince) who was an Evangelicall King; for an Evangelicall people, in the year 1622 a Citizen of new-Prague by name Mr. Iohn Libertine, because that he had given the name of Frederick to his little sonne, was at first without all reason tormented with the numerous souldiery, and for a punishment, was commanded to pay 500 Dollars, it was a most usuall thing for them to pull in pieces the pictures of Frederick, to trample them under their feet to digge out their eyes, and ignominiously to handle all those with whom they were found; so that it was almost a capitall offence even to think of Frederick.