Heresy and Hussites in Late Medieval Europe (Variorum Collected Studies) 9781472429339, 1472429338

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VARIORUM COLLECTED STUDIES SERIES

Heresy and Hussites in Late Medieval Europe

Thomas A. Fudge

Thomas A. Fudge

Heresy and Hussites in Late Medieval Europe

First published 2014 by Ashgate Publishing Published 2019 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OXI4 4RN 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition © 2014 Thomas A. Fudge Thomas A. Fudge has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows: 2013955334

ISBN 978-1-4724-2933-9 (hbk) VARIORUM COLLECTED STUDIES SERIES CS 1044

CONTENTS Acknowledgements

Vlll

Introduction

IX

Map of Bohemia in the Hussite period, c. 1415-1500

Xll

Abbreviations I

Xlll

Defending "heresy": a theoretical elaboration Revised English version of "Obrana 'Kacirstvi': Teoreticke pojednami ", Medievalia Historica Bohemica 9, 2003, pp. 295-314

II

1-22

Image breakers, image makers: the role of heresy in divided Christendom

205-223

Christianity in East Central Europe: Late Middle Ages [Proceedings of the Commission Internationale d'Histoire Ecclesiastique Comparee, Lublin, Poland, 1996], eds P. Kras and W. Polak. Lublin: Instytut Europy SrodkowoWschodniej, 1999

III

The "law of God": reform and religious practice in late medieval Bohemia

49-72

The Bohemian Reformation and Religious Practice, volume 1, ed. D.R. Holeton. Prague: Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 1996

IV

The "crown" and the "red gown": Hussite popular religion

38-57,214-220

Popular Religion in Germany and Central Europe, 1400-1800, eds B. Scribner and T. Johnson. London: MacMillan, 1996

V

The night of Antichrist: popular culture, judgment and revolution in fifteenth-century Bohemia Communio viatorum 37, 1995

33-45

vi

VI

CONTENTS

Heresy and the question ofHussites in the southern Netherlands (1411-1431)

1-30

Camp in in Context: Peinture et societe dans la vallee de l'Escaut a l'epoque de Robert Campin 1375-1445, eds L. Nys and D. Vanwijnsberghe. Valenciennes-Brussels- Tournai: Presses universitaires de Valenciennes, 2007, pp. 73-88

VII

"More glory than blood": murder and martyrdom in the Hussite crusades

117-137

The Bohemian Reformation and Religious Practice, volume 5, eds D.R. Holeton and Z. V David. Prague: Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 2004

VIII

"Neither mine nor thine": communist experiments in Hussite Bohemia

26-46

Canadian Journal of History 33, 1998

IX

Zelivsky's head: memory and new martyrs among the Hussites

111-132

The Bohemian Reformation and Religious Practice, volume 6, eds D.R. Holeton and Z. V David. Prague: Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 2007

X

V aclav the Anonymous and Jan Pfibram: textual laments on the fate of religion in Bohemia (1424-1429)

115-132

Filosofickj casopis, supplement 3, 2011

XI

Crime, punishment and pacifism in the thought of Bishop Mikulas ofPelhfimov, 1420-1452

69-103

The Bohemian Reformation and Religious Practice, volume 3, eds D.R. Holeton and Z. V David. Prague: Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 2000

XII

"An ass with a crown": heresy, nationalism and Emperor Sigismund

199-217

The Transformation of Czech and Slovak Societies on the Threshold of the New Millennium and their Role in the Global World, eds J.P Skalny and M Rechcigl, Jr. Plzeii: Ales Cenek, 2004

XIII

Zizka's drum: the political uses of popular religion Central European History 36, 2003

546-569

CONTENTS

XIV

Hussite infant communion

VII

179-194

Lutheran Quarterly I 0, 1996

XV

Visual heresy and the communication of ideas in the Hussite reformation

120-151

Kosmas: Czechoslovak and Central European Journal 12, 1996

XVI

Seduced by the theologians: Aeneas Sylvius and the Hussite heretics

89-101

Heresy in Transition: Transforming Ideas of Heresy in Medieval and Early Modern Europe, eds f. Hunter, J. Christian Laursen and C.J. Nederman. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005

XVII Reform and the lower consistory in Prague, 1437-1497

67-96

The Bohemian Reformation and Religious Practice, volume 2, eds D.R. Holeton and Z. V David. Prague: Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 1998

Addenda and corrigenda

1-16

Index

1-12

I This volume contains xiv + 418 pages

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following persons, institutions, journals and publishers for their kind permission to reproduce the papers included in this volume: Jan Zelenka, Mediaevalia Historica Bohemica, Prague (for article I); Instytut Europy Srodkowo-Wschodniej, Lublin (II); David Holeton, Zdenek David and the Collegium Europaeum Research Group for the History of European Ideas, Charles University, Prague (III, VII, IX, X, XI, XVII); Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke (IV); The Protestant Theological Faculty, Charles University, Prague (V); Arnaud Huftier, Presses Universitaires de Valenciennes (VI); Linda Dietz, Canadian Journal of History/Annales canadiennes d 'histoire, University of Saskatchewan (VIII); Miloslav Rechcigl (XII); Cambridge University Press (XIII); Bud Thompson, Lutheran Quarterly, (XIV); and Francis D. Raska, Kosmas (XV). Every effort has been made to trace all the copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangement at the first opportunity.

PUBLISHER'S NOTE

The articles in this volume, as in all others in the Variorum Collected Studies Series, have not been given a new, continuous pagination. In order to avoid confusion, and to facilitate their use where these same studies have been referred to elsewhere, the original pagination has been maintained wherever possible. Article VI has necessarily been reset for format reasons, and the original page numbers are given in square brackets within the text. Each article has been given a Roman number in order of appearance, as listed in the Contents. This number is repeated on each page and is quoted in the index entries. Asterisks in the margins are to alert the reader to additional information supplied at the end of the volume in the Addenda and Corrigenda.

INTRODUCTION Over the past twenty-five years my research has included investigations into the religious history of late medieval Bohemia. These inquiries have focused on the priest Jan Hus (1371-1415) and on the history of his followers between c. 1415 and c. 1500. Inasmuch as I have recently completed a three-volume study of the life and career of Hus, I have chosen not to include essays specifically about him in this book (essay IV being the partial exception). My preoccupation with Hussite history has taken into account the phenomenon of heresy, religious practice, theology, the social implications ofHussite religion, crusade, propaganda, memoria, and the nature ofHussite identity. There has been some debate over nomenclature in recent historiography dealing with movements of religious dissent in the Middle Ages. Arguments have been advanced advocating the elimination of"heresy" and "Hussite" along with their cognates. I have not been persuaded by the force of those arguments and continue to resist the urge to otherwise characterize these medieval Czech dissenters and reformers. In various and valid ways, a great deal of reformed religious history in fifteenth-century Bohemia was linked to Jan Hus and much of that history eventually found itself outside the boundaries of the medieval church as defined by popes and councils. I do not consider the terminology of heresy pejorative. The category is both medieval and useful for distinguishing the varieties of religious experience, practice, and thought in the Middle Ages. During the Hussite period, an adversary was often labelled a heretic while different religious perspectives were called heresy. The language is useful for identifying boundaries, determining identity, and serving to indicate how groups perceive threats to their basic and essential values. There is nothing abnormal or necessarily negative about naming "heretics" and "heresies." The objectionable connotations of the medieval world need not invalidate contemporary usage. Briefly defined, a heretic is an individual who challenges a closed system of presumed or declared truth. The heretic might be a stranger to the community or a deviant insider. Doctrine, theological orientation, and religious movements are frequently developed in the struggle with competing ideas. The history of Christianity has often defined its beliefs in relation to heresy. Fifteenth-century Bohemia is one example. Despite tremendous strides in recent years, the study of Hussitica remains some distance from the mainstream of medieval or Reformation historiography. There are several mitigating factors. First, apart from Renaissance studies, the

X

INTRODUCTION

fifteenth century is often considered terra incognita and is generally avoided by medievalists and early modernists alike. Second, the Hussite period does not naturally lend itself to traditional Reformation categories. Third, for a myriad of reasons, east-central Europe has not attracted the same level of scholarly attention as western Europe. Fourth, the linguistic challenges inherent in the medieval Czech primary sources are a significant hurdle to overcome. Fifth, the politicizing of Czech history during the twentieth century discouraged many scholars from venturing into serious, archival-based, research. Sixth, there is a parochialism within the Czech scholarly and academic community and an unspoken conviction that if one is not Czech than one knows nothing about things which are Czech. Beyond this, seventh, there remains some ambiguity about the relevance or importance of Hussites for an understanding of Christian history and medieval religious practice. These essays encourage thoughtful reconsideration of the Hussites, their history and ideas. It is altogether amazing what has survived given systematic efforts to destroy Hussite history after the Battle of the White Mountain outside Prague in 1620. While primary source lacunae exist, the scholar ofHussitica has a rich repository to explore. Heresy, even more than orthodox theology, cannot be studied as abstract ideas separated from the daily experiences of its adherents. The patterns of behavior which it encouraged and the relationships it created are as equally important as its theory. Heresy is both doctrinal innovation and social behavior. In many ways, heretofore unnoticed or unexplored, heresy was a subtle force in the formation of history generally, and Hussite Bohemia specifically, as this book shows, and it forms a riposte to the idea that medieval heresy is a study in the history of failure. The selection of essays has been guided by the desire to illuminate particular dimensions of heresy within Hussite history. I have been especially committed to investigating the nature and history of radical Hussite religious thought and practice associated with the community at Tabor in south Bohemia. The Taborites represented the greatest divergence from medieval Christianity and were the most troubling aspect of Hussite religion for the official church. Essays III, IV, V, XI, and XIV reveal aspects of Hussite theology and ideology providing a foundation for understanding religious practice in medieval Bohemia. The law of God motif is the principle holding together the disparate elements of a movement which desired reform within the Latin church. Eschatological expectation, liturgical innovation, martyrdom, and the social application of Hussite doctrine are among the themes explored. Essays VI, VIII, and XVII shed light on Hussite social theory and practice. Radical communist experiments indicate how drastic some ideas were and the extent to which some Hussites were prepared to go in pursuit of their understanding of the Kingdom of God. While Hussite religious practice was mainly a Czech

INTRODUCTION

XI

phenomenon, vibrant expressions can be located elsewhere in Europe. With the success of the dissenters, new methods of church administration and polity had to be implemented and these developments shifted the shape of the evolving movement. Essays IX, X, XII, XIII, and XV explore aspects of the robust propaganda characterizing this vibrant chapter in the history of medieval central Europe. These investigations also reveal important features of Hussite thought and practice. Essays VII, XIII, and XVI underscore dimensions of repression aimed against the heretics of Bohemia. Five crusades were preached and implemented. Jan Zizka emerges as the defender of the Hussite faith and the avenger of the law of God. Debates between official church representatives and outspoken dissenters reveal further points of disparity in theology and social practice. Finally, essays I and II defend the designation of Hussites as heretics and argue that while Hussite history is unique it is best understood as a specific manifestation of a general religious occurrence not infrequently found throughout the later medieval Latin west. Many essays included here were initially published in relatively obscure places as a result of my commitment to support scholarship in areas outside the main stream of medieval studies. This includes publishers and venues in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Romania. Most of the work was undertaken between 1990 and 2010. The results presented here are tentative and in many cases must be regarded as provisional outcomes of ongoing research. The essays should be understood as efforts to address particular questions within Hussite history and to provide primary source-based scholarship in the English language for those for whom Czech is not accessible. The essays, originally, were intentionally heuristic. I am grateful to five individuals. lrv Brendlinger was an undergraduate professor among the first to encourage me many years ago to venture down the pathway ofHussite studies. Bob Scribner was willing to supervise doctoral research at Cambridge in an area outside his own purview and in doing so provided me with methodological rigor. David R. Holeton, who was almost my doctor vater at Toronto, was among my first scholarly colleagues who actively supported my interests in an altogether compelling field of study. Franz Bibfeldt provided inspiration from a distance. John Smedley has made possible a volume of essays on the Hussites. I am indebted to each.

THOMAS A. FUDGE University ofNew England Armidale, NSW 19 March 2014

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~1 34 In this manner he demonstrates that many of those who are alleged to be friends of the church are in actuality among her greatest enemies and are those who disturb her peace the most. It would appear that the doctors already mentioned were more concerned with the state of temporal peace than with the causes of disruption. This is why they expressed themselves in the way they did. Similar considerations constituted the principles according to which Caiaphas addressed the council. 'You do not know anything at all. It is necessary for you that one man should die for all the people rather than that the entire nation should perish.' 135 Others say again, 'What can we do? This man did numerous signs? If we leave it as it is, everyone will believe in him and the Romans will come and destroy this place as well as our people.' 136 These words were spoken in this manner with a view toward temporal disorder. Such a perspective cannot be attributed to Christ who spoke thus: 'I have not come to bring peace but a sword. I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.' 137 Christ as the king of peace came to abolish the false union which the arrogance of the Devil causes to exist between people and which deceives the most worthy .... All sinners seduced by pride must be segregated by the humility of Christ. Carnal men who find union in the vice of sensuous pleasure must be separated by the poverty of Christ. Whoever among them seeking to lull the people into a false peace, runs the risk of destroying the peace of Christ, which is the original peace of humankind with God and which can only be destroyed by sin. It is on account of this that it was said regarding Christ, 'he has stirred up the people first in Galilee and ending up here.' 138 The apostles judged all sinners without respect to person, whether great or small, without regard to consequence, mindful only of pleasing God rather than people. They sought to strengthen faith and virtue, not necessarily the world. As I have said already, all the Old Testament prophets had this commission and there is not one who did not suffer on account of it from Moses after Trinity (5 July 1411) in Vaclav Flajshans, ed., Mag. to. Hus Sermones in Bethlehem 1410-1411, (Prague, 1938-45) 4: 258-61. Matej of Janov accused the Prague clergy of holding 'fat benefices'. Regulae veteris et novi testamenti 1 :178-81. Jakoubek of Strlbro parodied clerics as 'fat-bellied' hypocrites. Apologia pro communione plebis sub utraque specie, in Hermann von der Hardt, ed., Magnum oecumenicum constantiense concilium (Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1697-1700)3: col. 605. 134) Micah 7:1. 135) John 11 :49-50. 136) John 11 :48. 137) Matthew 10:34-6. 138) Luke 23:5.

XI 99 through to John Baptist. Everyone who applied this law on the punishing of sins have been supportive of the subject. Of course the censors must take into consideration the circumstantial conditions. Once these are taken into account they must not fail to correct error, each one following his peculiar calling and through the use of appropriate means, without hindsight, to the end that the punishment be not motivated by rancor or vengeance, but from a strong desire for justice, providing no occasion for hatred to take free reign, but to correct depravity as is recommended [in canon law] .... 139 The censor must not work endeavoring to cause division or provocation among the people just as the Lord did not intend to provoke a schism among the disciples when, at a particular moment, he instructed them to eat his flesh and drink his blood. 140 In the same fashion you are not to consider power or the number, or further to tolerate anything just as Elijah spoke against the king and his house 141 as well as John Baptist [criticized] Herod. 142 If the power is not touched by the critique, he must not desist from criticizing, the intention replaces fact, just as the words of Origen already cited, he was heard to say.'So be it that we cannot cast out those who spread disorder. Let us at least reject those that we can remove so that the sins are made visible.' 143 Now I come finally to the argument set forth by the doctor, namely that certain sinners ought to be tolerated within Christianity on account of the fact that such persons ostensibly are useful, are profitable because they torment, because by their example they encourage those by opposition to do good. He also adds that the merchants are tolerated with patience, from fear that unknown goods are not condemned. Thus Isaiah said, 'depart, depart. Go away from there and touch nothing unclean.' 144 Now he lived among an unclean people whose language was contaminated. Even Christ and the apostles lived among the wicked. But the doctor wishes to say that one ought not to separate oneself physically from the wicked, but only in heart and spirit. To offer a response to that it must be clarified that there are six ways of consenting which are thus recorded: consenting is that which collaborates, protects, provides advice, ratifies, neither assisting nor punishing. In each of these cases it happens that the one who is consenting to the sins is more seriously implicated than the actual delinquent. Each person, especially each priest, must take care to avoid giving consent in any of these enumerated ways. It should also include those who fail to prevent sins, when they had the owner to do so, as well as those who do not forbid sins, those who thereby make themselves accomplices, together with those who give licence to sin, as it appears in [canon law] ... _145

139) Gratian, Decretum, Ill, C. 24 q. 4, cc. 53-4 in PL 187, 1212-13. 140) John 6:53-60. 141) I Kings 18:17-18. 142) Matthew 14:3-5. 143) Homily 21 on Joshua 15:63 in PG 12, 251. 144) Isaiah 52:11. 145) Gratian, Decretum, C. 18, q. 2, chapter 1 and C. 23, q. 3, chapter 11 in PL 187, 1079; 1172.

XI 100 Having established this, one can move to reply to the objection that if there are some people who have never consented to the sins of others they therefore cannot be associated with the faults of those sinners. But who is like such an individual meriting praise? To the one who says it is sufficient to remove oneself in spirit and in heart from the wicked, but not necessarily physically, the appropriate response is as follows. This would be quite acceptable if there was liberty to serve God, a will-power sufficient for perseverance and the absence of any and all occasion to indulge in the sin. Then there is no place to flee. Otherwise one would be forced to go out of the world altogether. 146 If such were the case one could live with the wicked while at the same time denouncing their transgressions. It is possible for the wicked to influence the depraved and win them over in the same manner as for the glory of the saints. Effectively, the quality of a good person is not praiseworthy in God's eyes if he has not been among the wicked just as the Psalmist exalts the righteous person: 'He was peace-loving with those who hated peace.' 147 Where these conditions are absent the good must be separated physically as well as spiritually from the wicked. Now to that distinction which the doctor drew, on the basis of the authority of Augustine, between the debauched and the criminals noting that those debauched are those who sin among themselves, while criminals are those who sin against others. These latter must be removed from society, namely robbers, murderers and adulterers. While this is necessary, it is not essential for those who sin among themselves, for example fornicators. It is as though the sin against oneself was in some sense less harmful and less serious than the other, even though all mortal sins are extremely harmful to the public good. Moreover, Scotus in his commentary on the four books of Sentences, wrote completely contrary to that which the doctor said by saying that one ought to be wary of regarding theft a less serious sin than adultery and that by consequence such sins should be punished less rigorously than others .... 148 I also said without prejudice of the law of God against sinners, that in this time of the law of grace, civil power should not commonly prescribe the death penalty. The doctor attacks me and claims that I deny that the guilty may lawfully be put to death. He endeavors to demonstrate the converse by reference to this text from Proverbs: 'By me kings reign and rulers decree what is just'. 149 He says that God is the author of life and therefore has great authority over death. Kings who hold royal power from God can also kill justly. He proves it further again by adopting the following argument from the first letter to the Romans where it is said of those who commit serious sins 'those who do such things are deserving of death.' 15 Further in Romans chapter thirteen, since the judge is adjudicated as God's servant, then the judge may lawfully put to death those whom God has condemned to death. 151 He attaches to this argument a significant number of other arguments and references.

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146) I Corinthians 5:10. 147) Ostensibly a reference to Psalm 120:6. 148) John Duns Scotus, 'Commentary on the Four Books of Sentences', Dist. 15, q. 3, in Joannis Duns Scoti Opera Omnia, ed., F. Vives (Paris, 1891-5) 18: 366; 375. 149) Proverbs 8:15. 150) Romans 1 :32. 151) Romans 13:4.

XI 101 To this I reply that in the time of grace the mercy and compassion of our Lord and Savior has appeared toward all sinners, especially to those who are repentant in order that they too might come to an abundant life. 152 And he did not come to lose, but rather to save souls. Note that Cyprian wrote in his twentieth-first letter 'that the great and the defaulters are killed by the spiritual sword of justice by being excluded from the church .... ' 153 With respect to the rebellious son, the Glossa Ordinaria states that 'Moses ordered on the stubborn and depraved son a hail of stones, the evangelist, a shower of reprimands.' 154 Hear also John Chrysostom commenting on this verse in Matthew chapter sixteen concerning allowing things to grow until the harvest. The Lord forbids putting to death. Heretics must not be exterminated, otherwise an implacable struggle would break forth all across the earth .... he does not oppose the imposition of limitations on the rights of heretics, or a means whereby their free appearance in public is monitored, or the breaking up of their gatherings or the closure of their schools. He does, however, forbid putting them to death and killing them. 155 Have respect for these authorities and others which are similar. Take note of the manner in which the great doctors in this time of grace have invented penalties less than death for the punishment of sinners. I earnestly desire that in prescribing punishment on the guilty the judge would conduct himself as a father rather than as a tyrant. Further, that he take into consideration the initiative of Christ and the practice of the early church rather than the judgments of ancient law which are not in conformity with the prescriptions of the gospel. I confess that I cannot give life to the condemned, but I neither take delight in that loss nor do I willingly consent to that person's death. Notwithstanding that, I wish with all my heart that public sins may be punished for the improvement of the sinner, without any consideration of the individual. VI. Mikulas of Pelhi'imov appeared to pull no punches before the great conciliar gathering at Basel. In 1433 he sounded remarkably unlike the marginally chiliast Taborite leader he had been a dozen years earlier. Indeed, his position was markedly similar to that articulated by Nicholas of Dresden nearly two decades before. The rhetoric of Biskupec seemed to defy, and diverge from, the reality of Hussite history from Jakoubek down to the Council of Basel and even beyond. As he prepared to journey to Basel, Taborite armies were plundering the Austrian side of the Moravian border southwest of Znojmo. While he was eloquently defending the punishment of sins apart from the death penalty, posing as a father rather than a tyrant, the Hussite warriors of God were putting countless "criminals" and "sinners" to death by the edge of the sword and the fires of the stake. Between February and July, Taborite troops waged war, in turn, in Austria, Silesia and Slovakia. In April Orphan armies left Bohemia and by the fall of that year had fought their way across east-central Europe from Bohemia to the Baltic Sea near Gdansk shelling towns, destroying religious houses, plundering the countryside and executing captives by 152) Titus 2:4 and 3:4. 153) Migne, ed., Patrologia Latina, volume 4, col. 286. 154) Gloss on Deuteronomy 21 :18-21 in PL 113, 474. 155) Pseudo-Chrysostom, Homily 31 'Opus lmperfectum' in PG 56, 791. Mikulas follows the general mediaeval attribution of this text to John Chrysostom.

XI 102 burning them at the stake. 156 Was Bishop Mikulas unaware of what the Hussite armies were doing? If he was aware did he not realize the gulf of separation between his own speeches and the actions of his colleagues? Does his address simply constitute exacerbated defiance to the authority of the Roman church? Was he deliberately antagonistic and provocative? Or was Mikulas merely stating his own personal views? It is fair to assume that the bishop of Tabor was quite aware of the general policies and practices of the Hussite armies. For too long he had been at the helm, at the centre of authority to be ignorant of such matters. If that be the case, then he could not have failed to realize the incongruency of his words and the actions of his men. Certainly Mikulas enjoyed agitating the Roman church and there is clear evidence that at times he could hardly restrain himself from provoking his august audience. Even Jan Rokycana reproved him for his intemperate language and hostile attitude in the course of the council proceedings. Still, there was too much at stake for Mikulas to arbitrarily deliver his defence in a cavalier fashion. Despite the tantrums of provocation and unnecessary vilification of the Roman church, there was too much maturity, wisdom and diplomacy attached to his character for that suspicion to carry much weight. As for merely stating his own views apropos sin and punishment the litmus test seems to be in the reaction of his Hussite colleagues at Basel. There is no evidence to sustain the idea that any of the thirty odd Hussites at the council seriously objected to the argument advanced by Mikulas. That means there was either a conspiracy to fabricate and conceal, or what the bishop of Tabor had to say was an accurate reflection of Hussite theory in the early 1430s. There is still, however, the lingering suspicion of duplicity on the part of Biskupec. Rokycana judged Mikulas a man of "astonishing inconsistency" .157 Petr Chelcicky was even less complimentary. After discussions with Biskupec in person and then subsequently reading his written opinion on the same matter, Chelcicky accused the Taborite bishop of outright deception. 158 Was Mikulas duplicitous or conversely a dynamic, progressive and complicated spirit? Perhaps he was a herald of a new era. Having once embraced chiliast sentiment and the ideas of forcefully implementing religious reform and renewal, Biskupec now relinquished those tenets and applied himself to the tasks of reconstructing the Taborite vision for survival and posterity. 159 Within fifteen months of his speeches at Basel, the Hussite military phase was at an end, and of internal necessity, quite apart from any theological, philosophical or legal considerations, the punishment of public sins took on a new dimension in Hussite Bohemia.

156} On this campaign to the Baltic, see Josef Macek, Husite na Baltu a ve Velkopolsku (Prague, 1952}. 157} Rokycana's comment appears in his "Tractatus de existentia corporis Christi in sacramento," in Zdenek Nejedly, Prameny k synodam strany praiske a taborske v letech 1441-1444 (Vznik husitske konfesse) (Prague, 1900) 138. 158) For Chelcickyi's comment see his "Replika proti Biskupcovi," eds., Jurij Annenkov and Vatroslav Jagic, in Sbornik otdelenija russkago jazyka i sloesnosti lmperatorskoj akademij nauk, 66 (1893) 413. There is a good summary of the interaction of these two men with respect to the doctrine of the eucharist in Wagner, Petr Che/6ickj: A Radical Separatist in Hussite Bohemia, 108-111. 159} This is the view suggested by Howard Kaminsky in his essay "Chiliasm and the Hussite Revolution," 64.

XI 103 War and pacifism, crime, sin and punishment were contentious issues in revolutionary Hussite Bohemia. To be sure, both sides of the debates were adequately represented. Peacefulness gave way to violence and warfare in 1419-20 and this approach was later to be eclipsed in the 1430s following the Battle of Lipany (1434) and the siege of Si6n Castle (1437) by an absence of open, military hostilities. The bishop of Tabor, Mikulas of Pelhrimov was part of all three stages. The manner in which crime and public sins were to be dealt with and punished became his preoccupation culminating with his speeches at Basel. To what extent he spoke from conviction, or to what degree he strategically focussed a program aimed at the ultimate survival of the Taborite experiment can not be determined for certain. In the end Biskupec may be said to have acquitted himself well in the exercise of his episcopal capacity. The success which Tabor did achieve owes considerable to the "little bishop".

XII

"AN ASS WITH A CROWN": Heresy, Nationalism and Emperor Sigismund

If an opinion poll had been taken in Bohemia in practically any year between 1415 and 1437 assessing the most popular governmental official it is doubtful that Sigismund would have come close to winning in any one of those years. The Hussites loved to hate Sigismund and persistent opposition to their legitimate king became a consistent feature in Czech politics and social opinion for over two decades. Held responsible for the death of Jan Hus in 1415, Sigismund initially attempted to ignore the surge of public opinion against him. When his half-brother V aclav IV died suddenly in the summer of 1419 without a child, Sigismund was next in line to inherit the crown of the Kingdom of Bohemia. The clandestine coronation of the king in Prague Castle in July 1420 did nothing to alter the stream of animosity directed at Sigismund. A common view of the coronation is summed up somewhat admirably in the disdainful sentence, 'an ass remains an ass even if he is anointed and crowned with a crown.' 1 The concept of nationalism in the Hussite movement has been considered at length already and there is no value in rehearsing those findings. 2 This essay is limited in its focus being concerned specifically and exclusively with the relation between nationalism and heresy and to what extent each facilitated the other, especially in relation to Emperor Sigismund.

Hussite views of Sigismund Shortly after the king's death, Hussite detractors wrote caustic commentary on the relation between the heretics and Sigismund. ' ... in the past they rebuked ... Emperor Sigismund, of glorious memory, and denied I

2

'Porok koruny ceske ku p{m6m ceskym 0 korunovani krale uherskeho' [The Czech Crown's Rebuke of the Bohemian Lords concerning the coronation of the Hungarian King], in Jifi Danhelka, ed., Husitske skladby budysinskeho rukopisu (Prague: Orbis 1952), p. 69. Frantisek Smahel, Idea mirada v husitskjch Cechcich (Prague: Argo, 2000).

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him the right of inheritance and the title of king, calling him the beast of Antichrist and condemned him ... to public scorn. ' 3 It would be erroneous to suggest there existed a unified view of Sigismund in the early Hussite period, but it would be accurate to point out that the perspectives on the emperor-elect steadily deteriorated until there were no public voices among Hussites rallying to his defence. Vanek Valecovsky's statement represents accurately the situation in Hussite Bohemia. Sigismund's failure to intervene at Constance over the violation of the safe-conduct he issued to Jan Hus was greeted with consternation in Bohemia. When Hus went to the stake several months later, the king was held personally responsible for his death. Remarks which the king made at the council and recorded by Petr Mladoiiovice, to the effect that Hus was guilty and if he refused to recant should be burned but even if he did recant he should not be trusted, came back to haunt Sigismund, particularly after the fury of the crusade was unleashed against the Czechs. 4 In the spring of 1421 the national diet convened in Caslav and formally repudiated Sigismund as king of the Czechs in the fifth article of its official proceedings. Fifth, the Hungarian king Sigismund, and his supporters have done the most damage and through whose injustice and cruelty the entire Kingdom of Bohemia has suffered very serious harm. We have never accepted him as our king and not as hereditary lord of the Czech Crown. By his own unworthiness he has demonstrated that he is unfit to bear this [responsibility]. As long as we live and as long as he does, we will not accept him unless it is God's will and ratified by the will and vote of the glorious city of Prague, the barons of Bohemia, the community of Tabor, the knights and squires, towns and communities of Bohemia that accept or will accept the truth of the articles noted above. This king is an infamous despiser of these holy truths which are clearly shown in Holy Scripture. He is the murderer of the honour and the people of the Czech nation. 5 The decision by the national diet did not come all at once nor without provocation. The reason for the convening of the diet is outlined in letters of invitation but clearly the impetus was to deal with the growing crisis 3

4

5

Vanek Valecovsky, 'Treatise against Rokycana and his priests,' in Jaroslav Bidlo, ed., Akty Jednoty Bratrske (Bmo: Nakladem historicke komise pfi matici Moravske, 1923), volume 2. Relatio de Mag. Joannis Hus causa, in Matthew Spinka, ed., John Hus at the Council of Constance (New York: Columbia University Press, 1965), pp. 221-2. The full text of the proceedings at Caslav are in Frantisek Palacky, ed., Archiv ceskj (Prague, 1844), volume 3, pp. 226-30. The reference to the articles in the document infers the 'Four Articles of Prague.'

XII 201 and ambiguity concerning authority within the kingdom. 6 The beginning of discontent with Sigismund was the Hus case but other events had also intervened prior to Caslav and subsequent to the national assembly to reinforce this decision. King Sigismund was regarded as utterly antithetical to the law of God, the Hussite cause and the profile of a faithful Christian. He was perceived as a violator of all four of the 'Four Articles of Prague.' Principally, he lived a life of immorality and debauchery. Hussite sources complained of the numerous virgins violated by the king, either through seduction or rape, of the honourable marriage beds which the king defiled, of the many women whose beauty became the object of imperial lust and the numerous lives therefore destroyed. 7 Likewise, Sigismund apparently made no effort to rein in the atrocities committed by soldiers under his command. In late May 1420, while riding to the siege of Prague, Sigismund's crusaders 'committed many abominable acts' and, according to the Hussite chronicler, 'women and young girls were treated so villainously that it is awful even to write about it.' 8 At Nebovidy in 1422 Sigismund's 'vile Hungarians' captured a young girl who had tried to escape the crusaders by taking refuge in a bam and raped her until she died. 9 Others were more adamant in their disclosure of the king's activities. Sigismund is denounced as a heretic, a betrayer of God, a violator of women, an arsonist and a murderer.' 10 More than this, the man who would be king was actively engaged in the murder of his own subjects. This is how these events are presented in the literature. In Wroclaw in 1420 he caused two citizens of Prague, adherents of the Hussite faith, to be killed in horrific fashion. 11 His men burned indiscriminately in eastern Bohemia, raped many women, mutilated children in barbaric fashion and threw their bodies in front of their parents. Vavfinec of Bfezova who made this report then went on to summarize Hussite hostility to the king in forceful rhetoric. 6

7

8

9

10

11

Frantisek Palacky, ed., Urkundliche Beitrdge zur Geschichte des Hussitenkrieges (Osnabriick: Biblio-Verlag, 1966), volume I, pp. 96-7. 'Zaloba koruny ceske k bohu na krale uherskeho a sbor Kostnicky' [The Grievance of the Czech Crown against the Hungarian King and the Council of Constance], in Danhelka, ed., Husitske skladby, p. 25. Vavfinec of Bfezova, 'Historia Hussitica,' in Fontes rerum bohemicarum, volume 5, ed., Jaroslav Goll (Prague, 1893), pp. 375-6. Frantisek PalackY, ed., 'Old Czech Annalists,' in Scriptores rerum bohemicarum, volume 3 (Prague, 1829), p. 49. Manifesto of Jan Zizka and other Hussite leaders to the Plzen Alliance, February 1421, in Frantisek M. Bartos, Listy bratra Jana a kronika velmi peknr:i a Janu Zizkovi (Prague: Blahoslav, 1949), pp. 10-11. 'Old Czech Annalists,' p. 33.

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You heartless prince! Why do you behave like a heathen and persecute the children of the country whom you ought rather to protect? Why don't you stop fouling your own nest? Why do you not cease to shed the blood of the innocents? Why do you desire to exterminate these people, who oppose you only because they fight for the law of God? Wait just a little while and take heed because the Lord will uphold those who hear him and with a little group will defeat you and put you to flight, you who trust in having a great number of people. In the place of the true chalice of the blood of Christ, whose adherents you persecute and who you seek to destroy, very soon vicious dogs will lick the blood of you cruel monsters. So take it to heart and realize that is difficult for you to kick against the thistles. Cease to do evil and perhaps God will have pity on you and forgive your evil deeds. 12 Elsewhere, the king was portrayed as evil personified, inspired by the Devil, a common criminal and a definite enemy of God. The vilified king is denounced in scathing terms as a monster who at birth attempts first to destroy his mother's womb and then her entire body. This beast is compared to the great red dragon of the Apocalypse who appears with seven heads, ten horns, and wearing crowns on each of the ten heads and stars on the ten horns who wreaks havoc on the earth without ceasing. King Sigismund does not defend but destroys and fails to avoid scandal and murder. 13 The image of the great red dragon as a designation for Sigismund can be found in the sermons of Hussite preachers. 14 Hatred of the king and encouragement to active resistance appears in songs. 'Arise, arise great city of Prague! ... rise up against the King of Babylon who threatens the new Jerusalem, Prague and all her faithful people .... smash the colossus which has feet of clay.... Have no fear of the Hungarian king, his glory and honour are very frail. .. .' 15 Such rhetoric was not confined to satirical treatises and ribald songs. The sentiment was heartfelt enough to find its way into diplomatic communiques and official papers. On the eve of the first crusade in 1420 the city officials of Prague sent a manifesto to the Doge and Council of the Republic ofVenice. In this communication the character of the king was maligned, attacked and dismissed. Sigismund is presented as an 'intolerable and cruel persecutor' of divine truth who unjustly defames the Czechs with the charge of heresy. 12

13 14

15

Vavfinec ofBfezova, 'Historia Hussitica,'pp. 528-34. 'Zaloba koruny ceske,' in Danhelka, ed., Husitske skladby, p. 25. An example is Jan Zelivsky and we find references to this in Vavfinec of Bfezova, ' Historia Hussitica,'p. 360. Text of the song in Zdenek Nejedly, Dejiny husitskeho zpevu za valek husitskf'ch (Prague: Kral. ceske spolecnosti nauk, 1913), pp. 909-10.

XII 203 More than this, he encourages violence against the people of Bohemia by encouraging the crusader cross which the manifesto labels 'the cross of anti christ.' Sigismund is openly accused of being responsible for the deaths of Hus and Jerome of Prague at Constance and Jan Knisa who perished at Wroclaw. He contravenes established law and tradition wilfully, perpetrates 'anger, hatred, injuries, violence, tyranny and other evils' and reveals himself to be 'an open enemy of the realm and all of its citizens.' The king's hands are reported to be covered with the blood of virgins, infants, pregnant women, and men from the town of Malin. Even with omitting further details, the dossier of complaint and atrocity is rather full. 16 Later that same year, Czech leaders published another manifesto on 5 November 1420 in which Sigismund again fell under withering attack with no fewer than twelve charges of inappropriate behaviour being levelled against the king including rape, murder, lawlessness, and defamation. More serious, the manifesto alleged that Sigismund protected German and Hungarian forces during the battle for Vysehrad and deliberately placed Czechs in the front line of battle where the likelihood of death was considerably greater. 17 Hussite views of Emperor Sigismund were not only gravely negative but included the persistent complaint that the king was in fact attempting to destroy Czech identity. With the lead-up to the decision of the national assembly at Caslav well in motion, the Czechs made overtures to the Polish king concerning the throne of the Czech lands. Among the instructions filed with a delegation sent to Poland near the end of 1420 is the charge that Sigismund intended to eradicate the Czech language. 18 The allegation finds significant replication elsewhere. The king was suspected of using all of his available resources to plunder the Czech lands with the eventual goal of eliminating the Czechs from the face of the earth. 19 Apocalyptic texts compared the rule of Sigismund with that of a lion emerging from its den characterizing the king as a 'heathen destroyer' who has come to Bohemia to destroy the land, obliterate cities and reduce the population. 20 These themes are coupled with the overall Hussite opposition to the king and nowhere are these sentiments better expressed than in several tracts 16

17

18

19

20

The full text is in Palacky, ed., Urkundliche Beitriige zur Geschichte des Hussitenkrieges, volume 1, pp. 39-43. Archiv ceskj, volume 3, pp. 217-18. The text has been published in Rudolf Urbanek, ed., Sbornik Ziikuv (Prague: Vydal vedecky ustav vojensky, 1924), pp. 131-3. 'Zaloba Koruny ceske, in Daiihelka, ed., Husitske skladby, p. 28. Archiv cesky, volume 6, pp. 43-4.

XII 204 written in the summer and autumn of 1420. 21 One of them, 'Zaloba koruny ceske k bohu na knile uherskeho a sbor Kostnick}'' [The Grievance of the Czech Crown against the Hungarian King and the Council of Constance], is a personification of the Czech Crown who expresses great sorrow to God on account of Sigismund who has behaved treacherously, committing murder, interfering in Bohemian political affairs, persecuting the faithful and misappropriating property and giving it over to the control of wicked priests. 22 Another of the tracts, 'Porok koruny ceske ku pan6m ceskYm o korunovani krale uherskeho' [The Czech Crown's Rebuke of the Bohemian Lords concerning the coronation of the Hungarian King], likewise condemns the king in rather sharp language and implicates him in the crimes against Hus, Jerome and Jan Krasa. This text goes further, however, in its call to the Czech barons to expel the Germans from the country and to divest them of all political power and authority on the grounds that they are not to be trusted. Sigismund is unworthy of ruling the Czechs because he does not undertake government according to the law of God but instead opposes that rule and is corrupted by his own wickedness. The text goes on to suggest that Sigismund should be deprived because he is the destroyer, robber and murderer of Czechs. This rascal king accuses Czechs of heresy while he himself continues to rob, bum and murder. Prague is seen as the head of the kingdom and whoever holds power cannot do so without Prague. Since the city of Prague does not recognize the king, Sigismund is a king without a head. 23 The Czech barons are advised that Sigismund is an 'evil man ... cursed by God ... aslanderer, defamer and destroyer of God's truth.' Those who dare to support him commit evil and injustice against the Czech kingdom. 24 By the time the first crusade had ended, rather ignominiously for Sigismund and the crusaders, he was under suspicion by his own men of being secretly sympathetic to the Czechs and one chronicler went so far as to record that when the king saw that the crusaders had been repulsed from the Vitkov in Prague by the peasant armies of Czechs led by Jan Zizka he returned to his tent smiling. 25 It is doubtful that the observation is accurate but it goes to show the depth of duplicity Sigismund was thought capable of. Earlier that spring the leading Czech baron Cenek of Vartenberk defected from the circle of support the king enjoyed amongst Czech nobles. His 21

22 23 24

For a brief discussion of the contents of some of these in English see John Klassen, 'Images of Anti-Majesty in Hussite Literature' Bohemia 33 (No.2, 1992), pp. 269-70. The text is in Dai\helka, ed., Husitski? skladby, pp. 43-60. Dai\helka, ed., Husitske skladby, see especially pp. 67-8 Dai\helka, ed., Husitske skladby, p. 66.

XII 205 letter of explanation was a tour de force in terms of underscoring Hussite suspicion of the monarch. Cenek called for all Czechs to abandon obedience to Sigismund. 'He is the great and cruel enemy of the language and kingdom of Bohemia.' The manifesto goes on to allege the familiar dossier of complaint against Sigismund including the defaming of Czechs as heretics, his support for the crusade, his involvement in the murders in Silesia and his active order for Hussites to be killed in Kutna Hora. Cenek goes on to assert that a number of Sigismund's political dealings have either been illegal, or undertaken to disadvantage the Czechs. The presence of Sigismund in the Kingdom of Bohemia means that 'the crown and the language have been exposed to enormous cruelty and disgrace!' The dissenting baron affirms that the king has no other intention but to exterminate the Czech kingdom and particularly the Czech language. 26 The influence of documents such as this published by Cenek ofVartenberk cannot be over-estimated. Even before the national assembly convened at Caslav entire cities formally declared independence from Sigismund. The language was effectively revolutionary in late medieval Europe. 'We do not and we will not accept that King Sigismund as king or hereditary lord of the Czech Crown because he is unworthy in every way. We will resist him ... until the very end. ' 27 More than three dozen Bohemian towns joined leagues of resistance against the king. Sigismund chose not to reply directly to the manifesto issued from the national assembly at C:islav. Of course he consistently protested his innocence of all charges laid against him by the Hussites and repeatedly asked them to submit to his authority since he was the legitimate heir and therefore their lawful king. Elsewhere he wrote satirical letters congratulating the Czechs on being such excellent deputies and noting that on account of their great and steady support his throne would never waver. He appeals to the Hussites to allow him to enlist in their school of wisdom, to support him in gaining the Czech crown and he promises to obey their commands and govern according to their advice. 28 For the moment there was little else the king could do but wait for opportunity to seize the throne. That opportunity 25

26

27 28

Thomas Ebendorfer ofHaselbach, Chronicon Austriae, ed., Bernard Pez, in Scriptores rerum Austriacarurn, volume 2 (Leipzig, 1725), col. 849. The manifesto bears the date 20 April1420 and is published in Archiv cesk:Y, volume 3, pp. 210-12. For the text of one such declaration see Archiv cesk:Y, volume l, pp. 203-4. Palacky, ed., Urkundliche Beitrage zur Geschichte des Hussitenkrieges, volume 1, w.sn~.

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XII 206 came in the summer of 1420 with the preaching of the crusade against the Czech heretics. In the end, the crusaders were routed and left Prague in defeat. The prospective king managed a small victory of sorts when he was clandestinely crowned in the cathedral in Prague Castle on 28 July. The fact that the ceremony was sparsely attended, un-advertized and kept hidden behind the fortified walls of the castle is perhaps among the strongest and most persuasive arguments for the case summarizing the Hussite view of their king; a view which would not improve much over the course of the next seventeen years. The ass now had a crown, but according to the Czechs the ass remained an ass despite the crown.

Nature of Czech Nationalism to 1437 As noted previously, the seminal work in English on the subject of nationalism in the Hussite period is that undertaken by Frantisek Smahel and his findings are entirely valid and convincing even after thirty years. The danger of anachronism lurks behind the language of 'nations' at the end of the Middle Ages, but the idea of a Czech identity does emerge in the contours of heresy in the Hussite movement and the language - natio - is embedded in late medieval literature. Smahel argues that the concept of nationalism in the period stretching from the late fourteenth century to the 1480s must be understood over against the dynamics and changes within the evolving social fabric. 29 During the period when Sigismund was intimately connected to the affairs in Bohemia there is plenty of evidence to underscore animosity between Czechs and Germans, antagonism between Czechs and foreigners in general, a clear association of Hussite religion with Czech identity and a heightened rhetoric of emphasis upon the 'Czech language.' Smahel has written extensively in English as well as in Czech arguing that case for the 'nation' in the consciousness of Hussite Bohemia. In 1409 the Decree of Kutmi Hora resulted in the university in Prague passing from German to Czech control, the expulsion or exodus of German scholars and students from the Czech lands and the establishment of the university in Leipzig. 30 Jerome of Prague played a key role in transforming the idea of 'nation' from the concept of the estates to that which encompassed all people belonging to the language of the Czechs, thus broadening the concept of a Czech 'nation'

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29

30

Smahel,, Idea mirada v husitskYch Cechcich, pp. 12-18. The main authority on this event is Jifi Kejf, 'Spome otizky v badani o Dekretu kutnohorskem' Acta universitatis carolinae- historia universitatis carolinae pragensis 3(No.1,1962),pp.83-110.

XII 207 from exclusive social elites to include the common peopleY The lawyer Jan of Jesenice likewise at the same time developed ideas which attached special prerogatives to Czech natural rights. 32 This sense of nationalism, however, seems to have become a factor only in the conservative elements of the Hussite movement. In the more radical sectors associated with Tabor and Hradec Kralove, apocalyptic imagery and eschatological crisis effectively rules out preoccupation with an earthly 'nation' and the rights and privileges of citizens belonging to kingdoms of dust. The language of nationalism continues to persist and is best understood in the context of the heretical programme of the Hussites. This does not mean that it carried with it no ideological persuasion in terms of Czech identity. The opposite can be shown. Studies of Hussite history have suggested with appeal that the wave of so-called nationalism in this period did affect politics, theology and behaviour at upper and lower levels of society. By the time the Hussite movement reached serious crisis at Lipany in 1434, it had presided over social disintegration, unprecedented religious upheaval, political ambiguity and military devastation. One can only reflect on the psychological implications this held for ordinary Czechs in fifteenthcentury Bohemia, though the query remains: what did it mean to be a Czech in Bohemia in the second quarter of the fifteenth century? The hatred of Sigismund seems to stem principally from the king as a person, as opposed to hostility to the notion of kingship or a concept of royal power. Drawing upon earlier sources, some Hussites contended that the state could be ruled by the gentry in association with the peasants. 33 Still, if in the 1420s and 1430s there appeared to be staunch opposition to royal power, that dissent became modified and under the reign of Jii'i ofPodebrady royal power becomes amalgamated with utraquism and conservative Hussite religion in an almost essential manner. By this time the Czech language, as a vehicle of nationalism or cultural expression, had reached its zenith. It was the first of the national eastern European languages to be written down and without doubt the Hussite movement accelerated the development of the language in a literary context. 34 This became one of the assets of the 31

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There are two significant studies on Jerome. Frantisek Smahel, Jeronym Praiskp (Prague: Svobodne slovo, 1966) and R.R. Betts, Essays in Czech History (London: The Athlone Press, 1969), pp. 195-235. The preeminent authority, once again, on Jesenice is Kejf, Husitskp pravnik M Jan z Jesenice (Prague: Ceskoslovenska akademie ved, 1965). Such is the suggestion advanced in Alfred Thomas, Annes Bohemia: Czech Literature and Society, 1310-1420 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998), pp. 52-3.

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XII 208 revolution as well as Czech culture inasmuch as it helped to point the way towards a 'national humanism. '35 Hence, the notion of the 'nation', Czech identity and 'nationalism', loosely called, in the period up to 143 7 functions primarily in preparing the ground for a self-conscious ethnic identity which increasingly expressed itself in literature and intellectual works which promoted a national tradition.

The Perceived Problem of Heresy Whatever else the Hussite movement might have been it qualifies as a manifestation of heresy in late medieval Europe. Heresy lay at the root of the condemnations of Jan Hus and Jerome of Prague at the Council of Constance, it cannot be separated from the practice of utraquism, it focused the crusade impetus and in short, heresy is an essential key to understanding the Hussite problem. Hussitism was regarded as a plague which, according to the papal bull 'Inter cunctus' published by Martin V, infected all faithful Christians and the pope wrote letters in which he mandated extermination. 36 Conrad, archbishop of Mainz, urged his colleagues to address directly 'the poisonous plague of heresy which is still increasing in Bohemia. '37 Cardinal Beaufort sent a letter to the towns of the Hanseatic League deploring the ' unusual and unheard-of kinds of torments of such obstinate heretics ' which the faithful in Bohemia are daily forced to endure. 38 The 'cursed Judas,' Jan Hus of 'damnable memory', along with the 'principle heresiarchs ' Jakoubek of Stfibro and his henchmen, Zelivsky, the Taborites, whom officials of 34

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37 38

Anna Adamska, 'The Introduction of Writing in Central Europe (Poland, Hungary and Bohemia),'in New Approaches to Medieval Communication, ed. , Marco Mostert (Turnhout: Brepols, 1999), p. 188. Frantisek Svejkovsky, ' The Conception of the "Vernacular" in Czech Literature and Culture of the Fifteenth Century,' in Asp ects of the Slavic Language Question , eds., Riccardo Picchio and Harvey Goldblatt (New Haven: Yale Concilium on International and Area Studies, 1984), volume I,pp. 335-6. ' Inter cunctus ' is published, in part, in Thomas A. Fudge, Th e Crusade against Heretics in Bohemia: Sources and Documents for the Hussite Crusades (Aidershot: Ashgate, 2002), pp. 45-9. On extermination, see Martin's letter of I December 1423 addressed to the archbishop of Besan9on in Dietrich Kerler, ed., Deutsche Reichstagsakten, volumes 8-9 (Gotha: 1883, 1887), volume 8, pp. 119-21 and that directed towards the English episcopacy dated 9 October 1428 in Edward Brown, ed. , Fasciculus rerum Expetendarum et Fugiendarum (London, 1690), volume 2, pp. 616-17. This in a general letter d ated 18 February 1428. Deutsche Reichstagsakten, volume 9, pp. ll7-18. The letter is in the Codex diplomaticus Lubecensis, part I, in Urkunden-Buch der Stadt Lubeck, volume 6 (Liibeck: Ferdinand Grautoff, 1885), pp. 25-7.

XII 209 the Roman Church identified as 'enemies of God', together with 'that base fellow' Jan Zizka, the 'harmful and heinous monster' Prokop and the 'plague of the land' Rohac were but the tip of the heretical iceberg. 39 The problem of heresy in Bohemia carried with it serious social implications. Not only did it contravene religious orthodoxy and practice, it threatened and did upset medieval social order. Who has ever seen such foolishness in any country that now the Czechs and Moravians, disregarding their natural lord, elected a layperson named [Jan] Zizka, a man of obscure origins and a robber. Today he is already dead but he dominated over them. After his death they accepted in the place of this rascal another villain, the priest Prokop [Holy], a man designing murders and expanding their errors and confirming them with signs and false miracles. This man, with his followers, went throughout many countries and lands, laying waste and perpetrating in all times an unheard-of tyranny over the Catholics and they preferred this man also to their natural lord. The obedience which they were obliged to provide to their lord, according to divine commandment, they gave to him. They provided this villain Prokop not only with simple people and peasants, but also men of noble ancestry are said to have knelt before him. 40 Hussite religion was simply 'disgusting heresy', according to the pope, which 'subverts human law and human estates, removes political authority and thereby alters the lives of people which have been instituted by reason and law. ' 41 Papal legates composed missives to secular authorities warning 39

40

41

These descriptions of heretics in Bohemia are drawn from contemporary sources. Hus, Petr ofMladoiiovice, Relatio de Mag. Joannis Hus causa, in Spinka, ed., John Hus at the Council of Constance, p. 230; Jakoubek, resolutions of the Council of Constance in Konstantin von Hofler, Geschichtschreiber der Husitischen in B6hmen, 3 volumes, in Fontes rerum austriacarum 1 (Vienna, 1856-65), part 6, pp. 240-3; Taborites, Ferdinand of Lucena, letter to Prague, in Palack)', ed., Urkundliche Beitrdge zur Geschichte des Hussitenkrieges, volume 1, pp. 33-7; Zi:zka, in Eberhart Windecke, Denkwiirdigkeiten zur Geschichte des Zeitalters Kaiser Sigmunds, ed., Wilhelm Altmann (Berlin: R. Gaertners Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1893), p. 197; Prokop, Aeneas Sylvius, Historia Bohemica, eds., Dana Martinkova, Alena Hadravova and Jifi Mat! (Prague: Koniasch Latin Press, 1998), chapter 51, p. 161 and Rohac, Sigismund letter to Oldfich Rozmberk, in Blazena Rynesova, ed., Listaf a Listinaf 0/dficha z Roimberka, 4 volumes (Prague: Nakladem ministerstva skolstvi a narodni osvety, 1929-54), volume I, p. 222. This diatribe comes from an anonymous condemnation of the Hussites written around 1432. Prague Castle Archive MS. D 51 fols. 305'-310v. Letter from Martin V to Sigismund, spring 1422 in Deutsche Reichstagsakten, volume 8, pp. 119-21.

XII 210 them of the catastrophic implications of the Hussite heresy. On New Years' day 1424 Branda of Castiglione sent a typical warning to the Polish king Wladyslaw Jagiello explaining his reason for undertaking repressive measures against the Czechs in Bohemia. The purpose of my mission is for the glory of God, the cause of the faith and the church as well as the salvation of human society. A significant proportion of the heretics hold that things should be held in common and that no tribute, tax or obedience should be given to a superior. This is an idea which would destroy civilization and abolish all government. They intend to destroy all human and divine right through force and it will happen that not even kings or princes in their own kingdoms and dominions, or even people in their own houses, will be safe from their insolence. This terrible heresy not only attacks the faith and the church but it also, under inspiration of the devil, makes war upon humanity in general, attacking and destroying those rights as well. 42 At the center of the social implications ofHussite heresy was Sigismund, a man the heretics regarded as a false, 'headless,' king; an ass with a crown who was barred from the throne and denied power and authority. Predictably, the Hussites did not regard their religious beliefs or practices as heretical and consistently refuted the allegation. From the time of the execution of Jan Hus, the Czechs countered the charge of heresy with the rejoinder that it amounted to a series of elaborate 'false accusations' which brought 'shame and humiliation' to the entire Czech Crown as well as to the Czech language. 43 Indeed, wounded Hussite pride dismissed the charge of heresy as 'slander,' arising out of 'hated and ill-will' and those who spoke in this regard should be considered 'both malicious and a liar. ' 44 In manifestos the Hussites declared that the official church levelled the charge of heresy against them in order to cover up their own heresies and crime and therefore prevent knowledge of this from coming to public attention. 45 It was a war of words and also a battle of military might fought on battlefields for more than fifteen years. The issue was heresy. 42

43

44 45

Palacky, ed., Urkundliche Beitriige zur Geschichte des Hussitenkrieges, volume I, pp. 309-14. A number of examples, but by no means exhaustive, have been collected in Smahel, Idea mirada v husitskjch Cechach, pp. 58-60. Vavfinec ofBfezova, 'Historia Hussitica,' p. 395. For example the 1430 manifesto signed by Prokop, Koranda, Markhold and others. Amedeo Molnar, Husitske manifesty (Prague: Odeon, 1986), pp. 156-70.

XII 211

Sigismund's perspective on Hussite heresy Inasmuch as the heir to the Czech throne maintained an image of a faithful and pious Christian, Sigismund had to be seen as an enemy of all heretics and heresies. In the case of the Hussites, he had even more reason to be overtly hostile since that particular form of heresy blocked his path to the throne. Even before Vaclav IV died, Sigismund had made perfectly clear his perspective on the Hussite problem. He warned Vaclav not to delay in exterminating all heretics and bragged that he could hardly wait for the day to come when he would personally drown every 'Wyclifite' and 'Hussite' he could find. 46 He urged his supporters to 'avoid completely this new faith' and instead to punish severely those who fraternized with the Hussites. 47 The punishment proposed by the spumed king was enumerated. In a letter to the civil authorities in Budysin, Sigismund urged seizure of heretics in person as well as in property, to expel them or to exterminate them. 48 Calling upon his allies, the king argued that the struggle against the Hussites was a matter of honour and a solemn obligation to God and was so important that it was essentially an issue of salvation. To resist heresy was salutary and he mustered the troops with one purpose: to exterminate the heretics irrevocably.49 The frustration of repeated crusade failures only intensified the king's opposition and animosity towards the Czech heretics. By 1429 he was convinced they were 'raving' in the commission of evil. He asserted that on a daily basis the Hussites engaged in deeds 'which no human can adequately describe.' Sigismund stated his conviction that heresy in Bohemia embraced the objective of destroying Christianity altogether. 5° After the crusaders went down to a fifth defeat the hapless king angrily referred to the completely hopeless situation for the faithful inside Bohemia and called for renewed measures to curtail the blissfulness of the heresy and curb its alarming and growing strength. 51 The king must have had in mind 46

47

48

49

50 51

Letter to Vaclav, dated 4 December 1417 in Hofler, Geschichtschreiber der Husitischen in Bohmen, volume 2, pp. 252-4. See the letter of 10 February 1420 in Palacky, ed., Urkundliche Beilriige zur Geschichte des Hussilenkrieges, volume I, pp. 15-17. Palacky, ed., Urkundliche Beitriige zur Geschichte des Hussitenkrieges, volume 1, pp. 22-3. Letter to officials in Lusatia, 18 May 1421 in Palacky, ed., Urkundliche Beitriige zur Geschichte des Hussitenkrieges, volume 1, pp. 95-6. Letter to Conrad, bishop of Regensburg, 10 April 1429 in Palacky, ed., Urkundliche Beitriige zur Geschichte des Hussitenkrieges, volume 2, pp. 27-9. Letter to Friedrich of Brandenburg, 26 August 1431, in Palacky, ed., Urkundliche Beitriige zur Geschichte des Hussitenkrieges, volume 2, pp. 243-5.

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*

his proposed measures of a dozen years earlier when he evidently ordered that all heretics be killedY Sigismund could now only enlarge his lament expressed so many years earlier about the threat of the Hussite heresy. 'I was just a boy when this started and now look at how powerful it has become.' 53 The 'pestilence,' as he called it, was increasingly ever more significantly, and thus the need for drastic solution all the more incumbent upon the official church and empire. 54 He warned the Polish king, just as Cardinal Branda had done, that the 'plague' of Hussite heresy was serious and all force needed to be mustered to put an end to it before it spread to devastating proportions. 55 There is no compelling evidence to suggest that Sigimsund was worried about the well-being of the Polish king or that he had any personal stake in the fortunes of Wladyslaw. He needed the Jagiellos against the heretics in order to shore up his desperate bid for the throne of the Czech lands. The ploy never really yielded fruit and the Polish kings generally took a positive to neutral view of Czech affairs in the Hussite years. That is, they resisted the temptation to interfere with the heresy within Bohemia. As for the exporting of Hussite heresy to Poland, the authorities were much more rigourous. In 1420, aggressive anti-Hussite measures known as the Remedia contra haerticos were issued by the provincial synod in Wielun and Kalisz. Under these regulations, Poles were restricted from travelling to Bohemia and if they did so were subject to summons before an ecclesiastical tribunal to answer charges of heresy. In 1424 King Wladyslaw ratified a further anti-Hussite edict which required all Poles living in Bohemia to return to Poland. Those declining to comply were denounced as heretics and their properties seized. 56 All of this appears to be Polish ·policy aimed at Poles without regard for the wishes of Sigismund and indeed little effort on the part of the Polish king can be detected in helping Sigismund dislodge heretics in Bohemia. This leaves the perplexing query, expressed by the Czech Crown, of why Sigismund still desired to rule over a land hopelessly infected with heresy; a heresy he despised and a land which he appeared actively trying to destroy. 57 52 53 54

55

56

57

Palacky, ed., Urkundliche Beitrlige zur Geschichte des Hussitenkrieges, volume I, pp. 24-5. Frantisek Palacky, ed., Documenta Mag. Joannis Hus (Osnabriick, 1966), p. 315. Letter to Cardinal Henry Beaufort, 27 September 1427, in Deutsche Reichstagsakten, volume 9, pp. 72-4. Letter to Wladyslaw Jagiello, 21 July 1431, in Palacky, ed., Urkundliche Beitrlige zur Geschichte des Hussitenkrieges, volume 2, pp. 209-13. On these measures, see Pawel Kras, Husyci w pi~tnastowiecznej Polsce (Lublin: Towarzystwo Naukowe Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelskiego, 1998), pp. 212-17. 'Zaloba koruny ceske k bohu na kra!e uherskeho a sbor Kostnick:f,' in Danhelka, ed., Husitske skladby, p. 28.

XII 213

Symbiosis of Heresy and Nationalism That heresy existed in Bohemia and especially within Hussite religion cannot be contested. Similarly, the language of nationalism can be detected with some frequency in Hussite literature. What relationship was there between the two? In the autumn of 1420, Hussites and Catholics met at the town of Zdice, halfway between Prague and Plzet'i, and reached agreement on peace and the Catholic lords even went so far as to state that they would not prevent anyone under their power from assisting the Hussites in their struggle against Sigismund. Frederick Heymann speculates correctly that this aspect of the agreement must have infuriated the excluded king. 58 Beyond this, the concord signalled a measure of religious freedom in allowing anyone to practice their faith as they desired. In the preamble to the Zdice agreements the signatories formulated what they called 'an obligation to their natural duty' which they enumerated as follows: setting disorders straight and producing order from chaos, putting an end to revolts and encouraging loyalty, halting war and facilitating peace and cleansing the land from all injudicious allegations and generally strengthening the well-being of the Czech kingdom. 59 Smahel argues that this is indicative that matters of faith and national well-being were of equal importance and may have an even more intimate relation. 60 An examination of the polemical literature and language reveals that clear associations were made linking heresy to national identities. For example, it is difficult to resist the equation of Germans with Catholics and Czechs with Hussites and therefore with heresy. Generally, Czechs came to be equated with utraquists, those who practised holy communion sub utraque specie while Germans were almost universally regarded in Hussite propaganda as enemies of the chalice and outlaws in relation to the law of God. The Czech barons who defended Hus utilized the language of nationalism to defend their religious faith .61 The execution of Hus on German soil was viewed as an affront to all Czechs and the later crusades against the Hussites a further indication that anti-heresy measures were little more than anti-Czech policy and, in the hands of the crusaders, a license to 58

Frederick G. Heymann, John ZiZka and the Hussite Revolution (New York: Russell & Russell, 1969), p. 435.

59 60

61

The agreements are printed in Palacky, ed., Archiv ceskf!, volume 3, pp. 248-51. Smahel, Idea mirada v husitskf!ch Cechach, pp. 162-3. Miloslav Polivka, 'The Self-Consciousness of the Czech Nobility against the Background of Czech-German Relations at the end of the Hussite Period ' Historica n.s. 2 (1995), pp. 96-7.

XII 214 kill. German-Czech hostility predates the Hussite era. The struggle for the use of the vernacular in the Czech lands in religious and liturgical contexts had deeper meaning for the Hussites than a simple nationalistic impulse. In the first instance, it represented the right of all Christians to use the vernacular. Secondly, the rhetoric seems to suggest that the Czechs were a chosen people of God, called by the Spirit to point the true way to the world. Hussite religion was therefore a purified version of Christianity. The Czech language- the vernacular medium of Czech culture- was then the expression of choice. If that assumption be true then there are grounds for arguing that there was a specific relationship between religious confession (heresy) and nationalism. 62 An examination of the sermons of Jan Zelivsky, for example, demonstrates the notion of Czech priority in terms of communicating the gospel of the kingdom of God. The radical preacher expressed his desire that Prague might be the foremost exponent of the faith and an example to the world. 63 Elsewhere, he announced that the coming of Christ would occur first in Bohemia. 64 Another radical priest, Jan Capek, developed an argument in 1417 for the case that it was essential to have the Czech language in the liturgy and Capek's book includes portions of a Czech mass. 65 Taborite sources reveal an even more aggressive preoccupation with the priority of Hussite religion linked to notions of Czech identity. For example, the Hussites are the representatives of God in the last days during the time of God's vengeance. 66 * Czech nationalism was linked to heresy inasmuch as the language and concepts of nascent national identity functioned as a means of expressing heresy. It has been noted that the elevation of the Czech language to equality over against the liturgical Latin marked a revolutionary step as can be attested by the reaction on the part of the Prague masters. However, it would be a faux pas to suppose that this development was a result of mainly nationalistic motives. There is good reason to conclude that the elevation of the Czech language was in response to the urge to allow believers closer access to the faith. 67 A similar argument can be advanced with respect to Zi:zka whose 62

63 64

65

66

67

Svejkovsky, 'The Conception of the "Vernacular" in Czech Literature and Culture of the Fifteenth Century,' p. 332. Sermon for 13 August 1419, Prague, National and University Library MS. V G 3fol. 46v. Sermon for II June 1419, in Amedeo Molnar, ed., Dochovana kazani Jana Zelivskeho z roku 1419 (Prague: Ceskoslovenska akademie ved, 1953), p. 184. 'Knizky o vecefi Pane' in Ferdinand Mencik, ed. Rozmanitosti, vol. I (Jicin, 1879). Stated explicitly in the Taborite articles of 1420 in Palacky, ed., Archiv ceskj, volume 3, pp. 218-25. Smahel, Idea naroda v husitskjch Cechach, pp. 91-2.

XII 215 Czech ideology was wedded to his religious convictions and loyalties. Being a good Czech meant adhering to the law of God and the Hussite faith. Zi:zka killed crusaders not because they were Germans or Hungarians but because they opposed what he regarded as God's truth. The old warrior did not fight principally for the Czech kingdom as a political, social or national entity, but he fought for the kingdom of God to be established in Bohemia and this explains in part why he did not seize formal political power even though he had the means and opportunity to do so. Jan Zizka was first and foremost a 'warrior of God and of God's law.' Nationalistic-sounding language frequently was employed in the articulation of heresy. Hussite manifestos accused the enemies of the Hussites of attempting to take the truth away from Czechs and therefore all faithful people in the realm needed to defend the Czech language. All 'fervent lovers of their country' should resist such evil. The liberty of the Czech lands was coupled to the truth of religious doctrine and enumerated in terms of the 'greater welfare and benefit of our fatherland and the kingdom ofBohemia.' 68 Was the language of nationalism serving the needs of heresy, or was heresy being employed in the interests of nationalism? The symbiotic relationship seems impossible to deny. Cenek of Vartenberk's 1420 manifesto clearly links Hussite interests with national identity especially in sentences which address 'all those who care about the freedom of the law of God and the well being of the Czech language. ' 69 Cenek claims that the king is an enemy of the Czech kingdom and says this can be proven on the grounds that Sigismund has denounced those who receive communion in both kinds as heretics. The manifesto ends with an appeal to the 'Four Articles of Prague' and links these doctrinal and religious convictions to the hostile posture Sigismund has assumed towards the Czech kingdom. There does not appear to be any distinction drawn between heresy (the Hussite faith) and the rhetoric of nationalism and Czech identity. Similarly, in their appeal to the Venetian authorities, the authors of another Hussite manifesto link directly Sigismund's policies with respect to the lay chalice with the Bohemian language and declare that the Icing's hostility to Hussitism stems from his 'naked hatred' of the Czech language.70 The relationship between heresy and nationalism likewise emerges in documents following the first crusade signed by the mayor of the New Town, the city council and 68 69 70

Palacky, ed., Archiv cesk:y, volume 3, p. 210. Palacky, ed., Archiv cesk:y, volume 3, pp. 212-13. Palacky, ed., Urkundliche Beitriige zur Geschichte des Hussitenkrieges, volume 1, pp. 39, 41.

XII 216 numerous other Hussite leaders which provide further linkages between efforts to eradicate the Czech language with the defamation tactics of heresy labelling. The same manifesto alleged that Sigismund actually declared his wish to see all Czechs eliminated. 71 If condemnation of the 'Four Articles' implied heresy than the denunciation was also an attack on the Czech kingdom for the Hussites emphatically declared that these salutary articles were aimed at purifying the 'common good of the Czech language and kingdom. m The association of religious reform in Bohemia and the efforts of the king and crusaders to defeat it remained intact. After the fifth crusade, one of the Hussite reports on the triumph at Domazlice pointed out that the Czech land had been blessed by God on account of the faithful Christians, meaning the Hussites. The invaders attempted to 'exterminate the Czech language and to vituperate and extinguish their faith. m The Taborite bishop made similar linkages between 'the truth of human salvation' and Czech identity. He accused Sigismund of active treachery in 'looking for ways in which to condemn, vilify and destroy those rights ... to say nothing of the language of the Bohemian nation. ' 74 It would seem that Hussites consciously linked their religious faith and their identity as Czechs in a symbiotic manner thus leaving little alternative but to understand both impulses as two sides of a single issue. More to the point, is the sense that the primary motivation for Hussites in their struggle against Sigismund, the official church and the hordes of invading crusaders, was not nationalism but faith, not political and social identity but the law of God and the doctrines and religious practices of reformed theology. In this way, the rhetoric and constructs of the nation and national identity became ideology in the service of a religious idea. Sigismund's coronation in 1420, legal though it clearly was, had little impact on the Hussites. Polemical literature ridiculed the 'deceitful' king who did not have the courage to be crowned in the presence of his alleged subjects. The 'stupid prince' was told that he was not truly king just because the crown sat on his head. Were that the case, any buffoon, criminal or contemptible scoundrel might well be king if such a one managed to get hold of the physical crown. Authentic kingship and royal power, however, 71 72

73 74

Palacky, ed., Archiv cesk:j, volume 3, pp. 217-18. This connection was made at the national assembly at Caslav. Palacky, ed., Archiv cesk:j, volume 3, p. 228. Palacky, ed., Archiv cesk:j, volume 6, p. 424. Mikulas of Pelhfimov, 'Chronicon causam sacredotum Taboriensium continens,' in Konstantin von Hofler, ed., Geschichtschreiber der Hussitischen Bewegung, II (Vienna, 1865), pp. 477-81.

XII 217 implied much more than a hollow crown. Those antagonistic to Sigismund demanded to know on what grounds he had crept into Prague Castle and permitted Konrad ofVechta, a foreign archbishop no less, to anoint him? The king's head was thereby not honoured but further shamed. The combination of Czech identity and Hussite religion converged to dismiss Sigismund as a shepherd of the flock and instead portray him as a thief who had broken into the sheepfold and who scatters the flock. 75 In sum, the coronation meant nothing, it only revealed the ass once more, this time the 'ass with a crown.' Following the national assembly at Caslav, Sigismund was clearly dismayed by the rulings and attempted to shift blame away from his own actions and cast suspicion on the more radically-minded Hussites. The shunned king mounted the argument that the Taborites had incited the princes of all Christendom against Bohemia and Sigismund cannot be held responsible for the fury of the crusades. He goes on to admonish the congregation gathered at Caslav that their resolutions were in fact harmful to them and the entire country. 76 Very few, if any, of the signatories at Caslav were moved by Sigismund's contentions or the force of his argument. They took steps to institute a provisional government and later accepted as regent a prince from Lithuania. From 1419 until 1436 the Czechs openly practiced the Hussite faith and opposed successfully the succession of Sigismund to the throne. After the crushing military defeat at Lipany there was no longer any possibility of opposing the king with armed force. After a protracted round of negotiations and diplomacy, Sigismund was acknowledged as king of the Czechs on 14 August 1436 in the Moravian border town of Jihlava. Nine days later, he entered Prague as king. He had technically and legally been king since July 1420, a span of more than sixteen years. Less than fifteen months later, on II November 1437, he fled from Prague in a desperate bid to reach his beloved Hungary before death overtook him. Having fought so long to gain the throne, his prize refused to let him go. He did not succeed in leaving the Czech lands but died on 9 December at Znojmo. He had fought the heretics with all his might, but in the end lost in more ways than one. After almost forty years of coveteousness, the 'ass with a crown' reigned in Prague little more than a year. Few seem to have mourned his demise. 75

76

'Zaloba koruny ceske k bohu na knile uherskeho a sbor Kostnicky,' in Daiihelka, ed., Husitske skladby, pp. 32-3 , 39 and passim. Palacky, ed., Archiv ceskf, volume 3, pp. 232-3.

XIII

Zizka's Drum: The Political Uses of Popular Religion

Now Zizka had appointed a time to assemble for the purpose of attacking Sigismund when, near the castle of Pi'ibyslav, by divine inspiration, if you will, that detestable, cruel, horrible and savage monster was stricken with an infectious disease and died. The one whom no mortal hand could destroy was extinguished by the finger of God. As he lay ill he was asked where he wished to be buried after his death. He ordered that his body be flayed, the flesh discarded for the birds and animals, and a drum be fashioned from his skin. With this drum in the lead they should go to war. The enemies would turn to flight as soon as they heard its voice. 1

N

death, lying before the castle ofPi'ibyslav near the Moravian border, the commander of the Hussite armies had already fought his last battle in defense of the law of God. Death would defeat, at last, the undefeated. 2 According to the implacable enemies of the Hussite cause he had been invincible and only God could slay the inveterate foe of official religion. Now dead,Jan Zizka was even more terrible than ever and just as present in the center of social and religious conflict in Bohemia as he had been in days past. His followers made no mention of the drum but they too affirmed the continued presence of their captain in the theater of war and created a counterpart to the idea of a macabre postmortem existence that took residence in the patterns of popular belief and popular religion. EAR

Then it happened that Zizka contacted the plague near Pi'ibyslav and he died. He was taken to H.radec Kralove where he was buried and there he remains. From that time on his soldiers called themselves Orphans and as such they continue to be known. The people of Hradec Kralove caused Zizka to be painted on a banner, mounted on a white horse in knightly armor holding a fist-dagger mace, as he rode when he was alive.

1. Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini, Historia Bohemica, ed., Dana M artinkova, Alena Hadravova and Jifi Mat! (Prague, 1998), 138. 2. Frederick G. Heymann,John Zizka and the Hussite Revolution (New York, 1969), 437-43. Heymann is the best and most comprehensive source on Zizka in English.

XIII

547 Every time the people of Hradec Kralove went into battle carrying this banner they were victorious. 3 Both sources, one hostile the other sympathetic, include a common conclusion: the Hussites were invincible. From an anthropological perspective Zizka's drum expresses a type of reality and consciousness, communicated in symbolic form. In this sense it is myth. 4 On the other hand it is also a story believed widely even in the face of some evidence that suggests it is not true. The story is told over and over because it poses a question that can never be entirely answered. In this case the question is: what made Zizka and the Hussites so powerful? Aeneas Sylvius attributes Hussite triumph to demonic inspiration while the Orphans perceive the hand of God at work. Both assumptions are based on the conceptual world of the fifteenth century.

I Upon the death of Jan Hus in 1415 a great cloud darkened the skies above the Crown of St. Wenceslas. The storms of the Hussite age broke with unrelenting ferocity. Bohemia was convulsed for eighteen years against a background of blood and fire. This world of insecurity and fear was also an essentially religious world. Official religion and popular beliefs mingled freely and on the edges of the church world evolved cultural categories of popular religion. The definition of medieval popular religion is a fluid one but it is possible to identifY certain common themes and characteristics: namely, that the ideas were most often transmitted orally, that its observance was regulated by particular rituals, that it received its essential identity from the community which embraced it, and finally that it existed in varying degrees of opposition to the prevalent forms and patterns of"official" religion. This is not to suggest that popular religion had no meaningful connection to literate, written, institutional, or official forms of religion. Popular religion did not necessarily exclude social elites nor is it necessarily only the provenance of the lower classes. Indeed, it is purely arbitrary and artificial to attempt to divide either culture or religion into separate categories. 5 What the church did not or could not explain was taken up by the imagination of common people and shaped into the numerous rituals and rites of purification and transition that characterize popular culture. Religion in