volume 2, chapter 13-18.

_E. de Schweinitz, History of the Church known as the Unitas Fratrum, chapter 9._

BOHEMIA: A. D. 1434-1457. Organization of the Utraquist National Church. Minority of Ladislaus Posthumus. Regency of George Podiebrad. Origin of the Unitas Fratrum.

"The battle of Lipan was a turning point in the history of the Hussites. It put Bohemia and Moravia into the hands of the Utraquists, and enabled them to carry out their plans unhindered. The man who was foremost in shaping events and who became more and more prominent, until he exercised a commanding influence, was John of Rokycana. ... At the diet of 1435 he was unanimously elected archbishop. ... Meantime Sigismund endeavored to regain his kingdom. The Diet made demands which were stringent and humiliating; but he pledged himself to fulfill them, and on the 5th of July, 1436, at a meeting held with great pomp and solemnity, in the market-place of Iglau, was formally acknowledged as King of Bohemia. On the same occasion, the Compactata were anew ratified and the Bohemians readmitted to the fellowship of the mother church. But scarcely had Sigismund reached his capital when he began so serious a reaction in favor of Rome that Rokycana secretly left the city and retired to a castle near Pardubic (1437). The king's treachery was, however, cut short by the hand of death, on the 9th of December, of the same year, at Znaim, while on his way to Hungary; and his successor and son-in-law, Albert of Austria, followed him to the grave in 1439, in the midst of a campaign against the Turks. Bohemia was left without a ruler, for Albert had no children except a posthumous son [Ladislaus Posthumus.]"

See HUNGARY: A. D. 1301-1442, and 1442-1458.

"A time of anarchy began and various leagues arose, the most powerful of which stood under Baron Ptacek. ... He ... called an ecclesiastical convention at Kuttenberg (October 4th). This convention brought about far-reaching results. ... Rokycana was acknowledged as Archbishop elect, the supreme direction of ecclesiastical affairs was committed into his hands, the priests promised him obedience, and 24 doctrinal and constitutional articles were adopted which laid the foundation of the Utraquist Church as the National Church of Bohemia. {290} But the Taborites stood aloof. ... At last a disputation was agreed upon," as the result of which the Taborites were condemned by the Diet. "They lost all prestige; their towns, with the exception of Tabor, passed out of their hands; their membership was scattered and a large part of it joined the National Church. In the following summer Ptacek died and George Podiebrad succeeded him as the head of the league. Although a young man of only 24 years, he displayed the sagacity of an experienced statesman and was distinguished by the virtues of a patriot. In 1448 a bold stroke made him master of Prague and constituted him practically Regent of all Bohemia; four years later his regency was formally acknowledged. He was a warm friend of Rokycana, whose consecration he endeavored to bring about." When it was found that Rome could not be reconciled, there were thoughts of cutting loose altogether from the Roman Catholic and uniting with the Greek Church. "Negotiations were actually begun in 1452, but came to an abrupt close in the following year, in consequence of the fall of Constantinople. About the same time Ladislaus Posthumus, Albert's son, assumed the crown, Podiebrad remaining Regent. The latter continued the friend of Rokycana; the former, who was a Catholic, conceived a strong dislike to him. As soon as Rokycana had given up the hope of conciliating Rome, he began to preach, with great power and eloquence, against its corruptions." It was at this time that a movement arose among certain of his followers which resulted in the formation of the remarkable religious body which called itself Unitas Fratrum. The leading spirit in this movement was Rokycana's nephew, commonly called Gregory the Patriarch. The teaching and influence which shaped it was that of Peter Chelcicky. Gregory and his companions, wishing to dwell together, in the Christian unity of which they had formed an ideal in their minds, found a retreat at the secluded village of Kunwald, on the estate of George Podiebrad. "The name which they chose was 'Brethren of the Law of Christ'--'Fratres Legis Christi'; inasmuch, however, as this name gave rise to the idea that they were a new order of Monks, they changed it simply into 'Brethren.' When the organization of their Church had been completed, they assumed the additional title of 'Jednota Bratrska,' or Unitas Fratrum, that is, the Unity of the Brethren, which has remained the official and significant appellation of the Church to the present day. .... It was often abbreviated into 'The Unity.' Another name by which the Church called itself was 'The Bohemian Brethren.' It related to all the Brethren, whether they belonged to Bohemia, Moravia, Prussia or Poland. To call them The Bohemian-Moravian Brethren, or the Moravian Brethren, is historically incorrect. The name Moravian arose in the time of the Renewed Brethren's Church, because the men by whom it was renewed came from Moravia. ... The organization of the Unitas Fratrum took place in the year 1457."

_E. De Schweinitz, History of the Church known as Unitas Fratrum, chapter 10-12._

BOHEMIA: A. D. 1458. Election of George Podiebrad to the throne.

See HUNGARY: A. D. 1442-1458.

BOHEMIA: A. D. 1458-1471. Papal excommunication and deposition of the king, George Podiebrad. A crusade. War with the Emperor and Matthias of Hungary. Death of Podiebrad and election of Ladislaus of Poland.

"George Podiebrad had scarcely ascended the throne before the Catholics, at the instigation of the pope, required him to fulfil his coronation oath, by expelling all heretics from the kingdom. He complied with their request, banished the Taborites, Picards, Adamites, and all other religious sects who did not profess the Catholic doctrines, and issued a decree that all his subjects should become members of the Catholic church, as communicants under one or both kinds. The Catholics, however, were not satisfied; considering the Calixtins as heretics, they entreated him to annul the compacts, or to obtain a new ratification of them from the new pope: To gratify their wishes he sent an embassy to Rome, requesting a confirmation of the compacts; but Pius, under the pretence that the compacts gave occasion to heresy, refused his ratification, and sent Fantino della Valle, as legate, to Prague, for the purpose of persuading the king to prohibit the administration of the communion under both kinds. In consequence of this legation the king called a diet, at which the legate and the bishops of Olmutz and Breslau were present. The ill success of the embassy to Rome having been announced, he said, 'I am astonished, and cannot divine the intentions of the pope. The compacts were the only means of terminating the dreadful commotions in Bohemia, and if they are annulled, the kingdom will again relapse into the former disorders. The council of Basle, which was composed of the most learned men in Europe, approved and granted them to the Bohemians, and pope Eugenius confirmed them. They contain no heresy, and are in all respects conformable to the doctrines of the holy church. I and my wife have followed them from our childhood, and I am determined to maintain them till my death.' ... Fantino replying in a long and virulent invective, the king ordered him to quit the assembly, and imprisoned him in the castle of Podiebrad, allowing him no other sustenance except bread and water. The pope, irritated by this insult, annulled the compacts, in 1463, and fulminated a sentence of excommunication against the king, unless he appeared at Rome within a certain time to justify his conduct. This bull occasioned a great ferment among the Catholics; Podiebrad was induced to liberate the legate, and made an apology to the offended pontiff; while Frederic, grateful for the assistance which he had recently received from the king of Bohemia, when besieged by his brother Albert, interposed his mediation with the pope, and procured the suspension of the sentence of excommunication. Pius dying on the 14th of August, 1464, the new pope, Paul II., persecuted the king of Bohemia with increasing acrimony. He sent his legate to Breslau to excite commotions among the Catholics, endeavoured without effect to gain Casimir, king of Poland, by the offer of the Bohemian crown, and applied with the same ill success to the states of Germany. He at length overcame the gratitude of the emperor by threats and promises, and at the diet of Nuremberg in 1467, the proposal of his legate Fantino, to form a crusade against the heretic king of Bohemia, was supported by the imperial ambassadors. {291} Although this proposal was rejected by the diet, the pope published a sentence of deposition against Podiebrad, and his emissaries were allowed to preach the crusade throughout Germany, and in every part of the Austrian territories. The conduct of Frederic drew from the king of Bohemia, in 1468, a violent invective against his ingratitude, and a formal declaration of war; he followed this declaration by an irruption into Austria, spreading devastation as far as the Danube. Frederic in vain applied to the princes of the empire for assistance: and at length excited Matthias king of Hungary against his father-in-law, by offering to invest him with the kingdom of Bohemia. Matthias, forgetting his obligations to Podiebrad, to whom he owed his life and crown, was dazzled by the offer, and being assisted by bodies of German marauders, who had assumed the cross, invaded Bohemia. At the same time the intrigues of the pope exciting the Catholics to insurrection, the country again became a prey to the dreadful evils of a civil and religious war. The vigour and activity of George Podiebrad suppressed the internal commotions, and repelled the invasion of the Hungarians; an armistice was concluded, and the two kings, on the 4th of April, 1469, held an amicable conference at Sternberg, in Moravia, where they entered into a treaty of peace. But Matthias, influenced by the perfidious maxim, that no compact should be kept with heretics, was persuaded by the papal legate to resume hostilities. After overrunning Moravia and Silesia, he held a mock diet at Olmutz with some of the Catholic party, where he was chosen king of Bohemia, and solemnly crowned by the legate. ... Podiebrad, in order to baffle the designs both of the emperor and Matthias, summoned a diet at Prague, and proposed to the states as his successor, Ladislaus, eldest son of Casimir, king of Poland, by Elizabeth, second daughter of the emperor Albert. The proposal was warmly approved by the nation, ... as the Catholics were desirous of living under a prince of their own communion, and the Calixtins anxious to prevent the accession of Frederic or Matthias, both of whom were hostile to their doctrines. The states accordingly assented without hesitation, and Ladislaus was unanimously nominated successor to the throne. The indignation of Matthias was inflamed by his disappointment, and hostilities were continued with increasing fury. The two armies, conducted by their respective sovereigns, the ablest generals of the age, for some time kept each other in check; till at length both parties, wearied by the devastation of their respective countries, concluded a kind of armistice, on the 22nd of July, 1470, which put a period to hostilities. On the death of Podiebrad, in the ensuing year, Frederic again presenting himself as a candidate, was supported by still fewer adherents than on the former occasion; a more numerous party espoused the interests of Matthias; but the majority declaring for Ladislaus, he was re-elected, and proclaimed king. Frederic supported Ladislaus in preference to Matthias, and by fomenting the troubles in Hungary, as well as by his intrigues with the king of Poland, endeavoured not only to disappoint Matthias of the throne of Bohemia, but even to drive him from that of Hungary."

_W. Coxe. History of the House of Austria,