Frances Gregor

“ Among the towns struck with terror at the approach of the Taborites, none trembled with fear as the miners of Kuttenberg. And they had cause. For three years they had enjoyed the pleasure of murdering Bohemian peasants, and their treachery to the prisoners of Chotibor seemed to be a climax to their infamous course against the Hussites; and now their guilty conscience told them that they could look for no mercy from the approaching enemy. They determined to fight to the last extremity, selling their lives as dearly as possible. ”

“ We find no pleasure in going to war with you, but we can not stand by idly while godliness languishes, churches are destroyed, pictures of saints desecrated, and the holy eucharist trampled under foot. Do not be deceived that a few men, casting aside all authority and law, are wiser than the whole Christian Church. What can soldiers, citizens, and peasants teach you? Do they understand the Word of God better than the doctors of the university? ”

“ After this speech, the Bohemian delegates left the hall, and never again could they be induced to enter it, Emperor Sigmund himself being obliged to act as mediator between them and the delegates of the Council. At last even he lost all patience, and cried out: “By the Living God, some persons seem determined that I shall never enter into my inheritance; but I shall enter it, and still die a good Catholic. What, indeed, is this Council of Basil? What has it accomplished? If it can not bring peace to Bohemia, it will come to naught, like other Councils!” ”

“ The people saw that the coming contest was to be a life-and-death struggle for them, and they prepared to meet it like men.
At this time the ruling spirit among the people of Prague was the priest John Zelivsky, who has already been spoken of in connection with the storm in the city hall of New Town. Being a man of great eloquence and burning zeal for his nation’s welfare, the proclamation of the crusade against his country roused his indignation to the highest pitch, and he at once began to hurl the thunderbolts of his wrath both against the Pope and the emperor. ”

“ In the latter years of the war, there is almost no mention of the nobility. At the beginning, we remember how the people rejoiced when so great a noble as Čenek of Wartenberg espoused their cause, yet he proved unstable, treacherous, and incapable. The victory was won by the people, and for the people; and although it may be said that it came a century too soon, it will forever remain a glorious illustration that the strength of a nation lies in its middle classes. ”

“ Thus perished one of Bohemia’s greatest sons, a man with a character so pure that even his bitterest enemies could bring no charges against him. He fell a victim to the fanatical rage of his enemies, and the treachery of Sigmund, who advised the cardinals not to spare his life, even though he should recant.
The sorrowing friends of Hus returned to Bohemia bearing the woeful tidings. The country was plunged into the most profound grief. Hus had been beloved as a preacher before; but now he became enshrined in the hearts of his countrymen as a martyr and a saint. ”

“ In the year 1283, Prince Václav, then twelve years of age, came back to Prague, to the great joy of all the people, who looked upon him as the one who was to restore the country to its former peace and prosperity. Being still too young to rule, the government was placed into the hands of those nobles who had taken the most active measures for the release of the young prince. At this time, his mother, Kunigunda, returned from Moravia, bringing with her the powerful Lord Zavis, of Falkenstein, to whom she had for some time been secretly married. ”

“ One of the most pleasant features of life in Bohemia at this time was the sacredness of home and the fidelity of wives and husbands to their marriage vows. Although youths and maidens indulged in free social intercourse, and dancing was the most common amusement, the principles of morality were so deeply rooted in their minds that they rarely overstepped the limits of virtue and chastity. ”

“ Men of letters, in whom the national consciousness had not died out, now began to work to awaken the same feelings in others, and in due time the fruits of their labors began to appear. Thus it was that the period of the greatest humiliation of the Bohemian language, proved to be the dawn of a new era, in which the nation may yet regain much of its former liberty and importance. ”

“ At this point the division under the direct command of Žižka came forward, and for a while the general himself was in great peril; but his followers succeeded in beating back the attack with their powerful flails. That moment was one of intense anxiety, both to the people of the city and to the army at Vitkov. All seemed lost! The women, children, and old men who could not fight were upon their knees, wailing and beseeching Heaven to aid their cause. Within an hour the crisis was over, the tide turned in favor of the Taborites. ”

“ The Hungarians were especially unfortunate in being the object of the king’s persecution. Not content that he had encroached so much upon their liberties as to divide their kingdom into three parts, he called a Diet at Pressburg, where he had the audacity to ask that they all come back to the Catholic faith, drive their clergymen out of the country, and replace them by Catholic priests. This unreasonable demand drove them into revolt. They chose as their leader Stephen Boskay, a wealthy noble of Transylvania, who had sought redress in Prague, but in vain. ”

“ The uprising of the Bohemians against Ferdinand II was the beginning of that long and bloody struggle known in history as the Thirty Years’ War. Although the emperor had conquered Bohemia, King Frederick was still at large, enlisting in his cause, or perhaps more in the cause of Protestantism, the various German princes, and also the great warrior Christian, the King of Denmark. This brought on a war in which almost the whole of Europe was involved. ”

“ A decisive battle was fought upon the very grounds where Premysl Ottokar had won such a brilliant victory over the Hungarians in the earlier part of his reign. But in those days the army of the king fought as one man; while now, there was division—treachery in the camp. During the action, while the tide seemed to be turning in favor of the Bohemians, one of the chief lords cried that all was lost, and that who could, should save his life. ”

“ Although five centuries have passed since this Father of Bohemia lived—and since that time fearful storms and changes have come over the country—yet, at the present time, no one can travel over the land without meeting on every side works that perpetuate the name of Charles IV, rendering it dear to every Bohemian heart. ”

“ The German princes now cast their looks about to find a man for an emperor, who should help them to humble the pride of the Bohemian: prince, and who, at the same time, should not stand in the way of their own aggrandizement. They found such a prince in Rudolph, the Count of Hapsburg, who, having some small possessions in Switzerland and Suabia, was too weak to assume any great authority over his constituents, and, moreover, agreed to wrest from the kingdom of Bohemia its recently acquired territories—Austria, Styria, and Carinthia. ”

“ In 1791, Leopold II was crowned with great splendor as King of Bohemia. On this occasion the crown was brought from Vienna to Prague, where it afterwards remained. The following year Leopold died, having reigned but two years.
The great evil that Leopold II did, for which he merits the curses of all mankind, was the re-establishment of servitude that his predecessor had with so much difficulty abolished. No words are adequate to express the dismay and despair of the poor peasants when compelled to return to the cruel tasks from which they believed they were forever freed. ”

“ The first mistake made by the States was that of choosing a king whom they knew to be the deadly enemy of their religion. Then they permitted their wrath to get the better of their reason, and committed an act of violence against the regents of their king—an act that could not be overlooked by any ruler without compromising his royal dignity. And again the foolish magnanimity of Count Thurn, in not putting the regents under strict guard after they had sought refuge at the house of Lobkovic, showed a confidence in his enemies that was almost childish. ”

“ Václav’s Committee, now called the National, declared against it, the German members resigned, and formed another committee, styled the Constitutional Union. Messengers from Frankfort came to Prague, with the demand that the National Committee should adopt different views; and when it refused to do so, they went so far in their audacity as to threaten to compel them to do so at the point of the sword. This so roused the indignation of the people that the Bohemian students broke up the meeting of the Constitutional Union, which after that did not venture to hold its sittings publicly. ”

“ The continual contact with the German nations, during the reigns of both Premysl and Václav, made the Bohemian people acquainted with the intellectual progress of Western Europe; but, at the same time, it was the means of introducing into the country many evil customs hitherto unknown. The higher classes became more and more luxurious in their mode of life, and in the same proportion as the lords waxed fat, the peasants upon their estates waxed lean, until servitude as grievous as slavery gradually became introduced into the country. ”

“ In Bohemia the awakening of national consciousness was also the direct cause of the awakening of the spirit of liberty. On all sides the people began to study their nation’s history, and with this historical knowledge was awakened a desire to regain at least a part of the lost liberty. ”

“ Contrary to all expectations, King Vladislav II proved to be one of the weakest rulers that ever sat upon the throne of Bohemia. When he assumed the government, the country was in a good condition; but it was a time when the nobility struggled to re-establish their ancient powers, and a strong hand was needed to keep their growing ambition within reasonable limits. But King Vladislav was at a loss to know what to do ”

“ All distinctions of rank were, forgotten, lords, knights, priests, and peasants mingling freely together. All were brethren, and had all things in common, so that the poor, who had brought but little, fared as well as those that had brought much. The day was spent in preaching, exhortations, taking the communion, and in brotherly discussions about the dangers that threatened their country, and the best means of preparing to meet them. The leaders, however, held secret meetings, where they looked the threatening storm in the face, and discussed the necessity of taking up arms in self-defense. ”

“ From this oppression, unheard of before in Bohemia, great evils arise. The people, driven to despair, forsake their lands, and, escaping into the forests, become thieves, robbers, and incendiaries, and perpetrators of other crimes. The land thus becomes desolate, and hard times and famine follow. Others rise in rebellion against their masters, and, forsaking wives and children, betake themselves to the mountains, whence they are ready to sally out armed upon their enemies. ”

“ But although the aldermen of the town were convinced that all their efforts to keep their church would prove futile, and were willing to obey the order, coming as it did from the king himself, they found themselves powerless in presence of the angry people. Men, women, and children rushed to the church, seizing stones and such weapons as they could find, and, posting themselves at the door, were ready to die in defense of their rights. The soldiers, not wishing to shed blood, withdrew, and thus the church remained in the hands of the people until the breaking out of the revolution. ”

“ War is a frightful evil in modern times, when some regard is paid to the rights of individuals, and soldiers are regularly recruited troops belonging to the respective nations; but in those days the individual did not seem to have any rights, and the soldiers, being hordes of bloodthirsty mercenaries, were equally a terror to the people across whose territory they marched, whether they belonged to the enemy or to their own sovereign. With such barbaric hordes crossing and recrossing the country in all directions. Bohemia was left in a condition most pitiable. ”

“ Premsyl Ottokar had been a good and just ruler, and had often taken up the cause of the poor against the wealthy classes that oppressed them; and this very virtue in him led, ultimately, to his ruin.
The death of the king brought the country into a state of anarchy. The selfish lords, caring nothing for the people, did nothing to oppose the approach of the enemy, and thus Rudolph marched through Moravia without any let or hindrance, leaving misery and death behind him. Among the distinguished prisoners in his train was the Bohemian queen, with her seven-year-old Václav. ”

“ The fortresses and cities were filled with thieves, who robbed, beat, and imprisoned the peasants. There can be no forgiveness for those cruel rulers who oppressed their peasants, calling them knaves and dogs, and all that they might satisfy their own insatiable appetites. “It is not right for a noble or wealthy man to be idle all day long, to play chess and cards, to sleep long, to commit adultery like a brute, to stuff himself constantly, and pour down wine or beer into his throat as into a cask. ”

“ Indeed, the whole government became a vast system of bureaucracy, having its center in Vienna. This was the case in Bohemia and in some of the other Austrian provinces, but not in Hungary. The empress favored that country, partly from gratitude and partly from fear. The latter motive has, doubtless, governed the actions of Austrian monarchs ever since; for Hungary has always enjoyed more liberty and home-rule than any other Austrian province. ”

“ The Slavonic races were open to the teachings of Christianity when presented to them in the right spirit, which is shown in the cases of Moravia, Bohemia, and Russia, all of which received the new religion from choice, and not from compulsion. It is not pleasant to reflect that Premysl Ottokar, a prince of their own blood, should join their inveterate enemies to invade their country, offering them the new faith, while, at the same time, they secretly hoped it would not be accepted; in which case they would have a plausible pretext to murder them and obtain possession of their wealth. ”