The Effects of the Death of Huss and Jerome.
By Stephen N. Haskell
“Huss had been burned, and his ashes, committed to the Rhine, had been borne away to their dark sepulcher in the ocean.” Jerome had shared the same fate. These events were occasions of horror to the Bohemians; but by others the execution of Jerome, amid the clashing schemes and conflicting interests which marked the council, was lightly regarded. The members of the council thought that, by putting to death Huss and Jerome, they had cut off the head of the Bohemian heresy, and that it would soon become extinct; but they understood not the task that they had undertaken. It was the work of God with Christ at its head that they were attempting to overthrow. In destroying his messengers, they only gave an impetus to the work that all the anathemas of popes and councillors could not hinder. Says the historian, in speaking of the death of Jerome: “A gallant ship had gone down upon a stormy sea, and the wild waves of passion rolled on as madly and fiercely as if there had been no human victim of their murderous play. No expression of regret or remorse bubbles up visibly to the surface, to speak in the actors, any bitter memory of the deed.” But these deeds of violence did afterward cause them immense trouble. There were Bohemians in the council who were dissatisfied on account of the execution of Huss, and the condemnation and death of Jerome did not soothe their feelings or repress their indignation. It was soon after this that the Emperor Sigismund went to Avignon to bring into subjection the rival Pope. He also went to England to confer with the king on matters that pertained to the interests of the German nation. “As the vessel that bore him across the channel approached the English coast, several English lords, headed by the Duke of Gloucester, stepped into the water with their drawn swords in their hands, and stopped the boat. The emperor, surprised at such a reception, inquired the reason of it. The duke replied, that if he had come to challenge any authority in England, he had orders to forbid his landing; but if he came only as a mediator of peace, he should be treated with all the respect due to his imperial dignity.” Finally he landed; but a portion of the time while in England, he was a sort of a State prisoner in London. For nearly two years he was away from Constance. It seemed that the power which the emperor had before he violated the safe-conduct with Huss and the part he acted in the execution of these two martyrs, had, to a great extent, left him. It was the same with the council at Constance. It elected a new Pope, and sent forth its mandates against the Bohemians, excommunicating all who still adhered to the doctrines of Huss; but the execution of Jerome following upon that of Huss, was, in the eyes of the Bohemians, a new outrage, tending to destroy the last vestige of respect they could ever have entertained for those by whose order the deed was done. They therefore treated with indifference all documents coming from that body. They looked upon the council as an evil-designed body, and were prepared to resort to arms rather than to submit to the council or to the emperor who had violated a safe-conduct, and forfeited every right which he had to govern them as a people. They sent repeated remonstrances to the council, and finally a large number of the nobles and most influential men of Bohemia were summoned to appear before it. This had no effect whatever. Then the council sent a delegate to Bohemia to bring into subjection the heretics; but upon arriving and finding the state of feeling that existed there, he returned without daring to show himself in public. King Wenceslaus, the brother of Sigismund, reigned over Bohemia; but he would at one time favor the Hussites, and at another, the papal party. In fact, he would sooner have seen both parties overthrown and his kingdom become a desert than have had his own indolence or gluttony disturbed. He had yielded to his passions and the gratification of his appetite until he cared more for his wine than for his kingdom or the respect of his subjects. He dared not to commit himself to either party. The followers of Huss were the overwhelming majority in Prague, the capital of the kingdom. Every attempt to bring into subjection the Bohemians only enraged them, and the protests which they returned made the papal party still more bitter. The breach between them grew wider and wider until the new Pope took steps to bring them into subjection. The Emperor Sigismund thought the faction but a small one, which could be brought into subjection with but little trouble; but he miscalculated on the strength of a people who in their hearts believed that they were right, and who were ready even to fight till they died for the word of God and liberty of conscience. They scorned every proposal of the emperor or the Pope which in any way conflicted with the free preaching of the word of God. At one time, in writing to the council, they eulogized Huss in the highest terms, calling him “the apostle of Bohemia, a man innocent, pious, holy, a faithful teacher of the truth.” Holding the pen in one hand, while the other rested on the sword, they said, “Whoever shall affirm that heresy is spread abroad in Bohemia, lies, and is a traitor to our kingdom; and while we leave vengeance to God, to whom it belongs, we shall carry our complaints to the footstool of the indubitable apostolic pontiff, when the church shall again be ruled by such an one, declaring at the same time that no ordinance of man shall hinder our protecting the humble and faithful preachers of the words of our Lord Jesus, and our defending them fearlessly, even to the shedding of blood.” In this remonstrance the nobles of Moravia concurred; and the feeling thus expressed continued to deepen among those who received the light presented in the preaching of Huss and others of the reform party. About this time a new Pope was elected, and assumed the title of Martin V. The emperor entered the conclave, and in the first burst of his superstitious joy, falling down before this newly-elected Pope, kissed his feet. The Pope in his turn embraced the emperor fraternally. The disturbance in Bohemia was one of the first questions that came before the new pontiff. Instead of siding with the Bohemians, he required the emperor to give the Papal See worthy and substantial proofs of devotion by his efforts to exterminate that “sacrilegious and accursed nation.” He made liberal promises of rewards,—crowns and high places in Paradise,—to those who should display the most zeal against this obnoxious heresy, by shedding the greatest amount of Bohemian blood. Thus everything was done that could be on the part of the council, the new Pope, and the emperor, to awe those of the reform faith. But the greater the display on the part of the papal party, the more determined the Bohemians became to resist everything that in any way abridged their religious privileges. The whole nation was moved. Priests were driven from their parishes, and ministers substituted who would preach the word of God. The death of Huss roused scores of preachers who before were silent. Persecution emboldened them to stand in defense of those whom the Catholics had burned at the stake. The Hussites were divided into two parties, one called the Calixtines, the other, the Taborites. The latter carried the reform further than the former. Matters in general were in a state of disorder and confusion. Men without principle were not wanting to help on the work of civil discord. Robbers and bandits gladly seized the occasion to commit deeds of violence, which were charged to the reformers, but of which they were innocent. The timid king, Wenceslaus, abandoned the duties of his post, and fled to his castle in the country. After a time, however, he came back upon urgent entreaty, but was unable to quell the tumult, and was not disposed to interfere with either party. At this time, in the providence of God, a man by the name of Ziska came upon the stage of action in behalf of the Bohemians. His true name was John Trocznowski, but he was known as Ziska, that is, one eyed. He had formerly distinguished himself in the wars of Poland. On returning to his native land, he became chamberlain to King Wenceslaus. He warmly espoused the cause of Huss, and was deeply shocked by his martyrdom. One day while walking in a thoughtful mood in the palace, the king observed him, and inquired what he was thinking about. He replied, “I cannot brook the insult offered to Bohemia at Constance by the murder of John Huss.” “Where is the use,” said the king, “of vexing one's self about it? Neither you nor I have the means of avenging it. But,” said the king in a doubtful way, thinking that the fit of melancholy would soon pass away, “if you are able to call the emperor and the council to account, you have my permission.” “Very good, my gracious master,” replied Ziska, “will you be willing to give the promise in writing?” The king, who liked a joke, thinking that it would be perfectly harmless in the hands of one who had neither friends, money, nor soldiers, gave him what he asked under the royal seal. Thus it was that Ziska, in the providence of God, obtained the authority to call a council, and place himself at the head of the Taborites, to defend the liberties of the people, and secure the preaching of God's word. We have no correct estimate of the number of the inhabitants of this small nation, but the territory embraced about nineteen thousand, four hundred and ninety-two square miles,—nearly as much as New Hampshire and Vermont. The people were therefore comparatively few in number, and, judging from a human standpoint, would be unable to withstand the force of the German Empire backed up by the Pope. But God regarded the people who loved his word; he had also taken notice of the violation of the principles of righteousness in the burning of two of the noblest men who lived in that age of the world. Of all the wars that are recorded in history, excepting, perhaps, those of the Israelites, none bear some of the characteristics of the Bohemian wars. God wrought for his people and miraculously defended them. S. N. H.