The Missionary by Stephen Nelson Haskell

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Apr 23, 1885

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 17.

The Missionary.

By Stephen Nelson Haskell

Popes and Kings in the Time of Huss.

WE have briefly alluded to the time when there were two popes. This was during the period called "the great western schism," commencing in 1378, by the election of Clement VII., and lasting until the council of Constance, in 1414. Of this council, at which Huss was condemned and burned, we will hereafter speak more fully. This schism in the Romish church continued, until at one time there were three popes instead of two, each claiming to be the legitimate successor of St. Peter, and the true vicegerent of God. It suggested some questions not easily solved. Huss said: "If we must obey, to whom is our obedience to be paid? Balthasar, called John XXIII., is at Bologna; Angelus Corario, named Gregory XII., is at Rimini; Peter de Luna, who calls himself Benedict XIII., is at Aragon. If all these are infallible, why does not their testimony agree? and if only one of them is the Most Holy Father, why is it that we cannot distinguish him from the rest?" These circumstances gave influence to the words of Huss. He affirmed that the Scriptures were higher authority than popes or councils. On this he based his preaching. The word of God alone was the authority to be obeyed.

It was the Italian pope, John XXIII., who manifested such bitter hatred toward Huss, and who, with the emperor, was instrumental in bringing him to trial. Previous to this, a council had been held at Pisa, and Gregory XII. and Benedict XIII. had been condemned. The former had sent in his resignation and the latter had been deposed. At the general council, at Constance, in 1414, when Huss was condemned, pope John XXIII. was convicted of grievous and heinous crimes, concerning which Fox says: "He had hired Marcellus Permensis, a physician, to poison Alexander V., his predecessor. Further, that he was a heretic, a simoniac, a liar, a hypocrite, a murderer, an enchanter, a dice-player, and an adulterer; and finally," says he, "what crime was he not guilty of?" When the time of election came, and no one securing votes enough to be elected, John managed to have the matter of suggesting the proper man to be pope, referred to himself. Reluctantly, the cardinals complied with his request, and upon his promising to give the mantle to the man who ought to be pope, they placed it in his hands. He at once threw it around his own shoulders, saying, "I am pope." It was reported that he had a large number of soldiers in readiness to force the cardinals to elect him, had it been necessary.

Such was the character of the man who sent forth his bulls of excommunication against Huss, a man respecting whose life even his bitterest enemies could not bring a word of condemnation. His character was above reproach. The charge of heresy was the only one brought against him, and that consisted in believing that the Scriptures are to be obeyed as the highest authority. The same was also true of the Wycliffites, as those were called who had embraced the doctrines of Wycliffe; in fact, all who devoted their lives to the promulgation of the work of God in the fifteenth century were charged with this crime.

Charles IV. was crowned Emperor of Germany and Bohemia, Jan. 5, 1355, by the cardinal of St. Peter's Church, at Rome. He was the son of John of Luxembourg, king of Bohemia. Although a true son of the Catholic Church, for various reasons he was not as devotedly attached to her as most of the crowned heads at that time. Finally, pope Urban V. excommunicated him, which seemed to destroy all the good feeling that had previously existed between them. This, together with the strong disposition on the part of the emperor to favor learning, and the marriage of his daughter Anna to Richard II. of England, were providences of God in favor of the Reformation. Charles had two sons, Wenceslaus and Sigismund. The former was emperor only for a short time, and afterwards king of Bohemia. His character was a curious compound of indolence and passion, willful caprice and mischievous humor. He was made emperor in 1378, at the early age of fifteen years. At this time he gave promise of the highest virtues, but it was not long before the hopes of his early years were obscured by debaucheries and excesses. He became strangely reckless of his authority, consulting only his ease and his passions. He disposed of nearly all of Lombardy, embracing sixteen cities, for a nominal sum, broke his connection with Boniface IX., and united with Benedict of Avignon. The German princes becoming alarmed, cited him to appear at their tribunal, and upon his refusing to do so, formally deposed him. His brother declared him unfit to rule and placed him in prison. It is said that he felt the loss of his empire less than he would the loss of his wine. Shortly after having been released, and the Bohemians preferring him, with all his faults, to his brother Sigismund, he was made king of Bohemia.

His second wife, Queen Sophia of Bavaria, possessed a different character from that of her husband. She was a woman of strong mind and good principles. Huss was her confessor, and through her influence, in his early career, he was received with favor at court, and there made powerful friends. The influence of the king and queen was, for a time, in favor of Huss and the Reformation, but finally it turned against them. Sigismund, who was the second son of Charles IV., secured Hungary as his portion of the imperial domain. He afterward became emperor of Germany, when he forbade the levying of money for Rome within the limits of his kingdom, and thus for a time was at variance with Boniface IX. All these things contributed to the weakening of the pope's influence, until the gospel became firmly implanted in the hearts of the people. It was thus that God's providence prepared the way for the Bohemians to receive the gospel. No one who will take the pains to examine the history of these times, and in fact any age of the world, can but see that there has always been a providence attending the work of God. There is an overruling providence, not only over one nation, but over the whole world, which is under the control of him in whose hands the nations are as a drop in the bucket.

S. N. HASKELL.