through Silesia, Moravia, and Hungary as far as Pres- burg. In 1429 Procop made inroads into the German states as far as Magdeburg, and returned to Bohemia laden with spoil, and followed by a numerous band of captive nobles and knights; and in the following year, at the head of 50,000 men-at-arms, and half as many horsemen, he again broke into Misnia, Franconia, and Bavaria, and after having burned 100 castles and towns, destroyed 1400 villages and hamlets, and carried off a vast amount of treasure, turned his arms against Mo-. ravia and Silesia. The emperor Sigismund at this crisis offered to treat with him, but the imperial demand, that the Hussites should submit to the decision of a council, afforded Procop a pretext for breaking off all negotia- tions with the imperial court. A second German cru- sading army now advanced in 1431, but was thorough- ly defeated at liiesenburg. These successes, which were followed by others of nearly equal importance in Silesia, Hungary, and Saxony, where the princes had to pur- chase peace at the hands of the two Procops on humil- iating terms, induced the Council of Basle to propose a meeting between the Hussite leaders and ten learned Catholic doctors. The meeting lasted fifty days, but was productive of no good result. Procop himseif went before that learned body, and defended, with much spirit, the creed of his party. But failing to receive such treatment as he felt himself entitled to, he finally refused further to attend the council, and returned to Bohemia, where, combining his forces with those of Procop the lesser, he laid siege to Pilsen. The Calix- tines, who came here in force, had offended Procop by the peace treaty they had made with a delegation of the Council of Basle. The council, on this, passed an act known as the Basle Compact, by which the Hussites were allowed the use of the cup in the Lord's Supper, and the Bohemians were designated by the title of the First Sons of the Catholic Church. The Taborites and Orphans, under the leadership of the two Procops, re- fused, however, to have anything to do with the pope, and hence dissensions arose between them and the more moderate of the Hussites. After many lesser encoun- ters between these factions, a decisive battle was fought near Lipau in 1434, in which Procop was induced, by a feint of the enemy, to leave his intrenchments. His followers at first fought desperately against the troops of the Bohemian nobles, who were commanded by Mein- hard of Neuhaus; but at length, under the influence of a sudden panic, they gave way, and took to flight. Pro- cop, after vainly striving to re-form their broken lines, threw himself into the midst of the enemy, and was killed. Procop the lesser, following in his steps, was also slain, anil with these two brave Hussite leaders the cause of the Taborites perished. — Chambers, s. v. Milman says, "with Procop fell the military glory, the religious inflexibility, of Bohemia." See Gillett. Life and Times o/ John J/uss, vol. ii, ch. xvii sq.; Leben des Procop (Prague, 1789); Milman, Hist, of Latin Chris- tianity, vii, 545-568; Palacky, Gcsch. von BoJtmen, iii, 91 sq.
Procop the Younger. See Procop, Andrew.
Procopius of Cjesarea, a noted character in the history of the East in the 6th century, is especially dis- tinguished as the writer of a history in which he dwells at large on the ecclesiastical condition of the periods of which he treats. He was born at Cwsarea, in Palestine, about the end of the 5th or beginning of the 6th centu- ry. After studying rhetoric in his native country, he went to Constantinople, where he gave lessons in rhet- oric, and appears to have been also a lawyer. His rep- utation for learning and ability reached the court; and the emperor Justin the elder, in the last year of his reign, appointed him assessor (vvyKaStcpoQ) to Belisa- rius, who was about that time sent as governor to Dara, on the frontiers of Armenia. Procopius afterwards ac- companied that commander in his first war against the Persians (530), afterwards in that against the Vandals in
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Africa (533-535), and lastly against the Goths in [taly . During these campaigns he appears to have rendered himself very useful by his ability and ac- tivity, and to have been intrusted by Belisarius with important commissions connected with the service of the army. In his capacity of assessor, he was the gen- eral's l «1 adviser, and he was also his private secre- tary. In 538 he assisted Antonina, t lie wife of Belisa- rius. in raising troops in Campania, and in sending some by sea to Rome, which was then besieged. On his re- turn to i lonstantinople, about 540, the emperor Justinian made him a senator, as a reward tor his services. In 562 he was made prefect of Constantinople, unless per- haps it was another of the name who obtained this dig- nity in that year, lie died in that city at an advanced age, but the precise year of his death is nol ascertained. It was during his extensive travels that he gathered the materials for the History of his Own Times (in eight books), translated into Latin by Claude .Mat tret, a Jes- uit, under the title Procopii Ccssariensis Historiarum ooris Libri Octo (Paris. 1662, fol.; with the Greek texl in English, Lond. 1653, fol.). His descrip- tion^ of the manners of the various barbarous nations which invaded the Roman empire are vivid and inter- esting. The lirst two books of bis history concern the Persian wars. He begins his narrative with the death of Arcadius, and briefly relates the wars between the Romans and Persians under Theodosius the younger. Anastasius, and Justinus, and lastly Justinian. As he comes down to contemporary times, his history is more diffuse. He closes with the twenty-third year of Jus- tinian's reign (A.D. 550). Books iii and iv treat of the wars of the Vandals in Africa, and the reconquesf of that province by Belisarius. The 5th, 6th, and 7th books are concerned with the history of the Gothic kingdom in Italy founded by Theodoric, and the expedition oi Belisarius against Totilas. The 8th book is of a mixed character; it resumes the account of the Persian wars. then -leaks of the affairs of the Roman empire in other quarters- in Africa, on the Rhine, and in Thrace — and at last resumes the narrative of the Gothic war in Italy, the expedition of Narses, the defeat and death of Teia, and the final overthrow of the Gothic king- dom. English Cyclop.s.v. As a historian, Procopins took Herodotus lor his pattern, and even resembles his master'- fatalism in the material conception of his- tory. Procopius assumes the role of a sceptic, and as such regards himself as above all positive religion and dogmatic disputes. <>n account of the cold, unsympa- thetic manner in which he writes of Christianity, some have not believed him a Christian, but a deist, Jew, or even a heathen. He was, however, al bast in outward confession, a Christian, as appears from his second work. Ihoi KTlff/XCLTior. I>< .h'llijirii.i, which contains a history of all churches, convents, and other public buildings reared under Justinian at the public expense in the Soman empire. Another of bis writings, entitled 'Avfk- I'o-ti, or Secret History, in thirty chapters, is a sort of