§ 44. JOHN HUSS OF BOHEMIA. 363
appearance, the people flocked together in crowds and in spite of the clergy. ^
Following a bull issued by Alexander V., Sbinko, in 1410, ordered "Wyclif's writings seized and burnt, and forbade all preaching in unauthorized places. The papal document called forth the protest of Huss and others, who appealed to John XXIII. by showing the absurdity of burning books on philosophy, logic and other non-theological subjects, a course that would condemn the writings of Aristotle and Origen to the flames. The protest was in vain and 200 manuscript copies of the Reformer's writings were cast into the flames in the courtyard of the archiepiscopal palace amidst the tolling of the church bells. 2
Two days after this grewsome act, the sentence of excommunication was launched against Huss and all who might persist in refusing to deliver up Wyclif's writings. Defying the archbishop and the papal bull, Huss continued preaching in the Bethlehem chapel. The excitement among all classes was intense and men were cudgelled on the streets for speaking against the Englishman. Satirical ballads were sung, declaring that the archbishop did not know what was in the books he had set fire to. Huss' sermons, far from allaying the commotion, were adapted to increase it.
Huss had no thought of submission and, through handbills, announced a defence of Wyclif's treatise on the Trinity before the university, July 27. But his case had now passed from the archbishop's jurisdiction to the court of the curia, which demanded the offender's appearance in person, but in vain. In spite of the appeals of Wenzel and many Bohemian nobles who pledged their honor that he was no heretic, John XXI H. put the case into the hands of Cardinal Colonna, afterwards Martin V., who launched the ban against Huss for his refusal to comply with the canonical citation.
Colonna's sentence was read from all the pulpits of Prag except two. But the offensive preaching continued, and Sbinko
1 Workman : Hus'' Letters, p. 36.
2 Among the condemned writings, 17 in all, were the Dialogus, Trialogtis, De incarnatione Verbi and the De dominio civili.
db4 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1294-1517.
laid the city under the interdict, which, however, was withcTrawn on^^e Tclng''s promise to root out heresy from his realm. Wenzel gave orders that '' Master IIuss, our beloved and faitliful chaplain, be allowed to preach the Word of God in peace." According to the agreement, Sbinko was also to write to the pope assuring him that diligent inquisition had been made, and no traces of heresy were to be found in Bohemia. This letter is still extant, but was never sent.
Early in September, 1411, Huss wrote to John XXIII. protesting his full agreement with the Church andasking thatthe citation to appear before the curia be revoked. In this communication and in a special letter to the cardinals ^ IIuss spoke of the punishment forheresy and insubordination. He, however, wrote to John that he was bound to speak the truth, and that he was ready to suffer a dreadful death rather than to declare what would be contrary to the will of Christ and his Church. He had been defamed, and it was false that he had expressed himself in favor of the remanence of the material substance of the bread after the words of institution, and that a priest in mortal sin might not celebrate the eucharist. Sbinko died Sept. 28, 1411. Atjjjis juncture fhpt eYcit-eirent-, w^s ino-reaspd hy. the arrival in Prag of John Stokes, a Cambridge man, and well known in England as an uncompromising foe of Wycliffisui. He had come with a delegation, sent by the English king, to arrange an alliance with Sigismund. Stokes' presence aroused the expectation of a notable clash, but the Englishman, although he ventilated his views privately, declined Huss' challenge to a public disputation on the ground that he was a political representative of a friendly nation,^
, The same year, 1411, John XXIII. called Europe to a crusade against Ladislaus of NirjTTes, tlie drft'inU'r of (Iregory XIL, and pi'omised indulgence to all participating in it, whether by personal enlistment or by gifts. Tiem, dean of Passau, appointed preacher of the holy war, made his way to Prag and opened the
, sale of indulgences. Chests were placed in the great churches,
1 These letters are given by Workman, pp. 51-54.
2 Huss' reply, lieplica, and Stokes' statement, which called it forth, are given in the Niirnb. ed., I. 135-139.