§ 45. HUSS AT CONSTANCE. 371
Richard Wyche, he was thankful that "under the power of Jesus Christ, Bohemia had received so much good from the blessed land of England." ^
The Bohemian theologian was fully imbued with Wyclif's heretical spirit. The great Council of Constance was about to meet. Before that tribunal Huss was now to be judged.
§ 45. Huss at Constance.
Thou wast their Rock, their fortress and their might ;
Thou, Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight ;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their light of light. Alleluia.
The great expectations aroused by the assembling of the Council of Constance included the settlement of the disturbance which was rending the kingdom of Bohemia. It was well understood that measures were to be taken against the heresy which had invaded Western Christendom. In two letters addressed to Conrad, archbishop of Prag, Gerson bore witness that, in learned centres outside of Bohemia, the names of Wyclif and Huss were indissolubly joined. Of all Huss' errors, wrote the chancellor, " the proposition is the most perilous that a man who is living in deadly sin may not have authority and dominion over Christian men. And this proposition, as is well known, has passed down to Huss from Wyclif." ^
To ConstanceSigismund, king^of tjie Romans and heicjof the Bohemian crown, turned for relief from the embarrassment of Hussitism ; and Ifroin LoDoibardy he sent a deputation to summon Huss to attend the council, at the same time promising him safe conduct. The Reformer expressed his readiness to go, and had handbills posted in Prag announcing his decision. Writing to Wenzel and his queen, he reaffirmed his readiness, and stated he was willing to suffer the penalty appointed for heretics, should he be condemned. ^
Under date of Sept. 1, 1414, Huss wrote to Sigismund that he was ready to go to Constance " under safe-conduct of your
1 Workman : Hits'' Letters, p. 36.
2 Van der Hardt, I. 18 ; Palacky, Docum., pp. 523-528.
3 For these letters and copies of the handbill, see Workman, Hus^ Letters, p. 140 sqq.
372 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1294-1517.
protection, the Lord Most High being ray defender." A week later, the king replied, expressing confidence that, by his appearance, all imputation of heresy would be removed from the kingdom of Bohemia.
Huss set out on the journey Oct. 11, 1414, and reached Constance Nov. 3. He was accompanied by the Bohemian nobles, John of Chlum, Wenzel of Duba and Henry Lacembok. With John of Chlum was Mladenowitz, who did an important service by preserving Huss' letters and afterwards editing them with notes. Huss' correspondence, from this time on, deserves a place in the choice autobiographical literature of the Christian centuries. For pathos, simplicity of expression and devotion to Christ, the writings of the Middle Ages do not furnish anything superior.
In a letter written to friends in Bohemia on the eve of his departure, Huss expressed his expectation of being confronted at Constance by bishops, doctors, princes and canons regular, yea, by more foes than the Redeemer himself had to face. He prayed that, if his death would contribute aught to God's glory, he migrht be enabled to meet it without sinful fear. A second letter was not to be opened, except in case of his death. It was written to Martin, a disciple whom the writer says he had known from childhood. He binds Martin to fear God, to be careful how he listened to the confessions of women, and not to follow him in any frivolity he had been guilty of in other days, such as chess-playing. Persecution was about to do its worst because he had attacked the greed and incontinence of the clergy. He willed to Martin his gray cloak and bade him, in case of his death, give to the rector his white gown and to his faithful servant, George, a guinea.
The route was through Niirnberg. Along the way Huss was met by throngs of curious people. He sat down in the inns with the local priests, talking over his case with them. At Niirnberg the magistrates and burgherskinvited him to meet them at an inn. Deeming it unnecessary to go out of its way to meet Sigismund, who was at Spires, the party turned its face directly to the lake of Constance. Arrived on its upper shore, they sent back most of their horses for sale, a wise measure, as