THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
previous to 1467. These negotiations proved fruitless, however, since the Waldensians as a body would not countenance an open break with the Roman Catholic Church. Some of them, on the other hand, joined the Brethren, and among this number was an old Waldensian priest, who was present, together with certain representatives of the German Waldensians, at a conference of about sixty Brethren from various parts of Bohemia and Moravia which was held, according to a later tradition, at Lhotka, a village near Reichenau, in 1467 to choose and ordain priests of their own. Fully aware of the momentous nature of their proceeding, they wished God himself to decide by lot whether the time had come for them to venture the step, and which persons should be the first priests. Nine candidates were proposed, each of whom was required to draw one of twelve slips, nine blank and three containing the word jest ("he is "). In case all the candidates drew blanks, the synod was to be adjourned for a year. Thomas, Matthias, and Elias, however, drew the three written slips, whereupon they were " confirmed "
by the laying on of hands by the old
3. First Waldensian priest, apparently assisted
Priests by the priest Michael (?), in the name
of the and authority of the synod. By a
Brethren . more restricted lot Matthias was chosen
from the three to have " the first place in authority," or as "bishop," as Michael called himself in a conference with the Utraquistic consistory in 1478. It was not until May of the following year (1468) that the Brethren informed Rokycana of what had occurred, and they then seem to have broken definitely with him. They themselves, however, were soon divided as to " whether it should so remain," and the result was the decision that Matthias should be consecrated bishop by the Waldensian bishop Stephen. Strangely enough, the priest Michael was sent, instead of Matthias himself. Michael met Stephen in southern Moravia, received consecration from him, and gave it, when he returned, to Matthias, whereupon he resigned both the authority of bishop, which he had received only for this purpose, and also bis Catholic priesthood, having himself reordained by Matthias as a priest of the Brethren, while the new bishop likewise ordained Thomas and Elias. This is the account of Michael and other eye-witnesses, while later sources, even of the early sixteenth century, present many deviations, partly in an endeavor to conceal the cooperation of the Waldensians so far as possible.
The members of this newly constituted community called themselves " Brethren," and were known in different portions of the country by the names of their chief centers, such as Kunwalders, Bunzlau Brethren, and the like. As a whole they termed themselves Jednota Bratrskd, which they later rendered into Latin as Unitas Fratrum. Their characteristic designation was Brethren, which had already been current in various older Bohemian communities. The name Fratres legis Chrixti first arose in the second half of the sixteenth century, but never became general. Their opponents usually termed them Waldensians or Pick-
ards (a corruption of Beghards), and this designation, found even in the royal decrees, became so general that they themselves employed it in the titles of many of their writings, terming themselves " the Brethren who for envy and hatred are called Waldensians or Pickards." The first result of the events of 1467 was a renewal of the persecutions, which lasted until the death of George and Rokycana in 1471, and which also involved the Waldensians, Stephen being burned at
4. Bela- the stake in Vienna during this period, tions This persecution may also have been
with the the cause of the renewed attacks on
"Walden- them in Brandenburg, and about sians. 1478 two Waldensians accordingly went from that country to the Brethren, thus inaugurating an intercommunication between the two sects which resulted in a number of Waldensians joining the Brethren after 1480 and settling at Landskron in Bohemia and at Fulneck in Moravia. In the latter country both sects were tolerated under King Matthias, until the end of his reign, when a decree of expulsion was issued in 1488, although it was soon revoked at the petition of some patrons of high rank. A portion of the Brethren had already emigrated to Moldavia, but apparently returned within a few years.
Internal strife, centered about the ideal of Peter mentioned above, was more perilous to the maintenance of unity than external oppression. A " small " party clung to this ideal, and accordingly rejected temporal power, law, service in war, the oath, and the like as unchristian, while a " great " party regarded all these as dangerous, yet not to be rejected unconditionally. The controversies ended in 1494 with the victory of the " great " party, the " small " party, who called themselves Amosites after their leader Amos, separating as an independent community and preserving an existence for several decades. During these dissensions two leaders of the " great " party, Lukas and Thomas, journeyed to North Italy to visit the Lombard Waldensians in their own homes, possibly seeking, in view of their disagreement with the " small " party, to make a final effort to induce the Waldensians to break openly with Rome. A correspondence between the Brethren and the Waldensians was associated with this journey, the three Waldensian treatises, preserved either entire or in fragments, La epistola al serenissimo Rey Lancelau; Ayczo es la causa del nostre departiment de la gleysa Romana ; and De I'Anticltrist, as well as the catechism Las interrogations motors, being apparently translations or revisions of Bohemian writings composed by the Brethren, although the mutual relations are not yet altogether clear.
II. The Brethren under Lukas: The period between 1496 and 1528 is marked by the activity of Lukas. Although he was not appointed presiding bishop until 1517, his influence was potent during the administration of his predecessors in office, Procopius (1507) and Thomas of Prelouc (1517). His special task was the restoration of the Unity which had become necessary in consequence of the secession of the " small " party. A mass of ordinances, touching on all the relations of life,