362

DOMESTIC MANNERS OF THE MUSSIANS.

John Huss was tried; and is, indecd, one of tlie mostinteresting objects in the place.

The opei.-work spire towering in the distance (yide steel-engraving), with the sqnat bulbous-tipped towers on eitherside of *.t, is tliat of tlie Constanz Münster; whilst the low,long bmlding at the extreme corner of the picture, is the oldDominican Monastery where Huss was imprisoned, and theremains of Ins dungeon are still to be seen.

It is the past life of Constanz, indeed, that makes up itspresent interest to English minds; but this part of thesubject we shall treat under a distinct head.

Suffice it for the present to say, that Constanz is consideredto have derived its name from its founder, the RomanEmperor Constantius Chlorus, father of Constantine theGreat and husband of that remarkably wonderful old ladySt. Helena, who, after her husband's death at York, dis-eovered, we are told, the Holy Cross, and founded half theCathedrals in Germany after her death! (See p. 344.) Bef'orethe time of Constantius, however, the Romans had con-structed a fortress named Valeria, but this having beendestroyed by the peasants in the neighbourhood, ConstantiusChlorus not only rebuilt the stronghold, but surrounded itwith a town, to which he gave Ins name, and which soonrose to a high degree of splendour.

From the time of the foundation of the city, Constanz at-tained great celebrity in the records of the Christian Church.

In the middle ages it was raised to the rank of an Im-perial city, and its prosperity continued to increase up to theperiod of the famous Council, which forms at once the mostimportant and the darkest page in its history. After which itsglory began to fade rapidly, and it now serves only to increasethe list of worn-out " Holy Cities;" for the same story has to be