386

DOJIESTIC MANNEBS OF TUE PBUSSIANS.

mass and denounced the Pope as the scarlet lady ofBabylon.

The Senate then gave Orders for the arrest of three ofthese offenders, whereupon Huss, at the head of 2000 men,hastened to demand their hberation-; but though he wasassured that the magistrates had no intention of treating theprisoners with any severity, they were, every one of them,beheaded the same night in prison.

This naturally increased the bitterness of feeling amongthe dissidcnts, so that perpetual broils and riots raged in theBohemian capital; for as the Hussites grew in number theygrew also in boldness.

Bull after bull was fulminated, but with no effect; and atlast Pope John XXIII. wrote an urgent letter to Wenceslas V.of Bohemia, beseeching him to extirpate a heresy that threat-ened the stability of the civil as well as the ecclesiastic institu-tions. Wenceslas, however (for Huss had still great influenceover the mind of the Queen), paid no attention to the letter.

It was therefore considered necessary to repress the teach-ings of Huss and his followers with a strong hand, and itbeing evident that King Wenceslas was either unwilling orafraid to do so, his brother, the Emperor Sigismund, tookthe matter in hand, and summoned John Huss to surrenderhimself at the forthcoming Council of Constanz—there toexplain and defend his doctrines.

The Reformer regarded the approach of the GeneralCouncil with interest, believing that the assembly would leadto the reform of the discipline, if not the doctrines, of theChurch; and therefore cheerfully prepared to conform tothe summons.

Accordingly, having first affixed upon the palace andchurch doors of Prague a notice that he was going to Con-stanz to render account of the reform he had proposed in