Page:A grammar of the Bohemian or Cech language.djvu/14

viii Englishman, Peter Payne, a man destined to make a great reputation in Bohemia, although not much is known about his life in his native country. Hus was born in 1369, took the degree of M.A. in 1396, and was made rector of the University of Prague in 1402. All have read how he attended the Council of Constance and was there burnt in 1415. Hus wrote a great deal in Latin, but also in Bohemian. His works in the latter language were collected and edited by Erben in 1865–68. They are for the most part controversial. One of them is entitled, Dcerka aneb o poznání cesty pravé k spasení (The Daughter, or the Knowledge of the Right Way to Salvation). Hus corrected the Bohemian translation of the Bible, and may be said to have fixed the orthography of the language; in the present century a few modifications have been introduced, thus w is now always written v, au has become ou, and g has given place to j. It may be as well to mention these changes in case any students should refer to old Bohemian books. The country was now for some time agitated by religious factions. We can only briefly allude to the famous captain, Jan Žižka, who fortified his camp in an original manner, which has been frequently imitated since.

About this time translations of the travels of Marco Polo, and of those which went under the name of Sir John Mandeville, made their appearance. Peter Chelčický deserves a brief mention. He was one of the leaders of the United Brethren, and, being a cobbler by trade, was nicknamed Kopyto, or the shoe-last.