Page:A history of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, volume 2.djvu/546

 ^30 THE HUSSITES. gences against the Hussites, and to him he issued, February 1, a commission to open and preside at the council. One of those most earnest in bringing this about was the Cardmal of Siena. Had he been able to forecast the future he would have tempered his zeal. Within three weeks Martin was dead, and on March 3 the Cardinal of Siena was elected his successor, taking the name of Eugenius IV.* Cardinal Giuhano went on his double mission and preached the fifth crusade against the Hussites. The Bohemian forays had stim- ulated Germany to an earnest effort to crush the troublesome rebels, and he found himself at the head of an army variously estimated at from eighty thousand to one hundred and thirty thousand men. The Bohemians applied to the Emperor Sigismund for a safe-con- duct to Basle, offering to submit the questions at issue to debate on the basis of Scripture. This was refused, and they were told that they must agree to stand to the decisions of the council without limitation. They preferred the arbitrament of arms, and issued a protest to the Christian world in which, with coarse good sense, they defined their position, attacked the temporal power of the papacy, and ridiculed the indulgences issued for their subjugation. This document was received by the council on August 10, very nearly on the day on which, at Taas, the crusaders fled without striking a blow, on hearing the battle-h^ann of the dreaded Hussite troops."" As a military leader Cardinal Giuliano was evidently a faU- ure and it only remained for him to try peaceful measures. The German princes, alarmed and exhausted, showed evident signs of determination to come to terms with their unconquerable neigh- bors. It was a hard necessity, but there was no alternative, and on October 15 the council resolved to invite the Bohemians to a Cocblsei Hist. Hussit. pp. 237-9. The repulsion of the papacy for general councils was not unnatural. On June 3 1435 the Council of Basle, with virtual unanimity, abrogated the an- nates and decreed that in future no charges should be made for sealing colla- tions and confirmations of sees and benefices, except the scrivener's moderate fees The Bishops of Otranto and Padua protested in the name of the pope, and findmg this unheeded arose and left the council, followed by a few others, while the rest gave themselves up to rejoicing and thanking God.-^gid. Carlerii Lib. de Legation, (op. cit. I. 568).
 * Jo. de Ragusio Init. etc. (Mon. Cou. Gen. Ssec. XV. T. I. pp. 66-7).—