Page:Adventures of Baron Wenceslas Wratislaw of Mitrowitz (1862).djvu/32

 after the death of the Utraquist Archbishop Elect, Rokycana.

Two of the most remarkable events of his regency and reign were the complete suppression of the singular republican community of the Taborites, and the rise of the Bohemian Brethren. A curious account of the former, shortly before their suppression in 1452, is given by an eyewitness, which I abridge from Palacky:—

“Æneas Sylvius Piccolomini, afterwards Pope Pius II, and his companions, when on their way with a mission from the Emperor Frederic III. to the Bohemian Parliament at Beneschau, were overtaken by the approach of night in the neighbourhood of Tabor. For fear of robbers and other roving bands of armed men, they did not think it advisable to spend the night in a village, but sent on to the town of Tabor to announce their arrival, and to ask for shelter for the night. ‘We preferred,’ says Æneas, ‘to entrust ourselves to the wolves rather than to the hares. At this the Taborites were delighted, and streamed out in crowds to meet and salute us. Extraordinary spectacle! A rude and boorish people wishing to appear courteous! The weather was rainy and cold. They came to meet us partly on foot, partly on horseback; some in light coats, others in skins; one with one eye, another with one hand; this man without a saddle, that without boots and spurs; all without order, and with plenty of noise, bringing, however, presents of welcome—fish, wine, and beer. The town itself stands on a level projection over declivities and waters, and is surrounded with a double wall, provided with a good many towers. On the side on which it joins the main land it is additionally protected by a deep ditch and a thick wall. Whoever wishes to enter here must do so through a threefold gate. The first gate has a wall, twenty feet broad and forty feet high, and a