Page:Bohemia An Historical Sketch.djvu/202

 brad and Ulrich of Rosenberg. In the year 1446 a great meeting of the Estates took place at Prague. It was one of those assembhes known in Bohemian history as a "GoneralGeneral [sic] Diet" at which representatives not only of Bohemia but also of Moravia, Silesia, and Lusatia (all which countries at that period formed part of what are technically known as the lands of the Bohemian crown) were present. This Diet is of importance in the constitutional history of Bohemia. We here, for the first time, find the Estates clearly divided into three chambers (known as "curiae,") namely, the lords, knights, and citizens. The "curiae" deliberated separately, and only met with a final decision. The resolutions of this Diet were similar to those of previous assemblies since the death of Albert. Complaints were again raised against the detention of Ladislas, who, it was said, was being brought up as a stranger to the country over which he was destined to rule. An attempt to establish a regency failed. The country indeed remained without any regular government, as the authority of Menhard of Jindřichův Hradec on whom Sigismund had conferred the dignity of supreme burgrave—the highest office in the country—was not universally recognized.

The Diet further complained of the refusal of the Papal See to recognize Archbishop John. It also accused the Romanists of secret agitations against the Compacts. It was also decided that a new embassy should be sent to Rome, a mission which resulted in a complete failure. The Papal See even withdrew from the attitude of toleration which it had formerly assumed with regard to the Compacts. The only promise which Pope Nicholas V (who had now succeeded Eugenius IV) made was that he would send Cardinal Carvajal as legate to Bohemia to inquire into the state of affairs of the country. The steps which the Diet took to secure the residence of Ladislas in Bohemia were also ineffectual. When the German King Frederick heard that the Bohemian Estates intended to send an embassy to Vienna for this purpose, he immediately wrote to them declaring that he entirely refused his sanction to the departure of Ladislas.

George of Poděbrad probably decided to appeal to armed force soon after the termination of the Diet of 1446. He believed this to be the only means of ending the anarchy from which Bohemia was suffering. His adherents began