Page:Bohemia An Historical Sketch.djvu/220

 new king. The diet assembled at Kutna Hora, where prolonged debates took place. Besides the Hungarian and Polish princes, Duke Albert of Saxony—who appears to have been supported by the sons of the late King George—also found adherents. It was, however, at last decided to elect as king Prince Vladislav of Poland (May 27, 1471 ). The new king immediately proceeded to Bohemia, and arrived at Prague (August 19), where he was received with rejoicings by the citizens. The doctors of the university, who welcomed him in the old town, "presented him with a neatly-printed and bound copy of the Bible, so that he might read it and direct himself and his subjects according to the will of God." The king's coronation took place three days later, but contemporary records do not report much concerning the ceremonies of the occasion.

King Matthew of Hungary recommenced hostilities against Bohemia as soon as his hopes of becoming the lawful sovereign of the land vanished. War between the two kings continued up to the year 1478. We read of no great battles, though constant local engagements occurred between the towns and the castles that acknowledged Vladislav and those which sided with Matthew. A treaty of peace was at last concluded at Olomonc in 1478. Matthew renounced all claims on Bohemia, but retained possession of Moravia, Silesia, and Lusatia; these countries were, however, to return to the Bohemian crown on the death of King Matthew.

The internal religious struggle in Bohemia meanwhile continued. It is clear that the sympathies of King Vladislav II were entirely with the papal party, and that policy alone prevented him from more openly manifesting them. Among other measures favourable to the Roman Catholics, Vladislav appointed as magistrates for Prague men of the party which, though still adhering to the use of the chalice, opposed all the other tenets of the old reform party, and generally showed sympathy with the papists. By order of these magistrates several priests and others were imprisoned for expressing opinions contrary to the doctrine of the Roman Church. This incident and other similar ones, which took place principally on the estates of the