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 who had the privilege of examining all kinds of doctrine. They said, if this principle should be adopted, it would be necessary to destroy the works of most of the pagan philosophers. King Václav supported the university, and requested the archbishop to suspend his intended action until the matter could be laid before the newly-elected Pope, John XXIII. But he heeded not the words of the king, and had the books burned without any delay. The books were beautifully written and richly bound, and their destruction was a serious loss to the owners; therefore, King Václav ordered the archbishop to make good the loss; and upon his refusal to do so, his estates were sequestered.

An event of grave importance, far-reaching in its results, was the action of the king in regard to the university. When Charles IV established the University of Prague, he aimed to make it the great institution of learning for the whole empire. It was with this end in view that he divided it into four nations—the Bohemian and Polish representing the Slavonic population, and the Bavarian and Saxon, the Teutonic. The founding of the University of Cracow, in 1400, drew away most of the Polish students, so that the Polish nation was virtually represented by the German, which gave that nation the whole control of the elections. The significance of this came out in connection with the Council of Pisa.

The European rulers failing in their attempts to settle the difficulty between the rival Popes, determined to call a great Council, to meet at Pisa, whose purpose should be the election of a new Pope, and reform of the Church in head and members. The reform party hailed the news with joy, but the higher clergy,