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 crown was headed by the treacherous Ulric of Rosenberg, who, by false representation of the affairs of Bohemia, influenced Albert to refuse the crown, although he pretended to be trying to persuade him to accept it. This noble favored the claims of Elizabeth in behalf of the young prince, Ladislav, because in this way he had hopes that he himself could rule the country. Disappointed here, the popular side offered the crown to Frederick of Styria, who, at the death of Albert of Austria, had assumed the government of that country for Elizabeth, and was also the guardian of the young prince. Influenced by the party of Ulric of Rosenberg, he, too, refused. The crown was then offered him under other conditions, and as he did not wish to lose his influence in Bohemia by openly refusing it, he gave plausible replies, which was only to gain time. When, in 1442, Queen Elizabeth died, he was asked to rule the country as regent, but he did not accept immediately, and in this unsettled state of the country the troubles caused by petty wars among the nobility greatly increased, causing much distress among the common people.

In the year 1437, during the insurrection against Sigmund, John Kolda, a famous Taborite general, gained possession of the fortress of Nachod, and from there carried on a petty war against the district of Hradetz and Silesia. This war finally grew to such dimensions that a strong force was found to be necessary to oppose him. Silesia, Hradetz, the four districts tuled by Ptaček, and Prague, united their forces to oppose the daring chief. His old friends, the Taborites,