Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 6.djvu/565

 ii s. vi. DEC. 14, 1912.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

465

does not seem to be recorded. A list of the Masters and Wardens from 1632 is given.

Clothworkers. From foot-notes appended to Herbert's account of this Company it would appear that they possess a series of volumes of records extending back some centuries, though no dates are given.

Coopers. At p. 39 of Firth's ' Memo- randa ' (1848) it is stated that "the Com- pany's records commence 1439, 18 Henry VI." ; while at p. 65 we are informed that " the Company possess a series of Accounts extending as far back as 1440."

Cordivainers. The booklet issued by the Company in connexion with the centenary of their benefactor John Came, cordwainer, contains in its chapter on the history of the Guild some extracts of c. 1595-1601, from which it appears that their records begin at least as early as the former date.

Curriers. From the Preface to Burkitt's ' History ' (1906) it appears that " the great Fire of London destroyed the records of this Company previous to 1666, but from this date they are intact." A list of the Masters from 1682 is given.

Drapers. In a foot-note at p. 403 of Herbert's ' History ' it is set out in regard to the Company's records that " the first book, which is a very large folio, fairly written, begins in. . . .1475, and ends 1508. ....The second book does not begin till six or seven years after the ending of the first. ..."

Fishmongers. Herbert informs us in a foot-note at p. 43 as follows, viz. :

" The Fishmongers have no Wardens' Accounts or Minutes of an earlier date than 1592, their more ancient ones having been either destroyed in the Fire of London, or otherwise lost. The Minutes remaining .... consist of eight folio volumes, separately dated, covering the period 1592-1814."

A list of the Masters from 1700 onward is given by Towse in his ' Account ' (1907).

WlLUAM McMURRAY. (7'o be continued.)

THE BURIAL-PIACK OF JAN ZIZKA. The career of Jan Zizka, the Hussite general, as described in his biography by the late Prof. V. V. Tomek, historian of Prague, reads like a wonderful romance. It is said that he was born during a storm under an oak at Trocnov, near Budejovice (Budweis), and, until the clergy interfered, blacksmiths fixed splinters from the tree to their hammers in the belief that their blows might be more effective. Zizka was deprived of one eye in youth, and at the siege of Rabi, a sturdy

fortress in the Sumava valley which I have- often seen, an arrow put out the other eye.

During his assault on Pribislav, Zizka was seized by the plague, and expired under 'a pear tree, in the arms of his intimate friend and counsellor Michael Kudele ze Zitenic, on 11 Oct.. 1424. His followers, who there- upon styled themselves Sirotci (orphans),, took his body for burial to Hradec Kralovy (Koniggratz), whence it was removed to the church of SS. Peter and Paul at Caslav. An altar and inscription were erected above the tomb. (When Ferdinand I. visited Caslav he is said to have shown annoyance at the sight of the tomb and mace of Zizka. ) I have before me an interesting account, by Mr. J. Dlabacek, archivist of Caslav, of the recent discovery of the remains of the famous warrior.

The town and church suffered severely from fire in 1522. and in consequence a fresh altar and inscription were needed. The inscription ran :

" Anno 1424 die Jovis ante festum Galli vita functus Johannes Zizka a Calice, rector rerum publicarutn laborantium in nomine et pro nomine Dei. Hoc templo conditus est." (Zizka's signature was " Bratr Jan z; Kalicha,"' Brother John of the Chalice.) This inscription is certified by John Amos Komensky (Comenius) in his story of the Bohemian Church. After the White Moun- tain misfortune, as is well known, the agents of the Counter-Reformation made havoc of all memorials of the flourishing days of Bohemia ; valuable books were committed to the flames by Jesuits, and tombs were violated as at Prague, where a marble memorial to Archbishop Rokycana was destroyed. (See the voluminous work by the Paris Professor Ernest Denis, ' La Boheme depuis la Montagne Blanche.') The governor of Caslav and some neigh- bouring towns. Vilem Vresovec, proceeded to erase inscriptions and epitaphs, and when Zizka's tomb was visited his remains could not be found. The inference is that admirers of Zizka removed and concealed these in the hope that when the fury of the storm passed over they might be restored. The tradition persisted locally that Zizka was buried somewhere in the church. The Mayor and Corporation of Caslav pro- ceeded to restore the church a short time ago, and diligent search was made for antiquities. At length, in the Lady Chapel, a niche was opened containing an ancient skull, some femoral and other bones, and a potsherd. The skull was submitted to Prof. Dr. Matiegka, Dr. Louis Manouvrier