Page:The Hussite wars, by the Count Lützow.djvu/218

 more and more self-confident, and desirous to transfer the seat of war from their own exhausted country to other regions where provisions and rich booty could be obtained. This feeling was, however, much stronger among the Táborites than among the partisans of Prince Korybutovič, who wished to found an orderly government in Bohemia and to establish, if possible, friendly relations with the neighbouring countries.

It is certain that in Germany everyone believed in the danger of an imminent Bohemian invasion. The German townsmen in all parts of the country began to repair and strengthen the city walls, and many towns such as Jena, Halle, and Magdeburg erected new fortifications. Even in the distant regions near the Rhine it was thought necessary to arm against a probable invasion. The apathy of the Germans disappeared, at least for a time. The German princes were unable to ignore this popular movement, and agreed to attempt a new invasion of Bohemia in the following year. Before referring to this new crusade it is necessary to consider the internal state of Bohemia at this moment, and to allude briefly to the domestic troubles which immediately followed the victory of Ústi. Shortly before the battle Victorin of Poděbrad, one of the greatest Utraquist nobles and a personal friend of Žižka, had abandoned the Táborites, joined the moderate Utraquists, and recognised Prince Korybutovič as his sovereign. It is evident that the Utraquist nobles had not the same confidence in Prokop which they had formerly had in Žižka, with whom many of them had been on terms of friendship. Victorin’s step, which he no doubt considered as a defection, infuriated Prokop. He marched with his Táborites on Poděbrad and besieged this principal stronghold of the lords who took their name from it. Poděbrad was strongly fortified, and in one direction protected by the river Elbe. We have here, as so often in the annals of the Hussite wars, little authentic information; but it appears certain that