Page:The Hussite wars, by the Count Lützow.djvu/247

 been closed to the Bohemians—all intercourse with the Hussites had been forbidden under penalty of excommunication—that the country would have been thoroughly exhausted had it not obtained supplies from Silesia. That country also now became a great recruiting-ground for the Hussite armies. In consequence of the necessities of agriculture it was impossible to keep the whole peasantry constantly under arms. Their places were gradually taken by other, not always desirable, recruits. Many Poles and Lithuanians, attracted by the example of Prince Korybutovič, as well as Ruthenians, now began to flock to the Bohemian standards. Many of these men—particularly the Ruthenians, who belonged themselves to a Utraquist Church—were genuinely zealous for the cause of Utraquism, and most of them, no doubt, possessed the innate Slavic hatred of the Teuton. Yet many of the new recruits were influenced by other motives. In consequence of the almost incessant warfare on the borders of Poland, Lithuania, Russia, and the dominions of the Teutonic order, these lands swarmed with mercenaries, always ready to take part in any warlike enterprise. Such men were mainly attracted by the democratic character of the Hussite armies, in which the rich spoils were distributed with the strictest impartiality. It is certain that in consequence of the admission of these new elements the Bohemian armies deteriorated towards the end of the war.

When the advanced party among the Hussites determined to drive Prince Korybutovič from Bohemia they were certainly unaware of the fact that they were rendering the greatest service to King Sigismund. Korybutovič had undoubtedly been a very dangerous rival to the claimant to the Bohemian throne; he had accepted the articles of Prague, and he belonged to the Slavic race. After his departure some of those who were strongly attached to the monarchical principle began again to turn their attention to Sigismund. Fourteen years had elapsed 2em