Page:The Hussite wars, by the Count Lützow.djvu/272

 son-in-law, Duke Louis of Brieg, and most modern writers agree with this supposition. It has been pointed out that the wording of the manifesto recalls the statements contained in the documents drawn up by the Elector during the negotiations at Böheimstein. The Elector Frederick of Brandenburg has already been frequently mentioned in these pages. Of Duke Louis of Brieg, a Silesian prince, little is known. During the great invasion of Silesia he was said to have been somewhat half-hearted when opposing the Hussite attacks. It is, however, impossible to state with certainty who were the authors of the document.

This manifesto greatly impressed Pope Martin V. He at last consented to the meeting of a ecumenical council, whose members were to assemble at Basel in March 1431. Still, however, preferring to subdue the Hussites by the strength of the sword, he endeavoured by all means to accelerate the new crusade against Bohemia. To accentuate his point of view the Pope, on January 1, 1431, appointed Cardinal Julian Cesarini papal legate for Germany and entrusted him with the negotiations to expedite the crusade. Only on February 12, when he had already left Rome, the cardinal was also appointed president of the future Council. Though the Pope had reluctantly consented to the meeting of the Council, it is not likely that his life-long aversion to these assemblies—founded on the proceedings of the Council of Constance, which in his