Page:The Hussite wars, by the Count Lützow.djvu/349

 Utraquists that Communion in the two kinds should be declared obligatory in the whole kingdom of Bohemia. Under the given circumstances the concession was an inconsiderable and inevitable one. The siege of Plzeň had proved a complete failure. Treason and anarchy were rife in the Táborite camp. The moderate Utraquists, particularly the nobles, desired to come to an agreement with the Council of Basel, as representing the universal Church. It was, however, certain that the Council would never admit that a small minority of the Bohemian people should be coerced into abandoning the practice of the Roman Church and into accepting the Utraquist teaching, to which the Church could at best only give a reluctant consent. At a meeting of the members of the league in March 1434 it was decided that all the confederates should pledge their faith to uphold the authority of the regent, and that they should summon the Táborites to disarm and cease to plunder the country. If they consented to do this, a free pardon for all past offences was to be granted to them. In case of a refusal they were to be treated as enemies of their country. All mercenaries who wished to continue their military career would, if they wished it, be enrolled in the army of the league, The Táborite movement has, like the French Revolution. found some unconditional defenders, who attempt to palliate even its worst features. These writers have declared that the moderate Utraquists were traitors to their cause because they opposed the continuation of the siege of Plzeň. The same writers also blame the members of the league for strongly denouncing the depredations of the Táborite bands; these accusations were, however, but too well founded; the Táborite bands at the end of the war were very dissimilar to the “warriors of God,” whom Žižka had once led to victory. The impartial historian, though admiring the religious enthusiasm and heroic bravery of the Hussites, is yet obliged to condemn many deeds of the Táborites during the last and least glorious months of the war.

As an unconditional surrender of the Táborites was rightly