Page:The life & times of Master John Hus by Count Lützow.djvu/147

 However convincing and eloquent Hus’s defence may have been, it remained unnoticed as well as unanswered by the archbishop. Zbynek sent to Pope Alexander V. an embassy furnished, as the chroniclers write, with many rich presents. The envoys stated that at Prague, in the whole kingdom of Bohemia, the margraviate of Moravia, and other neighbouring lands, the hearts of many had been corrupted by the heretical “articles” of John Wycliffe and particularly by his teaching with regard to the sacrament. As the shortest and safest remedy for these evils, it was suggested that in these countries preaching should be forbidden everywhere except in cathedral, collegiate, and parish churches, and in those belonging to monasteries. This proposal, aimed principally at Hus’s Bethlehem chapel, was made by Dr. George Bor, a canon of the cathedral of Prague, and a strong opponent of church-reform. Matters had proceeded so rapidly that, when the embassy appeared before Pope Alexander V., that pontiff had, in consequence of the complaint of Hus’s adherents previously mentioned, summoned the archbishop before his tribunal. However, Zbynek’s submission to Pope Alexander had already produced a complete change. A bull issued on December 20, 1409, annulled the former summons of the archbishop, and instructed him to seek the advice of a council which was to consist of four magisters of theology and two doctors of canon law. After hearing the opinions of these men, the archbishop was to forbid all heretical preaching in virtue of the apostolical powers which the pope conferred on him for that purpose. He was further instructed to forbid preaching in all churches not belonging to the four categories mentioned above and to order all those who might possess copies of Wycliffe’s writings to deliver them up that they might be removed “from the sight of the faithful.”

In consequence of the bad condition of the roads during the wintry weather, the papal bull only reached Prague about March 9, 1410. It gave the archbishop all necessary power,