Page:The life & times of Master John Hus by Count Lützow.djvu/188

 lived. He appealed from the sentence of the Roman pontiff to Jesus Christ, the supreme judge. In an age when positive and undisputed belief in the fundamental doctrines of Christianity was universal, the direct intervention of Divinity in the affairs of mankind met with no disbelief. It will be remembered—to quote but one example—that the citizens of Florence at one time placed their city under the direct temporal government of Jesus Christ. The arguments employed by Hus in his appeal were simple. He stated that it was not from obstinacy that he had refused to go to the papal court, that his first representatives there had been imprisoned, and that the other ones had been refused audience and accused of heresy without being allowed to defend themselves. The enemies of Hus do not appear to have considered their victory over Hus at the papal courts as sufficiently complete. Again, through the influence of Michael de causis, a second bull appeared which commanded all the faithful to seize Hus by force and deliver him over to the Archbishop of Prague or the Bishop of Litomysl, who were to condemn him and have him burnt. The bull also decreed that the Bethlehem chapel, “a nest of heretics,” should be destroyed and levelled to the ground. The indefatigable Michael also suggested that King Venceslas and his most prominent councillors and courtiers should be excommunicated. Pope John XXIII., however, declined to accede to this proposal. The diavolo cardinale was ready to proceed to any lengths against a pious and powerless priest, but he could not afford to quarrel with King Venceslas. The partisans of Gregory XII. were at that moment gaining ground, and the support of the King of Bohemia might become of great importance to the pope. These measures directed against Hus were followed by measures against the city of Prague. The interdict was again proclaimed, and it was now carried out thoroughly with all the