Page:The life & times of Master John Hus by Count Lützow.djvu/242

 and remember that he was acting in accordance with a preconceived plan, it is difficult to believe that the final result would have been different had Hus proceeded to Spires. From Nuremburg the Bohemians continued their journey through Southern Germany by Ansbach and Ulm to Biberach, then a free city, now an insignificant and decaying town in the kingdom of Wurtemberg. Here, as everywhere, the Bohemians showed that fondness for theological discussions which was then characteristic of their nation and which only disappeared when, after the battle of the White Mountain, all religious liberty perished for centuries. When a discussion on religious matters began at Biberach, Lord John of Chlum took so prominent a part—while Hus spoke little—that the citizens believed him to be a doctor of theology. His companions henceforth gave Lord John the nickname, doctoralis de Pibrach. From Biberach the Bohemians proceeded by Ravensburg to Buchhorn, on the lake of Constance. They crossed the lake in a boat and arrived at the city of Constance on November 3, 1414. Hus was lodged in the house of “a good widow named Fida,” as Mladenovic writes, which was situated in St. Paul’s Street—now called Hus’s Street—near the Schnetz gate. The house, which is probably little changed, is shown to visitors. A medallion with a bust of Hus and an inscription in Bohemian and German was placed on it some years ago. In his first letter after his arrival at Constance Hus writes, on November 4: “We arrived at Constance on the Saturday after All Souls without any annoyance, after having passed through different cities and after having everywhere distributed our proclamation (stating that Hus was going to Constance freely to clear himself of the accusation of heresy), written both in Latin and in German. We live at Constance near the pope’s dwelling-place, and have arrived