3IO
A HISTORY OF BOHEMIAN LITERATURE
means to his credit.
The year of his birth is uncertain,
a
is,
but we know that when very young he left the Utraquist Church, in which he was born, became a Roman Cathohc, We read of him as and took orders in that Church. preaching in the Church of St. Thomas at Prague in 1524, and by the aid of some Catholic nobles he obtained in 1527 the deanery of Karlstein. Later he obtained other ecclesiastical dignities. Of all these honours he was subsequently deprived in consequence of an accusation of having embezzled money belonging to the It has been suggested, though on insufficient Church. evidence, that Hajek wrote his chronicles for the purpose of regaining the lost favour of his patrons. In 1544 Hajek, perhaps as a reward for his book that had appeared in 1541, obtained the provostship of Stari Boleslav (Alt Bunzlau), but of this dignity he was again deprived in 1549 because of various offences against canon law. Hajek died in 1553. Several minor historians belong to this period. I have already mentioned Martin Kuthen. The History of the Emperor Charles IV., King of Bohemia, by Prokop Lupdc (published in 1584), also deserves special notice. The book is of interest to English readers, as the author has inserted in it a considerable portion of a ballad describing the death of King John at the battle of Crecy, which was probably written shortly after that event. The most prominent historians of this period were probably the members of the community of the " Bohemian Brethren." This however, unfortunately little more than conjecture. The works of the brethren were specially singled out for destruction during the Catholic reaction. Mere fragments remain, and even with regard to these doubts as to their authorship often
