fore received a letter of safe-conduct from Sigismund, and Venceslas appointed three Bohemian nobles who were to accompany and assist him on the road. Hus started on his fatal journey to Constance in October (1414). He was to meet there most of his Bohemian adversaries, Stephen of Palec, who had been exiled by King Venceslas, several of the former German magisters of the University of Prague (who wished the fact that his influence on the king had contributed to bring about the secession of the German students to be included in the act of accusation), and above all John—surnamed "the Iron"—Bishop of Litomyšl, perhaps the most violent of all the enemies of Church reform. The latter, before starting for Constance, had caused a collection to be made in his diocese to aid him in his defence of the existing system of Church government.
Principally through the influence of the "Iron" Bishop of Litomyšl, Hus was imprisoned almost immediately after his arrival at Constance. Sigismund only made his entry into the town somewhat later on Christmas Eve (1414), when the Bohemian lords immediately complained to him of the imprisonment of their countryman. The king was thoroughly aware that violent measures against Hus would produce troubles, perhaps even a revolution in Bohemia, but his sympathies were entirely on the side of the Roman Church. The well-known remarks he afterwards made to several of the cardinals, advising them to have Hus burnt if he did not retract, and warning them not to trust him even if he did so,[1] sufficiently prove this. A feeble protest was therefore the only effort he made in favour of Hus, and this was ignored by the council.[2] When Pope John XXIII,
- ↑ Palacký.
- ↑ For a full account of the trial and death of Hus, see my Life and Times of Master John Hus.
meaning of Sigismund's letter of safe-conduct, and the degree of security which it insured, would alone fill a large volume. Baron Helfert, who may be considered as holding a brief for King Sigismund, asserts that the king's letter only assured the safe arrival of Hus at Constance, though Hus started on his journey long before receiving it! It will seem to many that Baron Helfert's clever book rather proves that King Sigismund was thoroughly aware of the disastrous consequences which violent measures against Hus would produce in Bohemia, and showed more foresight than the members of the Council, than that he was more scrupulous in dealing with a "declared heretic" than they were.
