Page:Bohemia An Historical Sketch.djvu/196

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
172
Bohemia

representatives of the Council at Brno[1] for further negotiations. This meeting only took place in July 1435.

Fresh difficulties here arose, especially with regard to the nomination of a new Archbishop of Prague. The envoys of the Council even made preparations to return to Basel. They were at the last moment prevented from doing so by the efforts of Sigismund, who had already arrived at an agreement with his future subjects on almost all points. The Emperor even went so far as to sign a document by which he promised to lend the Bohemians his aid in maintaining the existing form of communion as proposed by the last Diet at Prague, and the right of electing the Archbishop of Prague and his suffragans. An immediate agreement with the representatives of the Council appearing impossible, further negotiations were deferred till a new meeting of the Diet took place at Prague (Sept. 1435). At this assembly the Estates unanimously elected John of Rokycan Archbishop of Prague. Sigismund was informed of this election, but an agreement still seemed far off. The Emperor had about this time given a verbal assurance to the envoys of the Council that he would not interfere in ecclesiastical matters; he thus practically cancelled the promises which he had made to the Bohemians. The latter, on the other hand, declined to accept the Compacts in the modified form suggested by the Council till Rokycan had been recognized as Archbishop of Prague both by the Emperor and by the Roman Church. Another meeting between the Bohemians and the Romanist envoys at Jihlava[2] in Moravia in June 1436. The representatives of the Council still refused to ratify the election of Rokycan. They suggested that Bishop Philibert of Coutances, who had formerly been sent by the Council as envoy to Bohemia, should act provisionally as Archbishop of Prague. This proposal greatly incensed the Bohemians. The promises of Sigismund and his son-in-law, Albert of Austria, that they would use all their influence to obtain the recognition of Rokycan by the Roman Church to a certain extent pacified the Bohemians, particularly as the feeling in favour of peace was constantly becoming stronger in Bohemia. On July 5, 1436, the Bohemian deputies at last solemnly accepted and subscribed the Compacts, with the not very important modifications on which the Council of Basel had insisted. The repre-

  1. In German "Brünn."
  2. In German "Iglau."