of one of his councillors, Martin Mayer, who undoubtedly displayed diplomatic capacity of the highest order. As far as we can judge from the scanty evidence, Martin Mayer's intention, approved of by King George, was not to dethrone the Emperor Frederick III, but to place a "coadjutor" at his side; this "coadjutor" was to receive the title of King of the Romans (or German King), such as had often been conferred on the heirs of the Emperors. It seems that Mayer had formerly suggested a similar plan to Philip, Duke of Burgundy, who had declined the suggestion. Mayer's proposal, however, met with greater favour from King George of Bohemia. Serious negotiations ensued, which, for the reason mentioned above, are now difficult to trace. Mayer succeeded in obtaining the votes of the Elector Palatine and of the Archbishop of Maintz for his master. In February (1461) numerous German princes, on the invitation of King George, assembled at Cheb for the ostensible purpose of organizing a general armament against the Turks. Probably through the ability of Mayer, this object was made subservient to the purpose he had at heart. The election of George as leader of the German forces against the Turks, suggested by him, would almost necessarily have secured for the king the position of ruler of Germany. The king was also induced to favour this plan of a campaign against the Turks by the consideration that the energy of the fanatical Papists would thus be diverted from the heretical Bohemians to the infidel Turks.
The complete failure of this scheme, which the king abandoned almost as suddenly as he had entered on it, was probably due to ecclesiastical influences. Pope Pius strongly opposed it, and one of the adherents of King George, the Archbishop of Maintz, had declared that he would not vote for Poděbrad's election as King of the Romans before he had received the sacrament in the same manner as all other Christian kings. On the other hand, even the vague reports of these negotiations which spread in Bohemia caused great dissatisfaction. The people began to ask what had been the advantage of electing a Bohemian as king, when he himself was now anxious to become a German.
One of the consequences of the conciliatory attitude towards Rome which his attempt to obtain the government of Germany obliged King George to assume, was the
