sequence of which the great martyr of Bohemia, Jerome of Prague, a friend of John Hus, visited England. There he became acquainted with the works of John Wycliff, which he brought back with him to Bohemia, and put into the hands of John Hus, the famous originator of the Protestant movement in Bohemia, who thus obtained an opportunity of learning Wycliff's doctrine. These important events of the fifteenth century constituted a tie between Bohemia and England which no Czech patriot will ever forget; and if there were nothing in common between the country of Shakespeare and the country of Hus except these events, the few years of mutual influence could never be entirely ignored.
Thus the contact between the two countries acquired historical importance during the fifteenth century. Later on, when the Hussite movement assumed great political and religious importance, English writers and politicians devoted much attention to the movement in favour of religious reforms in the Czech countries. We find, for instance, the theologian and bishop, Reginald Peacock, attacking vehemently the Czech heretics in 1444; while the English statesman of the fifteenth century, Sir John Fortescue, was more moderate in his criticism. Other writers of these times (Alexander Barclay and Andrew Boorde) were very hostile to the Hussite movement. On
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