language, and to quarrel. Should any one so far forget himself as to draw his sword, he was to lose his hand; and if he wounded another, his head was to pay the forfeit. The inkeepers were forbidden, under penalty of death, to keep women of loose character.
Another regulation referred to the coinage of money. This was strictly forbidden in all places except Prague and Kuttenberg, in which cities were kept the royal mints of the country.
It seems that a great deal of poor currency was afloat. An old writer speaks of this as follows: “In the year 1421, they made the groschen out of chalices and monstrances, and called them ‘chalicelets;’ and later, when they lacked silver, they made money from brass with the royal stamp, and these they called ‘flutelets;’ and they made money from kettles, candlesticks, and other brass utensils; and they made these brass flutelets in the fortresses, in the beer saloons, in the gardens, and in the villages, and they made so many that everybody had enough. And then, when the peopie refused to take the money, they wrung their hands, being deprived of their estates.”
ŽIŽKA’S ATTITUDE TOWARD SIGMUND CORVINUS.
While Sigmund Corvinus was still in Moravia, he sent a letter to Žižka ordering him not to pillage the country any more, but to show his obedience to his king. As Žižka was one of the most disinterested generals the world had ever seen, and on several occasions had really rescued his country from imminent destruction, the tone as well as the contents of this letter greatly offended him, and the reply he sent was written in a similar spirit. The king, seeing his mis-
