Sacred College, had withdrawn their allegiance from our Holy Father Gregory XII. and the Holy See. But facts must be judged by their results, and it occurred that the Archbishop was constrained, by the decrees of the Council of Pisa, to approve of the conduct of the masters.—Such was the first origin of the accusation laid against me, and of all my troubles.
The Sacred College of Cardinals having promised many favours to their adherents, I have kept in remembrance these promises, and have placed trust in them, as one should do in the promises of those who are the pillars of the Church. I therefore implore your Reverences, and on my knees I conjure you, to cast a regard of kindness on my misfortune, that I may be dispensed from appearing in person,[1] and from other most painful obligations resulting from it. I am innocent of the things of which my adversaries accuse me; and of this I call to witness our Lord Jesus Christ. I am willing to appear in the presence of the University of Prague, of all the prelates, and of all the people who came to hear me, and before them to give, by word and by writing, a full and absolute account of the faith that I guard in my heart, and to confess it, even at the peril of being burned to death.[2] Your Reverences may be assured of this confession by public documents as well as by the testimony of the University of Prague.
