A History of Bohemian LiteratureLützow, Francis, hrabe
History
A History of Bohemian Literature
Lützow, Francis, hrabe
Czech literature -- History and criticism
The leader of the Taborite party was Nicholas of Pelhřimov (Pilgram),
surnamed "Biskupec," the only bishop of the short-lived community
of Tabor. Little is known both of his life and of his writings. He
was, like most Bohemian divines of his time, engaged in incessant
theological controversies. Chelčicky's _Reply to Nicholas_ has been
preserved, but the letter of Nicholas in answer to which it was written
is no longer in existence; a polemical work of Nicholas addressed to
Rokycan has also been lost. The principal work of Biskupec, however,
his Latin _Chronicon Continens causam sacerdotum Taboriensium_, has
been preserved, and was edited and published by Professor Höfler in
the present century. It is interesting as being the only existent
definition of the doctrines of the Taborites written by a member of the
community.
I follow the example of Jungmann and Jireček, as well as of the most
recent writers on Bohemian literature, in including among the writers
of the Taborite party the celebrated Bohemian warrior John Zižka of
Trocnov, born about the year 1378. It has already been mentioned that
Zižka was the head of the more moderate division of the Taborists,
which after his death assumed the name of the "Orphans." Zižka's
writings consist indeed only of the curious work entitled _The
Regulations of War_ (Řád vojenský), four letters, and a war-song or
hymn, but they are among the most precious relics in the Bohemian
language. They give a thorough insight into the real nature and
character of the hero of the Hussite wars, who has so often been
compared to Oliver Cromwell. The _Řád vojenský_ is no mere collection
of military regulations; besides establishing the rule of an iron
discipline, it also enforces religious practices, and repeatedly
proclaims--in a manner very unusual in the fifteenth century--the
absolute equality of the different classes of men who composed the
Hussite armies. It is perhaps only after reading these regulations that
the victories of the Hussites over immensely superior forces become
intelligible.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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