But he now found that some, who had been hitherto his followers, were prepared to resist and oppose him. Stanislaus of Znojem and Stephen Pálec̆ had been released from their imprisonment at Bologna, at the request of Wenceslaus; and since their return to Prague they had gradually drifted into the ranks of the opponents of reform. Stanislaus had been the first to show this change. The charge of heresy on which he had been arrested had been based on a pamphlet dealing with Wyclif’s doctrines. He pleaded that the apparent Wyclifite tendency of the pamphlet was due to its incompleteness; and, when ordered to finish it, he did so in a sense hostile to the doctrines of Wyclif. It will be remembered that, though Hus had repudiated many of the doctrines of the English Reformer, he had yet opposed the general condemnation of his works, and had spoken warmly of his character. Therefore Stanislaus’ attack upon Wyclif paved the way for an open opposition to Hus. Pálec̆, indeed, had remained on the side of his old leader during the struggle with Zbynĕk, but the opposition to the Papal Bull drove him also into the orthodox ranks. The cry of cowardice has been raised against him by the friends of Hus, and seems, indeed, to have been sanctioned by Hus himself. But, unscrupulous and malignant as Pálec̆ afterwards showed himself, it may be doubted whether the charge of cowardice was, in this instance, a just one. It must be remembered that in his previous opposition to Popes, Hus had protected himself by the well-recognised formula that the Pope had been misinformed on the condition of affairs in Bohemia. On this occasion the question at issue was not so much one of information about special facts as of clear moral principles; and the issue of the Bull took away all possibility of throwing the blame of the Pope’s action on misleading advisers. Moreover, the opposition of Hus was no longer covered by the authority of the King. Wenceslaus, having once committed himself to opposition to Gregory, was not disposed to inquire too curiously into the methods which were used to suppress the fallen Pope. He had therefore sanctioned John’s Bull, and thereby approved the crusade. It may well, therefore, have been that Pálec̆, though willing to resist the ordinary current of clerical opinion, might yet doubt the lawfulness and propriety of setting himself against his spiritual and temporal rulers. At any rate, when Hus brought before the Masters of the University his proposal to denounce the crusade and its methods, Pálec̆ and Stanislaus headed the opposition to their former leader, and won the majority of the Masters to their side.