It appears to have been about this time that Jerom also arrived at the Council. His career, since the struggle against the indulgences had been very unsatisfactory. He had first gone to Presburg to preach before Sigismund, and had there been imprisoned. Escaping from prison, he had made his way to Vienna; but had again been arrested there, and had consented to submit to an examination by an Austrian bishop. Set free on parole, he had broken his word and fled back to Bohemia, from whence he addressed a taunting letter to the bishop. It was, therefore, under the shadow of some discredit that he came to Constance, and offered to answer any charges of heresy which might be brought against him. At the same time he demanded a safe-conduct from Sigismund; and, not being able to obtain it, he fled from Constance, to which he was forcibly brought back by the officers of the Duke of Bavaria. He was then imprisoned, and kept heavily ironed for nearly a year. Hus accused him of having disregarded the advice of his friends; and though it is not clear, whether this refers to his coming to the Council, or to his conduct when there, it is certain that his appearance must have made Hus’s position more difficult. At last, on May 14, 1415, the nobles of Bohemia and Poland were able to make their protest before the Council against the treatment of Hus. They also indignantly complained of the insults and slanders which were being circulated against the Bohemian nation, as if they were profaners of the Sacrament, and guilty of all sorts of indecencies in its celebration. The Bishop of Litomys̆l rose in answer to this to say that he was the author of these reports; and that this desecration of the Sacrament was the natural consequence of granting the cup to the laity. Another bishop answered their reference to Hus’s safe-conduct by saying that Hus only obtained it after his imprisonment. To this the Bohemian lords retorted that John of Chlum had himself shown the safe-conduct to the Pope before the arrest of Hus. They defended his non-appearance at Rome in answer to the summons of the Pope; and they produced the testimony of the University of Prague to his orthodoxy. Then, after reiterating their denial of the charges made by the Bishop of Litomys̆l, they wound up with a rather amusing outburst of aristocratic feeling. The Bishop of Litomys̆l had demanded their names, that he might know to whom he had to give answer. They had fancied that their names were tolerably well known to him; but, for their part, they were perfectly willing to give not only their own names, but those of their ancestors. On a later occasion they produced the certificate which the Bohemian Inquisitor had given to Hus.