As a result of Charles’s benevolent policy Bohemian became the language of the court. Furthermore it was used exclusively in many courts of law, which were re-established through the same influence. It was even decreed that speakers at the assemblies of town magistrates should use the language of their choice and that no one speaking only German could be appointed a judge. In this way equality for the Bohemian language was obtained in the districts in which Germans had settled.[150] The creation of the Archbishopric of Prague and the foundation of the “new town” of Prague dated also from the reign of King Charles. Bohemian clergymen were encouraged to preach in the vernacular. Their sermons reached the people and stirred them to thought. The national movement against the Roman Church was thus facilitated. But another cause favored the spread of Protestantism in Bohemia. Antagonism to Catholicism was merely a special form of Bohemian objection to German influence in the land. The Hussite movement is therefore an episode in the prolonged struggle between Teuton and Slav. The enlargement of Prague infused vitality into the Bohemian language. The new town was Bohemian in speech as well as in sentiment. Slavic prevailed exclusively in municipal offices and tribunals. Venceslas, who followed Charles, faithfully maintained his predecessor’s attitude towards Bohemian. A notable advance in favor of the language of the land was made in his reign by a decision according to which all decrees of the court and the government, which hitherto had been rendered in either German or Latin, were to be henceforth published in Bohemian. The University of Prague, which has always been a center of Bohemian intellectual life, was also affected by these changes. In the middle of the fifteenth century the German element in Bohemia had complete control of the affairs of this institution. Its chairs were filled by Teutons and its dignities awarded to their kinsmen. In 1385, swayed by national aspirations and relying on the predilection shown them in high quarters, Bohemians began to protest against the presence of foreigners in their national seat of learning. Their appeal found a response with the Archbishop of Prague, who ruled that Bohemians were entitled to priority in appointments to university offices, and that only in case of their unfitness was a German to be selected. Complaint of this decision was made by the Germans to the Pope and a compromise reached in virtue of which predominance of Bohemian rights was obtained. The appearance of John Huss on the scene of this struggle was the next step in the task of completely emancipating Bohemia from German rule.