The supposition of the Taborite leader, however, proved erroneous, for
the victory on Zizka's Hill practically ended the siege of Prague. It is
as impossible to explain this as it is to account for the fact that the
by no means decisive defeat of Marathon should have induced the Persians
to abandon for a time their intention of conquering Greece. It is
certain that dissensions broke out in the vast camps of the Crusaders.
The foreign allies of Sigismund distrusted all Bohemians, even those who
were on the side of the King, while the latter, who had, as Palacky
writes, learnt that 'even the largest force is insufficient to subdue a
strong and resolute people,' now felt more disposed to listen to the
words of those Bohemian nobles who, indeed, sided with their Sovereign,
but did not share the German desire to extirpate the whole Bohemian
nation. These men suggested negotiations between the King and his
Hussite subjects. Such negotiations were facilitated by the fact that
the united Hussites had, meanwhile, drawn up a summary of their demands,
which is known as 'The Articles of Prague.'[15] It will here be
sufficient to state that the Bohemians demanded freedom of preaching,
the use of the chalice at communion, obligatory poverty of the clergy
and severe regulations against mortal sins. It was decided that a
conference should take place in the open air among the ruins of the Malá
Strana, at which the magisters of the University, with the chiefs of the
Praguers and Taborites, were to meet some German nobles, envoys of King
Sigismund, and the Patriarch of Aquilya, and Simon, Bishop of Trace, who
acted as representatives of the Papal See. The meeting led to no result,
as the representatives of the Roman Church declared that no decision of
the Church could be contested or discussed. The magisters of the Prague
University expressed surprise that the Papal envoys attributed greater
authority to the 'fallible Church than to the infallible words of
Christ.'
The failure of these negotiations no doubt confirmed Sigismund in his
resolution of leaving the neighbourhood of Prague. The dissensions in
his army became more and more envenomed; serious epidemics broke out
among the troops; a great fire destroyed large parts of the encampments.
Before abandoning the siege, however, Sigismund caused himself to be
crowned King of Bohemia in St. Vitus's Cathedral.
The writers hostile to Sigismund lay stress on the absence of many
nobles whose Court dignities rendered their presence at coronations
necessary. They also mention that no representatives of the Bohemian
cities, none in particular of Prague, 'the mother of all Bohemian
cities,' assisted at the ceremony.
Two days afterwards Sigismund broke up his camp and retired to Kutna
Hora, thus giving the signal of departure to the Crusaders, who
hurriedly returned to their countries. Royal troops, however, continued
to hold the castles of Vysehrad and Hradcany.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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