Jenstein and the ecclesiastics who accompanied him to be immediately arrested. The archbishop escaped by the protection of his armed retinue, but the four ecclesiastics who were with him, and among whom was John of Pomuk, were thrown into prison and put on the rack by order of the king. Venceslas insisted that they should give a written promise to abandon the archbishop, and act in future according to the king's wishes. Three of them immediately submitted to the demands of Venceslas, but John of Pomuk refused to do so, and was so cruelly tortured that his death became certain, whereupon he was thrown into the river Vltava.[1]
The archbishop meanwhile fled to the court of Pope Boniface at Rome, but he received little encouragement from him. The schism in the Western Church made it impossible for the Pope to risk alienating the friendship of the German king, the most important of his adherents among the reigning princes. Finding no support in Rome, John of Jenstein returned to Bohemia, and soon after voluntarily renounced his position as Archbishop of Prague (1393).
Venceslas had, on the whole, been successful in reducing the clergy of Bohemia to obedience, but he now found himself confronted by a confederation of the Bohemian nobles, which became known as the "League of the Lords," and to which many of his nearest relations adhered—some secretly, some openly. The leaders of the confederacy were Henry, Lord of Rosenberg, and the king's cousin, Jocodus of Moravia. Albert III, Duke of Austria, and William, Margrave of Meissen, also joined the league. Venceslas's brother Sigismund, King of Hungary,[2] appears to have played a double game. While assuring Venceslas of his friendship, he was all along in complete understanding with the league.
The nobles who belonged to the league accused the king of various misdeeds, but their main purpose was undoubtedly
- ↑ The legend of St. John of Nepomuk derives its origin from this occurrence. At the time of the canonization of St. John Bohemian history was only known in Western Europe through the utterly unreliable chronicle of Hajek of Libočan.
- ↑ Sigismund had (1385) married Mary, daughter of King Louis of Hungary, and had (1387) been crowned as King of Hungary. The expenses he incurred in maintaining his position in that country forced him to sell Brandebourg (1388) to his cousin, Margrave Jodocus of Moravia.
