be granted, and the delegates returned to Basil, much disappointed that they could not secure a truce during the session of the Council, this being violently opposed by Prokop the Great, who held firmly to the principle “Vexatio dat intellectum.” He declared that not until the “Four Articles” were settled “according to God” could they have peace, true and uncorrupted, with all Christendom.
When the delegates gave their report to the Council at Basil, the fathers held several secret sessions so as to avoid all interference from the Pope, and finally agreed to grant all the Bohemians had asked. This, however, did not settle the difficulty. Questions immediately arose in regard to the method of taking the communion, the Bohemians insisting that the Utraquist way be introduced into all the Churches. This the Council refused to grant, the negotiations were broken off, and it seemed that all was lost.
THE NOBLEMEN’S LEAGUE.
While the negotiations between the people and the Council of Basil were going on, there were other forces at work, not only to secure peace at all costs, but to restore the power of the nobility. In 1433 the emperor secured the services of Sir Ulric of Rosenberg, then the most powerful Catholic noble, who, in consideration of receiving from that ruler several fortresses, agreed to do all in his power to help to establish him upon the throne of Bohemia. Through the efforts of this noble, and many other disaffected ones, a league was formed between the Catholic and Calixtine nobles, whose aim was to secure peace at all costs, and restore the nobility to its old position in the State. These
