principles, the people could not lay them aside without doing violence to their conscience. The doctrines embodied in the Four Articles of Prague, and afterwards in the Compactata, seemed to the people as newly-discovered truths, and whether they were actual truths or only seeming ones, the moral effect of being true to them or denying them was the same. Thus, in a general way, it may be said that this age was a time of marvelous intellectual activity, driven into the realm of religion by the logic of events. It was also a time when democracy had freer scope in Bohemia than at any other period.
During the reign of George Poděbrad the country enjoyed peace and prosperity, and this notwithstanding the continued efforts of the Pope to bring it back into complete subjection to the Church.
In this age the Bohemians proved that they were abundantly able to manage their own affairs, if only they were left unmolested by the surrounding nations. King George, the people’s own choice, proved to be one of the best and ablest rulers that ever ascended the throne of Bohemia; and before this, the commanders in the Hussite armies, chosen from among the people, made Bohemia the terror of the German nations. It may be regarded a grievous misfortune that the great intellectual awakening that culminated in the Hussite Reformation came a century too soon, but it was a misfortune no one could foresee or control. The brave fight the people made for their rights and liberties, their devotion to accepted principles, their patriotism, all combine to make this the most glorious age in Bohemian history.
