CHAPTER V
It is impossible to overrate the influence of the sudden death of Žižka on the course of the events of the Hussite war. At no other moment had the Hussites been so strong and so united. At that moment only it was perhaps possible to establish in Bohemia a national Church and a national kingdom under a Slavic dynasty. After Žižka’s death Prince Korybutovič assumed the command of the whole army, and after having rejoined Bořek of Miletinek obtained considerable successes, forcing the Austrians to evacuate almost the whole of Moravia. The Hussite armies, however, soon returned to Bohemia. It appears from the scanty records which we have that the plan of campaign was not methodically carried out and that discord soon again broke out among the Utraquist parties. Korybutovič, who, while under Žižka’s influence, had acted strictly in accordance with him, now entered into direct negotiations with the Roman see. Though it appears that he always considered the acceptation of the articles of Prague as an absolute condition of an agreement, yet the more fanatical Táborites viewed these negotiations with suspicion. That party was also now, at least for a time, divided against itself. Only the more extreme levellers, who had often opposed Žižka, continued to adopt the name of Táborites. The moderate Táborites, among whom had been Žižka’s intimate friends, considered that Sigismund had, through his treachery, forfeited his right to the Bohemian throne, but they were not on principle opposed to monarchy; as regards matters of religion they limited their demands to the recognition of the articles of Prague. These men now adopted the name of “Orphans,” thus indicating that they considered no man
