the theories of Prokop, who now, in view of the ever-recurring foreign peril, attempted to mediate between the contending parties. Prokop on this question did not agree with Payne and Pelhřimov and the majority of the Táborite divines. He believed that Christ was really present in the Sacrament of Communion, and he held that Christians should kneel before it, a custom which some of the advanced Táborites abhorred. On the other hand Prokop’s views also differed widely from those of magister Přibram. Prokop believed in the remanence of the substance of bread, that is to say he believed that after the consecration, besides the body of Christ, the substance of bread also continued to exist. When at a meeting of theologians Přibram attempting to refute the theories of Prokop, quoted the father of the Church, Prokop was somewhat irritated, and in a letter written to Přibram shortly afterwards, advised him to cling to the words of Christ and His Apostles,[1] and to ignore the words of the “doctores,” the fathers of the Church. It was probably the conciliatory attitude of Prokop, as well as the news that the German princes had now finally decided to engage in a new crusade, which induced the controversialists to discontinue their deputations, at least for a time.
In the autumn of 1429 Prokop left Prague and first proceeded to Kutna Hora, a city which he appears often to have visited when he was able to absent himself from the Utraquist armies. These armies were at that moment scattered over different parts of Bohemia, but were already preparing for the new
- ↑ This letter is so characteristic of Prokop that I will quote part of it. He wrote: “Mane in sententia Salvatoris et ejus Apostoli (scilicet panem materialem remanere asseverantium) et statim erit pax inter nos et te, et alias non. Et noli attendere verba vel sensus eorum de quibus propheta loquitur: Narraverunt iniqui fabulationes, sed non ut lex tua. Sin autem illud nolueris facere, scito quod contra te intendo pro posse clamare et omnibus modis licitis insurgere. Et videbis quod veritas Domini vincet te una cum doctoribus. Jam enim eos judicat in illis quæ pertinaciter contra ipsam dixerunt vel scripserunt. Et væ illis si non pœnituerint. Et ideo doctores nolo habere pro (ut tu scribis) Dei legis judices, sed opto ut lex judicet doctores” (Cochlæus, Hist. Hussit. p. 226).
