Page:The Hussite wars, by the Count Lützow.djvu/310

no alliance was concluded, we shortly afterwards find a Bohemian army fighting as allies of Poland against the Teutonic order in the lands near the Baltic Sea. The envoys of the Council of Basel who had taken part in the negotiations at Cheb wrote to the citizens of Prague and to Rokycan on August 13 informing them that they had already received from King Sigismund letters of safe conduct for the Bohemians, and that they hoped shortly to obtain similar letters from the Elector of Brandenburg. That prince, for reasons which it is difficult to understand, raised objections at the last moment, and it was only somewhat later that he forwarded the papers desired by the Bohemians. The latter also appear to have continued distrustful for some time. Before consenting to the departure of their embassy for Basel they thought it advisable to send there two envoys, Nicholas Humpolecký, notary of the Old Town of Prague, and John Žatecký, a member of the community of Tábor. These men were to report on the political situation of Germany and to inform the Bohemians whether their embassy could start safely for Basel. After receiving the necessary letters of accreditation Humpolecký and Žatecký proceeded to Germany in the month of September. They were met at the German frontier by the Bishop of Regensburg and several other German prelates. During their journey through Germany they were everywhere treated with respect and courtesy, and when in the small town of Biberach a townsman called Žatecký “a damned Bohemian heretic” he was immediately arrested, and would have been punished had not the Bohemians themselves interceded for him. In Basel also the envoys were most cordially received. They appeared before the Council on October 10, presented their credentials and then stated that ambassadors representing the whole kingdom of Bohemia and the margraviate of Moravia would shortly proceed to Basel to confer with the Council on the re-establishment of peace and the reunion of the Christian Church. They also demanded further information concerning