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85-665: The Reformatio Sigismundi document appeared in connection with efforts to reform the Holy Roman Empire during the reign of Emperor Sigismund (1410–1437). It was produced in 1439 at the Council of Basle , published by an anonymous author, and referred to the injustice of the German rulers. The Reformatio was published in German and probably as a result became the most widely circulated reform paper of its time. The text

170-555: A demagogue , the priest Jan Želivský , for a time obtained almost unlimited authority over the lower classes of the townsmen, and at Tábor, a religious communistic movement (that of the so-called Adamites ) was sternly suppressed by Žižka. Shortly afterwards, a new crusade against the Hussites was undertaken. A large German army entered Bohemia and in August 1421 laid siege to the town of Žatec . After an unsuccessful attempt of storming

255-584: A decision which today induces much scholarly discussion. Apart from balancing the Reichskammergericht with the Reichshofrat , this act of restructuring seemed to suggest that, as Westphal quoting Ortlieb, the "imperial ruler – independent of the existence of a supreme court – remained the contact person for hard pressed subjects in legal disputes as well, so that a special agency to deal with these matters could appear sensible" (as also shown by

340-674: A dialectic between the Empire's un-state-like constitution and the state-forming ambitions of its constituent authorities". More recently, Georg Schmidt, also tying the matter of statehood to the Reform, argues that the Empire's early modern development was a kind of state formation, and that the reforms of 1495 'directed the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation onto the path towards statehood'. Another scholar whose approach

425-617: A matter of course throughout the war as well as after its end in 1434. The word used for one type of handheld firearm used by the Hussites, Czech : píšťala , later found its way through German and French into English as the term " pistol ". The name of a cannon used by the Hussites, the Czech : houfnice , gave rise to the English term, " howitzer " ( houf meaning "crowd" for its intended use of shooting stone and iron shots against mass enemy forces). Other types of firearms commonly used by

510-506: A month later during the Battle of Kutná Hora . Žižka positioned his forces between the town of Kutná Hora, which pledged allegiance to the Hussite cause, and the main camp of the enemy, leaving supplies in the well-defended town. However uprising of ethnic German townsmen led the town into Crusader's control. Late in the night between 21 and 22 December 1421, Žižka ordered an attack against

595-609: A safe-conduct from Sigismund, but was imprisoned, tried, and executed on 6 July 1415. The knights and nobles of Bohemia and Moravia , who were in favour of church reform, sent the protestatio Bohemorum to the Council of Constance on 2 September 1415, which condemned the execution of Hus in the strongest language. This angered Sigismund, who was " King of the Romans " (head of the Holy Roman Empire , though not yet Emperor) and brother of King Wenceslaus of Bohemia . He had been persuaded by

680-438: A siege of the city, which had, however, soon to be abandoned. Negotiations took place for a settlement of the religious differences. The united Hussites formulated their demands in a statement known as the " Four Articles of Prague ". This document, the most important of the Hussite period, ran, in the wording of the contemporary chronicler, Laurence of Brezova , as follows: 1. The word of God shall be preached and made known in

765-469: Is close to Schmidt's is Joachim Whaley with his 2012 work Germany and the Holy Roman Empire. Volume I: Maximilian I to the Peace of Westphalia 1493-1648. Robert von Friedeburg  [ de ] opines that Whaley brings out many compelling arguments but there are also certain problems: "Indeed, from the 1650s and then in particular the 1740s onwards, this reviewer finds that Whaley's attempt to downplay

850-498: The Hofkammer was entrusted with not only hereditary lands' affairs, but Maximilian's affairs as the German king too. Maximilian tried to direct the Reform according to his monarchical-centralization agenda. Whaley notes that the real foundation of his Imperial power lay with his networks of allies and clients, especially the less powerful Estates, who helped him to recover his strength in 1502 - his first reform proposals as King of

935-634: The Papacy , and European monarchs loyal to the Catholic Church , as well as various Hussite factions. At a late stage of the conflict, the Utraquists changed sides in 1432 to fight alongside Roman Catholics and opposed the Taborites and other Hussite spin-offs. These wars lasted from 1419 to approximately 1434. The unrest began after pre-Protestant Christian reformer Jan Hus was executed by

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1020-751: The Polish–Hussite invasion of Prussia : Supporters: In the Holy Land (1095–1291) Later Crusades (1291–1717) Northern (1147–1410) Against Christians (1209–1588) Popular (1096–1320) The Hussite Wars , also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution , were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund ,

1105-491: The Reichskammergericht by establishing the concurrent Aulic Council ( Reichshofrat ) in 1497. Throughout the modern period, the Aulic Council remained by far the faster and more efficient among the two Courts. The Reichskammergericht on the other hand was often torn by matters related to confessional alliance. Around 1497-1498, as part of his administrative reforms, he restructured his Privy Council ( Geheimer Rat ),

1190-453: The (German) empire. Imperial Reform From 1434 to 1438, at imperial diets in Eger and Nuremberg , the first attempts at Imperial Reform were undertaken, partly on the initiative of Emperor Sigismund , partly by the prince-electors . Feuds were banned, and discussions were held on a revision of the rights of coinage and escort ( Geleitrecht ) and an administrative division of

1275-536: The Catholic Church in 1415 for heresy . Because King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia had plans to be crowned the Holy Roman Emperor (requiring papal coronation ), he suppressed the religion of the Hussites, yet it continued to spread. When King Wenceslaus IV died of natural causes a few years later, the tension stemming from the Hussites grew stronger. In Prague and various other parts of Bohemia,

1360-504: The Catholic Germans living there were forced out. Wenceslaus's brother, Sigismund , who had inherited the throne, was outraged by the spread of Hussitism. He received permission from the pope to launch a crusade against the Hussites, and large numbers of crusaders came from all over Europe to fight. They made early advances, forcing the Hussites back and taking Prague. However, the Hussites reorganized and took back nearly all

1445-443: The Council that Hus was a heretic. He sent threatening letters to Bohemia declaring that he would shortly drown all Wycliffites and Hussites, greatly incensing the people. Disorder broke out in various parts of Bohemia and drove many Catholic priests from their parishes. Almost from the beginning, the Hussites were divided into two main groups, though many minor divisions also arose among them. Shortly before his death, Hus had accepted

1530-600: The Court Chancery, Maximilian gradually centralized its authority. The two chanceries became combined in 1502. Jan-Dirk Müller opines that this chancery became the decisive government institution since 1502. In 1496, the emperor created a general treasury ( Hofkammer ) in Innsbruck, which became responsible for all the hereditary lands. The chamber of accounts ( Raitkammer ) at Vienna was made subordinate to this body. Under Paul von Liechtenstein  [ de ] ,

1615-535: The Czechs, Germany was having internal conflicts and could not muster up a sufficient force to battle the Hussites, and the king of Denmark left the Czech border to go back to his home. As the conflicts went on, the Hussites also made raids into German territory. The wars eventually ended in 1434 when the moderate Utraquist faction of the Hussites defeated the radical Taborite faction. The Hussites agreed to submit to

1700-736: The East and the French in Italy. The deputies, led by Chancellor Bertold von Henneberg-Römhild , the Archbishop of Mainz , agreed in principle to a Common Penny tax paid directly to the Empire, but in return set conditions: Maximilian generally opposed the institutions that weakened his power, but he supported the Land Peace, adoption of Roman law, sounder administrative procedures, better record-keeping, qualifications for offices, etc. Responding to

1785-462: The Empire around 1495/1500 as pragmatic responses to intensified consolidation and interconnection within the Empire, which were in turn the products of wider forces (greater military and fiscal demands and demographic growth, among others). While the reforms of this period ushered in a new 'constitutional' arrangement, in which power was formally divided between the monarchy and the estates, their long-term effects were unintended, and their implementation

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1870-428: The Empire into imperial circles . All the proposals foundered, however, on the opposing interests of emperor and imperial princes . Both parties were striving to create a more workable government of the empire, but they were working in opposite directions. The emperor was interested in strengthening his central control; the princes wanted collegiate, corporate leadership in which they could participate. The journals of

1955-535: The Empire's sovereign and its most powerful prince. The imperial Estates appreciated a strong emperor capable of repelling the Ottomans, and were prepared to relinquish some of their cherished liberties to institutions they believed would bind the Habsburgs to performing their imperial duties. The Habsburgs accepted greater constitutional checks on prerogatives as the price for a more potent infrastructure to mobilize

2040-469: The Estates consistently opposed. In 1504, when he was strong enough to propose his own ideas for such a Council, the cowered Estates tried to resist. At his strongest point, though, he still failed to find a solution for the common tax matter, which led to disasters in Italy later. Meanwhile, he explored Austria's potential as a base for Imperial power and built his government largely with officials drawn from

2125-409: The German Nation. Whaley further suggests that, despite the later religious divide, "patriotic motifs developed during Maximilian's reign, both by Maximilian himself and by the humanist writers who responded to him, formed the core of a national political culture." Maximilian's reign also witnessed the gradual emergence of the German common language, with the notable roles of the imperial chancery and

2210-471: The Habsburg monarchy "remained closely entwined with the Empire", but deliberately refrained from including their other territories in its framework. "Instead, they developed their own institutions to manage what was, effectively, a parallel dynastic-territorial empire and which gave them an overwhelming superiority of resources, in turn allowing them to retain an almost unbroken grip on the imperial title over

2295-487: The Hussite breakthrough of Catholic encirclement at Vladař Hill  [ cs ] in November 1421 at the Battle of Žlutice  [ cs ] . The wagons and firearms were used on the move, at this point still only defensively. Žižka avoided the main camp of the enemy and employed the moving wagon forts in order to cover his retreating troops. The first true engagement where firearms played primary role happened

2380-421: The Hussite revolt started in 1419, the Hussite militias heavily depended on converted farm equipment and weapons looted from castle and town armories, including early firearms. Hussite militia comprised mostly commoners without prior military experience and included both men and women. Use of crossbows and firearms became critical as those weapons didn't require extensive training, nor did their effectiveness rely on

2465-462: The Hussite tactical use of wagon forts and firearms was defensive. The wagon's wall was stationary, and firearms were used to break the initial charge of the enemy. After this, firearms played an auxiliary role, supporting mainly cold weapons-based defense at the level of the wagon wall. Counterattacks were done by cold weapons-armed infantry and cavalry charges outside of the wagon forts. The first mobile use of war wagons and firearms took place during

2550-473: The Hussites included hákovnice  [ cs ] , an infantry weapon heavier than píšťala and tarasnice ( fauconneau ). As regards cannons, apart from houfnice, Hussites employed bombarda ( mortar ) and dělo ( cannon ). After the death of his childless brother Wenceslaus, Sigismund inherited a claim on the Bohemian crown, though it was then, and remained until much later, in question whether Bohemia

2635-689: The Imperial Government, enabled a more uniform administration of the Empire to better execute the Perpetual Public Peace, taxation, and the raising of troops. The establishment of the Imperial Circles was a long-overdue response to the administrative impotence of the Empire at the local level regarding the questions of levies, implementation of justice, customs, beggars, poor people, and healthcare (implemented by medical police, or medizinische Policey, who took care of

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2720-636: The Imperial Reform was successful, although perhaps at the expense of the reform of the Church, partly because Maximilian was not really serious about the religious matter. According to Brady Jr., the Empire, after the Imperial Reform, was a political body of remarkable longevity and stability, "resembled in some respects the monarchical polities of Europe's western tier, and in others the loosely integrated, elective polities of East Central Europe." The new corporate German Nation, instead of simply obeying

2805-514: The Nation, firmly identified with the Reich by the contemporary humanists. With encouragement from Maximilian and his humanists, iconic spiritual figures were reintroduced or became notable. The humanists rediscovered the work Germania , written by Tacitus. According to Peter H. Wilson, the female figure of Germania was reinvented by the emperor as the virtuous pacific Mother of Holy Roman Empire of

2890-509: The Pope—were expelled from the Bohemian cities. Wenceslaus's widow Sophia of Bavaria , acting as regent in Bohemia, hurriedly collected a force of mercenaries and tried to gain control of Prague, which led to severe fighting. After a considerable part of the city had been damaged or destroyed, the parties declared a truce on 13 November. The nobles, sympathetic to the Hussite cause, but supporting

2975-410: The Reform was not the product of a carefully laid out plan by any side, but the result of compromises on practical issues. Stollberg-Rilinger notes that, "Maximilian I's rule set the stage for the structural evolution of the Empire in the following three hundred years." Stollberg also links the development of the Reform to the concentration of supranational power in the Habsburgs' hand, which manifested in

3060-475: The Reform. The Estates on the other hand wanted to make sure they had a voice in the government if they were to provide him with money. Berthold von Henneberg played a crucial role in coording the formulation of Reform laws in the Diet of 1491. Stollberg-Rilinger remarks that Henneberg's political platform was remarkably coherent. In the end though, the political frame and future-oriented structures that emerged after

3145-503: The Romans in 1486 were about the creation of a network of regional unions. According to Whaley, "More systematically than any predecessor, Maximilian exploited the potential of regional leagues and unions to extend imperial influence and to create the possibility of imperial government in the Reich." To the Empire, the mechanisms involving such regional institutions bolstered the Land Piece ( Ewiger Landfriede ) declared in 1495 as well as

3230-407: The additional resources from the imperial Estates needed to meet their own ambitions and commitments." He calls the post-Reform Empire "a mixed monarchy in which the emperor shared power with an increasingly finely graduated hierarchy of princes, lords and cities collectively known as the imperial Estates". The institutions and structures developed by Imperial Reform mostly served German lands, while

3315-441: The ambition of agitators. On 9 March 1422, Jan Želivský was arrested by the town council of Prague and beheaded. There were troubles at Tábor also, where a more radical party opposed Žižka's authority. The Hussites were aided at various times by Poland . Because of this, Jan Žižka arranged for the crown of Bohemia to be offered to King Władysław II Jagiełło of Poland, who, under pressure from his own advisors, refused it. The crown

3400-455: The ancient Vehmic court ( Vehmgericht , or Secret Tribunal of Westphalia , traditionally held to be instituted by Charlemagne but this theory is now considered unlikely. ), although it would not be abolished completely until 1811 (when it was abolished under the order of Jérôme Bonaparte ). The establishment in 1500 of six (from 1512 on: ten) Imperial Circles with their own Circle Diets. The Circles, originally meant as constituencies of

3485-608: The authority of the king of Bohemia and the Roman Catholic Church and were allowed to practice their somewhat variant rite. The Hussite community included much of the Czech population of the Kingdom of Bohemia and formed a major spontaneous military power. The Hussite Wars were notable for the extensive use of early handheld firearms such as hand cannons and wagon forts by the Hussites. Starting around 1402, priest and scholar Jan Hus denounced what he judged as

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3570-847: The ceremony of the Roman Catholic Church. The ecclesiastical organization of Tabor had a somewhat puritanical character, and the government was established on a thoroughly democratic basis. Four captains of the people ( hejtmané ) were elected, one of whom was Žižka, and a very strict military discipline was instituted. Late 14th and early 15th century saw gradually increasing use of firearms in siege operations both by defenders and attackers. Weight, lack of accuracy and cumbersome use of early types limited their employment to static operations and prevented wider use in open battlefield or by civilian individuals. Nevertheless, lack of guild monopolies and low training requirements led to their relatively low price. This together with high effectiveness against armour led to their popularity for castle and town defenses. When

3655-579: The chancery of the Wettin Elector Frederick the Wise . The development of the printing industry together with the emergence of the postal system ( the first modern one in the world ), initiated by Maximilian himself with contribution from Frederick III and Charles the Bold , led to a revolution in communication and allowed ideas to spread. Unlike the situation in more centralized countries,

3740-447: The city, the crusaders retreated somewhat ingloriously on hearing that the Hussite troops were approaching. Sigismund only arrived in Bohemia at the end of 1421. He took possession of the town of Kutná Hora but was decisively defeated by Jan Žižka at the Battle of Německý Brod on 6 January 1422. Bohemia was for a time free from foreign intervention, but internal discord again broke out, caused partly by theological strife and partly by

3825-603: The collection of the tax was finally suspended in 1505. The reform was more or less concluded with the Imperial Execution Order of 1555, part of the Peace of Augsburg , which regulated more details of the responsibilities of the Imperial Circle Estates. Maximilian and Charles V (despite the fact both emperors were internationalists personally ) were the first who mobilized the rhetoric of

3910-462: The corruption of the church and the papacy, and he promoted some of the reformist ideas of English theologian John Wycliffe . His preaching was widely heeded in Bohemia, and provoked suppression by the church, which had declared many of Wycliffe's ideas heretical. In 1411, in the course of the Western Schism , " Antipope " John XXIII proclaimed a "crusade" against King Ladislaus of Naples ,

3995-734: The creation of the Imperial Circles . ) between 1500 and 1512, although they were only fully functional some decades later. The Swiss Confederacy did not accept the resolutions of the Imperial Diet and explicitly refused to pay the Common Penny , one of the circumstances leading to the Swabian War of 1499 and the Confederacy's exemption from imperial legislation. Due to the obstinate resistance of several States

4080-402: The decentralized nature of the Empire made censorship difficult. Terence McIntosh comments that the expansionist, aggressive policy pursued by Maximilian I and Charles V at the inception of the early modern German nation (although not to further the aims specific to the German nation per se), relying on German manpower as well as utilizing fearsome Landsknechte and mercenaries, would affect

4165-582: The demands of their own lords. The emperor himself, however, who from the time of Sigismund's successor, Albert II , almost always came from the House of Habsburg , used imperial politics generally only if it served to support his own personal base of power at home. In 1495, an attempt was made at an Imperial Diet in the City of Worms to give the disintegrating Holy Roman Empire a new structure, commonly referred to as Imperial Reform. The fundamental idea of

4250-550: The desire to achieve legal unity and other factors, the adoption also highlighted the continuity between the Ancient Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire. To realize his resolve to reform and unify the legal system, the emperor frequently intervened personally in matters of local law, overriding local charters and customs. This practice was often met with irony and scorn from local councils, who wanted to protect their local codes. The legal reform seriously weakened

4335-471: The disadvantages of the absence of a centralised authority on the occasions of threats and armed conflicts like the Hussite Wars . Maximilian I of Austria was elected King of the Romans from 1486. At the 1495 Diet, Maximilian asked the representatives of the estates not only for contributions but also for an imperial tax to be raised and for troops to be committed for his wars against the Ottomans in

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4420-609: The doctrine of Utraquism preached during his absence by his adherents at Prague: the obligation of the faithful to receive communion in both kinds, bread and wine ( sub utraque specie ). This doctrine became the watchword of the moderate Hussites known as the Utraquists or Calixtines, from the Latin calix (the chalice), in Czech Kališníci (from kalich ). The more extreme Hussites became known as Taborites ( Táborité ), after

4505-451: The drinking water supply and protection against epidemics). After some time, they also took responsibility for the construction of cross-border highways and roads, as well as many other matters in the early modern civilization process. Wolfgang Wüst opines that even if some aspects remained incomplete, the formation of the Imperial Circles proved to be an essential influence on the development of Early Modern Europe . Maximilian responded to

4590-469: The emperor, negotiated with him. Wilson tied the Reform to the territorial and power expansion of the Habsburgs: "The family's territorial expansion coincided with the high point of imperial reform around 1520, accelerating and transforming that process. The material power that made the dynasty the obvious choice as emperors, also threatened German liberties. The emperor assumed a Janus-faced position as

4675-452: The end of October 1420 the garrison was on the point of capitulating through famine. Sigismund tried to relieve the fortress but was decisively defeated by the Hussites on 1 November near the village of Pankrác . The castles of Vyšehrad and Hradčany now capitulated, and shortly afterwards, almost all Bohemia fell into the hands of the Hussites. Internal troubles prevented the followers of Hus from fully capitalizing on their victory. At Prague,

4760-454: The enemy's cavalry charge. The main weight of the fighting rested on militiamen armed with cold weapons, but firearms shooting from behind the safety of the wagon forts proved to be very effective. Following this experience, Žižka ordered mass manufacturing of war wagons according to a universal template as well as manufacturing of new types of firearms that would be more suitable for use in the open battlefield. Throughout 1420 and most of 1421,

4845-456: The enemy's main camp. The attack was conducted by using a gradually moving wagon wall. Instead of the usual infantry raids beyond the wagons, the attack relied mainly on the use of ranged weapons from the moving wagons. Nighttime use of firearms proved extremely effective, not only practically but also psychologically. The year 1421 marked not only a shift in the importance of firearms, from auxiliary to primary weapons of Hussite militia, but also

4930-482: The essence of the Hussite doctrine, were rejected by King Sigismund, mainly through the influence of the papal legates , who considered them prejudicial to the authority of the pope. Hostilities therefore continued. However, Sigismund was defeated at the Battle of Vítkov Hill on July 1420. Though Sigismund had retired from Prague, his troops held the castles of Vyšehrad and Hradčany . The citizens of Prague laid siege to Vyšehrad (see Battle of Vyšehrad ), and towards

5015-506: The establishment of the Čáslav diet of formal legal duty for all inhabitants to obey the call to arms of the elected provisional government. For the first time in medieval European history, this was not put in place in order to fulfill duties to a feudal lord or to the church, but in order to participate in the defense of the country. Firearms design underwent fast development during the Hussite Wars, and their civilian possession became

5100-462: The first pitched battle of the Hussite Wars. After Sudoměř, he moved to Ústí, one of the earliest meeting places of the Hussites. Not considering its situation sufficiently strong, he moved to the neighboring new settlement of the Hussites, called by the biblical name of Tábor . Tábor soon became the center of the most militant Hussites, who differed from the Utraquists by recognizing only two sacraments— Baptism and Communion —and by rejecting most of

5185-546: The kingdom of Bohemia freely and in an orderly manner by the priests of the Lord. 2. The sacrament of the most Holy Eucharist shall be freely administered in the two kinds, that is bread and wine, to all the faithful in Christ who are not precluded by mortal sin – according to the word and disposition of Our Saviour. 3. The secular power over riches and worldly goods which the clergy possesses in contradiction to Christ's precept, to

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5270-498: The land they had lost, resulting in the failure of the crusade. After the reins of the Hussite army were handed over to yeoman Jan Žižka , internal strife followed. Seeing that the Hussites were weakened, the Germans undertook another crusade but were defeated by Žižka at the Battle of Německý Brod . Three more crusades were attempted by the papacy , but none achieved their objectives. The Lithuanians and Poles did not wish to attack

5355-633: The large number of supplications he received). According to Thomas Brady Jr. and Jan-Dirk Müller, the most important governmental changes targeted the heart of the regime: the chancery. Early in Maximilian's reign, the Court Chancery at Innsbruck competed with the Imperial Chancery (which was under the elector-archbishop of Mainz, the senior Imperial chancellor). By referring the political matters in Tyrol, Austria as well as Imperial problems to

5440-547: The lower aristocracy and burghers in Southern Germany. At the 1495 Diet, the Reception of Roman Law was accelerated and formalized. The Roman Law was made binding in German courts, except in the case it was contrary to local statutes. In practice, it became the basic law throughout Germany, displacing Germanic local law to a large extent, although Germanic law was still operative at the lower courts. Other than

5525-654: The next three centuries." Hussite Wars Bohemia & Moravia : Hussite movement (1419–20) Hussite Bohemia (1420–23) Moravian Hussites Radical Hussite faction (1423–34) Allies: Lithuania Supported by: Poland Polish–Hussite invasion of Prussia (1433) : Poland Pomerania-Stolp Orphans as mercenaries Crusaders and Catholic loyalists: Hungary - Croatia Holy Roman Empire (also German Kingdom ) Teutonic Order Order of Rhodes Papal States England Serbia Poland Allies: Moderate Hussite faction (since 1423) Allies of

5610-509: The operator's physical strength. Firearms were first used in the field as a provisional last resort together with wagon forts. Significantly outnumbered Hussite militia led by Jan Žižka repulsed surprise assaults by heavy cavalry during the Battle of Nekmíř in December 1419 and the Battle of Sudoměř in March 1420. In these battles, Žižka employed transport carriages as wagon forts to stop

5695-487: The prejudice of its office and to the detriment of the secular arm, shall be taken and withdrawn from it, and the clergy itself shall be brought back to the evangelical rule and an apostolic life such as that which Christ and his apostles led. 4. All mortal sins, and in particular all public and other disorders, which are contrary to God's law shall in every rank of life be duly and judiciously prohibited and destroyed by those whose office it is. These articles, which contain

5780-407: The problems of addressing the Empire as 'state' has an increasing price." According to Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger , different sides in the Reform sought different goals and had different strategies. Maximilian sought to raise revenues to repulse the Ottomans in the East and the French in Italy and at the same time wanted to assert central authority and his ascension provided the direct incentive for

5865-429: The proposal that an Imperial Council (the later Reichsregiment) should be created, he agreed and welcomed the participation of the Estates, but he alone should be the one who appointed members, and the council should function only during his campaigns. He supported modernizing reforms (which he himself pioneered in his Austrian lands) but also wanted to tie them to his personal control, above all by permanent taxation, which

5950-469: The protector of rival Pope Gregory XII . To raise money for this, he proclaimed indulgences in Bohemia. Hus bitterly denounced this and explicitly quoted Wycliffe against it, provoking further complaints of heresy but winning much support in Bohemia. In 1414, Sigismund of Hungary convened the Council of Constance to end the Schism and resolve other religious controversies. Hus went to the Council, under

6035-404: The reform of church and empire, some of which were practical, others were unrealistic. The text contained a teaching of the sacraments and argued in favour of the marriage of priests and the secularization of church property. In addition it included a vision of Emperor Sigismund's about the appearance of a priest-king Frederick and plans for a wide reform of the monarchy (and emperorship) and

6120-676: The reform was largely based on the theory of political concordance between the emperor and the Imperial States , developed by Nicholas of Kues . After the fall of the House of Hohenstaufen in the mid-13th century, the power of the emperors gradually declined in favour of the Estates of the Realm , especially of the prince-electors assigned by the Golden Bull of 1356 . The autonomous estates had nevertheless become painfully aware of

6205-458: The regent, promised to act as mediators with Sigismund, while the citizens of Prague consented to restore to the royal forces the castle of Vyšehrad , which had fallen into their hands. Žižka, who disapproved of this compromise, left Prague and retired to Plzeň . Unable to maintain himself there he marched to southern Bohemia. He defeated the Catholics at the Battle of Sudoměř (25 March 1420),

6290-409: The successful dynastic marriages of Maximilian and his descendants (and the successful defense of those lands, notably the rich Low Countries) as well as Maximilian's development of a revolutionary post system that helped the Habsburgs to maintain control of their territories. Duncan notes that Peter Moraw joins Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger in presenting "the accelerated change and consolidation within

6375-470: The time, including publications like the Reformatio Sigismundi , show that the educated classes that represented the small territorial lordships of the counts and barons ( Freiherren ) as well as the imperial knights but also the imperial cities and the smaller ecclesiastical territories supported the emperor having a powerful position, because it offered better protection against

6460-412: The town of Tábor , which became their centre; or Orphans ( Sirotci ), a name they adopted after the death of their leader and general Jan Žižka. Under the influence of Sigismund, Wenceslaus endeavoured to stem the Hussite movement. A number of Hussites led by Mikuláš of Hus left Prague. They held meetings in various parts of Bohemia, particularly at Sezimovo Ústí , near the spot where the town of Tábor

6545-490: The way neighbours viewed the German polity, although in the longue durée, Germany tended to be at peace. The Reform's purpose and its level of success have been interpreted differently depending on the period and the scholar. Duncan Hardy notes that, "The earliest historians to engage with this topic, who coined and popularized the notion of 'imperial reform' (Reicksreform), judged it as a well-intentioned partial failure. For Leopold von Ranke and Erich Molitor, imperial reform

6630-587: The windows into the street (the first " Defenestration of Prague "), where several were killed by the fall, after a rock was allegedly thrown from the town hall and hit Želivský. It has been suggested that Wenceslaus was so stunned by the defenestration that it caused his death on 16 August 1419. Alternatively, it is possible that he may have just died of natural causes. The death of Wenceslaus resulted in renewed troubles in Prague and in almost all parts of Bohemia. Many Catholics, mostly Germans—mostly still faithful to

6715-474: Was a hereditary or an elective monarchy, especially since the line through which Sigismund claimed the throne had accepted that the Kingdom of Bohemia was an elective monarchy elected by the nobles, and thus, the regent of the kingdom (Čeněk of Wartenberg) also explicitly stated that Sigismund had not been elected as a reason for Sigismund's claim to not be accepted. A firm adherent of the Church of Rome, Sigismund

6800-436: Was a missed opportunity: an attempt to impose nation-statehood on the Empire from above, inspired by 'patriotic' reform-minded polemicists, which foundered on the particularistic ambitions of the monarchy and the princes, but nevertheless engendered substantial constitutional shifts." In his influential 1984 study of Reichsreform, Heinz Angermeier took a less top—down view, but also saw the reformist initiatives as "the product of

6885-460: Was aided by Pope Martin V , who issued a bull on 17 March 1420 proclaiming a crusade "for the destruction of the Wycliffites, Hussites and all other heretics in Bohemia". Sigismund and many German princes arrived before Prague on 30 June at the head of a vast army of crusaders from all parts of Europe, largely consisting of adventurers attracted by the hope of pillage. They immediately began

6970-484: Was first printed in 1476 and there were seven new editions by 1522. In part it was even treated in the 15th century as an imperial law. The Reformatio stands at the beginning of a trend to no longer publish constitutional and political principles solely in Latin , but also in German. In terms of content the Reformatio differed little from other political reform texts of Sigismund's reign. It presented proposals for

7055-412: Was founded soon afterwards. At these meetings, they violently denounced Sigismund, and the people everywhere prepared for war. In spite of the departure of many prominent Hussites, the troubles at Prague continued. On 30 July 1419, a Hussite procession headed by the priest Jan Želivský attacked New Town Hall in Prague and threw the king's representatives, the burgomaster, and some town councillors from

7140-453: Was presented as a restoration of (imagined) good old customs and order. The notion that structural change was founded upon a unified reform programme contained in fifteenth-century treatises and polemics has also been called into question." Brady Jr. notes that, the Empire, now the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation, gained most of its institutions, that endured until its final demise in the nineteenth century. Thomas Brady Jr. opines that

7225-519: Was then offered to Władysław's cousin, Vytautas , the Grand Duke of Lithuania . Vytautas accepted it, with the condition that the Hussites reunite with the Catholic Church. In 1422, Žižka accepted Prince Sigismund Korybut of Lithuania (nephew of Władysław II) as regent of Bohemia for Vytautas. His authority was recognized by the Utraquist nobles, the citizens of Prague, and the more moderate of

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