The Bohemian Delegation at the Council of Constance (1414-1418) and its Struggle for Truth and Recognition, Annales Historiae Conciliorum, 50 (2020), 27-48 Ebook PDF

Abstract
The decision of the Council of Constance to divide its members into four (later five)
nationes principales posed specific challenges. One crucial aspect was finding a balance
between the interests of the several nationes particulares (i.e., the representatives of kingdoms
and secular powers). This paper examines the group of Bohemian clerics and laymen at the
Council that was part of the Council’s natio Germanica. We analyze if the Bohemian group
– partly fighting for, partly against the “Hussite” cause – regarded itself as a “minority,” how
they tried to defend the honor regni Bohemiae, and if they attempted to establish an own
natio Bohemica at the Council. We argue that not the Bohemians but the “Hussite”
Bohemians were eventually relegated to the role of the minority at the Council, and that the
importance and glory of the sacrosancta natio Bohemica were emphasized in exactly those
situations in which Bohemians at the Council came under attack and had to defend
themselves.
10.17438/978-3-402-25631-2