and townes. And likewise of adulterers, & other notorious whoremōgers & whores, and they did neuer let or stay thē in their great sinnes, to the end þ^t the Scripture may be fulfilled in thē, which saith: Giftes & the loue of money do draw to hell, and do blind the eyes of iudges.

The. 15. Article is, that they receyue tythes of men, and will of right haue them, and preache and say that men are bound to giue them tythes, and therin they say falsly: MarginaliaHe meaneth, of clayming tithes by mere necessitie of the old lawe: and not by the positiue lawe of princes.For they can not proue by the newe Testament, that our Lord Iesus Christ commaunded it, & his disciples warned no man to do so, neither did them selues receiue them. But although in the old Testament, it were commaunded to geue tithes, yet it can not thereby be proued, that Christian men are bound thereto: For this precept of the old Testament had an end in þ^e first yeare of our Lord Iesus Christ, like as þ^e precept of Circumcision. Wherfore wel beloued, consider & see, how your bishops seduce you and shut your eyes with thynges that haue no proufe. Christ saith in þ^e xi. of Luke: Giue almes of those thinges that remayne, but he sayd not geue the tenth of the goodes, whiche ye possesse, but geue almes. But when they heare this worde, they may saye as the lawyer said to Christ: Maister when thou sayest so, thou geuest offence. Luke. xi.

MarginaliaThe popes church charged wit vsurye.The. xvi. Article is, that they in many places lende money or goodes to haue treasure or vsury, & they haue in Cities and townes, yearely payementes and perpetuall reuenues, as great princes and Lordes. Wherein they do agaynst the Gospell, which sayth, do not ye possesse golde nor siluer. And whereas they lend for gayne and vsurye, agaynst that speaketh the Lorde, Deut. 24: Lend not to vsury to thy brother. &c. Ye honest discrete and well beloued Lordes, all the aforesayd Articles we will proue agaynst the Pope, and all his priestes, with many testimonies of the holy Scripture, whiche for breuities sake, wee haue not here mencioned. But note ye chiefly these foure Articles, for whiche we striue, and desire to defend them to the death.

The first Article is, that all publicke and customable mortall sinnes ought to be forbidden and prohibited to all priestes and lay men, according to the cōmaundement of the holy Scripture.

The second Article is, that riches ought to be taken from the Pope and all his priestes, MarginaliaHe meaneth the immoderate ryches and temporall possessions.from the highest to the lowest, and they ought to be made poore, as the Disciples of our Lorde Iesus Christe were: who had nothyng of their owne, neyther possessions in this worlde, neyther worldly power.

MarginaliaMen appoynted to preach may preach, though the pope forbyd them.The third Article is, that the worde of God ought to be free for euery man appoynted and ordained thereto, to preache & read in all places, whether they shall come, without resistaunce of any man or without any inhibition of either spirituall or earthly power openly or manifestly.

The fourth Article is, that the body of our Lord Iesus Christ ought to bee deliuered to euery Christian as our Lord hath ordained it, and as þ^e holy Euangelistes haue written. We haue also vnderstoode that there shall be a Councell in Basill: MarginaliaWhen the pope holdeth hys councell, let men looke to their wiues & daughters where the coūcell is kept.Wherfore let no man be exalted, but let thē diligently kepe their wiues, their daughters and their virgines frō bishops, priestes, & monkes. And do not thinke that there is made any holy assembly of Byshops and priestes for the common cōmoditie and profite of Christendome, but onely to this end that they may hyde their secrete vyces & heresies, with the cloke of hypocrisie, & let and hinder the righteousnes of God, whiche is much contrary to them: and for this cause cōsider ye diligently, that they will not make an holy assēbly, but the congregation of Sathan. And take ye heede that it be not done as some did at Constance, who tooke money of Byshops and prelates, and suffered them to sleepe with their wiues. Ye wellbeloued & honest lordes,if ye find any thing in these aforesaid articles or wordes written somwhat sharply, we did it not to offende or cōtemn you, but to the end that ye shuld diligētly consider and deuise how Christēdome is so ill kept and led by the priests of this present age. MarginaliaEx vitus. to codice manuscripto.Our Lord Iesus Christ kepe you both in body and soule. Amen. In the yere of our Lord. 1430.

Procopus, Smaliors, Conradus, Samssinolich, Capi-
taines of Boemia.

Now to prosecute þ^e warres of þ^e Bohemians againe, MarginaliaGreat lamentation for Zisca.after Zisca was dead, whereof we did intreate before, there was great feare, sorow, & lamentatiō in þ^e armye, the Souldiours accusing fortune which gaue ouer such an inuincible captaine to be ouercome w^t death. Immediatly ther was diuision in the host, the one part chusing Procopius Magnus to be their Captaine, the other part saying, that there was none could be found woorthye to succede Zisca: whereupon they chusing oute certayne to serue the warres, named them selues Orphanes.

MarginaliaThe armie of Zisca deuided.Thus the Thaborites being diuided into twoo armies, the one part retayned their olde and accustomed name, and the other by meanes of the death of their captayne, named them selues Orphanes. And all be it, that often times there was dissension betwene them, yet whē soeuer any forrein power came towards them, they ioyned their powers together in one campe, and defended them selues. They seldome went vnto any fēsed townes except it were to bye necessaries, but lyued wyth theyr wyues and children in their campe and tentes. They had amongest thē many carres, the which they vsed as a bulwarke: For whensoeuer they went vnto battayle, they made two wyngs of them, which closed in the foote men. MarginaliaThe order and policie that the armye of Zisca vsed in warre after hys decease.The winges of the horsemen were on the outsyde, and when as they saw their time for to ioyne battayle, the wagen men which led the winges, going forth vnto the Emperours standerd, and compassing in suche part of their enemies as they would, did close them selues in together, whereby the enemies beyng inclosed, so that they could not be rescued, they were partly by the footemen, & partly by the men that were in the carres with their dartes slayne. The horsemen fought without the fortificatiō: and if it hapned that they were oppressed or put to flight, by and by the carres openyng them selues, receiued them as it were into a fensed City: and by this meanes they got many victories, for somuch as their enemies were ignoraunt of these pollicies. These ij. armies went forth, the one into Slesia, and the other into Morauia, and returned agayne with great pray, before their enemies knew of their commyng. After this they besieged the towne of Swetley in Austrich, whereas the Thaborites and the Orphanes, ij. nightes continuallye assalted the walles without ceasing, but Alberr duke of Austrich cōming with his host to ayde the Citizens, they fought by þ^e space almost of iiij. houres, þ^e valiauntest warriers being slayne on both partes. At the lēgth the bataile was broken of, and the Thaborites lost their carres, and Albert was put out of his camp and tentes. MarginaliaProcopia Magnus.Within a while after, Procopius Magnus came agayne & inclosed the citie of Rhetium in Austria with a notable siege. They of Prage were in his army, & Boslaus Cygneus, of whom we spake before, was slaine there with a dart, and the citie of Rhetium was takē by force, sacked and burnt. The Burgraue of Malderburg Lorde of the towne, was also taken & caried vnto Prage, where also he dyed in prison.

These thinges thus done, the Emperour sent for the nobles of Boheme, whiche went vnto him vnto a towne of Hungary, called Posonium in the borders of Austria, vpon the bankes of the riuer Danubius: but they would not enter into the towne, but remained without þ^e town in their tentes, whether as þ^e Emperour goyng out vnto