John Huss and the Hussite Wars - James Aitken Wylie

specially obnoxious from their opposition to Huss.
Their establishments in Prague and throughout
Bohemia were pillaged. These were of great
magnificence. AEneas Sylvius, accustomed though
he was to the stately edifices of Italy, yet speaks
with admiration of the number and beauty of the
Bohemian monasteries. A very short while saw
them utterly wrecked, and their treasure, which was
immense, and which consisted in gold and silver
and precious stones, went a long way to defray the
expenses of the war.
That the emperor could be worsted, supported
as he was by the whole forces of the Empire and
the whole influence of the Church, did not enter
into any man's mind. Still it began to be apparent
that the Hussites were not the contemptible
opponents Sigismund had taken them for. He
deemed it prudent to come to terms with the Turk,
that he might be at liberty to deal with Ziska.
Assembling an army, contemporary historians
say of 100,000 men, of various nationalities, he
marched on Prague, now in possession of the
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