July 25th, 1508: the Mandate of St. Jacob’s (the Mandate against the unity of Bohemian Brethren)
In the second half of the fifteenth century the newly founded church called the Unity of the Bohemian Brethren gained in popularity; by 1500 it had approximately five thousand members. At the turn of the century, the Unity of Brethren was again persecuted, which was the result of a dispute between them and the Dominicans, who acted as papal legate.
The suppression continued 1507-08. In July 1508, the St. Jacob’s-Mandate ordered all members of the Unity of Brethren to join either the Catholic Church or the Utraquists. The mandate didn’t mean the end of activities of the Unity of Brethren, but it made them unlawful. The members of the Unity of Brethren acted in the following/subsequent years on the estates of the noblemen which supported and protected them. The most important of those were Vilém z Pernštejna/Wilhelm of Pernstein and Kostkové z Postupic/ Kostka von Postupitz;. The most important centers of the Unity of Brethren were Mladá Boleslav in Bohemia, as well as Prostějov, Přerov, Hranice or Tovačov in Moravia.
Antonín Kalous
The Coronation of Ludwig II in Hungary, 1508
Wladislav/Vladislav II wanted to secure the succession of his only son. As early as the summer of 1507 he asked the councilors of the Hungarian crown council for their consent to the coronation of the at that time one-year-old infant. His demand was initially rejected initially, but in December the council relented. On June 4th, 1508, Prince Ludwig, aged two, was crowned in the old Hungarian coronation city Stuhlweissenburg (Székesfehérvár). The last time the Hungarian crown was placed on the head of a child was in 1444, when the Habsburg Wladislav/ Vladislav Posthumus was crowned. Wladislav/ Vladislav swore the coronation oath on behalf of his son. The coronation Mass was celebrated by the Archbishop of Gran, Cardinal Támas/Thomas Bakócz. He placed the Hungarian crown on Ludwig’s head. His secular counterpart was the Palatin Immere Perényi who was supported by the Count of Zips, Johann Szapolyai/Zápolya. This clearly documented that he accepted the accession of the king’s son. After the coronation there was a tournament, which was won by Margrave/Markgraf Georg of Brandenburg. A year later, on March 11th, 1509, Ludwig was also crowned King of Bohemia.
István Tringli
