George of Poděbrady

The manners, frankness and adherence to principles of Bohemian King George of Poděbrady (1458–1471) is depicted by Alphonse Mucha in a story from the time of his rule. Pope Pius II received George’s messengers headed by Zdeněk Kostka of Postupice and Prokop of Rabstein with hostility. On 3 April 1462 the messengers returned to Prague along with Bohemian emissary to the Vatican, Fantinus de Valle. He presented the Pope’s requirement that King George, his family and the whole nation renounce Hussitism, and his decision not to continue to recognise the Compacts of Basel, which arranged the relationships between the Hussites and the Catholic Church.

The King receives the messengers from Rome at King’s Court in the Old Town of Prague during an assembly of the Bohemian Diet. His response to the Pope’s requirement is really hostile. He stands up so fiercely that his armchair topples over and he replies: “… I do not recognise the Pope as a judge over my conscience and the conscience of my family and nation.” The Pope’s messengers are standing – they have not been offered a seat since the Czech messengers also had to stand before the Pope in Rome. The faces of the papal nuncio’s suite express shock at the King’s severe answer while the Czech noblemen’s postures and expressions show pride. The five-petalled rose on the back of one of the men reveals that he is the Lord of Rosenberg, a member of the Royal Council and the ruler of South Bohemia. Sitting opposite him is the archbishop, Jan Rokycana, with a cross on his violet vestment. In the right-hand corner we can see a person with a fool’s cap on his head – he is a wise and educated man who has
given up all his privileges so that he could be the King’s adviser. His name is Jan Paleček and he is the most famous court jester in Czech history. Left of him is a boy who has resolutely closed a book with the word Roma on the cover – that is how Alphonse Mucha symbolises the end of all negotiations between the Pope and King George of Poděbrady.

After this audience the King let all the papal envoys go. On the next day he summoned Fantinus de Valle and imprisoned him for treason and for representing the interests of Bohemia insufficiently. The Pope responded by anathemizing George and depriving him of his crown. Having heard the news, George said he would die as a Bohemian King. That happened in 1471 when he was fifty-one and at the top of his diplomatic and political power.