Slavic Epic: Meeting at the Crossroads

The magic of the word - subjoint

After the death of Jan Hus, the religious reformation movement spread mainly in southern Bohemia. Its ideas were at first very simple, non-violent - its inspirers wanted to realize the kingdom of God on earth through the religious renewal of the people in the spirit of the Gospel. Assemblies were held in the mountains: at Hradiste (later Tábor), at Beranek near Vozice, at Oreb near Třebechovice. The adherents of the movement wanted to live like the first Christians. The popular pilgrimages spread like a spiritual "contagion" among the common people, and nothing could be done by the secular or ecclesiastical authorities.

However, the radical branch from Tabor soon came to the fore. On September 17, 1419, a written appeal to all loyal Bohemians was issued by the municipality of Tabor during a meeting on Bzī hora. It was written by a priest from Plzeň, Václav Koranda the Elder, and it read. Know that the vineyard has blossomed, but the goats want to eat it, so do not go with sticks, but with weapons!" Another meeting, this time armed, took place on 30 September 1419 on the heights behind Jesenica Na Křížkách. This place is still called U Křížků, located 20 km south of Prague towards Benešov, near Velke Popovice.

Václav Koranda preaches at the gathering, standing on a scaffolding hastily built over the thatched roof of the cottage. The pilgrims from Pilsen, whom he brought, are camped under it. We see them taking communion at a long table under the pine trees. They also begin to receive from the chalice, which later became a symbol of religious opposition. Some of the brothers water the horses, others wash clothes, prepare food and watch the procession coming from Prague. The whole landscape is plunged into an ominous gloom, with only a glimmer of light falling on the pilgrims, symbolically heralding the dawn of a new era.

This painting is not lacking in symbolism either: the dry tree with a white flag is a sign of war and death, the green pine tree and the red flag signify life. A dark sky cut by lightning, these are the changes that have just taken place: Wenceslas IV has recently died, the first Prague defenestration has taken place and Jan Žižka is forming the first military units. The whole picture is conceived as a call to arms, a call to fight for the truth for which the master Jan Hus gave his life.

Vite App/gnews.cz-Jana Černá_07

https://mk-epopej-pruvodce.netlify.app/dospely/9