'His fault, and it is a serious fault Pippo says, is that he thinks often of wearing the crown of martyrdom. He has withstood his enemies who had cast the foul stain of heresy upon him or who had otherwise maligned him to the pope. He is convinced that, if he can reach Konstanz, he will emerge victorious, cleansed of all foul charges. But he has this evil presentiment that he will never return to Prague.
`Pippo and I fear that Hus may be deluding himself by believing that, once in Konstanz, he will be allowed to hold forth in academic disputation with adversaries who will be less prejudiced and intolerant of him than are the prelates of Prague. He actually thinks that all will be solved by calm and temperate discussion, and sweet reasonableness.
`Yesterday, because he says, he is concerned with appearing at Konstanz with the proper credentials of orthodoxy, he nailed a notice to the castle gate which called upon the King of Bohemia and his counsellors to bear witness to his orthodoxy. He petitioned a large number of the Bohemian. nobility to appear before the papal inquisitor to ask publicly if the inquisitor knew of any error or heresy in Hus or if anyone had incriminated Hus before him.’
'The inquisitor replied that he had eaten and drunk with Hus, listened to many of his discourses and, in all his words and works, had, found him to be a true Catholic. A notarial instrument was drawn to this effect. It was signed by the inquisitor and copies were sent to the pope and to the Bohemian, king. After this, three barons in an assembly of nobles asked the archbishop whether he could accuse Hus of any error or heresy. The archbishop is Hus's mortal enemy, but he replied that he knew of no heresy by Hus and could make no accusation against him. Because, of all this, but mostly because of Hus's extreme popularity with the Bohemian people, Sigismund is determined to take Hus under his protection. He intends that Hus shall enter Konstanz in his train. He has commissioned John of Chlum and Wenzel of Duba to escort Hus to the royal camp Hus will leave Prague on 20 September.’
`Mama – this amiable man believes he is in God's special care. He knows nothing of the world and I fear he will fail to follow Sigismund's instructions and this could be politically most dangerous if he does not join with Sigismund's train and enter Konstanz'
`For your reference: Hus tells me he will lodge in Konstanz with a widow named Fida in the street of St Paul near the Snezthor
Cossa clumped Rosa's letter into a ball and flung it from himself `Why is the Church cursed with people like Hus?' he asked me rhetorically. `It has thousands of high. officers, all trained people – canon lawyers, administrators and theologians – but an ambitious priest like this one has to get attention for himself and worse, do it all in the name of sweetness and light.'
`If you think he is only ambitious and you want to shut him up,' I said, `make him a bishop.'
`Maybe ambitious was the wrong word. Hus is one of those professional saints who thinks he is helping the people by making trouble. He thinks that what he is doing isn't hurting anyone, except that every damned theatrical thing he does leads us closer to Church reform and all because he's one of those people who want to be loved. Come on, Franco Ellera, get the cards. We'll play a little tarocchini and maybe I'll get some of my money back.'
The papal household moved in ten-mile steps each day as it ascended the Alps. It stopped at the village of Tramin, then moved on upward until on 15 October, it reached Meran, ancient capital of the Tyrol on the right bank of the Passer, where Cossa was greeted by Frederick, Duke of Austria, his friend – who was Sigismund's enemy.
Frederick was not only ambitious, he was headstrong He held fortress castles near Konstanz. For that alone, Cossa saw him as invaluable. He was already in league with John of Nassau and the Marquess of Baden, two more of Cossa's rampant warrior friends. Cossa made a formal treaty with Frederick and gave him 16,000 florins to seal the bargain which made Frederick captain general of the papal troop's with an annual salary of 2000 florins. Cossa wanted to have protection when he needed it and Frederick promised him safe conduct anywhere against any man. It was probably the worst deal anyone made for himself in the century. With the kind of judgement he had; it is surprising Frederick ever made it beyond the cradle.
The ponderous household struggled up the narrow path of the valley of the Eisak, past Klausen to Brixen. From Brixen the mass of animals and men went up the Brenner to Innsbruck, then the road led west. They climbed the steep valley of the Inn – nine cardinals, thirty-one bishops and the. entire curia in the train. They kept climbing until they came at last to the chasmic glacier of the Riffler in St Anton, where they climbed to the Arlberg pass; over 6000 feet above the seas, through a wild, slanted valley. A work party had cleared the road through the powdery snow. Hundreds of horse’s hooves which had hardened, the way for the pope's red wagon had also pounded it into slippery ice. They were just beyond the little hospice of St Christopher when the wagon skidded crazily and overturned, sending the Holy Father rolling wildly, over and over, into the snowbank. Six pairs of hands pulled him out. Count Weiler, the papal physician, came running in to see if he were hurt. `'My epitaph came to me just as the carriage capsized,' Cossa said, grinning broadly. `It shall be "Here I lie in the name of the Devil," Not bad, hey, Abramo? Or should I have stayed in Bologna?'
The papal train moved; up again, to the valley of Klosterle. From the top, looking far down, Cossa saw the lake of Konstanz, called the Bodensee, glistening in the distance. Before them lay the city of Konstanz. `They trap foxes down there,' Cossa said.
I can paint an unforgettable picture of that fated city for any Italian who had left the sun behind him as Cossa; and I had. A strong wind drove a light snow across the lake. It fell upon the thirty towers and gateways of the walled city of Konstanz, which had a population of 6000 people on the day Pope John XXIII entered the city. Two and a half months later, by the end of the first week of January 1415, Konstanz had 20,000 people; 60,000 by the end of February the same year.
While the Council of Konstanz met, the city would be the diplomatic and political, as well as the religious, centre of Christendom. Never before in the history of the Church had the imperial chances and the Roman curia settled down, together side by side. It was to be a running event unparalleled in European history.
Pope John XXIII entered Konstanz on Sunday, 28 October 1414, just after eleven o'clock in the forenoon, from the monastery of St Ulrich, at Kreuzlingen, where we had spent the night. After morning reflection, a procession was formed. Cossa, clad entirely in white like a priest at an altar, was accompanied by his cardinals, archbishops, bishops and by the curia. He was met at the door of the monastery by the clergy, of Konstanz bearing holy relics. Four magistrates conducted the Holy Father to his white horse, richly caparisoned in scarlet, with a great bell hung around its neck, and led by Bechtold di Orsini. and Count Rudolf of Montfort zu Scheer, who stood under a canopy of cloth of gold:
White horses in red-trappings led the procession, laden with clothing bags, followed by a white hackney carrying a silver-gilt chest with a monstrance in which was the Holy Sacrament. Then followed His. Holiness, surrounded by burning tapers. Near him was a priest who scattered coins to relieve the press of the crowds. Behind the Holy Father rode `the man with the hat', a huge parasol on a, long pole embroidered with red and yellow. On top of the hat there was a golden knob and on it a golden angel, holding a cross in his hand. The hat was so wide that it protected His Holiness from sun and rain. Behind the man with the hat rode the cardinals, two and two, in long red cloaks with their servants and pages. On their heads were broad red hats with long silken bands.