Genealogy research over the years led me to many unusual
topics that proved interesting because of the relationship to my ancestors' countries of origin. Several of my great grandparents emigrated as children
from Bohemia in the present day Czech Republic. The following is an excerpt
from a short story (Can Any War Truly Be Called “Holy”?) that emerged from my
research of that country.
Taborites of Bohemia
The Taborites, Czech Táborité, were named for the town south of Prague in Bohemia. Here they formed another party of Hussites, a forerunner of the Protestant Reformation. Their theology was a departure from the medieval Catholic Church.
The
only two sacraments that the Taborites accepted as part of their religious
beliefs were that of baptism and communion. Baptism was their first affirmation
of belief in God. Communion was the partaking of the body and blood of Jesus
Christ in the forms of both bread and wine.
They
rejected the Real Presence, purgatory, and prayers for the dead. They did not
believe in the sacraments of confirmation, reaffirming belief in God;
matrimony, union of man and woman; holy orders of priests; extreme unction, or blessings
and forgiveness for the dying.
Taborites
also discouraged most other beliefs and practices of Christianity. They
believed Christ would soon return and they wanted to establish what they
envisioned was His heavenly utopia, which excluded personal ownership of
property, class distinction, human laws, taxes, and marriage.
They
also disregarded the idea of pacifism, some Taborites choosing to divide even
further. In a short period of time, power and privilege raised their ugly heads
and those who advocated for peace and freedom lost their place to more
tyrannical forces.
In the
early 1400s, Taborites won numerous crusades fought within Bohemia. The battles
they chose to fight in a series of marches outside of the country were lost.
Their extended military campaigns and total destruction of churches within
Bohemia, however, eventually led to the Battle of Lipany, east of Prague.
The
attackers were Catholics, along with another branch of Hussites, Ultraquist
nobility who believed in the partaking of bread and wine; Catholics reserved
the privilege of taking wine, as a symbol of Christ’s blood, to their priests.
The battle, described by some as a massacre, ended the Hussite holy wars.
Often, the divide appears as nothing to a casual observer. But to a true believer, the division is everything. Many wars have proven that fighting to change the beliefs of others is a futile battle. Changing another person’s actions does not eliminate the core doctrine of their beliefs.
It becomes incumbent upon those who have the authority to create wars to accept responsibility to first learn from past conflicts before instigating future ones. Rather than plan another conflict to establish strength or to impose beliefs on others, would it not be better to remain sympathetic, and accept differences as God’s true utopia?
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