Taborites of Bohemia #AtoZChallenge2021

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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Yeoman's Daughter

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The 26 eclectic-genre short stories for my #AtoZChallenge are excerpts from travelogue notes by

novel character Gahlen, who first appeared in SHARDS OF MEMORY – Oral History in a Heartbeat.

Each A-to-Z daily post is a complete, stand-alone tale.

Yeoman’s Daughter

Genre: Historical Romance

(386 words)

Katerina stared toward the aging castle looming over the Bohemian countryside. Its crumbling structure served as a backdrop to her life. Memories surfaced of her father’s return from the war, alive but crippled for life. Whether limbs or part of their minds were lost, most men who survived were left to struggle with farm life.

*

Her father, a yeoman, could no longer make simple decisions such as when to till the fields or how to plant and sow. He roamed the fields when left unattended. If he wandered into town, the feed mill owner escorted him home after shop closing. Sometimes the local priest walked him home and stayed for supper.

Katerina’s mother was a daughter of the yeoman who originally owned the farm. She had gradually stopped contending with the uncertainties of life and taken to her bed. If she spotted the priest strolling down the lane with her husband in tow, she barred her bedroom door.

“Evening Miss Kate,” Father Tam would say, doffing an imaginary hat. “Your father and I have been for a walk. We could both use a shot of brandy and a bowl of soup. If that is not too much bother.”

Katerina dutifully poured the brandy and heated the soup. Her poor father went along with Father Tam’s charade, never appearing to doubt that the priest spoke the absolute truth. Following the sparse meal, Katerina settled her father in a chair near the wood stove, wrapping a blanket tight around his legs.

Then she and Father Tam would step outside. With the abandoned castle at their back, they discussed her father’s condition, pointedly ignoring that her mother might be suffering with a different problem.

*

Katerina walked out to the lawn swing, adjusting her skirts to sit. As her gaze wandered up to the castle, a touch of melancholy filled her. The affair, as secret as it was forbidden, had lasted a year. She still blushed to think of how they inhaled the essence of each other’s souls and dreamed the intimacies of one another’s ambitions.

They never tarnished their love by consummating the relationship. When the parish choirmaster had recommended a transfer to a congregation in Prague for Father Tam, Katerina was devastated. But the week after the priest vacated their town, her mother left her bed.

*****