George of Bohemia: King of Heretics by Frederick G. Heymann (review)

428 LETTERS IN CANADA other hand sculpture was influenced in the other direction and though there are deep differences between the resolutely stylized, symbolic art of India and the idealized naturalism typical of Greece, their momentary meeting did provide results that were memorable in their own right and did, in the end, give the Indian imagination some of the technology it needed to find itself. When it comes to literature Mr. Woodcock rightly dismisses the contention that the Greek theatre helped to shape the classical Sanskrit drama as "based on an excessive desire to find the roots of all high culture in the Mediterranean world." Though he does not say so, the relative lack of evidence would seem to suggest that the two literatures had virtually no impact On each other. Thus the map shows us movements in both directions and in neither. We are led to the frustrating but entirely sane conclusion that cultural influence is a difficult thing to talk about. (B. RAJAN) Apart from Frederick G. Heymann (George of Bohemia: King of Heretics [Princeton University Press (Toronto: Saunders of Toronto), 1965, pp. xvi, 671, $15.00]), there are few Canadians who in the course of their centennial examination of Canadian identity and destiny would be aware of some striking parallels between the current problems of this Dominion and those of the Kingdom of Bohemia five centuries ago. Making a generous allowance for oversimplification, one cannot fail to observe the similarities. The central concern of King George's political career was his determined effort to be "a ruler of two peoples" in one kingdom which was divided ethnically and religiously into a Czech Hussite majority and a German Roman Catholic minority. A policy of conciliation and unification on the domestic scene was matched by his grand design for an international Peace League of Nations. These parallels to Canada's international role and to her struggle for internal unity make the book of particular interest to Canadians. George of Podebrady belonged to an old Czech baron!al family. His father was a personal friend of the Hussite warrior, John Ziika,_to whom Dr. Heymann has devoted an earlier large monograph, John Ziika and the Hussite Revolution (Princeton University Press [Toronto: Saunders of Toronto]' 1955, pp. 521). Born in 1420, at the beginning of the Hussite wars, George was soon drawn into political life. At the age of twenty-four, he became the leader of the powerful Utraquist (Hussite) party. Through a difficult period of interregnum and anarchy during the infancy of Ladislav Posthumus, SOn of Albert of Austria, George, HUMANITIES 429 as governor, made great strides towards the pacification and economic restoration of the country. Mter the premature death of Ladislav, George was elected king in 1458, the only Hussite and the last native Czech to wear the crown of St. Wenceslas. The thirteen years of his reign were filled with "little wars," diplomatic missions, and unceasing elforts to unify the kingdom within and to repel the enemies without. The King of the Heretics had many opponents: baronial alliances; rebellious cities like Breslau in Silesia; the Curia, especially under Pope Pius II (Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini); Emperor Frederick III and King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary. In exhaustive detail, Dr. Heymann reconstructs every step of the military expeditions or political negotiations and proVides meticulous documentation from primary sources. Sometimes the account is burdened with excessive detail. It must be recognized, however, that the book represents the first monograph in English on the Hussite King. It is regrettable that with the paucity of scholarly English works on Czech history, there should have been prepared and printed almost simultaneously another monograph On the same leader and epoch, The HttsSite King, Bohemia in European Affairs, 1440-1471 by Otakar OdloziHk ( New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1965, pp. xii, 337). Although somewhat shorter, with much less documentation and more emphasis on interpretation , the book by Dr. Odlozilfk follows very much the same method of chronological narration with the main focus on the political history. Both authors pay only marginal attention to the economic, cultural, and religiOUS aspects of King George's era. Perhaps the most noteworthy part of Dr. Heymann's book is...