Urkunden und Briefe über das antihussitische Handelsverbot

Abstract

The present paper studies the charters and letters originating during the Catholic trade embargo first imposed against the Czech Hussites between 1420 and 1436, and reassumed in the late 1460s and early 1470s. The different types of documents are first studied with regard to their formal characteristics and their classification in terms of late medieval diplomatics. Secondly, lost correspondence is reconstructed in order to demonstrate the great void of missing documents, preventing us from truly grasping the widespread use of the written word during the Hussite Wars. Thirdly, the publication of papal and royal mandates enforcing the anti-Hussite embargo is analysed to demonstrate both the practical use of the documents in question, and their importance for Catholic anti-Hussite policy.