g was the leader of the Roman or Austrian division of
the nobility. The two parties finally came to an agreement known as the
"Letter of Peace" (_list mirny_). Those who signed it pledged themselves
to recognise the Compacts, and to support as archbishop of Prague, John
of Rokycan, who had been chosen by the estates in accordance with an
agreement made simultaneously with the Compacts, but whom the Church of
Rome refused to recognize. On the other hand, the national party
abandoned the candidature to the throne of Prince Casimir of Poland,
thus paving the way to the eventual succession of Albert's heir. On the
22nd of February 1440 Queen Elizabeth gave birth to a son, who received
the name of Ladislas. The Bohemians formally acknowledged him as their
king, though only after their crown had been declined by Albert, duke of
Bavaria. Ladislas remained in Austria under the guardianship of his
uncle Frederick, duke of Styria, afterwards the emperor Frederick III.,
and Bohemia, still without regular government, continued to be the scene
of constant conflicts between the rival parties of the nobility. In 1446
a general meeting of the estates of Bohemia together with those of
Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia--and so-called "lands of the Bohemian
crown"--took place. This meeting has exceptional importance for the
constitutional history of Bohemia. It was decreed that at the meeting of
the estates their members should be divided into three bodies--known as
_curiae_--representing the nobles, the knights and the towns. These
_curiae_ were to deliberate separately and only to meet for a final
decision. An attempt made at this meeting to appoint a regent was
unsuccessful. The negotiations with the papal see continued meanwhile,
but led to no result, as the members of the Roman party used their
influence at the papal court for the purpose of dissuading it from
granting any concessions to their countrymen. Shortly after the
termination of the diet of 1446 George of Podebrad therefore determined
to appeal to the fortune of war. He assembled a considerable army at
Kutna Hora and marched on Prague (1448). He occupied the town almost
without resistance and assumed the regency over the kingdom. The diet in
1451 recognized his title, which was also sanctioned by the emperor
Frederick III., guardian of the young king. Podebrad was none the less
opposed, almost from the first, by the Romanists, who even concluded an
alliance against him with their e