The “Four Articles of Prague” were a set of demands set forth by Hussites. It originated from Jakoubek of Stříbro, Hus’ successor at the Bethlehem Chapel, and the faculty of Charles University in Prague in 1420. Emperor Sigismund refused to accept the Articles, and instead asked Pope Martin V to declare a Crusade against the Hussites. The Articles can be summarized:
- The Word of God is to be freely examined by Christian priests throughout the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Margravate of Moravia.
- The venerable Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ is to be given in two kinds to adults as well as to children, as Jesus Christ has instituted.
- The priests and monks, of whom many meddle with the affairs of the State, are to be deprived of the worldly goods which they possess in great quantities and which make them neglect their sacred office; and their goods shall be restored to us, in order that, in accordance with the doctrine of the Gospel, and the practice of the Apostles, the clergy shall be subject to us, and, living in poverty, serve as a pattern of humility to others.
- All the public sins which are called mortal, and all other trespasses contrary to the law of God, are to be punished according to the laws of the country, by those in charge of them, in order to wipe from the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Margravate of Moravia the bad reputation of tolerating disorders.