UTRAQUISTS

Utraquists are known also as Calixtines. They were a body of Hussites holding that the reception of Holy Communion under both species is indispensable for salvation. They had split into several sects, of whom the taborites were the most radical; yet at the Synod of Prague (1418), they proclaimed their continuing membership in the Church, and retained only those beliefs and rituals in accord with the Bible. At the Diet of Prague (1419), the Hussite lords reconfirmed this stand, which was reflected in the Four Articles of Prague (July 1420). These Articles, containing the substance of Hussite belief, defined the creed of the Utraquists and, at the same time, established a basis for a dialogue with the Church.

Moreover, Konrad of Vechta, Archbishop of Prague, began a policy of compromise by signing an agreement (1421) favoring the Articles, a policy followed by the Diet of Čáslav and recommended to the Czech clergy at the general synod in Prague. Such action led to the Basel Compact by which the Council of basel (1433) recognized the Utraquists as true Christians. Nevertheless, their election of John Rokycana as archbishop of Prague (1435) was not recognized by Rome. Although the Utraquists developed into an independent national church unrecognized by Rome, it was dependent upon Roman bishops for the valid ordination of priests. This unique situation led to harmonious coexistence between the two groups. However, when the Lutherans, called Neo–Utraquists, who infiltrated and seized control of the Utraquist church, ended this tolerance, the Old Utraquists merged with Catholics following the restoration of a Catholic to the See of prague in 1561.

Bibliography: f. g. heymann, "National Assembly of Čáslav," Medievalie et humanistica 8 (1954) 32-55; "John Rokycana: Church Reformer Between Hus and Luther," Church History 28 (1959) 240-280. l. nemec, Church and State in Czechoslovakia (New York 1955). f. seibt, "Communitas … Hegemonialpolitik hellip; hussitischen Revolution," Historisches Jahrbuch der Görres–Gesellschaft 81 (Munich 1962) 80-100.

[l. nemec]