Altered to suit the
existing circumstances, their effect must have been the more powerful
by association. This period was also rich in religious hymns; most of
them translated from the Bible as literally as the rhyme would permit.
But no form of poetry was more used, and none operated more strongly
on the minds of the people, than the satirical ballads, with which the
streets and alleys every where resounded. All these productions are
only remarkable, as characteristic memorials of the age. Hynck of
Podiebrad, fourth son of king George, who was born A.D. 1452, a highly
accomplished and amiable man, is named as one of the most
distinguished among the Bohemian poets of the age.
Politics, too, united with religion. Stibor of Cimburg, a patriotic
and distinguished nobleman, wrote in 1467 an ingenious work in the
form of a novel, "On the goods of the Clergy;" Waleczowsky wrote on
the vices and hypocrisy of the clergy; and Zidek, in 1471,
instructions on government. All these books were dedicated to king
George, and the latter work was even written at his instigation. Hagck
of Hodielin, and Wlezek, between 1413 and 1457, wrote strategetical
works. Marco Polo's description of the East, and Mandeville's Travels,
were translated from the Latin.
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