SKALA ZE ZHOtLE

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I have quoted ^ were decapitated on June 21, 1621. Skdla ze Zhofe's account of his last moments. Of the latest historians of this period, Paul SkAla ze Zho6e is certainly the most important. Palack^ has called him " not only the most voluminous, but also the " he might permost valuable historian of Bohemia ; haps have been considered the foremost historian of his country before the present century, since which time that rank belongs uncontestedly to Palack;^ himself. I cannot formulate my opinion of Skila more accurately than I did some years ago, when I wrote : " Skdla's description of the turbulent scenes on the Hradcin on the day of the defenestration, and the truly pathetic account of the last hours and execution of the Bohemian leaders in 1621, are masterpieces of historical writing. I may confidently say that they would do credit to the literature of a larger and better known country than Bohemia." Paul Skdla ze Zhofe, born in 1583, belonged, like " of the citizens or townsBartos and Sixt, to the " estate men. He was educated at the then very celebrated Protestant university of Wittenberg, and his life and writings both prove that he was a staunch adherent of the ProHe was for some time employed in the testant faith. municipal offices of the town of Saaz (or ^atec), and he held a Government appointment at Prague during the Provisional Government of 1618 and the short reign of Frederick of the Palatinate. He was an eye-witness of He left some of the events of that memorable period. Bohemia after the battle of the White Mountain and the flight of King Frederick, at whose court he remained during the first years of his exile. He afterwards settled »

See pp. 343 and 344.