But to such holy ones there are always joined many hypocrites who,confessing the same truth and adhering to it, cannot be distinguished from thefaithful nor separated from the Church. For that reason the visible Church inthis world is commonly called a sundry society of Christians, good and bad,declaring themselves to Christ and to his law.
Critique of corruption within the Church hierarchy
we confess that the holyScriptures of the Old and New Testaments are without any exception unchange-ably true, holy, sure, and catholic, that is universal, given and commanded byGod for the belief and observance of the whole Church.
Reflection of the Protestant belief of sola scriptura.
"I confess before God andhis angels, that I shall preserve the laws, justice, and peace of the holy Church, serve thewelfare of my subjects and exercise justice, and, taking divine mercy into consideration,preserve the laws of the Empire as best I can with the advice of the princes and the loyalty ofthe subjects of the Empire and of my friends. To the most holy Roman pope, the RomanChurch, and the other bishops and churches of God, I shall render them the honor which, bychurch law, they are due. Whatever the emperors and kings have given over to the churchesand clergy, I will preserve and maintain undiminished. To the abbots and orders as Imperialvassals, I will render the proper respect, insofar as the Lord Jesus Christ grants me help,strength, and worth."
Again, that emphasis on the king's obligations to the Church.
"Will you preserve the traditional Catholic faith and protect it with justmeans? Will you be a faithful protector and defender of the holy Church and her servants? Willyou rule and defend the Empire, which God has entrusted to you, according to the justice ofyour predecessors? Will you guard the rights of the Empire and the Imperial office, recover theirunjustly lost properties and employ them for the good of the Empire and the imperium? Will yoube a just judge and a righteous defender of poor and rich, widows and orphans? Will you renderto the most holy father and lord, the Roman pope, and to the holy Roman church the obedienceand loyalty you owe them?" To each of these questions the king answered: "I will."
State based on oaths and obligations rather than sense of national identity
When this was finished, the king got down on the altar steps andstretched himself out, full length, and the archbishop of Cologne prayed over the prostate king
I believe this ritual is supposed to signify the subordination of the king to God.
His Imperial Majesty
Style of address for an emperor
after them Duke Albert ofSaxony, the Duke of Jülich, and the Lord of Cleves,
How come these particular noblemen marched after the other nobles and the bishops?
For God is my witness that I neither preached, affirmed, nor defended them, though they say that I did.
Hus denies the accusations of heresy levelled against him by the Church hierarchy.
this duchy shallpass to the eldest surviving daughter.
Unprecedented at the time. Probably played a major role in Maria Theresa's inheritance of the Habsburg lands a couple centuries or so later.
Further, if this Duke of Austria is challenged by anyone to honorable single combat, he mayallow his place to be taken by another without incurring the opprobrium of cowardice. And onthe appointed day no prince or anyone else, by pain of loss of reputation, may attack orchallenge him.
Documents gives the Duke of Austria a lot of privileges that none of the other princes of the Empire would get.
the Duke of Austria, no matter what obligations to aid and assist he may haveassumed—is not obliged to the Holy Roman Empire or anyone else,
Documents claims to grant a form of sovereignty or at least greater autonomy than the other Imperial States to the Duchy of Austria.
The city of Frankfurt is responsible to preventthe electors and their armed men from attacking each other; they shall not let anyone else intothe city during the election.]
Frankfurt as some sort of "neutral ground" for the nobility to meet.
It shall be forbidden toattack anyone with arson, robbery or plundering under the pretense of feud, unless the feud isdeclared publicly three natural days in advance to the victim in person at that place where heusually resides; and unless the declaration is heard by trustworthy witnesses.
Perhaps this regulation could be considered an early example of Just War theory.
No elector shall appear in Frankfurt with more than 200 mounted men, ofwhom no more than 50 may be armed.
No standing army at the time; instead the military forces of the Holy Roman Empire were mostly drawn from feudal levies.
If they do not succeedwith 30 days, they shall then subsist on bread and water until a majority of them has elected aruler and secular head of the faithful.
Was the mandated subsistence on bread and water a way to incentivize the prince-electors to make timely decisions in the imperial elections?