TABORITES. The Taborites were one of the sections into which the followers of John Bus (1369-1415; see HUSSITES) were divided. Tabor means " tent," and the Taborites or " men of the tent " were so called because in 1419 they met and encamped on a mountain near Prague in Bohemia in order to received the Com munion in both kinds. Unlike the Calixtines (q.v.), the more peaceful section of the Huesites, the Taborites sought to promote and defend their principles by the power of the sword. They were led by John Ziska (1360-1424). In 1419 he marched into Prague and com mitted acts of pillage and violence. This was the beginning of that vandalism and iconoclasm that deprived Bohemia of most of its beautiful churches. The Taborites regarded the Word of God as the sole authority in religious matters. They lived in expectation of the personal descent of Christ. From their fourteen articles, published in 1420, it appears that they rejected all polite literature, the decrees of the Fathers, the use of holy oil, the use of consecrated water in Baptism, the practice of having sponsors, auricular confession, office books, vest ments, etc., fasts, and in fact the whole ritual of the
Church. In 1422 Ziska defeated the Emperor Sigismund in a battle near Deutschbrod. In 1424 he died. He was succeeded by the brothers Procopius. Some of the followers of Ziska, however, refused to acknowledge that anyone could properly succeed their old leader. They therefore called themselves Orphans and formed a new body, though they were willing to fight with the Taborites against the common foe. Warfare continued, and the Taborites won a number of victories. At length in 1424 they were severely defeated at Boehmischbrod. In 1453 they were again defeated and dispersed. Those who remained formed the nucleus of the Bohemian Brethren (q.v.). See J. II. Blunt; Prot. Dict.; Cath. Diet.; Brockhaus.