PROCOPIUS, AxnuEw (c.1380-1434). A Hus site leader. known as Procopius the Great. He is also sometimes called the Iloly. or the Shaven. in allusion to his having received the tonsure in early life. Ile studied in Prague'. and after trav eling for several years in foreign countries he returned to Bohemia and entered the ranks of the insurgent Ilussites. His military genius soon raised him to the rank of an influential com mander: and on the death of Ziska (q.v.), in 1424. Procopius was elected by the Taborites, who formed the radical section of the Ilussites. as their leader. In the ensuing yenr., lie ravaged Austria, but in 1426 he vanquished the crusading armies of Central at Aussig. in the meantime another body of Taborites, who called themselves Orphans. had overrun Lusatia, and burned La lean. under the leadership of Procopius the Lesser, or Younger, who now, in concert with the more distinguished Procopius, attacked Silesia, and took part in those internal feuds of the llussite factions by which Bohemia, was almost wholly ruined. From 1428 to 1430
Procopius directed raids against Hungary, Si lesia, Saxony. Franconia. and other neighboring lands, which mere successful and caused the Hus sites to be dreaded. The Emperor Sigismund attempted to treat with hini, but was unsuccess ful. and in 1431 I'roc•opius decisively defeated a German army at Tauss. In 1433 the moderate llussite•s or Calixtines accepted the terms offered by the Catholic party. The Taborites and Or phans, under the leadership of Procopius the Great and Procopius the Lesser, refused, how ever, to have anything to do with the Pope, and hence dissensions arose between them and the more moderate of the lIussites. After many lesser encounters between these factions, a de cisive battle was fought near Bainisch-Brod, on May 30, 1434, in which both Procopius the Great and Procopius the Lesser were slain. Consult Creighton. History of the Papacy (6 vols., Lon don, 1897). See HussrrEs.