George of Kunštát and Poděbrady, also known as Poděbrad or Podiebrad, was the sixteenth King of Bohemia, who ruled in 1458–1471. He was a leader of the Hussites, but moderate and tolerant toward the Catholic faith. His rule was marked by great efforts to preserve peace and tolerance between the Hussites and Catholics in the religiously divided Crown of Bohemia – hence his contemporary nicknames: "King of two peoples" and "Friend of peace".
Jiří of Poděbrady as depicted in 1607
George of Poděbrady, "King of Two Peoples": Treaties Are to Be Observed. (1923) A painting by Alfons Mucha, part of his monumental cycle The Slav Epic, depicts papal nuncio Fantinus de Valle reminding to king his coronation promise to bring Bohemia "back to the womb of the true Church" and exterminate "heretics" (i.e. Utraquists / Hussites), while the king passionately objects that he isn't a heretic but maintain faithfulness to the faith – "according to his conscience"
Plaque in Cape Finisterre commemorating the peace mission of George of Podebrady and the travel of Jaroslav Lev of Rožmitál
The Hussites were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, a part of the Bohemian Reformation.
Execution of Jan Hus (1415) that sparked outrage in the Kingdom of Bohemia
The Hussite Wagenburg
Recreation of Hussite pavise from an original in the Museum of Prague
Painting celebrating the Catholic victory at the Battle of White Mountain (1620). In the coming years, Bohemia and Moravia were converted from Hussitism to Roman Catholicism by the Habsburgs.
