CALISTINES. – A political-religious sect of the 15th century, so called because its adherents claimed the use of the Eucharistic chalice for all the faithful without distinction; hence they were also called Utraquists, advocates of Communion under both kinds. Its promoter was Jakoubek of Mies (d. 9 Aug. 1429), one of the leaders of the Hussite revolt. After the death of Hus, who on the eve of his execution, 6 July 1415, had supported Jakoubek’s faction, the demand for the chalice became like a national fever.
Strictly speaking, the Calistines, while insisting on the necessity of Communion under both kinds in opposition to the different practice introduced by the Church, did not deny the real presence of Jesus Christ under each kind. Indeed, Jakoubek himself defended the doctrine of the real presence against those who either denied it absolutely or admitted only a virtual presence. Thus the true Calistines were closer to Catholics (subunists) than to the extremists of their sect (Taborites), who, under the pretext of simplicity, raged against all external liturgical apparatus.
To avert a schism, Cardinal G. Cesarini in 1432 arranged a meeting between the Calistines and envoys of the Council of Basel to discuss the famous Four Articles of Prague, upheld by the Calistines, namely: Communion under both kinds, repression of mortal sins, freedom of preaching, and administration of ecclesiastical goods. In 1433 an apparent basis of agreement was found in the Compactata, signed only on 5 July 1436 at Iglau (Jihlava), but never recognized by the Holy See; the Bohemians were granted the privilege of the chalice, provided they taught the real presence under each kind. After the election of Rokycana as Archbishop of Prague in 1435, an election never confirmed by Rome, the division between Calistines and Catholics deepened: the issue, originally religious, became political, especially when in 1458 George of Poděbrady succeeded Sigismund as King of Bohemia, bound by oath to Rome to work for the elimination of the Calistines’ claims, yet supported in the kingdom by them.
In 1471 both the pseudo-bishop Rokycana and the perjured George of Poděbrady died. Deprived of political and religious leaders, the Calistines rapidly declined as an independent sect; they continued to linger on, tolerated but not legally authorized. After the “Defenestration of Prague” (1618), in which they were implicated, the Calistines disappeared, absorbed either into the ranks of Catholics or those of Protestants, especially the Bohemian Brethren.