CALISTINI. – Hussite politico-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 advocated Communion sub utraque specie, and were therefore also called utraquists. 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 claim to the chalice became something like a national fever.
Strictly speaking, the c., while maintaining the necessity of Communion sub utraque specie against the different practice introduced by the Church, did not deny the real presence of Jesus Christ under each species; indeed, Jakoubek himself became a defender of the doctrine of the real presence against those who either absolutely denied it or admitted only a virtual presence. Thus the true c. were closer to the Catholics (subunists) than to the extremists of their sect (Taborites), who, under the pretext of simplicity, raged against every external liturgical ornament. To avert a schism, in 1432 Cardinal G. Cesarini promoted a meeting between the c. and the delegates of the Council of Basel for a discussion of the famous four articles of Prague, supported by the c., namely: Communion under both species, repression of mortal sins, freedom of preaching, and administration of ecclesiastical property. In 1433 an apparent basis of agreement was found in the Compactata, signed only on 5 July 1436 at Ihlava (Iglau), but never recognized by the Holy See; the Bohemians were granted the privilege of the chalice, with the obligation of teaching the real presence under each species. After the election of Rokiçana as archbishop of Prague in 1435, never ratified by Rome, the division between the c. and the Catholics deepened: the question, initially religious, became political, especially when in 1458 George of Podébrady succeeded Sigismund as king of Bohemia, bound to Rome by an oath to work for the elimination of the c.’ claims, but supported in the kingdom by them. In 1471 both the pseudo-bishop Rokycana and the perjurer G. of Podébrady died. Deprived of political and religious leaders, the c. rapidly declined as a distinct sect; they continued to eke out an existence under toleration, though without legal authorization. After the “Defenestration of Prague” (1618), which they prompted, the c. disappeared, absorbed either into the ranks of the Catholics or those of the Protestants, especially the Bohemian Brethren.