PROCOPIO the GREAT. — Commander of the Hussites, born about 1380, died at Lipany on 30 May 1434.
Ordained a priest, he sided with the most radical party of the Hussites (the Taborites), while nevertheless wishing to unite the best forces of the various branches of the sect. In 1421 he was suspected of being a “Picard” (that is, of denying Transubstantiation); in 1426 (Žižka having died in 1424) he was elected commander of the Taborites. Having repeatedly made incursions into neighbouring regions, he compelled the Council of Basel to negotiate with the Hussites and therefore
personally took part in the delegation sent to Basel and maintained good relations with the cardinal legate G. Cesarini; he also negotiated with the conciliar legates at Prague, but, dissatisfied, he ended the negotiations by besieging the city of Plzeň, regarded as the staff of the Catholics. Then, mistreated by the Taborites, he for some time drew close to the more moderate party of the Praguers; but when these joined with the nobility and the Catholics to make peace with the Church, P. allied the radical parties (the Taborites and the orphaned Sirotci) against them, and with them he was defeated and killed in the battle of Lipany.