Along the border between Poland and the Czech Republic is region of Silesia. Its largest city is Wroclaw and until 1327, this region was under the domain of the Polish crown.  When King Henryk VI died without an heir, the region was annexed by Bohemia (peacefully) and under Bohemian rule the ‘Rata’ or ‘Rathaus’ was governed by an elected mayor.  This abrupt change in government set the newly established City Council at odds with the Catholic Church, who had under Polish rule held significant authority over local matters.

For several decades, the local Catholic Bishop held a monopoly on local beer sales, importing most of this beer from nearby Schweidnitz (now Świdnica).  Under the new Bohemian King, Vaclav IV, the Burgermeister (ie City Council and mayor) of Wroclaw sought to make the trade more secular and taxable.  They established a public bierkeller under the Rathaus, licensed local brewers and established regulations on what could be brewed, how it was to be sold, and most importantly, how it was to be taxed.  Beer that did not conform to these new regulations could no longer be sold in Wroclaw.

The Church, claiming ecclesiastical exemptions, continued to sell its beer despite the new law.  This prompted the Burgermeisters to send its most intimidating representatives to the bishop to make it clear that they weren’t pleased. Hardly impressed, the bishop continued his illegal operation, prompting the City Council to confiscate his supply and place further sanctions on its production and sale. The bishop then escalated this conflict by placing the city under interdict, essentially shutting down all religious services — the Church began denying the people the right to practice their faith, in order to protect the Church’s right to sell untaxed and unregulated beer.

In the summer of 1381 when the new king, Vaclav IV, came to town to receive the city’s homage, a request was made to the bishop to lift his interdict so that appropriate church services could be held in his honor.  THE BISHOP REFUSED!  The King was so shocked and outraged by the bishop’s refusal that he sent soldiers to sack Schweidnitz; burn the cathedral, bishop’s residence, and monastic houses; and destroy the Churches breweries.  The bishop continued to refuse religious services and eventually the Pope was forced to intervene to settle the dispute.  The resultant decree allowed the Church to supply beer to its own dependents (ie clerical staff, priests, convents, and monasteries), but beer sold to the public must conform to the secular laws and be taxed.

This peace was short lived as in 1418, a mob of disgruntled guildsmen stormed City Hall while it was in session. Having been absolved of their sins by the bishop beforehand, the aggrieved guildsmen broke down the door of the Town Hall and executed the city council and mayor.  The king, now the Holy Roman Emperor, immediately retaliated by having thirty of the mob leaders, and thirty monks, along with the bishop rounded and jailed.  When the Emperor came to town for the Imperial Diet of 1420, he then ordered the entire group publicly executed.  Their heads were then boiled, tarred and affixed to stakes on the city’s defensive walls.  Insurrection in the Holy Roman Empire was not tolerated, even if it was in the name of cheaper beer.

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