Jan Hus

Jan Hus (1369 Husinec, Southern Bohemia – July 6, 1415 Constance) was a religious thinker and reformer. He initiated a religious movement based on the ideas of John Wyclif. His followers became known as Hussites. The Catholic Church did not condone such uprisings, and Hus was excommunicated in 1411, condemned by the Council of Constance, and burned at the stake.

Papal schism

The development of conditions at the University of Prague depended to a great extent on the question of the papal schism. King Wenceslaus, who was on the point of assuming the reins of government, but whose plans were in no way furthered by Gregory XII, renounced the latter and ordered his prelates to observe a strict neutrality toward both popes, and he expected the same of the university. The archbishop remained faithful to Gregory, and at the university it was only the Bohemian nation, with Hus as its spokesman, which avowed neutrality. Incensed by this attitude, Wenceslaus, at the instigation of Hus and other Czech leaders, issued in Kutná Hora a decree according to which there should be conceded to the Bohemian nation three votes in all affairs of the university, while the foreign nations, principally the German, should have only one vote. As a consequence many German doctors, masters, and students left the university in 1409, and the University of Leipzig was founded. Thus Prague lost its international importance and became a Czech school; but the emigrants spread the fame of the Bohemian heresies into the most distant countries.

Related Topics:
Papal schism - Gregory XII - Prelate - Pope - Kutná Hora - Nation - German - 1409 - University of Leipzig

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The archbishop was then isolated and Hus at the height of his fame. He became the first rector of the Czech university, and enjoyed the favor of the court. In the meantime, the doctrinal views of Wyclif had spread over the whole country. As long as Zbyn?k Zajíc remained obedient to Gregory XII, all opposition to the new spirit was in vain; but as soon as he submitted to Alexander V, conditions changed. The archbishop brought his complaints before the papal see, accusing the Wyclifites as the instigators of all ecclesiastical disturbances in Bohemia. Thereupon the pope issued his bull of December 20, 1409, which empowered the archbishop to proceed against Wyclifism — all books of Wyclif were to be given up, his doctrines revoked, and free preaching discontinued. After the publication of the bull in 1410, Hus appealed to the pope, but in vain. All books and valuable manuscripts of Wyclif were burned, and Hus and his adherents put under the ban. This procedure caused an indescribable commotion among the people down to the lowest classes; in some places turbulent scenes occurred.

Related Topics:
Court - Zbyn?k Zajíc - Bull

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The government took the part of Hus, and the power of his adherents increased from day to day. He continued to preach in the Bethlehem chapel, and became bolder and bolder in his accusations of the Church. The churches of the city were put under the ban, and the interdict was pronounced against Prague, but without result.

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