Jan Hus
Jan Hus, sometimes anglicized as John Goose or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as Iohannes Hvs or Johannes Huss, was a Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and the inspiration of Hussitism, a key predecessor to Protestantism, and a seminal figure in the Bohemian Reformation. Hus is considered to be the first Church reformer, even though some designate the theorist John Wycliffe. His teachings had a strong influence, most immediately in the approval of a reformed Bohemian religious denomination and, over a century later, on Martin Luther.
After being ordained as a Catholic priest, Hus began to preach in Prague. He opposed many aspects of the Catholic Church in Bohemia, such as its views on ecclesiology, simony, the Eucharist, and other theological topics. Hus was a master, dean, and rector at the Charles University in Prague between 1409 and 1410.
Alexander V issued a Papal bull that excommunicated Hus; however, it was not enforced, and Hus continued to preach. Hus then spoke out against Alexander V's successor, Antipope John XXIII, for his selling of indulgences. Hus' excommunication was then enforced, and he spent the next two years living in exile.
When the Council of Constance assembled, Hus was asked to be there and present his views on the dissension within the Church. When he arrived, with a promise of safe-conduct, he was arrested and put in prison. He was eventually taken in front of the council and asked to recant his views. He refused. On 6 July 1415, he was burned at the stake for "heresy" against the teachings of the Catholic Church.
After Hus was executed, the followers of his religious teachings refused to elect another Catholic monarch and defeated five consecutive papal crusades between 1420 and 1431 in what became known as the Hussite Wars. Both the Bohemian and the Moravian populations remained majority Hussite until the 1620s, when a Protestant defeat in the Battle of the White Mountain resulted in the Lands of the Bohemian Crown coming under Habsburg dominion for the next 300 years and being subject to immediate and forced conversion to Catholicism in an intense campaign.
Early life
The exact date of Hus's birth is disputed. Some claim he was born around 1369, while others claim he was born between 1373 and 1375. Though older sources state the latter, more contemporary research states that 1372 is more likely. The belief that he was born on 6 July, also his death day, has no factual basis. Hus was born in Husinec, southern Bohemia, to peasant parents. It is well known that Hus took his name from the village where he lived. The reason behind his taking his name from his village rather than from his father is up to speculation; some believe that it was because Hus did not know of his father, while others say it was simply a custom at that time. The name Hus, however, means 'goose' in Bohemian, and he was a century later referenced as a "Bohemian goose" in a dream given to Frederick, the Elector of Saxony. Nearly all other information known about Hus's very early life is unsubstantiated. Similarly, we know little of Hus's family. His father's name was Michael; his mother's name is unknown. It is known that Hus had a brother due to his expressing concerns for his nephew while awaiting execution at Constance. Whether or not Hus had any other family is unknown.At the age of roughly 10, Hus was sent away to a monastery. The exact reason is not known; some claim that his father had died, others say he went there due to his devotion to God. He impressed the teachers with his studies, and they recommended him to move to Prague, one of the largest cities in Bohemia at that time. Hus apparently supported himself by securing employment in Prague, which allowed him to fulfill his necessities and access to the Prague Library.
Three years later, he was admitted to the University of Prague. Though not an exceptional student, he pursued his studies with ferocity. In 1393, Hus earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Prague, and he earned his master's degree in 1396. The strongly anti-papal views that were held by many of the professors there likely influenced Hus's future works. During his studies, he served as a choir boy, to supplement his earnings.
Career
Hus began teaching at the University of Prague in 1398, and in 1399, he first publicly defended propositions of Wycliffe. He was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1400. In 1401, his students and faculty promoted him to dean of the philosophy department, and a year later, he became a rector of the University of Prague. He was appointed a preacher at the Bethlehem Chapel in 1402. Hus was a strong advocate for the Czechs and the Realists, and he was influenced by the writings of John Wycliffe. Although Church authorities banned many of Wycliffe's works in 1403, Hus translated Trialogus into Czech and helped to distribute it.Hus denounced the moral failings of clergy, bishops, and even the papacy from his pulpit. Archbishop Zbyněk Zajíc tolerated this, and even appointed Hus a preacher at the clergy's biennial synod. On 24 June 1405, Pope Innocent VII directed the Archbishop to counter Wycliffe's teachings, especially the idea of impanation in the Eucharist. The archbishop complied by issuing a synod decree against Wycliffe, as well as forbidding any further attacks on the clergy.
In 1406, two Bohemian students brought to Prague a document bearing the seal of the University of Oxford and praising Wycliffe. Hus proudly read the document from his pulpit. Then, in 1408, Pope Gregory XII warned Archbishop Zajic that the Church in Rome had been informed of Wycliffe's heresies and of the sympathies of King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia for nonconformists. In response, the king and university ordered all of Wycliffe's writings surrendered to the archdiocesan chancery for correction. Hus obeyed, declaring that he condemned the errors in those writings.
Papal Schism
In 1408, the Charles University in Prague was divided by the Western Schism, in which Gregory XII in Rome and Benedict XIII in Avignon both claimed the papacy. Wenceslaus felt Gregory XII might interfere with his plans to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor. He denounced Gregory, ordered the clergy in Bohemia to observe a strict neutrality in the schism, and said that he expected the same of the university. Archbishop Zajíc remained faithful to Gregory. At the University, only the scholars of the Bohemian "nation", with Hus as their leader, vowed neutrality.Kutná Hora Decree
In January 1409, Wenceslaus summoned representatives of the four nations comprising the university to the Czech city of Kutná Hora to demand statements of allegiance. The Czech nation agreed, but the other three nations declined. The king then decreed that the Czech nation would have three votes in university affairs, while the "German nation" would have one vote in total. Due to the change in voting structure by May 1409, the German dean and rector were deposed and replaced by Czechs. The Palatine Elector called the Germans to his own University of Heidelberg, while the Margrave of Meissen started a new university in Leipzig. It is estimated that over one thousand students and masters left Prague. The emigrants also spread accusations of Bohemian heresy.Antipope Alexander V
In 1409, the Council of Pisa tried to end the schism by electing Alexander V as Pope, but Gregory and Benedict did not submit. Hus, his followers, and Wenceslaus IV transferred their allegiance to Alexander V. Under pressure fromKing Wenceslaus IV, Archbishop Zajíc did the same. Zajíc then lodged an accusation of "ecclesiastical disturbances" against Wycliffites in Prague with Alexander V.
On 20 December 1409, Alexander V issued a papal bull that empowered the Archbishop to proceed against Wycliffism in Prague. All copies of Wycliffe's writings were to be surrendered and his views repudiated, and free preaching discontinued. After the publication of the bull in 1410, Hus appealed to Alexander V, but in vain. The Wycliffe books and valuable manuscripts were burned, and Hus and his adherents were excommunicated by Alexander V.
Crusade against Naples
Alexander V died in 1410 and was succeeded by John XXIII. In 1411, John XXIII proclaimed a crusade against King Ladislaus of Naples, the protector of rival Pope Gregory XII. This crusade was preached in Prague as well. John XXIII also authorized indulgences to raise money for the war. Priests urged the people on, and they crowded into churches to give their offerings. This traffic in indulgences was a sign of the corruption of the Church needing remediation.Condemnation of indulgences and Crusade
Archbishop Zajíc died in 1411, and with his death, the religious movement in Bohemia entered a new phase during which the disputes concerning indulgences assumed great importance. Hus spoke out against indulgences, but he could not carry with him the men of the university. In 1412, a dispute took place, on which occasion Hus delivered his address Quaestio magistri Johannis Hus de indulgentiis. It was taken literally from the last chapter of Wycliffe's book, De ecclesia, and his treatise, De absolutione a pena et culpa. Hus asserted that no pope or bishop had the right to take up the sword in the name of the Church; he should pray for his enemies and bless those who curse him; man obtains forgiveness of sins by true repentance, not money. The doctors of the theological faculty replied, but without success. A few days afterward, some of Hus' followers, led by Vok Voksa z Valdštejna, burned the Papal bulls. Hus, they said, should be obeyed rather than the Church, which they considered a fraudulent mob of adulterers and Simonists.In response, three men from the lower classes who openly called the indulgences a fraud were beheaded. They were later considered the first martyrs of the Hussite Church. In the meantime, the faculty had condemned the forty-five articles of Wycliffe and added several other theses, deemed heretical, which had originated with Hus. The king forbade the teaching of these articles, but neither Hus nor the university complied with the ruling. They requested that the articles should first be proven to be unscriptural. The tumults at Prague had stirred up a sensation. Papal legates and Archbishop Albik tried to persuade Hus to give up his opposition to the papal bulls, and the king made an unsuccessful attempt to reconcile the two parties.