Jan Hus (1371-1415) is rightfully considered a national hero of the Czech people. He was an excellently educated person (he graduated from the University of Prague in 1393), was a rector and a preacher. Reading sermons, he gathered up to 3 thousand listeners. At the beginning of the 15th century, he served as rector of the University of Prague and shared his views with students. And they, according to the Catholic Church, were nothing more than heresy. What was the essence of these views, and why ungodly thoughts arose in the head of Jan Hus?
To understand the essence of the issue, let's first get acquainted with the life of a medieval university, where Hus first studied and then taught. The point is that in this educational institution students and teachers were organized by fraternities or by nations. Students wore cockades depending on their nationality. We were friends, we drank, we also fought across nations.
In total, there were 4 such communities. These are Bavarians, Saxons, Poles and Czechs. That is, people of different nationalities studied at the University of Prague. Moreover, it cannot be said that there were fraternal relations between the nations. In other words, there was no friendship between peoples.
King Charles was a just man and naturally worried about his Czech subjects. He strove for the Czechs to feel confident and calm in their own university. Therefore, the rector has always been a Czech. And when the king died, and Wenceslas, the lover of Bacchus, replaced him, this rule continued to operate. As a result, Jan Hus became the rector, as he was a full-blooded Czech and a professor of theology.
I must say that half of the population of Prague consisted of Germans. Burghers and large nobility were divided into Germanized Czech and German. But the peasants and petty nobles were pure-blooded Czechs. Differences between these two nations have been accumulating for a long time. And they began to show themselves at the university. The person who challenged the established foundations was the rector of the University of Prague.
At its core, Gus was an honest, pious and sincere man. He was outraged to the depths of his soul by the outrages that were happening in the Catholic Church. So he began to express his thoughts and opinions on this issue from the pulpit.
For example, the rector believed that if a Catholic priest committed a criminal offense, then he should be tried on a general basis by a secular court, and not released from punishment under the guise of a spiritual court. Indulgences were also severely criticized. After all, every honest person understands that it is impossible to forgive sins for money. Consequently, the church shamelessly profits from the sale of charters.
But the Czech rector went even further in his denunciations. He stated that if the authority violates the commandments of God, then it cannot be recognized by him. Nor can you sell Church positions or charge for ordinances. All these loud statements irritated those in power. The first sign was the arrest of Hus's friends in 1408. They were accused of heresy, and people, unable to withstand the hardships of imprisonment, abandoned their views.
Sermon by Jan Hus
In 1409, the pope issued a bull against the impudent rector. His sermons were banned, but the Czech authorities came to the defense of their compatriot. The king himself supported him and ignored the statements of high-ranking fathers of the Catholic Church. But a sincere and honest preacher challenged very powerful forces, and everything ended tragically.
On November 16, 1414, the Council of Constance began., held in the city of Konstanz (southern Germany) until April 22, 1418. His task was to stop the tripartism, and at the same time remove Pope John XXIII from power. He was a real robber who managed to climb onto the papal throne. All the unsightly deeds of this man were revealed, and they decided to depose him. Hus was also summoned to the cathedral. Thus, the pope was going to be tried for criminal offenses and fraud, and the Prague rector for heresy.
Friends dissuaded the rector from going to the cathedral. But Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Sigismund issued Hus a safe conduct which guaranteed safety. An honest and decent Czech believed the promises of the autocrat and appeared at a meeting of high-ranking churchmen. That is, he appeared among those people whom he mercilessly denounced in his sermons.
The result was this. John XXIII, seeing that everything was going very sadly for him, fled from Constanta, taking with him a large sum of money. He lived the rest of his life quietly in Italy, without need or remorse. Our honest and decent hero was arrested. But the freethinker was kept not in a prison casemate, but in one of the rooms of the palace.
The arrest of the rector caused a storm of indignation. The Seims of Moravia and the Czech Republic demanded the release of their compatriot. Under pressure public opinion Emperor Sigismund organized a hearing of Hus's case at the cathedral. This shameful event took place from 5 to 8 June 1415. Our hero was charged with heresy and harassment of German students at the University of Prague.
At the verdict, opinions were divided equally. Half of the accusers admitted that Jan Hus was innocent, while the other half claimed the opposite. The last word remained with Emperor Sigismund. He, having learned how the voices were divided, turned pale. Under the shadow of the temple, deathly silence reigned. And at that moment, the emperor was asked: "Your Majesty, what will be your final decision? Are you for the teachings of the accused or against? Do you recognize him as a heretic, deserving of death?"
Then the proud Czech, with bitterness in his voice, asked: “Your Imperial Majesty, can you really do this, humiliating your honor and crown. Do you yourself renounce your safe conduct, certified by your seal and signature? After all, you take upon yourself crime and treachery This is not about my life at all, but about your honest name ... "
To which the emperor, hiding his eyes, replied: "I really promised you, a heretic, a safe passage. But it concerned only the road here. I did not promise you the way back. Your demand is unfounded. The council condemned you by a majority of votes." Indeed, the vote passed 50 to 50, and the emperor's vote became decisive. Therefore, by a majority of votes, the courageous Czech was sentenced to be burned.
After the emperor's speech, everyone was so excited that they broke the tables and threw their fragments. During this noise, Sigismund imperceptibly retired. Gus could do the same if he wanted to. In the heat of the argument, everyone forgot about him, or maybe they pretended to have forgotten.
Execution of Jan Hus
But our hero went straight to prison. When the guards looked into the cell, they saw him kneeling and fervently praying. In anticipation of the execution of the sentence, the door to the cell was not locked. For some reason, the jailers were sure that the convict would not try to escape.
The execution took place on July 6, 1415. Jan Hus never renounced his views, although he was repeatedly offered to do so in exchange for life and freedom. Courageous Czech burned at the stake. Books with his works were also burned. This tragic event was the cause of mass unrest, which later resulted in the Hussite wars.
Inquisitorial bonfires did not bypass the quiet Czech Republic. Anyone who dares to openly express dissatisfaction with the Roman Church could suddenly turn into a heretic and burn alive in their flames. Jan Hus, a preacher and head of the Prague University, laughed in the face of his executioners, even when he was completely engulfed in flames. But the Pope still apologized to Jan Hus. It is a pity that his apologies were late for 5 centuries and were not heard.
On July 6, 1415, a huge fire blazed on the main square of the small German town of Konstanz. The square could not accommodate a huge crowd of people who wanted to see how the "heretic" Jan Hus would writhe in pain. What thoughts stirred their minds? Did they sympathize or curse the well-known reformer throughout the Czech Republic? What was the pious old woman thinking about, who, bringing a bundle of brushwood to a blazing fire, heard the words addressed to her: “Oh! Holy simplicity! ” - sounded from the lips of a smiling suicide bomber? Someone was angry. Someone rejoiced: "Another heretic will be punished according to merit!"
In the village of Khlistov, not far from Gusinets, everyone can still show the ancient linden under which Jan Hus read his sermons. The tree is almost 700 years old.
How, by what actions did Jan Hus deserve such a contradictory attitude towards himself? What seditious ideas brought him to the stake? Why was Jan Hus burned?
These questions can be answered only when you try to find out how this person lived, what he believed in, what he preached. life path, which Jan Hus passed, was not easy, but bright and interesting. There are a lot of white spots in his biography, but still ... - we will try to find out why, after all, the life of Jan Hus was interrupted at the bonfire.
We, unfortunately, do not even know exactly when Jan Hus was born. Presumably between 1369 and 1371. His parents were simple peasants. According to information gleaned from scattered, fragmentary, it is known that the father's name was Michael, and the mother (name unknown) was famous for her piety and fear of God. It is also known that the birthplace of Jan Hus was a small village called Gusinets. By the way, on the map of the modern Czech Republic there are two ancient villages with the same name: one is not far from Prague, the other is near the town of Prachatice. And they still dispute each other the honorable right to be called the birthplace of Jan Hus.
Having matured a little, young Jan goes to Prague. The capital beckoned him with knowledge. He managed to enroll at the famous Prague University. Hunger, a beggarly existence did not seem to him an obstacle to learning. He sang in the church choir, served in numerous churches and temples. Earned funds were barely enough to not die of hunger. Can modern students come up with the idea of molding spoons from the crumb of bread to eat pea stew with them? Jan Hus recalled that this helped him stretch the pleasure of eating, enjoy the taste of bread longer.
Soon, having graduated with honors from the lower levels of education, Jan Hus became a student of the Faculty of Liberal Arts at the same Prague University. In 1393, he became a bachelor of theology, and a few years later, in 1396, he received a master's degree in liberal arts.
The professors who lectured to them considered Jan Hus a mediocre and unpromising student. But this did not prevent him from becoming a teacher at his alma mater upon graduation. His specialty, of course, was theology. And then - the position of dean. And a little later - the post of rector.
How did it become possible that a simple boy from a poor peasant family headed one of the most famous and respected universities in Europe? The answer to this question lies, first of all, in the ambition and determination of Jan Hus. If a goal is already set, then you need to strive for it at all costs!
In parallel with the rector's duties, Jan Hus read sermons in the Bethlehem church. It was at that time (1409-1410s) that he happened to get acquainted with the books of John Wheatcliff, the famous English reformer, even whose name was banned in the Czech Republic. Jan Hus liked his views. In his sermons, which always gathered at least 3 thousand people, he openly, publicly condemned the morals of the clergy, called them depraved. “The only source of faith,” said Jan Hus, “can only be considered Holy Scripture.” He inspired the idea that the sale of church positions, the fees charged by the church for the sacraments, is contrary to Holy Scripture. And since "the power that openly violates the Commandments of God cannot be recognized by him." Thus, Jan Hus openly expressed a very seditious thought: the Church and the clergy are one thing, but God and faith are completely different.
It is noteworthy that, on the one hand, condemning the Church, Jan Hus, on the other hand, considered himself a member of it, called himself its member and minister.
Hus not only preached from the pulpit: he also ordered the walls of the Bethlehem chapel to be painted with drawings with edifying stories, composed several songs that became folk, and carried out a reform of Czech spelling that made books more understandable to the common people.
Jan Hus knew how to convince. He spoke fluently and passionately. He was listened to with interest. Were imbued with his ideas. Soaked them up. And how could ordinary people - artisans, merchants, peasants - not believe a preacher broadcasting from the church altar?
“You don’t need to blindly obey the church, you need to think for yourself, using the words from the Holy Scriptures: “If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the pit.”
“Beware, predators who rip off the poor, murderers, villains who do not recognize anything sacred!”
“Not “my daily bread”, but “our daily bread” is said in the Holy Scriptures, which means that it is unfair that some live in abundance, while others suffer from hunger.
“Property should belong to the just. An unjust rich man is a thief."
How, in your opinion, should the official church react to such statements?
The first to speak out against the dissenter was the Archbishop of Prague, sharply condemning his position and ideas. He was not even afraid that the king himself favored Jan Hus. In 1410, the strictest church ban was imposed on the preaching activities of Jan Hus. Then he was summoned "for an audience" with the archbishop. There was a rigorous interrogation and investigation. But everything worked out. Till. For the time being. In defense of Jan Hus simple people, many noble persons, teachers and students of the university headed by him, and even the royal couple of Bohemia stood up for the "lost". In the Vatican - the residence of the Pope - letters began to flow with requests to allow Jan Hus to continue to occupy the rank of preacher.
But the Pope and the Vatican were adamant! A special papal bull (decree) proclaimed the renunciation of Jan Hus from the church and declared him a heretic who violated church laws. The city, in which Jan Hus will be provided with shelter and food, will be punished, it will be forbidden to perform church services in it, the decree of the Pope read.
In the vicinity of Husinets there is a Husova rock in the valley of the Blanice river. When young Hus studied in Prachatice, he came to rest and read to this stone block, leaning on it. So the trace from the head of the Master was imprinted on the stone. It is no longer possible to verify the legend: someone destroyed the footprint on the rock.
Apparently, the ideas of Jan Hus greatly hurt the papal church, because immediately after the first decree a second appeared, in which Prague, as a city harboring a heretic who was excommunicated from the church, would also be deprived of church blessings.
Jan Hus, from whom influential patrons nevertheless turned away, had to leave Prague.
For two long years he had to wander around the western and southern regions of the Czech Republic. But even in his wanderings, he did not leave his ideas about the need to reform the Church. Far from home, Jan Hus even wrote his famous treatise "On the Church", in which he outlined the main essence of his thoughts. In short, they boiled down to the following postulates: the orders and organization of the official Church are wrong. They need to be fundamentally changed. The influence of the Pope and the position he occupied in the church hierarchy were especially criticized. Jan Hus was extremely negative about the practice of selling indulgences (absolution) for money and the desire of the Church and the clergy to accumulate wealth. “The laity receive communion with one bread, and the clergy also receive wine,” wrote Jan Hus in his treatise.
This treatise finally overflowed the cup of patience of the church authorities. In 1414, the heretic and troublemaker Jan Hus was summoned to the Church Council in a German town called Konstanz. For the duration of the trip, he was issued a special safe-conduct, allowing him to freely reach the appointed place. But in Constanta they did not wait for him at the appointed time. Only more than two months later, Jan Hus was found - he languished in the Gottlieben dungeon. The safe-conduct could not save him from imprisonment.
When the recalcitrant preacher was nevertheless brought to Constance, he had to face a harsh church court. Jan Hus was given the last opportunity to renounce his heretical and "unpleasing" views. But in response, after listening to all the accusations, he only shrugged his shoulders: "It is contrary to my conscience to renounce phrases that I have never uttered."
They say that during a storm, Jan Hus, who was walking home from school, hid under a rock. Lightning struck a juniper growing near a rock, and it flared up. Jan's mother found him contemplating a burning bush. He showed his mother to the bush and said: "You see, so I will leave this world in fire."
During numerous interrogations, Jan Hus was silent, did not try to justify himself. He sincerely believed in his beliefs and did not want people to stop believing in him when they found out that he had betrayed them, fearing the death penalty.
Even after the court issued a final verdict on the death sentence for the "heretic", the archbishops and King Sigismund himself, personally and more than once, came to his cell, asking him to sign the abdication. But Jan Hus was steadfast and adamant.
And so, on July 6, 1415, the first flames began to flare up on the main square of Constanta, getting closer and closer to Jan Hus tied to a pole. Addressing the assembled crowd, he sang: "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!" Hearing the threats of the guards, the sentenced man exclaimed with a laugh: “I am a Goose! But the Swan will fly for me! These words sounded like a warning.
And indeed, a hundred years later, the ideas of Jan Hus were supported and developed by another reformer - Martin Luther. Already, as predicted by Jan Hus, they could not tie him up, shut his mouth and throw him into the fire.
In the meantime ... while the fire was burning, devouring the already lifeless body of Jan Hus, the main work of his life, the Bible translated into Czech, was thrown into the flames.
Why did they burn the Bible together with Jan Hus? It is, after all, a sacred book. But she was for the Roman Church the same "heretic" as her author. It was completely unprofitable and unacceptable for the Pope and the Church that divine services in Czech churches were held in their native language. They understood that language and words were weapons that would turn against their power. After reading the Bible in a simple, accessible native language, ordinary people, and even those who knew, could understand how far the decrees and decrees of the Pope were from God's precepts. But manuscripts, as you know, do not burn. Let a century later, but the Czech people got the opportunity to study the Bible, translated into Czech.
The ashes of the first Czech reformer were scattered over the waters of the Rhine. But his ideas did not die with him! The news of the execution of Jan Hus spread throughout the Czech Republic within a few days. A wave of indignation and indignation shook the quiet Czech villages and cities. A Protest was sent to the Church Council, which was signed by more than half a thousand rich and noble families of the Czech nobility. And ordinary peasants and the urban poor began to gather in armed detachments and go into the forests. The national consciousness that Jan Hus managed to awaken was the main reason for the beginning of a new era in the history of the Czech Republic - the era of the Hussite wars. This era, of course, had its own hero - the one-eyed Jan Zizka, originally from Trocnov. But the Czech people will keep the memory of Jan Hus for many centuries.
In 1999, five centuries after the execution of Jan Hus, an international symposium was held in the Vatican. It became notable for the fact that Pope John Paul II publicly acknowledged the groundlessness of the accusations against Jan Hus. The Pope also expressed regret on behalf of the church about his execution and martyrdom.
Although Jan Hus publicly accused representatives of the clergy and nobility of various sins (adultery, depravity, the pursuit of profit, and the like), he himself lived far from being an ascetic. In addition, at the time of his student youth, studying theology, Jan Hus was a frequent guest of public baths, which at that time were known as a place of sinful carnal pleasures.
Portrait images, according to which we can form an idea of the appearance of Jan Hus, refer to XIX century when romanticism flourished in most countries. In most of the paintings, the appearance of Jan Hus is idealized and somewhat reminiscent of the appearance of Jesus Christ: the same oval face, the same beard, hair. But in fact, historical, including Jan Hus's own records, paint a completely different picture: a fat, bald and beardless man.
An interesting fact is that shortly after the burning of Jan Hus and his Bible, the remains of the ideological inspirer of Jan Hus, John Witcliff, were also betrayed to the fire. The English reformer was fortunate enough to die in his bed, he was buried in accordance with Christian customs. The Vatican Church has already posthumously declared Whitcliff an apostate. His remains were removed from the grave and publicly burned.
Pope John Paul II, recognizing Jan Hus as a martyr, nevertheless abandoned the idea of canonizing him as a saint. He motivated his refusal by the fact that Jan Hus shared the ideas of the apostate John Whitcliffe.
On July 6, 1915, the official opening ceremony of the monument to Jan Hus took place in Prague on the Old Town Square. The author of the monument is Ladislav Šaloun, a well-known Czech sculptor at that time. The monument represents Jan Hus, proudly standing on an inquisitorial fire. Unfortunately, today the monument is under reconstruction.
Life story
The famous figure of the Reformation, Jan Hus, was of simple origin and was left an orphan at an early age. After graduating from the University of Prague, he became a priest and quickly rose to a high position. A few years later, the humble student became the pride of the country, and his name became known throughout Europe. Jan Hus mercilessly denounced the vices prevailing in society in order to establish the principles of truth and purity that he instilled in people. He believed that the cause of immorality lay in the fact that the people did not know the Bible, and therefore he defended, as a matter of the greatest importance, the preaching of the Holy Scriptures in the language of the people.
A resident of Prague, Jerome, who became a close associate of Hus, brought with him from England the works of Wyclif. Hus read these works with interest, he believed that their author was a sincere Christian, and favorably reacted to the proposed reforms.
At this time, two preachers arrived in Prague from England, speaking out against the unlimited domination of the Pope. Soon they were forced to stop their performances due to pressure from the authorities. But, not wanting to give up their goal, they drew two pictures and put them on public display. One depicted the entry into Jerusalem of Christ “meek and sitting on a donkey” (Matthew 21:5). He was followed by disciples in shabby clothes and with bare feet. Another painting depicted a papal procession - the pope was dressed in rich clothes, sat on a majestically decorated horse and had a crown on his head. Before him walked the trumpeters, and behind them followed the cardinals and prelates in brilliant robes. What a contrast between the meekness and humility of Christ the Lord and the pride and arrogance of the Pope, His servant! The pictures made a deep impression on Hus's mind and motivated him to study the Bible and the works of Wyclif zealously. He began to understand more clearly the true nature of the papacy, and with great boldness denounced the pride, vanity and corruption of the Church hierarchy. From Bohemia, light entered Germany. Many German students, having received Bible teaching from Hus, returned to their homeland and began to preach the Gospel.
Soon news of this reached Rome. Hus was called to an audience with the pope, which meant a death sentence. The king and queen of Bohemia, the university, representatives of the nobility, officials requested the head of the Roman Church to have Hus stay in Prague, to which the pope declared the city of Prague excommunicated. At that time, such a sentence aroused general anxiety, it was calculated to instill fear and horror in people who exalted the pope as the representative of God Himself and who had the power to execute secular and spiritual judgment. It was believed that the gates of heaven were closed to the excommunicated region, and until the pope removed the curse from the city, the dead would be expelled from the abodes of bliss. In connection with this terrible disaster, all worship services were suspended. Churches were closed. The marriage was consecrated in the churchyard. The dead, who refused to be buried on consecrated ground, were buried in ditches or in the field without burial rites.
Thus, by means of measures that struck the imagination of the inhabitants, Rome tried to control the minds of the people.
Prague was in turmoil, many blamed Hus for everything. The reformer retired to the countryside and left a letter to his friends in which he wrote that he had followed the example of Christ. “I also retired for fear that ungodly priests would forbid the preaching of the Word of God. But I do not want to reject the Divine truth, for which God help I'm ready to die."
Hus fought against the abuse of power. The priests became the same as in the days of Christ: wicked and used their power for illegal purposes. This led him to accept for his guidance and preach to others the principle that the infallible guide is God speaking through the Bible, not the church speaking through the priests.
To heal the ulcers that were tearing apart Europe, a general council was convened in Constance. At the council, it was proved that Pope John himself was guilty of the gravest crimes, in addition to murder and adultery - sins that are indecent to name aloud. So the cathedral stripped him of his tiara, and a new pope was chosen. But the same council that deposed the pope intended to destroy the reformer as well. Upon arrival in Constanta, Hus was arrested and imprisoned. During the long trial, he stood firm for faith and truth. When he was asked to renounce his teachings or die, he chose the fate of a martyr.
After the verdict was announced, the demolition ceremony began. As the bishops dressed him in sacred robes, Hus said, "Our Lord Jesus Christ was clothed in purple to mock Him when Herod sent Him to Pilate." When he was again asked to abdicate, he replied: “With what face will I then appear before God?” When a paper miter was put on his head, on which was written "Notorious Heretic", Hus said: "I will gladly wear this shameful crown for Your sake, my Jesus, because for me they put on You a crown of thorns." When he was dressed in this shameful dress, they said: "Now we betray your soul to the devil." “And I,” said Hus, raising his eyes to heaven, “I commit my spirit into Your hands, Lord Jesus, for You have redeemed me.”
When he was tied to a stake, and everything was ready to light the fire, he was once again asked to renounce his delusions and save his life. “What delusions should I renounce? Gus asked. “I do not consider myself guilty of delusions. I call upon God to be my witness that all that I have written and preached was for the purpose of saving souls from sin and destruction, and therefore I will gladly defend with my blood the truth that I have preached.” As the flames ignited around him, he began to sing, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me,” and continued until his voice was forever silent.
Even the enemies of the reformer were shocked by his heroic behavior. When Hus's body burned, his ashes, along with the ground where he lay, were collected and thrown into the Rhine. His persecutors were sure that they had uprooted the truth, they did not even suspect that the dust carried into the ocean would be like a seed scattered over all countries, that it would bear fruit in the form of witnesses to the truth in new places.
The execution of Jan Hus demonstrated to the whole world the treacherous cruelty of Rome. The enemies of truth, without realizing it themselves, were advancing the cause which they had tried in vain to destroy.
Prepared by V. Melnikov
Preacher, thinker, ideologist of the Czech Reformation.
Born into a poor peasant family. In 1393 he graduated from the Charles University in Prague, in 1396 a master, in 1401-02 he was the dean of the faculty of liberal arts, in 1402-1403 and 1409-10 he was the rector of Karpov University. From 1402 preacher at the Bethlehem Chapel in Prague. In sermons read in the Czech language and gathering masses of the people, Jan Hus denounced the Catholic clergy, demanded a radical reform of the church, condemned its wealth, the corruption of the clergy, simony (the sale and purchase of church positions), opposed him. dominance in the Czech Republic, oppression of the poor. The sermons of Jan Hus at first aroused the sympathy of certain circles of the ruling class in the Czech Republic, interested in the secularization of church lands, the sympathy of the Czech king Wenceslas IV. However, in the future, the development of the ideas of the Reformation by Hus caused a sharp rebuff on their part. In 1410 Hus was excommunicated and in 1412, after speaking out against the sale of indulgences, he was forced to leave Prague. Hus went to South Bohemia, where he delivered sermons, more and more expressing in them the aspirations of the broad masses of the people. At the end of 1414, Jan Hus was summoned to a church council in Constance, where he hoped to defend his teaching in an open dispute. However, despite the letter of protection from Emperor Sigismund I, he was captured and thrown into prison. All attempts by Catholic clergy to persuade Hus to renounce his teachings did not lead to success.
"I choose not between life and death, but between truth and lies." - Jan Hus
Jan Hus(Czech Jan Hus [ˈjan ˈɦus]; 1369, Gusinec, Bohemia - July 6, 1415, Konstanz, Baden) - national hero Czech people, preacher, thinker, ideologist of the Czech Reformation. He was a priest and for some time the rector of the University of Prague. On July 6, 1415, in Constanta, he was burned along with his works. The execution of Hus sparked the Hussite Wars (1419-1434).
Preacher
Jan Hus was born in the town of Husinec in South Bohemia in 1369. He entered the University of Prague, in 1396 received a master's degree in arts and began to lecture. Four years later, he accepted the priesthood and soon became dean of the Faculty of Philosophy. Almost at the same time, he began his preaching work.
From 1401, Hus read sermons in the church of St. Michael, and in 1402 Hus was appointed rector and preacher of a private Bethlehem chapel in the old part of Prague, where he was mainly engaged in reading sermons in Czech, which gathered up to three thousand people. In these sermons, Hus not only often touched everyday life(which was unusual at that time), but also openly criticized the clergy, feudal lords and burghers. Although he criticized the church, he considered himself a faithful member of it, revealing the shortcomings of people and serving for the good of the church.
As early as the mid-1380s, the writings of the English reformer John Wyclif began to spread in the Czech Republic. Gus also fell under the influence of Wyclif's ideas. During the Great Western Schism (schism) in the Roman Catholic Church, Hus was among those who remained neutral towards the warring parties.
While preaching in the Bethlehem chapel, Hus expressed an opinion that differed from the official policy of the Catholic Church. Listed below are his views on some of the issues.
- You cannot charge for ordinances and sell Church positions. It is enough for a priest to charge a small fee from the rich in order to satisfy his basic necessities of life.
- You can’t blindly obey the church, but you need to think for yourself, applying the words from the Holy Scriptures: “If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the pit.”
- Authority that violates the commandments of God cannot be recognized by Him.
- Property must belong to the just. An unjust rich man is a thief.
- Every Christian must seek the truth, even at the risk of well-being, peace and life.
In order to spread his teachings, Hus not only preached from the pulpit: he also ordered the walls of the Bethlehem chapel to be painted with drawings with edifying stories, composed several songs that became popular, and carried out a reform of Czech spelling that made books more understandable to the common people. His Latin work "Czech Orthography" is well known. It was he who achieved the transfer of each sound of speech by a separate letter: he developed diacritical marks (those that are written above the letters).
In 1409, a sharp discussion took place at the University of Prague about the teachings of Wyclif, among the supporters of Wyclif was the Archbishop of Prague, who invited Hus to speak at a meeting of the synod. The strong resistance of the clergy forced the archbishop to withdraw his support for Hus.
In 1408, Hus's friends Stanisław of Znojm and Stefan Paleč were arrested and charged with heresy, who later renounced their beliefs.
In 1409, the pope issued a bull against Hus, which allowed the archbishop of Prague, an opponent of the reformer, to take punitive action against him. Hus' sermons were banned, all suspicious books were collected and burned. However, the authorities supported Hus, and his influence among the parishioners continued to grow. In the autumn of that year, sermons were banned in private chapels, one of which was the Bethlehem chapel. Hus refused to obey the order and appealed to Christ.
In 1411, Archbishop Zbinek directly accused Hus of heresy. This accusation cast a shadow over the university and King Wenceslas IV, who supported Hus. Wenceslas called Zbinek's statement a slander and ordered the confiscation of the possessions of those priests who spread this "slander". Zbinek fled to Hungary. He died on the road on 28 October 1411.
Hus opposed both indulgences and the right of the hierarchs of the Christian church to raise the sword against their enemies. John XXIII imposed an interdict on Hus. In order not to subject the whole of Prague to an interdict, Hus, on the advice of the king, left for South Bohemia (first to the Koziy-Hradek castle, and then to Krakovets), where the gentry did not obey the decisions of the pope. There he continued to openly criticize ecclesiastical and secular authorities.
Conviction and execution
In 1414, Hus was summoned to the Council of Constance, which had the goal of uniting the Roman Catholic Church and ending the Great Western Schism, which by that time had already led to tripartism. Moreover, Emperor Sigismund promised Hus personal safety. However, when Hus arrived at Konstanz and received a safe-conduct, it turned out that Sigismund had given him the usual travel document. In the presence of Pope (later recognized as antipope) John XXIII and members of the Council, Hus was charged with heresy and organizing the expulsion of Germans from Prague University. Jan Hus arrived in Konstanz in November 1414, and in December he was arrested and imprisoned in one of the rooms of the palace. When some of Hus's friends accused the Council of violating the law and the imperial oath of Hus's safety, the pope replied that he had not personally promised anything to anyone and was not bound by the promise the emperor had made. When Emperor Sigismund was reminded of his promise, he refused to intervene and defend Hus. This brought him a lot of trouble later, when in 1419 he became king of Bohemia and was involved in the devastating Hussite wars. At first, Gus refused to speak during interrogations, and in order for him to start talking, a death sentence was read to him, which could be immediately carried out if Gus did not defend himself. Soon John XXIII fled from Constance, as the council demanded his resignation. This further worsened the situation of Hus, who had previously been held relatively honorably as a prisoner of the pope, and now was betrayed by the Archbishop of Constance, who put him on bread and water.
On May 8, 1415, the Moravian gentry sent a petition to Sigismund demanding that Hus be released and give him the floor at the cathedral. On May 12, the same protest was expressed by the Sejm of Bohemia and Moravia, and later by the Czech and Polish nobility, who were in Constanta. To satisfy them, Sigismund organized a hearing of Hus's case at the council, which took place from 5 to 8 June. After Hus was sentenced to death, Sigismund and the archbishops came to Hus many times asking him to renounce his beliefs, but he did not:
It is contrary to my conscience to renounce phrases that I have never uttered.
At the end of the trial, Jan Hus again appealed to Christ.
On July 1, Jan Hus sent a message to the cathedral, in which he finally refused to renounce his convictions. On July 6, 1415, Jan Hus, who refused to renounce his "delusions", was burned at the stake by the verdict of the cathedral. A number of legends are associated with his execution. So, to an old woman, out of pious motives, who placed a bundle of brushwood in his fire, he allegedly exclaimed: “Oh, holy simplicity!” (O sancta simplicitas!). He also predicted the appearance of a great reformer in a hundred years, whose undertakings would not be destroyed (Martin Luther), saying: “I am a Goose, and a Swan will come for me!” After some time, Jerome of Prague, one of his associates, was also burned at the stake.
Heritage
The death of Hus became one of the causes of the Hussite wars, between his followers (the Hussites) and the Catholics. The radical Hussites (“Taborites”), who demanded a religious reform, were defeated, the moderate Hussites (“Cuppers”) went over to the side of the Catholics, so the Reformation did not take place in the Czech Republic. A small part of the Taborites and the most radical Chashniki, under the auspices of Archbishop Rokycany, united in the communities of Czech brothers that still exist.
So far, the Catholic Church has not rehabilitated Hus. Despite this, in the Czech Republic (where the majority of believers before the general crisis of religiosity in the country in the 20th century were Catholics), Hus is traditionally respected as a fighter for national identity against the Germans, there are monuments, museums and streets bearing his name. A monument to Hus was erected on the Old Town Square in Prague on the 500th anniversary of his execution in 1915. In addition, in 1918 the Czechoslovak Hussite Church arose, which currently has about 100,000 supporters and maintains ecumenical relations with the Catholic Church.
Jan Hus left an extensive literary heritage, made a great contribution to the development of the literary medieval Czech language and codification of Czech orthography.
Memory
A monument was erected to him in the center of Prague. In a number of cities in the Czech Republic, the streets bear his name. Streets named after him can also be found in Russia (for example, in the city of Rybinsk). In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, annually on July 6, bonfires are lit throughout the country in memory of Jan Hus. Taras Shevchenko wrote the poem "The Heretic" about him.
Video
Faith War: Magister - Jan Hus (1954)
