3. Jan Hus (* about 1371; + 1415)

Jan Hus is born of poor parents about 1371 in the small village of Husinec after which he is named. From about 1390 he studies in Prague, first af all the standard general sciences. He gets his master's degree and teaches university entrants. Subsequently he begins the study of theology, is ordained priest in 1400 and only two years later becomes preacher in the "New Bethlehem" Church. This church was special inasmuch as it was a church purely for sermons and held 3,000 people. And in this church, which was built at the end of the 14th century, from the beginning the preaching was done not in Latin but in Czech, that is in the vernacular. It was an expression of the reformatory effort of the Bohemian Church. Many of the sermons which Hus gave in the Bethlehem Church have survived. They show a preacher who criticizes the immorality of society and especially sharply criticizes the vice of the clergy: averice, usury and purchasing ministries are objects of his criticism with which he calls for repentance. And he is heard and understood - by ordinary people and by royalty alike. Hus gets inspiration fundamental to his position by reading John Wyclif's texts, without simply adopting them. And it is also part of Wyclif's tradition that Huss demands a reformed and renewed Church. The heart of the sermon and criterion for the church service is the ruling Word of God, the Holy Scriptures. Head of the Church is Christ, not the Pope. (N.B. At that time there were two rival popes, one in Rome and one in Avignon.)

Besides his function at Bethlehem Church Hus also acts as interpreter of the Bible in the theological faculty of the University of Prague. Hus was by no means the only person in Bohemia influenced by Wyclif and striving for reforms. But he soon becomes the spokesman for the reformers who had won a majority at the University of Prague; in 1409/10 Hus was even rector of the University of Prague. However, in 1411/12 Hus cuts short his planned path towards a doctor of theology because of opposition which had arisen.

Already from 1403 onwards disputes arose at the university about Wyclif's doctrines which are suspected of heresy. From 1407/8 onwards the Roman Curia intervenes, in 1409 the dispute escalates. Hus had brought an action under eclesiastical law against the Archbishop in 1408, and then against the Pope, in order to have the condemnation of Wyclif's doctrines annulled. Both this attempt at court action and the approaches at reform made by the "Wycliffites", as Hus and others are called, lead in 1410 to the imposition of a ban on preaching in all chapels (and with that in the Bethlehem Church). Hus does not keep to the ban and protests; but to no avail, on the contrary: in August 1410 Hus is excluded from the sacraments, in March 1411 Hus is imposed with excommunication. And at least a year later the final verdict is pronounced: the great excommunication. Jan Hus must leave Prague. The Bohemian nobles take up the cause and give Hus protection in their castles during the ensuing years until 1414. During this time he is busy writing, interprets theApostles' Creed, the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer and writes a study "On the Church". Also here he proves to be a follower of Wyclif, but Hus is much more moderate than Wyclif in many respects. In many letters Hus keeps in contact with the Bethlehem congregation and with his followers. In 1414 the Bohemian King was called on to explain to the Council in Constance the case of his subject Jan Hus. Hus could not very well avoid this request, particularly since he was guaranteed safe conduct. A few weeks after his arrival Hus is arrested in Constance. After a trial lasting for several months, after several hearings, after Wyclif's doctrines had again been damned and despite the vehement intervention on the part of the Bohemian and Moravian nobles, Hus is condemned to death and is publicly burnt to death on 6 July 1415. He had not recanted. During the following period attempts are made on the one hand to dispose of the "Bohemian heresy". But in the end they are not successful. On the other hand the Bohemian nobles violently protest against the burning to death. His thoughts continue to live, or rather: "Not until Hus was dead did his thoughts actually come to life." (L.v.Ranke) A "Hussite" movement emerges, which amongst other things demands the celebration of the Lord's Supper with wine; Hus had been more hesitant in this matter despite his basic agreement to it. The wine-chalice later becomes their distinguishing feature, however there were different opinions among them about the question of how radical the protest should be. The radicals, grown in numbers, demonstrate their resistance to King Wenceslaus and capture Prague in July 1419. For eighteen years a war rages in Bohemia; there are atrocities on both sides. Also in the Church moderate and radical forces cannot agree, so that it ends up becoming different Hussite Churches. At the time of the Reformation there is a move towards reconciliation between the Hussites and the Reformation; in 1575 the Confessio Bohemica appears, the Bohemian Confession of Faith, which closely follows the Confessio Augustana, the Confession of Augsburg, drawn up by Philip Melanchthon. The Hussite historiography talks of the First (Hussite) Reformation and the Second (German) Reformation. The present-day Protestant Church of the Bohemian Brethren in the Czech Republic sees itself consciously as the heir to both reform movements. Jan Hus is not responsible for the aftermath and especially not for the armed conflicts after his death, they were not what he intended. His goal was a renewal of the Church and society. In the end the pivotal question for him was obedience to God and this one of God's commandments has absolute importance. This ethical rigour hinders us from wanting to discover already in his teachings one of the Reformation doctrines, justification through Christ. From that point of view he is not to be identified with the Reformation, neither simply as an anticipatory reformer. Actually he represents the want of reform in the Church of the Middle Ages, and this in plain-spoken words. This criticism of his, however, also moved Luther, who was able to call Hus a "holy man".