Jan Hus is known as one of the earliest known religious scholars and reformers on the planet. A philosopher as well as a Master at Charles University (Prague), he made various supporters amid his time, which came to be known as Hussites.
Background
The exact date of Jan Hus's birth cannot be determined. It has been variously given as the year 1369, 1372, 1373 or 1375. Popular legend placed the exact date as July 6, 1369, but July 6 is believed to be nothing more than an imaginative analogy with the date of his martyrdom. In any event, he was born in Husinec in southern Bohemia on the border of Bavaria.
In his youth, Hus was known simply as "Jan, son of Michael," since it was customary in Bohemia to identify a man by giving his Christian name and the name of his father. Between 1398 and 1400, he signed his name as "Jan Hus," or "Jan Hus of Husinec." After 1400, he always signed his name as simply "Jan Hus." Thus he derived his last name "Hus" from the name of his birthplace, and his actual family name is lost to history.
Of Hus's family even less is known. It is assumed that his parents were humble people of peasant background. Nothing is known of his father, who apparently died when Jan was very young. His mother was a very pious woman. A casual mention in one of his surviving letters leads scholars to assume that Jan Hus had brothers, but nothing is known of them or any possible sisters.
Education
Hus received his "elementary" schooling in the Latin school of the nearby town of Prachatice. When 18 years old, he enrolled at the University of Prague. In 1393 or 1394, he received his bachelor's degree, and by 1396, his master of arts.
While teaching, Hus also pursued theological studies and in 1404, he earned a bachelor of divinity degree. Three years later, he was in the process of earning his doctorate but never received it.
Career
It is within the context of the crisis of faith within the late-medieval church that the life of Jan Hus must be considered. But it also must be viewed against the backdrop of imperial politics within the Holy Roman Empire and the emergence of Bohemian (or Czech) nationalism. The two are so closely intertwined that they cannot be separated.
At what point in his life Hus made the transition to a religious reformer is unknown. Following his ordination in 1402, he was appointed rector and preacher of the Bethlehem Chapel in Prague. He soon became the leader of the reform party centered there and shared their condemnation of the corrupt clergy. Many of Wycliffe's teachings had been condemned by Pope Gregory XI and the English prelates, although Wycliffe died officially orthodox. As the teachings became a test of orthodoxy at the university, where Hus taught, he was in danger of being branded a heretic and soon lost the support of both Archbishop Zbynek and King Wenceslas, although for different reasons. When many of the German masters chose to leave Prague to found a new university at Leipzig in Germany, Zybnek began to take a closer look at Hus's teachings.
In 1410, Archbishop Zybnek confiscated Wycliffe's books and ordered them burned. When Hus defended the books, Zybnek excommunicated him, and the following year Hus was ordered to appear in Rome. Refusing to go, Hus was excommunicated for disobedience. Having lost the support of his onetime ally, the Archbishop, Hus would next lose the support of his King. John XXIII proclaimed a crusade against King Ladislas of Naples, a supporter of John XXIII's rival, Gregory XII. The cost of the crusade was to be paid for by the sale of indulgences in, among other areas, Bohemia. Since Wenceslas was to receive a portion of the income from the sale of indulgences, he supported the crusade. Hus, however, openly condemned both and accused John XXIII of "trafficking in sacred things." Such action cost him and his associates the support of Wenceslas.
Shortly thereafter, three members of the reform party who spoke out against indulgences were arrested and beheaded. In September 1412, a papal bull of excommunication of Hus was published in Prague. To spare the city the rigors of being under an interdict, Hus withdrew from Prague and took refuge with various Bohemian nobles.
The final act of Hus's life was played out at the Council of Constance (1414-1418), called to bring an end to the Great Schism and to deal with the problem of heresy, especially Hus. Zygmunt, the king of Hungary and brother of Wenceslas, was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1410. Then, in the spring of 1415, offering a guarantee of safe conduct, Zygmunt invited Hus to attend. At first he hesitated, but with the urging of Wenceslas, he accepted. Once in Constance, Hus was lured into the papal residence, then imprisoned in a Dominican dungeon. What followed were months of interrogation and suffering. Zygmunt withdrew his safe conduct in January 1415.
It was only due to great pressure exerted by Bohemian noblemen that Hus was given any semblance of a public hearing on June 5, 7, and 8, but he was not allowed to respond to the charges made against him. Presented with a list of 30 articles allegedly drawn from his writings but in fact drawn from the writings of John Wycliffe, Hus was ordered to renounce them upon oath. He refused, unless instructed from Scripture as to where his teachings were in error. The Council rejected his appeal to the Bible as a superior authority. On July 6, Hus was given a final opportunity to recant. Again he refused, saying that since he did not hold all of the views as stated, to recant would be to commit perjury. He was then declared an arch-heretic and a disciple of Wycliffe. He was ceremoniously degraded from the priesthood, his soul was consigned to the devil, and he was turned over to the secular authorities for execution. That same day, he was led to a meadow outside the city wall and burned alive. His ashes were then gathered up and cast into the Rhine River.
Religion
In contrast to the popular perception that Hus was a proto-Protestant, some Eastern Orthodox Christians have argued that his theology was far closer to Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
Hus attacked the Church by denouncing the moral failings of clergy, bishops, and even the papacy from his pulpit.
Politics
Hus spent the greater part of his profession at Prague University and as an evangelist in the adjacent Bethlehem Chapel. Held in extraordinary regard, he got to be included in the governmental issues of the college which had been set up by Charles IV with 75% of the educators from the conditions of Bavaria, Saxony and Poland.
Personality
Hus was characterized as worldly, proud, mercenary, pleasure-loving, and hypocritical.
