Jan Hus, born Jan Husinec, lived from 1369 to 1415, and was a Czech theologian and philosopher who became a church reformer and an inspirer of Hussitism, a key predecessor to Protestantism and was a major figure in the Bohemian Reformation. After John Wycliffe, the theorist of ecclesiastical reform, Hus is considered the second church reformer as he lived before the likes of Luther, Calvin and Zwingli. His teachings had a strong influence on the states of Western Europe in the approval of a reformed Bohemian religious denomination and later on Martin Luther.

Hus was born to poor parents and to escape poverty he decided to train as a priest. He travelled to Prague at an early age and supported himself by singing and serving in churches. He was ordained a priest and earned a Bachelor of Arts and began to preach in Prague. However he opposed many aspects of the Catholic Church and its views on ecclesiology, simony, the Eucharist amongst other theological topics.

When Alexander V became pope he was persuaded to side with the Bohemian church against Hus and issued a Papal bull to excommunicate him. This was not enforced however and he was able to continue to preach. This soon changed when Hus spoke out against Pope John XXIII and the excommunication was then enforced. Hus was arrested and when we refused to recant his views he was put into prison and on 6 July 1415 he was burned at the stake for heresy against the doctrines of the Catholic Church.

The high standing and integrity of Hus in his community is reflected by the fact that after his execution the followers of his religious teachings, known as the Hussites, refused to elect another Catholic monarch and defeated 5 consecutive papal crusades between 1420 and 1431 in what became known as the Hussite wars. Both the Bohemian and Moravian populations remained majority Hussite until the 1620’s when a Protestant defeat in the battle of the White Mountain resulted in the lands of the Bohemian Crown coming under Habsburg rule for the next 300 years and being subject to immediate and forced conversion to return to Catholicism.

i am drawn to Hus as he stuck to his convictions which unfortunately led to him paying the ultimate price for them. But he was a person willing to think independently and was quite radical for his time. We need more radical thinkers willing to question the status quo.

The attached pictures are of a monument to Hus located in the Old Town Square in Prague. To have such a large monument in the Town Square is reflects the high regard Hus has in the history of this country and the city of Prague.