Jan Hus July 6

Hus is considered by some to be the first church reformer, although some designate this honor to the theorist John Wycliffe or Marcion of Sinope. His teachings had a strong influence, most immediately in the approval of a Bohemian Reformed religious denomination and, more than a century later, on Martin Luther. Hus was master, dean, and rector of Charles University in Prague from 1409 to 1410.

Jan Hus was born in Husinec, Bohemia, to poor parents. To escape poverty, Hus trained for the priesthood. At an early age, he went to Prague, where he supported himself by singing and serving in churches. His conduct was positive, and his commitment to his studies was apparently remarkable. 

After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree and being ordained a priest, Hus began preaching in Prague. He opposed many aspects of the Bohemian Catholic Church, such as their views on ecclesiology, simony, the Eucharist, and other theological matters.

When Alexander V was elected pope, he was persuaded to side with the Bohemian church authorities against Hus and his followers. He issued a papal bull excommunicating 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 sale of indulgences. Hus's excommunication was subsequently enforced, and he spent the next two years living in exile. 

When the Council of Constance convened, Hus was invited to attend and present his views on the dissension within the Church. Upon his arrival, he was immediately arrested and imprisoned. He was eventually brought before the council and asked to recant. He replied, "I would not for the sake of a golden chapel withdraw myself from the truth!" When he refused, he was sent back to prison. On July 6, 1415, he was burned at the stake for heresy against the doctrines of the Catholic Church. He could be heard singing psalms as he burned. 

Among his last words, Hus predicted that God would raise up others whose calls for reform would not be suppressed; this was later seen as a prophecy about Martin Luther (born 68 years after Hus's death).

After Hus's execution, followers of his religious teachings (known as Hussites) refused to elect another Catholic monarch and defeated five consecutive papal crusades between 1420 and 1431 in what became known as the Hussite Wars. 

The Bohemian and Moravian populations remained predominantly Hussite until the 1620s, when a Protestant defeat at the Battle of White Mountain resulted in the Bohemian crown lands falling under Habsburg rule for the next 300 years and being subject to immediate and forced conversion in an intense campaign to return to Catholicism.

Reacting with horror to Hus's execution, the people of Bohemia moved even more quickly away from papal teachings. Rome then declared a crusade against them (March 1, 1420): Pope Martin V issued a papal bull authorizing the execution of all supporters of Hus and Wycliffe. King Wenceslaus IV died in August 1419, and his brother, Sigismund of Hungary, was unable to establish a proper government in Bohemia due to the Hussite Revolt.

The Hussite community comprised the majority of the Czech population of the Kingdom of Bohemia. Under the leadership of Jan Žižka (c. 1360–1424) and later Prokop the Great (c. 1380–1434) – two excellent commanders – the Hussites defeated the crusade and the three subsequent crusades (1419–1434). The fighting ended after a compromise between the Utraquist Hussites and the Catholic Council of Basel in 1436.

This culminated in the Basel Pacts, in which the Catholic Church officially allowed Bohemia to practice its own version of Christianity (Hussitism). A century later, up to 90 percent of the inhabitants of the Czech Crown Lands still followed Hussite teachings.