Jan Hus

Jan Hus was the most popular preacher in Prague, drawing crowds to the Bethlehem Chapel where, by deliberate design, he preached in Czech rather than Latin so ordinary people could understand. Deeply influenced by the writings of Wycliffe, he taught that Christ alone is the head of the church, that Scripture stands above any pope or council, and that a clergy living in greed and immorality had forfeited their spiritual authority.

When papal agents arrived selling indulgences to fund a war, Hus denounced the trade openly — the same scandal that would ignite Luther a hundred years later. The backlash was fierce: he was excommunicated, and Prague was placed under interdict. Summoned to the Council of Constance in 1414 under a written promise of safe-conduct from the emperor, Hus went, hoping to defend his teaching before the whole church.

The promise was broken. He was imprisoned, tried, and condemned without a fair hearing, and on July 6, 1415, he was burned at the stake. Witnesses recorded that he sang and prayed as the flames rose. His death enraged the Czech people and gave birth to the Hussite movement — including the practice of giving the laity both the bread and the cup, long denied them. A century later, when Luther was told his teaching resembled Hus's, he studied the martyr and declared, 'We are all Hussites without knowing it.' Hus had become exactly what his name means in Czech — a goose — whose feathers, he reportedly said, would one day hatch a swan the church could not burn.