Jan Hus (; Czech: [ˈjan ˈɦus] ; c. 1369 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Goose or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as Iohannes Hus or Johannes Huss, was a Czech Christian theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and the inspiration of Hussitism, a key predecessor to Protestantism, and a seminal figure in the Bohemian Reformation. Hus is considered to be the first Church reformer, even though some designate the theorist John Wycliffe. His teachings had a strong influence, most immediately in the approval of a reformed Bohemian religious denomination and, over a century later, on Martin Luther.
After being ordained as a Catholic priest, Hus began to preach in Prague. He opposed many aspects of the Catholic Church in Bohemia, such as its views on ecclesiology, simony, the Eucharist, and other theological topics. Hus was a master, dean, and rector at the Charles University in Prague between 1409 and 1410.
Alexander V issued a Papal bull that excommunicated 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 selling of indulgences. Hus' excommunication was then enforced, and he spent the next two years living in exile.
When the Council of Constance assembled, Hus was asked to be there and present his views on the dissension within the Church. When he arrived, he not only enjoyed the safe conduct to the city but "During the first few weeks of his residence in Constance, Huss enjoyed a tolerable share of liberty." At a later date he was arrested and put in prison. He was eventually taken in front of the council and asked to recant his views. He refused. On 6 July 1415, he was burned at the stake for heresy against the teachings of the Catholic Church.
After Hus was executed, the 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. Both the Bohemian and the Moravian populations remained majority Hussite until the 1620s, when a Protestant defeat in the Battle of the White Mountain resulted in the Lands of the Bohemian Crown coming under Habsburg dominion for the next 300 years and being subject to immediate and forced conversion to Catholicism in an intense campaign.
The exact date of Hus's birth is disputed. Some claim he was born around 1369, while others claim he was born between 1373 and 1375. Though older sources state the latter, more contemporary research states that 1372 is more likely. The belief that he was born on 6 July, also his death day, has no factual basis. Hus was born in Husinec, southern Bohemia (now the Czech Republic), to peasant parents. It is well known that Hus took his name from the village where he lived (Husinec). The reason behind his taking his name from his village rather than from his father is up to speculation; some believe that it was because Hus did not know of his father, while others say it was simply a custom at that time. The name Hus, however, means 'goose' in Bohemian (now called Czech), and he was a century later referenced as a "Bohemian goose" in a dream given to Frederick, the Elector of Saxony. Nearly all other information known about Hus's very early life is unsubstantiated. Similarly, we know little of Hus's family. His father's name was Michael; his mother's name is unknown. It is known that Hus had a brother due to his expressing concerns for his nephew while awaiting execution at Constance. Whether or not Hus had any other family is unknown.
At the age of roughly 10, Hus was sent away to a monastery. The exact reason is not known; some claim that his father had died, others say he went there due to his devotion to God. He impressed the teachers with his studies, and they recommended him to move to Prague, one of the largest cities in Bohemia at that time. Hus apparently supported himself by securing employment in Prague, which allowed him to fulfill his necessities and access to the Prague Library.
Three years later, he was admitted to the University of Prague. Though not an exceptional student, he pursued his studies with ferocity. In 1393, Hus earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Prague, and he earned his master's degree in 1396. The strongly anti-papal views that were held by many of the professors there likely influenced Hus's future works. During his studies, he served as a choir boy, to supplement his earnings.
Hus began teaching at the University of Prague in 1398, and in 1399, he first publicly defended propositions of Wycliffe. He was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1400. In 1401, his students and faculty promoted him to dean of the philosophy department, and a year later, he became a rector of the University of Prague. He was appointed a preacher at the Bethlehem Chapel in 1402. Hus was a strong advocate for the Czechs and the Realists, and he was influenced by the writings of John Wycliffe. Although Church authorities banned many of Wycliffe's works in 1403, Hus translated Trialogus into Czech and helped to distribute it.
Hus denounced the moral failings of clergy, bishops, and even the papacy from his pulpit. Archbishop Zbyněk Zajíc tolerated this, and even appointed Hus a preacher at the clergy's biennial synod. On 24 June 1405, Pope Innocent VII directed the Archbishop to counter Wycliffe's teachings, especially the idea of impanation in the Eucharist. The archbishop complied by issuing a synod decree against Wycliffe, as well as forbidding any further attacks on the clergy.
In 1406, two Bohemian students brought to Prague a document bearing the seal of the University of Oxford and praising Wycliffe. Hus proudly read the document from his pulpit. Then, in 1408, Pope Gregory XII warned Archbishop Zajic that the Church in Rome had been informed of Wycliffe's heresies and of the sympathies of King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia for nonconformists. In response, the king and university ordered all of Wycliffe's writings surrendered to the archdiocesan chancery for correction. Hus obeyed, declaring that he condemned the errors in those writings.
In 1408, the Charles University in Prague was divided by the Western Schism, in which Gregory XII in Rome and Benedict XIII in Avignon both claimed the papacy. Wenceslaus felt Gregory XII might interfere with his plans to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor. He denounced Gregory, ordered the clergy in Bohemia to observe a strict neutrality in the schism, and said that he expected the same of the university. Archbishop Zajíc remained faithful to Gregory. At the University, only the scholars of the Bohemian "nation" (one of the four governing sections), with Hus as their leader, vowed neutrality.
In January 1409, Wenceslaus summoned representatives of the four nations comprising the university to the Czech city of Kutná Hora to demand statements of allegiance. The Czech nation agreed, but the other three nations declined. The king then decreed that the Czech nation would have three votes in university affairs, while the "German nation" (composed of the former Bavarian, Saxon, and Polish nations) would have one vote in total. Due to the change in voting structure by May 1409, the German dean and rector were deposed and replaced by Czechs. The Palatine Elector called the Germans to his own University of Heidelberg, while the Margrave of Meissen started a new university in Leipzig. It is estimated that over one thousand students and masters left Prague. The emigrants also spread accusations of Bohemian heresy.
In 1409, the Council of Pisa tried to end the schism by electing Alexander V as Pope, but Gregory and Benedict did not submit (Alexander was declared an "antipope" by the Council of Constance in 1418). Hus, his followers, and Wenceslaus IV transferred their allegiance to Alexander V. Under pressure from
King Wenceslaus IV, Archbishop Zajíc did the same. Zajíc then lodged an accusation of "ecclesiastical disturbances" against Wycliffites in Prague with Alexander V.