Jan Rokycana

Jan Rokycana

Memorial plaque for Jan Rokycana in Rokycany

Jan Rokycana (also Jan z Rokycana ; German: Johannes Rokycana , also Johannes von Rokitzan ; Latin Ioannes Rokyczana * between 1390 and 1397; † February 22, 1471 in Prague ) was a Czech theologian . In 1431 he was elected by the Bohemian estates to succeed Archbishop Konrad von Vechta , but was not recognized by the papacy. From 1431 to 1437 and from 1441 to 1471 he held the office of administrator of the utraquist church, in 1435 the office of rector of the Charles University .

Life

Jan Rokycana studied at the Charles University in Prague and was among other things a student of the Magister Jakobellus von Mies . For a short time he was a novice in the Augustinian monastery in his hometown, which he soon left. In 1415 he acquired the academic degree of baccalaureate. In 1424 he was ordained a priest by Archbishop Konrad von Vechta from Prague. In the same year he managed to reach a compromise between the Prague Hussites and Jan Žižka . In 1427 he became pastor at the Tyn Church in Prague and at the same time university pastor . Due to the close ties with the university and the cooperation with the preachers Konrad von Waldhausen and Johann Militsch von Kremsier , the Tyn Church became a center of spiritual life in Prague's old town . In 1430 he passed the master's examination. After the death of Archbishop Konrad von Vechta, Rokycana, who belonged to the moderate wing of the Utraquists, was elected as his successor by the Bohemian estates. However, since he was denied papal approval and thus also the episcopal ordination, he could not take up the office. That is why he held the office of administrator of the utraquist church from 1431 to 1437. Although he was of the opinion that the doctrine of Utraquism was the better, he was of the opinion that the Utraquist doctrine did not differ too much from the beliefs of the Catholic Church, whose centralistic orientation however disturbed him. Together with Andreas Prokop he defended the chalice theory . In 1435 he was rector of Charles University.

When the papal legate Philibert attended a mass in the Tyn Church on September 8, 1436 and found that Rokycana was giving the chalice communion , he accused him of the king. He was then released on April 24, 1437. Successor in the office of administrator was the Magister Christian von Prachatitz . Rokycana fled from Prague and initially hid in the Kunětická Hora castle , later in Königgrätz until 1448 .

In 1448 Prague was conquered by Georg von Podebrady and Rokycana was solemnly installed in his previous function. He carried out his office with a committee consisting of twenty clergymen and masters. However, he was not allowed to give orders and most of the priests newly ordained by Italian bishops distanced themselves from the Utraquists.

Rokycana wrote letters to Pope Nicholas V in 1449 and made an attempt to visit him, but failed on the trip through Germany. In 1451, Rokycana and his followers turned to the Orthodox Church and began negotiations with Constantinople . However, the efforts were ruined by the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453. At the same time the Curia tried to persuade the Utraquists to obey. The Franciscan preacher Johannes von Capistran was sent to Bohemia for this purpose, but he tried in vain to unite. The Unity of the Bohemian Brothers was initially supported by Rokycana. A break occurred in 1467 when the brothers decided at the Synod of Lhotka to ordain their own priests.

After Georg von Podebrady had been elected King of Bohemia in 1458, he sought to obtain papal confirmation for Rokycana, but his influence was weakened. In addition, King George pursued the goal of having the compacts confirmed by the Pope. After the compactate was abolished in 1462, Jan Rokycana was excommunicated by the Pope.

Jan Rokycana died in 1471; his body was buried in the Teynkirche.

Works

• Postilla (a collection of sermons from the years 1453 to 1457)
• Latinská postilla
• Výklad zjevení svatého Jana
• Kázání u Kutné Hory
• Řeči pronesené na koncilu Basilejském
• Synodální řeči
• O sedmi vášních a vadách, ježto hlavní hříchové slovou
• Acta synodální
• Latinský slovník
• Tractatus de Eucharista
• Tractatus de septem sacramentis
• Contra sex propositiones trivolas doctorum apostatarum
• Expositio super Mattheo evangelista, Expositio super Lucam

Songs

• Vítaj milý Jezu Kriste
• Zdrávas dievko
• Cierkev svatá v posledních dnech velmi neznamenitá

literature

• František Michálek Bartoš : Literární činnost M. Jana Rokycany, M. Jana Příbrama etc. Prague 1928
• František Michálek Bartoš: Světci a kacíři . Prague 1949
• Zdeněk Nejedlý : Mládí mistra Jana z Rokycan . 1899
• František Šimek: Učení M. Jana Rokycany . Prague 1938

Web links

Commons : Jan Rokycana  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature and other media by and about Jan Rokycana in the catalog of the National Library of the Czech Republic
• Literature by and about Jan Rokycana in the catalog of the German National Library