Jan Hus

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Portrait of Jan Hus by Johann Agricola , 1562; a contemporary portrait of Hus has not survived

Jan Hus (after his probable place of birth Husinec , Prachiner Kreis , Kingdom of Bohemia ; * around 1370; † July 6, 1415 in Constance ), also called Johann (es) Hus (s) , was a Bohemian Christian theologian, preacher and reformer. He was temporarily rector of the Charles University in Prague . After he did not want to revoke his teaching during the Council of Constance , he was burned at the stake as a heretic . The Hussite movement named after Jan Hus goes back in part to his work. In the Czech Republic , Hus is considered the "national saint".

Recent research indicates July 1, 1372 as the date of birth.

Live and act

Memorial plaque on the house where Jan Hus was born in Husinec

Educational path

Jan Hus was the son of Joh. Joseph Huss (* 1330 in Husinec) and his wife von Kowisckcy. He had two brothers named Hironimus (* 1370) and Benedictus (* 1382). Jan Hus, whose father was probably a carter, attended the Latin school in the trading town of Prachatice in western Bohemia and studied in Prague from around 1390 . After studying at Charles University in Prague , he obtained the degree of Magister Artium in 1396 , became a university professor and is considered the author of the anonymous treatise Orthographia Bohemica , in which the diacritical system of Czech spelling was proposed for the first time (with the acute for long vowels and the point for soft consonants ).

Through Jerome of Prague , Hus was familiar with the teachings of the Oxford theologian John Wyclif from 1398 , which he enthusiastically accepted. Czech aristocrats, who had studied at Oxford University since the marriage of King Wenceslas ' sister , Anne of Bohemia , to Richard II of England (1382) , brought Wyclif's writings to Prague from there - first the philosophical ones, later also the theological and ecclesiastical ones. Because of the moral decline of the clergy in England and Bohemia, Wycliffe called for the Church to turn away from property and secular power.

Jan Hus began to study theology in 1398, was ordained a priest in 1400, appointed dean of the faculty of philosophy in 1401 and appointed professor in 1402. He held the post of rector of Prague University, where he taught theology and philosophy, in 1409 and 1410.

The sermon of Jan Hus in the Bethlehem Chapel (1916, from the Slavic epic by Alfons Mucha )

Effect as priest and preacher

From 1402 Hus preached in the Czech language in the Bethlehem Chapel in Prague's Old Town and introduced singing together during the service in the local Czech language. There he gave around 200 sermons in Czech every year and thus also promoted Czech national consciousness. Hus, who initially enjoyed great prestige under Archbishop Zbynko Zajíc von Hasenburg , was appointed synod preacher several times by him . He became the confessor of Queen Sophie of Bavaria . Hus preached a strict, virtuous way of life and was zealous against zeitgeist and fashion, so that he occasionally turned the guilds of shoemakers, hatters, goldsmiths, wine merchants and landlords against him.

Influenced by the teachings of Wyclif, he criticized the worldly possessions of the church, the greed of the clergy and their vicious life. He fought passionately for a reform of the secular church, advocated freedom of conscience and saw the Bible as the only authority on questions of faith. In doing so, he contradicted the doctrine of the official Church, according to which the Pope was the final authority in matters of faith. Hus also took over the teaching of predestination from John Wyclif and advocated the use of the national language in church services.

In 1408 the Archbishop of Prague heard about Hus' sermons and relieved him of his position as synod preacher. He was forbidden to read mass and preach. But he did not keep to these prohibitions, continued to preach against the papacy and bishops and in a short time brought large parts of Bohemia on his side.

In order to master the reform efforts, the Prague Archbishop Alexander V submitted to one of the then three Popes and obtained a bull from him demanding the delivery of Wyclif's writings and the revocation of his teachings. In addition, preaching outside the churches should be banned. After this bull was published on March 9, 1410, the archbishop had over 200 Wyclif manuscripts burned in public and sued Jan Hus in Rome. Hus, who was unsuccessfully represented there by envoys, was then banned from church in July 1410 . Antipope John XXIII. banned him in February 1411. Hus was excommunicated and expelled from the city of Prague, which led to unrest in Prague.

Due to his popularity, which culminated in popular demonstrations, Hus initially taught for another year under the protection of the king. He now condemned the crusade and indulgence bulls of John XXIII. In 1412, however, Hus had to flee.

Jan Hus and the Czech national consciousness

Bohemia was the only kingdom in the Holy Roman Empire . Prague was the imperial residence city in Hus's time. In addition to the German King and / or “Roman” Emperor, there was also the Bohemian King, if these dignities did not coincide in personal union.

When Charles University in Prague was to take a position on the Western Schism , Hus was the spokesman for the Czechs. The university was structured according to the four "nationalities" Bavaria, Saxony, Poland and Bohemia. Since 1408 King Wenceslas had agreed to support the Council of Pisa , which sought to overcome the papal schism, as well as the bohemian nation of the university. The German nations and Archbishop Zbyněk, on the other hand, stuck to their Roman obedience . Positions hardened, when the Master of the Czech nation to Wyclifschen known realism that formed the philosophical basis for theological critique Hus and other Bohemian theologians.

This formation of opposition ultimately led to the Kuttenberg decree of 1409, which fundamentally changed the distribution of votes at the university. A neutral position vis-à-vis the two popes in Avignon and Rome would not have been achieved with a majority of votes from the German nations. Wenzel therefore gave the Bohemians three votes, while the Bavarians, Poles and Saxons combined only one. The Czechs declared themselves neutral with King Wenceslaus, while the Germans and Archbishop Zbyněk passed to Gregory XII. held tight.

In addition to Jan Hus, Hieronymus of Prague , who was burned as a heretic 10 months after Hus at the Council of Constance , had a major influence on the implementation of the decree. For the first time in a revolt by the Czech people, nationalist motives played a role, which were decisive for the development of the Hussite commitment. As a result of the Kuttenberg Decree, at least 1,000 German students and their professors left Prague and initiated the establishment of the University of Leipzig .

When the antipope John XXIII . proclaimed a new crusade against the King of Naples and promised complete indulgence for every “cross-bearer” , Hus publicly condemned this practice, which made him very popular. However, this finally broke the relationship with the king, who himself had financial interests in the planned sale of indulgences. Unrest broke out in Prague when, on July 14, 1412, three young men who had publicly opposed the indulgence trade were executed. In the reform movement they were immediately venerated as martyrs .

Due to the increasing pressure, Hus fled Prague in 1412 and lived in the Goat Castle in South Bohemia and at Krakovec Castle in Central Bohemia until 1414 . There he wrote several of his works and thus made a significant contribution to the further development of the written Czech language. During this time he continued his involvement in the translation of the Bible into the national language (a new full translation of the Old Testament and revision of older translations of the New Testament were created in his vicinity). The new parts of the text were first published in his work Postila (1413).

Hus then went to Husinec, his place of birth. During this phase he wrote numerous writings and pamphlets . He managed to get that part of the Bohemian nobility at odds with the Church to protect him and his followers. In the event that his ideas were successful, some had probably also hoped for the church property, because, according to Wyclif's teachings, the clergy could be expropriated if they were unworthy.

Hus crossed the country as an itinerant preacher and found numerous followers. In 1413 Hus wrote De ecclesia ( About the Church ). In it he took the view that the church was a community free of hierarchies in which only Christ could be the head. Based on the Augustinian concept of the church, he defined the church as the community of the predestined, i.e. all people chosen by God. In the visible church, however, there are also the unelected people who form the corpus diaboli . Hus believed that many of the leaders of the Church were in truth members of the devil.

Visit to the Council of Constance

Assurance of safe conduct

Inscription at the Hus Museum at Hussenstrasse 64. The inscription is misleading. The location of Jan Hus's inn in Constance in 1414 can no longer be clearly established.

The unrest and theological disputes in Bohemia also preoccupied the Council of Constance from 1414 onwards. The task was to restore the country's reputation and to free itself from the accusation of tolerating heresy . The German King Sigismund promised Hu safe conduct (a salvus conductus for the outward and return journey and the time of stay) and promised him a letter of safe conduct . But Hus already set out beforehand to present his views before the council. Despite his excommunication and the Great Church ban pronounced against him, he was warmly received everywhere on his way to Constance. He reached Constance on November 3rd . On November 4, 1414, the Pope lifted the church sentences against him. First he preached for three weeks in a hostel in St.-Pauls-Gasse - today Hussenstraße . (The location of the hostel can no longer be clearly determined. Today's Hus-Museum Konstanz is housed in a house from that time.)

Wards of incarceration

Inselhotel, formerly a Dominican monastery on the island in Constance with a round prison tower in which Hus was held prisoner
Gottlieb Castle

On November 28th, however, Hus was arrested, taken to the bishop's palace near the Konstanz cathedral and held in the house of the cathedral cantor for a week. On December 6th, he was set in a semicircular extension of the Dominican monastery on Dominican Island in the dungeon. Here he went through several painful months. He was handcuffed during the day and locked in a shed at night. He was exposed to the stench of a sewer, was poorly fed, and was tormented by illness. Since his death had not served his opponents - he was supposed to revoke his teaching beforehand - he was moved to a somewhat more tolerable quarter on March 24, 1415, the barefoot tower at the later Stefansschule.

When Sigismund arrived on December 24, 1414, he was angry about the breach of the letter of safe conduct, but did nothing to help Hus. Since he wanted to inherit the Bohemian crown of his brother Wenceslaus , he was more interested in rehabilitating the reputation of Bohemia. Sigismund's promise of escort was declared null and void, because Hus did not want to withdraw his views and therefore the secular order was no longer responsible for him, but the ecclesiastical (according to the interpretation at the time, the promise was void anyway, as there could be no binding promise to a heretic ).

In March 1415 Pope John XXIII fled from Constance, when Hus was believed to be a prisoner. Hus came into the custody of the Bishop of Konstanz on March 24th, who a little later had him incarcerated in the prison tower of Schloss Gottlieben , a moated castle on the Seerhein . Also John XXIII. was soon taken prisoner, brought back to Constance and even imprisoned in Gottlieben Castle.

On May 4, 1415, the council also condemned John Wycliffe and his teaching. Since Wyclif had been dead for 30 years at the time of the conviction, the sentence could of course no longer be enforced. For this the cremation of his bones was ordered and actually carried out a few years later, in 1428.

Hus came to a Franciscan monastery on June 5, 1415 . There he spent the last weeks of his life. From June 5 to 8, Hus was interrogated in the monastery refectory . Hus supporting Bohemian and Moravian nobles achieved that he was allowed to defend himself and his teachings in public at least partially. The council demanded that he publicly repudiate and renounce his teachings. Hus refused and stood firm until the end of June.

Church condemnation

Constance Minster
Jan Hus at the stake ( Spiezer Chronik , 1485)

On the morning of July 6th, 1415, Hus was sentenced to death by fire as a heretic in a solemn plenary meeting of the council in the cathedral, later the Konstanzer Münster , on the basis of his teaching of the "Church as the invisible community of the predestined" . The representatives of the secular powers included King Sigismund, Friedrich von Brandenburg , Ludwig III. von der Pfalz and a Hungarian magnate. Those involved in the ecclesiastical guilty verdict were the Cardinal Bishop of Ostia, the Bishop of Lodi, the Bishop of Concordia and the Archbishop of Milan. Since Pope Gregory XII. had previously abdicated and Pope John XXIII. (Antipope) had been deposed shortly before, the condemnation took place without papal participation.

Secular execution

Hus was given over to worldly power. The route led from the cathedral over today's Wessenbergstrasse (at that time still Plattengasse), the Obermarkt and the Paradieser Stadttor a short distance in the direction of Gottlieben to Brühl on the Schindanger . Shortly before the execution, Reichsmarschall Haupt II. Von Pappenheim rode up and called on Hus for the last time on behalf of King Sigismund to withdraw. Hus refused. “The Reichsmarschall slapped his hands as a sign of execution. The torch was placed on the pile of wood. ”On behalf of the king, Count Palatine Ludwig enforced the judgment, which was valid as an imperial law. Jan Hus was burned together with his writings on the afternoon of July 6th, 1415 on the Brühl, between the city wall and the moat. Before that, a paper crown of shame was placed on his head. There were “three gruesome devils painted on it, how they are just trying to pull and hold the soul with all their claws. And on this crown was the title of his case: 'This is an arch heretic '. ”Ulrich Richental described the phases of the execution in his chronicle. The executioners scattered his ashes in the Rhine . Since 1863 a memorial stone at the medieval place of execution at the confluence of the street named after Zum Hussenstein in the street Am Anger reminds of this.

Farewell letter

In his farewell letter, Hus had written to his friends:

“But it fills me with joy that they had to read my books in which their wickedness is revealed. I also know that they read my scriptures more diligently than the Holy Scriptures because they wanted to find heresy in them. "

- Jan Hus

General circumstances of the time

Jan Hus was sentenced at a time when there was a struggle for secular and ecclesiastical supremacy by all means.

Sigismund won the power struggle against his cousin Jobst von Moravia after the death of King Ruprecht . Three aspirants to the Pope fought for the claim to be Pope: Gregory XII. in Rome, Benedict XIII. in Avignon and Alexander V (after him John XXIII ) in Pisa. The power issues were settled, but the reforms called for by Hus, among others, were not carried out. The existing regulations were valid after the deposition of Pope John XXIII. and the execution of Jan Hus with the election of the new Pope Martin V in the council building at the port of Constance in 1417 as confirmed.

The execution triggered the first lintel in Prague and the Hussite Wars (1419–1434). Five crusades were sent against the rebellious Taborites . The wars not only devastated Bohemia and Moravia in the first half of the 15th century , they also spread to neighboring countries, until the Hussites were defeated, first by concessions and later by internal disruption.

The teaching of Jan Hus

Hus was heavily influenced by the teachings of John Wyclif . In his mostly compilatory writings, Wyclif's views are partly reproduced verbatim, which corresponded to the literary manner of the Middle Ages. Hus did not take over some things from Wyclif either. So he adhered to the mass, the doctrine of transubstantiation and the doctrine of purgatory , but rejected the intercession of Mary and the saints.

The concept of the church

According to Jan Hus, the church is the totality of all predestined (the predestined) ( ecclesia est universitas praedestinatorum ). Their predestination makes them members of the holy church. Christ is the head - and no head apart from him - of the Church, which mediates spiritual life for herself and each individual member. According to Hus, from the beginning there is only one church whose members are predetermined and do not become known before the day of God's judgment. For Hus, the term church is primarily a spiritual one and less an institutional one.

Hus distinguishes between church members by matter and name. A member of the church institution does not have to belong to the predestined, just as a non-member of the church institution can belong to the spiritual church of the predestined. A person shows his predestination through his behavior.

Hus divides the church into three parts: the people, the secular rule and the clergy. The task of secular rule is to protect the servants of God and to defend the law of God. The servants of God are to "improve the world, enliven the church as the soul of the same and follow Christ in all directions".

The clergy

Hus requires a clergyman to live a truthful and holy life with the aim of serving the believers. He complains that the clergy of his day despised God and brought the church into disrepute through profit-seeking and hypocrisy. Instead of helping the people - so Hus - they rob it, instead of defending it, they suppress it even more cruelly than the worldly masters.

The clergy had the task of proclaiming the gospel and of serving the people with the sacraments. Here, too, Hus sees the contrast to the priesthood of that time, which, according to him, did not preach out of “divine instinct”, but for the sake of profit. Many asked for gifts or money for anointing, baptism, communion, ordination, consecration of the altars, and burials. Hus criticizes the indulgence trade , invented relics , worship of images and invented miracles. The grace of God must not be for sale.

"The priests preach against our fornication and our vices", so complains Hus, "but they say nothing about theirs, so either it is not a sin or they want the privilege". In his opinion, the clergy, who are in the forefront of the army of believers, must also be able to be admonished and punished by all other believers if they err or sin.

The papacy

For Hus, the term Pope was just as little institutional as his concept of the Church. It is not the office but the behavior that qualifies a Pope. He opposed doctrines that the Pope has unlimited authority, that he is neither God nor man, that the Pope can remove a bishop for no reason, and that he can refrain from apostolic prescriptions in the Bible. “Most holy Father on earth” can only mean one who lives in a holy way, following Christ in poverty, humility, peaceableness and chastity, but not one who lives in manifest greed, in open arrogance and in other sins. Here, too, Jan Hus' basic attitude is evident that holders of ecclesiastical offices, including the papacy, have to be measured by the statements and values ​​of the Bible, a view that he saw confirmed by Wyclif's teaching.

The Holy Scriptures

Hus saw the Bible as "entirely true and sufficient for the happiness of the human race". It is the standard by which life must be oriented. All religious truth is contained in it. Scripture is a weapon against the devil , which Christ also used when he did not command the devil but argued. He opposed the doctrine that the authority of the church is above the Bible. Those who taught in this way wanted to keep themselves free from criticism and keep the people ignorant of the Holy Scriptures so that they would remain docile.

Hus demanded not to believe, to hold on to, to assert and to preach anything that could not be justified by the statements of the Bible. Scripture, so Hus, must be believed, it is the gateway to the kingdom of heaven.

The Lord's Supper

The evening meal was one of Hus to the "deepest and most secret and highest mysteries of our faith." It cannot be fully understood by a person. The spiritual experience, as the more important one, must always precede the sacramental experience. Christ instituted this sacrament to commemorate his passion, his life and ministry, his resurrection and ascension. The priest should keep this in mind when administering the sacrament. Contrary to the prevailing doctrine of his time, Hus emphasized that the Lord's Supper in bread and wine was also intended for lay people. He could not read a restriction from the script. The goal of the Lord's Supper is to “abide in Christ and have him abiding in you; not to die forever; have eternal life ”.

The practice of the Lord's Supper is still one of the theologically debated issues within Christianity. Hus first emphasized the need to believe in the words of Jesus, who said that the bread was his body and the wine was his blood. In addition, the bread and wine would be consecrated by the words of institution read by the priest, so that the bread would be transubstantiated into the true body of Christ and the wine into the true blood of Christ .

heresy

Heresy has three causes: turning away from the law of God, blasphemy and buying offices. It is blasphemy when a person accuses God, when God is stubbornly insulted in his mind by not trusting him in his power, or when one recognizes what is due to God alone to a human power or another creature. In his writing on heresy and simony (purchase of offices), Hus pointed out that Jesus was also accused of blasphemy and had been executed. Hus argued particularly fiercely against the sale of church offices, which lead to other heresies, do not bring the most capable to the post and corrupt people.

The works of Jan Hus

  • Výklad Viery, Desatera a Páteře ( Interpretation of the Faith, the Ten Commandments and the Our Father ). 1412.
  • Výklad Viery, Desatera božieho přikazanie a modlitby páně ( Interpretation of the Faith, the Ten Commandments and the Our Father ). 1412.
1480 in Middle Low German translation Dat bokeken van deme repe. , De uthlegghinge ouer den louen. published by Johannes von Lübeck as the first print by Hus
  • Catechetical Scripture. Published posthumously in 1520, completed in exile in South Bohemia ( Kozí Hrádek Castle ).
  • Dcerka ( little daughter ). 1412.
  • Knížky o svatokupectví ( Little Book on Simony ). 1413.
  • Postila aneb Vyloženie svatých čteni nedĕlních ( Postille or interpretation of the holy readings on Sunday ). 1413.
  • O šesti bludiech ( About the six errors ). 1413.
  • De ecclesia ( About the Church , O církvi in Czech).
  • Orthographia Bohemica ( About Czech spelling , Czech O českém pravopise ). The authorship of this work is not certain.
  • De Causa Boemica, Paulus Constantius, Vulgo refragari quosdam celeberrimi, Constantiensis Concilii sententiae, qua, Hvssitae, damnati sunt, constat.Quare uisum est, mihi hũc ea de re in lucem edere librum, […] . Hagenau: Anshelm, Thomas, 1520. Digitized edition of the University and State Library Düsseldorf

Appreciation and commemoration

Places of remembrance in and around Constance

Cloister in the former Dominican monastery on the history of the Dominican Island; Jan Hus dungeon
Constance , Steigenberger Hotel, lakeside with the round Hussenturm in which Jan Hus was imprisoned
Monument to Jan Hus in Constance
Hussenstein in Constance
  • From December 6th, 1414, Hus was incarcerated for 89 days in the round tower of the island monastery in Constance (an island hotel on the Dominican island since the 20th century ) facing the lake . It was a smelly, cramped prison over an open latrine. He was interrogated inside the prison and became seriously ill. ( Location ). The tower is preserved. In the cloister of the Inselhotel, the scene of Hus in the dungeon is depicted in one of the wall paintings.
  • Shortly before Gottlieben on the edge of the footpath from Konstanz (Gottlieber Zoll) to Gottlieben stands the former moated castle, Gottlieben Castle . In one of the two towers from the 14th century, Jan Hus, Hieronymus of Prague and the later deposed Pope John XXIII. (Antipope) imprisoned 1414-1418. ( Location ). An information board reminds of their fate. The castle is not accessible.
  • The Jan Hus / Hieronymus von Prag monument on the arbor in Konstanz opposite the Luther Church was designed by Adéla Kačabová. ( Location ). It stands on the site of the Geltinger (later Paradieser) gate, through which Jan Hus and Hieronymus of Prague were led to their execution. The monument was erected and inaugurated in 2015. It is a gift from the Czechoslovak Hussite Church to the city of Konstanz. The three meter high sandstone monument from the Horicer Chlum mountain range has the year 1415 engraved on one side in its base and Jan Hus at the head end. On the other side in the base is 1416 engraved and at the head end Hieronymus of Prague. Two thirds of the memorial shows blazing fire flames in the middle part. A symbolic chalice forms the head of the monument, the symbol of the Hussite movement and for truth and reconciliation. The silhouette of the monument is reminiscent of the tower figure in a chess game, which symbolizes law and truth.
  • Since October 6, 1862, an imposing, transverse blackish limestone boulder, the Hussenstein , with the golden inscription Johannes Hus (Hieronymus von Prag on the reverse) at the presumed medieval place of execution has been a reminder of his fate in the Constance Paradise since October 6, 1862 . It is located in the street named after it, Zum Hussenstein , on the Brühl, west of the old town, near the Swiss border. ( Location ).

Places of remembrance in the Czech Republic

In the Bethlehem Chapel in Prague , wall paintings recall the fate of Hus, who preached to up to 3,000 visitors from the pulpit of this church in the old town from 1402 to 1412.

In front of Krakovec Castle , a statue by Milan Vácha commemorates Jan Hus.

  • Bethlehem Chapel: Hussite sermon

  • Bethlehem Chapel: The execution of Jan Hus

  • Statue of Jan Hus in front of Krakovec Castle

Remembrance days and celebrations

Monument to Jan Hus in Prague

With the formation of Czechoslovakia , it declared July 6th a national holiday in 1925 , after which the Holy See interrupted diplomatic relations for three years.

The Evangelical Church in Germany and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America commemorate Jan Hus on July 6th with a day of remembrance.

On the day of the successful killing of Jan Hus, July 6th, an ecumenical memorial service with representatives of Christian churches from Constance and the Czech Republic and with Czech pilgrims and other visitors will be held in the Konstanz Luther Church. At the Hussenstein, in the area of the Paradies district , where he was burned alive, the mayors of Konstanz and his twin town Tábor lay a wreath in memory of him. The Hussite song was sung by the Choir of the Bedřich Smetana Music School .

Monuments

In 1915, on the 500th anniversary of his death, a monumental Hus memorial was inaugurated on the Old Town Square in Prague in memory of the reformer . A second competition for this national monument was announced in 1900, and in 1903 a foundation stone was laid for the base of the monument. Nearby was the location of the Marian Column (Prague), which was destroyed in 1918 .

In the small town of Husinec in the Czech Republic there is a bronze statue in his memory. The town of Jičín had a Hus memorial erected in 1872. In Horní Blatná , a monument in front of the Laurentius Church honors the reformer.

Statues are being planned and edited for the 600th anniversary of the death of Jan Hus on July 6, 2015 for the places Husinec u Řeže , Prague , Kozí Hrádek (near Tábor ), Lidice and Konstanz under the common theme Jan Hus - Path to Reconciliation .

Medals

So-called Hustaler , medal around 1717 to commemorate the death of the Czech reformer Jan Hus

The most important medals commemorating the death of Jahn Hus are so-called Hustaler . The numerous casts and re-mintings of these pieces and the almost 200-year production period are probably unique for medals and testify to great interest in these small works of art, which were first minted in the workshop of Hieronymus Magdeburger around 1537 and then also executed as silver cast around 1717. The saying in the inscription of these medals CENTVM. REVOLVTIS. ANNIS. DEO. RESPONDEBITIS. ET. MIHI, translated - “When a hundred years have passed, you will answer God and me” - was not uttered by Hus. The medals were issued by the Lutheran Reformation.

Museums

Hus Museum in Konstanz at the Schnetztor
  • In Husinec there is a memorial in the house where he was born and a small museum next to it.
  • The Hus-Museum Konstanz in the Hussenstrasse 64 named after Hus at the Schnetztor with documents on Hus and the Hussite movement is one of the possible places to stay for Jan Hus at the beginning of the Constance Council and was set up in 1923 by the Prague Museum Society in memory of the Reformer. ( Location ).
  • In the 1840s, a panopticon with an entrance at the Seetor was set up in the Konstanz Council Hall , in which life-size wax figures of Jan Hus, Father Celestine and Hieronimus of Prague were set up. A detailed description of the Panoptikum was given in 1843 by Johann B. Salfinger.

Cross-border international understanding

From December 9, 2007 until it was discontinued in 2012, the regional express / express train R / RE 451 and 452 Nuremberg-Prague and back was called "Jan Hus".

The Association of Cities with Hussite History and Tradition has existed since 1998 . It has 17 cross-border cities from Germany and the Czech Republic as members. She is committed to the preservation of the Hussite heritage and, as a consequence, to international understanding. Constance has been part of the association since 2002. Every year a pilgrimage in the footsteps of Jan Hus is supported.

The route of tolerance runs on Jan Hus's train route from Krakovec Castle to Constance. First, it follows the Golden Road from Prague to Nuremberg. It continues via Ulm, Biberach, Ravensburg, Meersburg to Constance.

The German-Czech Association e. V. has a meeting place near the Hussenstein in Konstanz in the Palm House, Am Hussenstein 12.

Aftermath in the churches

In the 18th century, the Prague painter Hans Stiegler painted a swan behind Luther to indicate that Hus was Luther's forerunner.

A rehabilitation in the Roman Catholic Church is discussed since the end of the 20th century. In 1996, Cardinal Miloslav Vlk expressed the opinion that the judgment against Hus should be revoked. In 1999 Pope John Paul II declared on the occasion of a historians' congress about the reformer:

"Today [...] I feel obliged to express my deep regret for the cruel death of Jan Hus and for the resulting wound, source of conflict and division, which was torn into the minds and hearts of the Bohemian people."

However, rehabilitation has not taken place until today (2017).

Jan Hus is highly regarded in the Protestant churches as a forerunner of the reformer Martin Luther , who took up his ideas and ideals in the following century.

Before his execution, Hus is said to have said: "Today you will roast a goose, but a swan will emerge from the ashes ". Husa means goose in Czech . Historians later associated this saying with Luther and therefore made the swan his symbol. Johannes Bugenhagen mentioned this reference in his funeral speech for Martin Luther on February 22, 1546 in the Wittenberg Castle Church . This relationship between Luther and Hus is also shown in the picture by Jacob Jacobs Martin Luther with the swan , which has been hanging on a pillar in the left aisle in Hamburg's main church St. Petri since 1603 . Another picture by Hans Stiegler in the Amandus Church (Freiberg am Neckar) also shows Martin Luther with the swan.

The Herrnhuter Brothers Congregation takes Jan Hus's approaches into account.

Famous Hus students

Hussenstein Konstanz in 2015: back to commemorate the death of Hieronymus von Prag

Fiction

Movies

  • The life of Jan Hus was filmed in 1977 by Michael Economou under the title John Hus .
  • Also filmed in the Czech Republic in a film trilogy by the Czech director Otakar Vávra in the mid-1950s. ( Jan Hus (1954), Jan Žižka (1957) and Proti všem (1956, German : "Against all" )), Hus + Žižka played in a double role by Zdeněk Štěpánek .
  • On the occasion of the 600th anniversary of the execution, Česká televize filmed the years as a theologian in a co-production with Arte based on a screenplay by Eva Kantůrková and directed by Jiří Svoboda . Jan Hus was played by Matěj Hádek . The two-part series with a running time of just under four hours was shown for the first time on Arte on July 1, 2015, 8:15 pm to 1:15 pm. The shooting took place exclusively in the Czech Republic. Even the scenes that take place in the Konstanz Minster were created there.

swell

literature

  • Bernhard M. Baron , The procession of Master Jan Hus in 1414 through the Upper Palatinate. In: Oberpfälzer Heimat Volume 37 (1993), Weiden in der Oberpfalz, pp. 75-80.
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz:  Hus, Jan. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 2, Bautz, Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-032-8 , Sp. 1194-1198.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive  on 2007-06-28)
  • Bernhard Gustav Bayerle: Johann Huss and the Concilium zu Kostnitz. Caused by Lessing's picture at this year's art exhibition, in two sections. Roschütz, Düsseldorf 1842 digitized
  • Poggio Bracciolini : The infallibility of the Pope at the Council of Constanz and Johannes Huss' interrogation, condemnation and death by fire (July 5th and 6th, 1415). Written by Concils member Poggius. Published by the Huss-Comité Berlin, 1873.
  • Tania Douglas: Jan Hus. The Firebird of Constance (historical novel), Fontis-Verlag , Basel 2015, ISBN 978-3-03848-036-5 .
  • Eugen Drewermann : Jan Hus in the fire of God. Impulses from an indomitable reformer , Patmos Verlag, Ostfildern 2015
  • Karl A. Fink: The national false doctrines . Wyclif and Hus. In: Hubert Jedin, Hans-Georg Beck u. a .: The medieval church . From the ecclesiastical high Middle Ages to the eve of the Reformation (In: Handbuch der Kirchengeschichte. [In 7 volumes] - Volume 3). Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau / Basel / Vienna 1985, ISBN 3-451-20454-1 , pp. 539-544.
  • Richard Friedenthal : Jan Hus . The heretic and the century of the revolutionary wars. In: Edition Piper , Volume 331, 4th edition. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1987 (first edition 1972), ISBN 3-492-10331-6 (in the appendix bibliographical information on the stages of Hus' life).
  • Rudolf Hoke : The trial of Jan Hus and the escort of King Sigmund. In: AHC (Annuarium Historiae Conciliorum) 15 (1983), pp. 172-193.
  • Peter Hilsch : Johannes Hus. Preacher of God and heretic . Pustet, Regensburg 1999, ISBN 3-7917-1671-9 .
  • Peter Hilsch: The theology of Jan Hus . In: Karl-Heinz Braun, Mathias Herweg, Hans W. Hubert, Joachim Schneider, Thomas Zotz (eds.): The Council of Constance. Essays. 1414-1418. World event of the Middle Ages . Theiss, Darmstadt 2013, ISBN 978-3-8062-2849-6 , pp. 87-91.
  • Constantin von Höfler : Magister Johannes Hus and the departure of German professors and students from Prague in 1409 . Unchanged reprint of the Tempsky edition, Prague 1864, Sendet, Vaduz 1985, DNB 870206311 .
  • Petra Hörner: Hus - Hussites . Documentation of literary facets in the 19th and 20th centuries. Lang, Frankfurt am Main / Berlin / Bern / Bruxelles / New York / Oxford / Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-631-38973-6 .
  • Karel Hruza: The burning of Jan Hus at the Council of Constance in 1415 , in: Georg Scheibelreiter (Ed.): High points of the Middle Ages , Darmstadt 2004, pp. 202-220, ISBN 978-3-8289-0854-3 .
  • Josef Kalousek : O potřebě prohloubiti vědomosti o Husovi a jeho době . Hlas národa, Praha [Prague] 1902 (Czech).
  • Jan Karafiát : Mistr Jan Hus 2nd edition. Spolek Komenského, Praha [Prague] 1893 [first edition 1872]. (Czech)
  • Jiří Kejř: The Johannes Hus case and the procedural law of the church . Pustet, Regensburg 2005, ISBN 3-7917-1968-8 .
  • Thomas Krzenck: Johannes Hus: theologian, church reformer, martyr , Muster-Schmidt, Gleichen / Zurich 2011, ISBN 978-3-7881-3033-6 .
  • Zdeněk Nejedlý : Mistr Jan Hus a jeho pravda . In: Knihovna České stráže . Volume 2. Vydavatelské družstvo Domov, Volná myšlenka, Praha [Prague] 1919. (Czech)
  • Biographical encyclopedia on the history of the Bohemian countries, edited on behalf of the Collegium Carolinum (Institute) in Munich by Heribert Sturm , Volume I (A – H), Oldenbourg, Munich / Vienna 1979, Johannes Hus p. 709, ISBN 3-486-49491 -0 .
  • Alexander Patschovsky : Ecclesiology with Johannes Hus. In: Hartmut Boockmann, Bernd Moeller , Karl Stackmann (eds.): Life lessons and world designs in the transition from the Middle Ages to the modern age. Politics - Education - Natural History - Theology. Report on colloquia of the commission to research the culture of the late Middle Ages 1983 to 1987 (= treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen: philological-historical class. Volume III, No. 179). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1989, ISBN 3-525-82463-7 , pp. 370-399.
  • Miloslav Ransdorf : Mistr Jan Hus , Universe, Praha [Prague] 1993, ISBN 80-901506-4-0 . (Czech)
  • Walter Rügert: Jan Hus. In the footsteps of the Bohemian reformer , Südverlag, Konstanz 2015, ISBN 978-3-87800-065-5 .
  • Ferdinand Seibt (Ed.): Jan Hus between times, peoples, denominations . Lectures at the international symposium in Bayreuth from September 22nd to 26th, 1993. Oldenbourg, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-486-56149-9 .
  • František Šmahel : The Hussite Revolution (original title: Husitská revoluce , translated from the Czech by Thomas Krzenck. Editing: Alexander Patschovsky) Volume 1–3; In: Writings of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Volume 43; Hahn, Hannover 2002, ISBN 3-7752-5443-9 .
  • Jaroslav Šonka: From church reformer to national hero. The image of Jan Hus through the ages . In: East-West. European Perspectives , Vol. 21 (2020), pp. 167–175.
  • Pavel Soukup: Jan Hus. Preacher - reformer - martyr. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2014, ISBN 978-3-17-021514-6 .
  • André Vauchez : Protest and heresy movements in the Roman Church . In: Bernhard Schimmelpfennig (Ed.): Middle Ages, the time of the tensile tests . Herder, Freiburg in Breisgau / Basel / Vienna 1991, pp. 315–348, ISBN 3-451-22256-6 (= The History of Christianity , Volume 6).
  • Ernst Werner : Jan Hus. World and environment of an early Prague reformer . Böhlau, Weimar 1991, ISBN 3-7400-0129-1 (= research on medieval history , volume 34).
  • Jarold K. Zeman: The Hussite Movement and the Reformation in Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia (1350-1650) . A Bibliographic Study Guide with Particular Reference to Resources in North America. Michigan Slavic Publications, Ann Arbor, MI 1977, ISBN 0-930042-00-X . (English)

Web links

Commons : Jan Hus  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Jan Hus  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ^ Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz:  Jan Hus. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 2, Bautz, Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-032-8 , Sp. 1194-1198.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive  on 2007-06-28) : around 1369
  2. ↑ Lexicon of the Middle Ages V, 230 f. (around 1371).
  3. ↑ a b Rainer Christoph: gegen Klerus gewettert , article from June 27, 2015 on OberpfalzNETZ.de Online / Netzcode: 4632653 (accessed on June 27, 2015) ( Memento from June 30, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Tobias Engelsing : A right of resistance for every Christian. In: Konstanzer Almanach. 2015, pp. 29–33.
  5. ↑ Not to be confused with Pope John XXIII of the same name . (1958–1963), who convened the Second Vatican Council.
  6. ↑ Jan Hus: Writings on the reform of the faith and letters from 1414-1415. Edited and introduced by Walter Schamschula , Frankfurt am Main 1969 (= Insel Collection , 49).
  7. ↑ Tobias Engelsing: A right of resistance for every Christian. In: Konstanzer Almanach 2015, pp. 29–33.
  8. ↑ Ulrich Büttner, Egon Schwär: The wrong Hus house. Where did Jan Hus live In: Ulrich Büttner and Egon Schwär: Konstanzer Konzilgeschichte (s) . Publishing house Stadler. Constance 2014. ISBN 978-3-7977-0580-8 . Pp. 191 to 194.
  9. ↑ Council anniversary. exactly 600 years ago. In: Südkurier from November 28, 2014. Author abbreviation: jh.
  10. ↑ Gottlieben Castle. In: Ulrich Büttner and Egon Schwär: Konstanzer Konzil Geschichte (n) , Stadler Verlagsgesellschaft, Konstanz 2014, pp. 49–51.
  11. ↑ Cf. Fr. Joseph Kastell: Catalog along with some strange, partly unprinted writings and notes on the Concilium in 1414 in Konstanz, 1832, note on p. 32.
  12. ↑ Michael Lünstroth: The memory remains indelible. In: Südkurier of July 6, 2015, p. 20.
  13. ^ Richard Friedenthal: Jan Hus. Munich, 3rd edition 1984, p. 297
  14. ↑ Otto Brandt: Ulrich von Richental's Chronicle of the Council of Constance. R. Voigtländer Verlag Leipzig, 1912.
  15. ↑ Josua Eiselein: Justified evidence of the plaz near the city of Constanz, on which Johannes Hus and Hieronymus of Prague in the years 1415 a. Burned in 1416.
  16. ↑ Udo Witzens: Abysses of violence: The greatest massacres in world history - a documentation . 2nd Edition. Twentysix, Norderstedt 201, ISBN 978-3-7407-4728-2 .
  17. ↑ Heike Thissen: Hussenturm. Hard imprisonment for the Czech reformer. In: Eva-Maria Bast and Heike Thissen: Secrets of the homeland. 50 exciting stories from Constance. Volume 2. ISBN 978-3-9815564-6-9 . Pp. 44-47.
  18. ↑ Hus at knerger.de
  19. ↑ Dat bokeken van deme repe. , De uthlegghinge ouer den louen. Lübeck: Printer of Calderinus [= Johann Snell  ?], Around 1481 ( Dat bokeken van deme repe in the complete catalog of incunabula (GW number GW13672)); Edition: Karl Nerger: Dat Bôkeken van deme Rêpe by Nicolaus Rutze van Rostock. School program Gymnasium and Realgymnasium Rostock 1886 ( digitized ); Facsimile print with an introduction by Amedeo Molnár. Hildesheim: Olms 1971 (= NL v. Zinzendorf. Materials and Documents. Beih. 1, Vol. 2)
  20. ↑ Information board in the Inselhotel on the occasion of the Open Monument Day 2010.
  21. ↑ Heike Thissen: Hussenturm. Hard imprisonment for the Czech reformer. In: Eva-Maria Bast and Heike Thissen: Secrets of the homeland. 50 exciting stories from Constance. Volume 2. ISBN 978-3-9815564-6-9 . Pp. 44-47.
  22. ↑ Claudia Rindt: Pillar of Reconciliation and a Legend. In: Südkurier of 7 July 2015, p. 20.
  23. ^ Report of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church Czech, accessed on September 7, 2015
  24. ↑ Walter Rügert: A sign of reconciliation. In: Konstanzer Almanach 2016, pp. 58–60.
  25. ↑ Walter Rügert: A sign of reconciliation. In: Konstanzer Almanach 2016, pp. 58–60.
  26. ↑ Jan Hus, also: Johannes in the Ecumenical Saint Lexicon
  27. ↑ Back to the future. In: Council at a Glance , January 30, 2013, pp. 1–2.
  28. ↑ Nikolaj Schutzbach: The desire for more truth. In: Südkurier of July 7, 2015.
  29. ↑ Julia Russ: 700 kilometers of cycling to commemorate. In: Südkurier of July 8, 2013.
  30. ^ Pomník Jana Husa na Staroměstském náměstí ( Czech ) 2008
  31. ↑ Michael Lünstroth: Konstanz receives a new monument for Hus . In: Südkurier of April 14, 2014.
  32. ↑ Heinz Fengler, Gerd Gierow, Willy Unger: transpress Lexikon Numismatik , Berlin 1976 p. 153
  33. ↑ Walter Rügert: A sign of reconciliation. In: Konstanzer Almanach 2016, pp. 58–60.
  34. ↑ Johann B. Salfinger: Rundschau in church life areas Germany's, Helvetia's , Manz, 1846, p 72 et seq.
  35. ↑ In the footsteps of Jan Hus. In: Südkurier from July 28, 2014. Author abbreviation sk.
  36. ↑ a b Walter Rügert: The Hussite Culture Route. In: Konstanzer Almanach 2015, pp. 34–35.
  37. ↑ “'The truth will prevail.' - Jan Hus's triumphant journey through the Upper Palatinate " ," Land und Menschen "series from July 5, 2015, Bayerischer Rundfunk , Bayern 2 , (article and audio)
  38. ↑ Julia Russ: Not only Hus connects with the Czech Republic. In: Südkurier of July 2, 2013.
  39. ↑ Edgar S. Hasse: The riddle about a Luther picture. In: Hamburger Abendblatt, July 4, 2015, p. 20.
  40. ^ Press kit for the film Jan Hus ( Memento from July 4, 2015 in the Internet Archive ). PDF on presse.arte.tv. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  41. ↑ Heike Hupertz: Arte shows the two-part "Jan Hus". In: faz.net. July 1, 2015, accessed July 3, 2015 .
  42. ↑ Keira Knightley in Konstanz: These places were the locations of famous film productions . In: Südkurier of September 10, 2015
  43. ↑ [1]
personal data
SURNAME Hus, Jan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hus, Johannes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Christian reformer and martyr
DATE OF BIRTH around 1370
PLACE OF BIRTH Husinec , Prachiner County , Kingdom of Bohemia
DATE OF DEATH July 6, 1415
Place of death Constance at the stake