Monday, July 06, 2015

The Original Bohemian


Six hundred years ago today, Jan Hus was burned at the stake. A popular preacher who opposed corruption and indulgences, much like John Wyclif before him and Martin Luther after him, Hus had been lured to the Council of Constance with the promise of safe passage, but he continued to preach and serve the Mass. Eventually the authorities lost patience with him, and in breach of their arrangement, Hus was imprisoned, chained, and finally led to the stake as a heretic on 6 July 1415. (This was two months after Wyclif himself was condemned as a heretic, and just two days after the bull of Gregory XII was read, finally resolving the whole three popes omnishambles.) Not the Roman Catholic church's finest hour. Keep reading

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