Jan Hus

Who Was Jan Hus?

Jan Hus was a Czech theologian, philosopher, and church reformer whose execution at the Council of Constance in 1415 made him one of the most important martyrs of the pre-Reformation period and a national hero of the Czech people to the present day. Born in Husinec, Bohemia, educated at the University of Prague, he became rector of the university and a preacher of extraordinary influence at the Bethlehem Chapel in Prague, where he preached in Czech rather than Latin — itself a radical act in the hierarchical culture of the medieval church.

Hus was deeply influenced by the writings of the English reformer John Wycliffe, whose critique of clerical corruption, his insistence on Scripture as the supreme authority in the church, and his arguments for the priesthood of all believers Hus absorbed and developed in his own theological work. His most important works — De Ecclesia (On the Church, 1413) and his biblical commentaries — argued that the true church is the community of the predestined, that the pope is not necessarily its head, and that Scripture must take precedence over papal decrees when they conflict.

Summoned to the Council of Constance under a safe-conduct from Emperor Sigismund, he was arrested, tried for heresy, and burned at the stake on July 6, 1415. His last words, according to tradition, were “Lord, into your hands I commend my spirit.” His death ignited the Hussite Wars and contributed directly to the conditions that made the Protestant Reformation possible a century later.

In Their Own Words

Selected Bibliography

• De Ecclesia (On the Church) — 1413
• Exposition of the Faith, the Decalogue, and the Lord's Prayer — c. 1412
• Letters from Prison — 1414–1415
• Postilla (Commentary on the Gospels) — c. 1413