This blog post examines the life, ideas, and historical significance of Jan Hus, the medieval Czech religious reformer.
Before Jan Hus, Bohemia briefly experienced a period of revival during the reign of Charles IV, but subsequently entered a period of decline with the establishment of the Kingdom of Bohemia. The primary causes of this decline were the Black Death and the corruption of the medieval church. The Black Death pushed people’s anxiety to its peak, and many believed that failing to properly follow the teachings of the Bible had provoked God’s wrath. Against this backdrop, Jan Hus emerged and spearheaded the religious reformation.
The medieval European church was deeply involved in secular politics, corrupted to the point of losing its fundamental pastoral mission and straying far from apostolic example. The Pope raised funds to wage the Crusades, selling indulgences for this purpose. Beyond simony, the Church exercised taxing rights over its lands, collecting various taxes and fees. It even operated taverns, inns, and gambling houses near churches, focusing intensely on accumulating wealth.
Jan Hus was born in 1369 in the small town of Husinec. He enrolled at Prague University, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1393 and a Master’s degree in 1396. He began teaching as a professor in 1398. After serving as Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy in 1401, he was appointed Rector of the University in 1402 and parish priest in 1403.
While serving as rector, he was influenced by the ideas of the English thinker John Wycliffe. Wycliffe argued that since the Church could not relinquish its secular power on its own, the state must intervene. Hus opposed the sale of indulgences and criticized Catholic priests, raising issues not only of theory but also of practice. These activities earned him broad support from the Bohemian court, the nobility, and various social classes. Historians regard Wycliffe and Hus as figures who illuminated the ‘eve’ of the Reformation. Hus is often described as “the goose that honked loudly on the eve of the revolution,” especially since his name ‘Hus’ means ‘goose’ in Czech.
Hus began preaching at Bethlehem Chapel the year after he became a priest. He condemned the Crusades as massacres of the innocent and criticized the sale of indulgences as blasphemy. This intensified pressure from the Church: his preaching was banned, the chapel was destroyed, and in Prague, measures were taken to suspend the sacraments. Hus left Prague and continued his writing activities in southern cities, sustaining the Bohemian Reformation.
His reforms contained the following five core assertions.
First, he argued that the church should be a ‘place where virtue is realized,’ demanding high moral standards from priests. The disorderly lives of priests at the time were a serious problem.
Second, he asserted that sermons and Bible readings should be conducted in the vernacular, and that all Christians should receive the full Eucharist. This dismantled the priest-centered hierarchy and became a symbol of rejecting social privilege.
Third, he opposed the sale of indulgences, asserting that forgiveness of sins comes solely through God’s grace, not by papal declaration or human merit.
Fourth, he opposed papal decrees contrary to Scripture, emphasizing that the Bible holds supreme authority, surpassing church leaders or councils.
Fifth, they held that the pope was not the head of the church; rather, the church should be an organic community with Christ as its head, not a clergy-centered institution.
These assertions led to the Reformation across Europe. Notably, innovations in language and space emerged. Worship was conducted in the vernacular, not Latin, and in the Bethlehem Chapel—distinct from traditional cathedral structures—all believers could stand equally before the Word. Preaching at the Bethlehem Chapel of Charles University, Hus gained such popular influence that he was called the ‘Teacher of the People’. He also published collections of his sermons and composed hymns. The Czech Reformation began at the university, and Charles University fully supported Hus. This was a reform movement led by critical Christian intellectuals.
Huss strongly criticized the clerical authoritarianism claimed by the Church. In his seminal work, he declared, “The devil, the worst sophist, tempts priests,” likening priests who abused religious power to the devil’s minions. This ecclesiology demonstrates that he never ceased his criticism, even after being exiled from Prague.
At the Council of Constance, held from 1414 to 1418, Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund summoned Hus to end the papal schism. He promised Hus safety, but Hus was arrested less than a month after arriving in Constance. He was denied the chance to defend himself at his trial and was ultimately burned at the stake in 1415. As he was burned, Hus uttered the words, “Now they burn the ‘goose,’ but in a hundred years a ‘swan’ will appear and cry louder than I.” This is interpreted as a prophecy foretelling the emergence of the later Reformer Martin Luther and holds symbolic significance.
Even after Hus’s death, his religious reform movement did not cease. Czech nobles rebelled against the decisions of the Council of Constance, declaring, “We will obey the Pope only insofar as it does not contradict God’s will.” The Pope responded with repressive measures, including closing the University of Prague and banning priestly ordinations. As tensions escalated, the First Defenestration of Prague occurred. Ultimately, the conflict culminated in a direct confrontation between the Hussite nobles and papal authority following the death of the King of Bohemia, sparking the Hussite Wars.
The early Hussite Wars were led by the ‘One-Eyed General’ Jan Žižka. Using Tábor as his base, he won several battles against the imperial forces. Despite five imperial offensives between 1420 and 1431, the emperor failed to subdue the Hussites and was forced to seek compromise. However, internal conflict intensified within the Hussites as they split into moderate and radical factions. Ultimately, the moderates overpowered the radicals, leading to a compromise with the emperor. The emperor permitted the dual communion and recognized the freedom to preach the Gospel, while the Hussites acknowledged the emperor’s right to the Bohemian throne.
The ‘swan’ prophesied by Hus was none other than Martin Luther. Luther defined himself as a Hussite and inherited Hus’s ideas. At the Diet of Worms, Luther criticized the church that had condemned Hus and emphasized the necessity of reform. Huss not only influenced Luther externally but also sparked a theological awakening: the church must become a Christ-centered evangelical community. However, while Luther’s reform was more theological, theoretical, and legal in nature, Huss led a practical, pastoral, and dynamic reform.
October 31, 2017 marked the 500th anniversary of Luther’s posting of the 95 Theses, while July 6, 2015 marked the 600th anniversary of Jan Hus’s burning at the stake. While many commemorate Luther’s Reformation, the Reformation had already begun a century earlier in Bohemia. Luther’s reforms were an extension and development of Hus’s, and Hus’s Reformation was by no means confined to its eve. Therefore, we must commemorate and remember not only Luther’s Reformation but also the reforms of Jan Hus, which can be called the ‘First Reformation,’ as a complete and integral Reformation in its own right.
