The Hussites were a Christian movement following the teachings of the reformer Jan Hus (circa 1369–1415), who was influenced by John Wyclif and became one of the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation. This predominantly religious movement was also propelled by social issues and strengthened Czech national self-awareness. Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is... Jan Hus ( ) (IPA: , alternative spellings John Hus, Jan Huss, John Huss) (c. ... Events King Charles V of France renounces the treaty of Brétigny and war is declared between France and England. ... Events Friedrich I Hohenzollern (b. ... Insert non-formatted text here Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity... Reformation redirects here. ...

When a council of the Roman Catholic Church had Hus put to death for his challenge to ecclesiastical authority, Hussites fought a successful war for religious freedom.

Among present-day Christians its traditions are represented in churches which call themselves Moravian or Unity of the Brethren churches, and in the refounded Czechoslovak Hussite Church.^[1] The Moravian Seal, as rendered by North Carolina artist Marie Nifong. ... The Unity of the Brethren (Czech: Jednota bratrská, Latin: Unitas Fratrum, also known as Czech or Bohemian Brothers or Brethren) is a Christian denomination whose roots are in the pre-reformation work of Jan Hus, who was martyred in 1415. ... The Czechoslovak Hussite Church (Czech: Církev československá husitská CCH) is a Christian Church which separated from Roman Catholic Church after World War I in former Czechoslovakia. ...

Effect in Bohemia of the Death of Hus

Recreation of Hussite shield from an original in the Museum of Prague

The arrest of Hus in 1414 had caused considerable resentment in Bohemia and Moravia. The authorities of both countries appealed urgently and repeatedly to Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, to release Hus. Image File history File links Ussita_pavese_shield_Prag_Museum_1429. ... Image File history File links Ussita_pavese_shield_Prag_Museum_1429. ... // Events Council of Constance begins. ... Flag of Bohemia Bohemia (Czech: ; German: ) is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western and middle thirds of the Czech Republic. ... Flag of Moravia Moravia (Czech and Slovak: Morava; German: ; Hungarian: ; Polish: ) is a historical region in the east of the Czech RepublicCzechia. ... Sigismund, aged approximately 50, depicted by unknown artist in the 1420s — the only contemporary portrait. ...

When news of his death at the Council of Constance in 1415 arrived, disturbances broke out, directed primarily against the clergy, and especially against the monks. Even the archbishop narrowly escaped from the effects of this popular anger. The treatment of Hus was felt to be a disgrace inflicted upon the whole country, and his death was seen as a criminal act. King Wenceslaus, prompted by his grudge against Sigismund, at first gave free vent to his indignation at the course of events in Constance; and his wife openly favored the friends of Hus. Pronounced Hussites stood at the head of the government. The Council of Constance was an ecumenical council considered valid by the Roman Catholic Church. ... Events Friedrich I Hohenzollern (b. ... Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. ... Wenceslaus (German: Wenzel, Czech: Václav IV; sometimes known as the Drunkard) (February 26, 1361 – August 16, 1419), of the house of Luxembourg, was king of Bohemia from 1378 to his death; until 1400, he also headed the Holy Roman Empire (as King of the Romans), and he continued to...

A league was formed by certain lords, who pledged themselves to protect the free preaching of the Gospel upon all their possessions and estates, and to obey the power of the bishops only where their orders accorded with the injunctions of the Bible, with the university as arbiter of any disputed points. The entire Hussite nobility joined the league. If the king had joined, its resolutions would have received the sanction of the law; but he refused, and approached the newly formed Roman Catholic League of lords, whose members pledged themselves to support the king, the Roman Church, and the Council. The prospect of a civil war began to emerge. This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library. ... Catholic Church redirects here. ...

Pope Martin V, who, while still Cardinal Otto of Colonna, had attacked Hus with relentless severity, energetically resumed the battle against Hus's teaching after the enactments of the Council of Constance, seeking to eradicate completely the doctrine of Hus. For this purpose the co-operation of King Wenceslaus had to be obtained. In 1418 Sigismund succeeded in winning his brother over to the standpoint of the council by pointing out the inevitability of a religious war if the heretics in Bohemia found further protection. Hussite statesmen and army leaders had to leave the country, and Roman priests were reinstituted. These measures caused a general commotion which hastened the death of Wenceslaus by a paralytic stroke in 1419. His heir was Sigismund. Martin V, né Oddone Colonna or Odo Colonna (1368 – February 20, 1431), Pope from 1417 to 1431, was elected on St. ... The Colonna family was a powerful noble family in medieval and renaissance Rome, supplying one pope and many other leaders, and fighting with their rivals the Orsini family for influence. ...

The Parties of the Bohemian Hussites

Hussism organized itself during the years 1415-19. From the beginning there formed two parties.

The moderate party, who followed Hus more closely, sought to conduct reform while leaving the whole hierarchical and liturgical order of the Church untouched.

The more radical party identified itself more boldly with the doctrines of John Wyclif, sharing his passionate hatred of the monastic clergy, and his desire to return the Church to its supposed condition during the time of the apostles. This required the removal of the existing hierarchy and the secularization of ecclesiastical possessions. The radicals preached the sufficientia legis Christi—the divine law (i.e. the Bible) is the sole rule and canon for human society, not only in the church, but also in political and civil matters. They rejected therefore, as early as 1416, everything that they believed had no basis in the Bible, such as the veneration of saints and images, fasts, superfluous holidays, the oath, intercession for the dead, auricular confession, indulgences, the sacraments of Confirmation and the Anointing of the Sick; they admitted laymen and women to the preacher's office, and chose their own priests. But above all they clung to Wyclif's doctrine of the Lord's Supper, denying transubstantiation, and this is the principal point by which they are distinguished from the moderate party. Wycliffe may also refer to Wycliffe Bible Translators John Wyclif (also Wycliffe or Wycliff) (c. ... Monasticism (from Greek: monachos — a solitary person) is the religious practice in which one renounces worldly pursuits in order to fully devote ones life to spiritual work. ... Fasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. ... Look up Indulgence in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... See Reform Judaism article about its Confirmation ceremony. ... Extreme Unction, part of The Seven Sacraments (1445) by Roger van der Weyden. ... For other uses, see Eucharist (disambiguation). ... Main article: Eucharist (Catholic Church) Transubstantiation (in Latin, transsubstantiatio) is the change of the substance of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ occurring in the Eucharist according to the teaching of some Christian Churches, including the Roman Catholic Church. ...

The Four Articles of Prague

The program of the more conservative Hussites is contained in the four articles of Prague, which were agreed upon in July, 1420, and promulgated in the Latin, Czech, and German languages. the full text is about two pages long, but they are often summarized as: For other uses, see Prague (disambiguation). ...

1. Freedom to preach the Word of God.
2. Celebration of the Lord's Supper in both kinds (bread and wine to priests and laity alike).
3. No secular power for the clergy.
4. Punishment for the mortal sins.

Calixtines (or Utraquists) and Taborites

The views of the moderate Hussites were widely represented at the university and among the citizens of Prague; they were therefore called the Prague party, but also Calixtines (Latin calix chalice) or Utraquists (Latin utraque both), because they emphasized the second article of Prague, and the chalice became their emblem. The Utraquists (Both-kinders) were moderate followers of Jan Hus, who maintained that the Eucharist should be administered to the people in both kinds, i. ...

The radicals had their gathering-places all around the country. Their first armed assault fell on the small town of Ústí, on the river Luznice, south of Prague (today's Sezimovo Ústí). However, as the place did not prove to be defensible, they settled the remains of an older town upon a hill not far away and founded a new town, which they named Tábor (after the traditional name of the mountain on which Jesus was expected to return; see Mark 13); hence they were called Taborites. They comprised the essential force of the radical Hussites. Their aim was to destroy the enemies of the law of God, and to defend his kingdom (which had been expected to come in a short time) by the sword. Their end-of-world visions did not come true. In order to preserve their settlement and spread their ideology, they waged bloody wars; in the beginning they observed a strict regime, inflicting the severest punishment not only upon heinous crimes like murder and adultery, but also upon faults like perjury and usury, and also tried to apply rigid Biblical standards to the social order of the time. The Taborites usually had the support of the Orebites (later called Orphans), an eastern Bohemian sect of Hussitism based in Hradec Králové. Ústí nad Labem listen â–¶(?) (-Czech, German: Aussig an der Elbe) is a city of the Czech Republic, in the Usti nad Labem Region. ... SW corner of the Žižka square as viewed from the church tower. ... Mark 13 is the thirteenth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. ... A Taborite (Czech Táborita) was a member of religious protestant community of the Bohemian city of Tábor during the Hussite Wars in the 15th century The people joined local peasants to develop a communist-like society. ... Look up usury in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Hradec Králové (help· info) (German: Königgrätz) is a city of the Czech Republic, in the Hradec Králové Region of Bohemia. ...

The Hussite Wars

Main article: Hussite Wars

The news of the death of King Wenceslaus in 1419 produced a great commotion among the people of Prague. A revolution swept over the country: churches and monasteries were destroyed, and church property was seized by the Hussite nobility. Sigismund could get possession of his kingdom only by force of arms. Pope Martin V called upon all Christians of the West to take up arms against the Hussites, and there followed twelve years of warfare. Crusades First – Peoples – German – 1101 – Second – Third – Fourth – Albigensian – Childrens – Fifth – Sixth – Seventh – Shepherds – Eighth – Ninth – Aragonese – Alexandrian – Nicopolis – Northern – Hussite – Varna – Otranto Hussite Wars Nekmer - Sudomĕř – Vítkov – Vyšehrad – Nebovidy - Německý Brod – Hořice – Ústí nad Labem – Tachov – Lipany – Grotniki The Hussite Wars, also called... Crusades First – Peoples – German – 1101 – Second – Third – Fourth – Albigensian – Childrens – Fifth – Sixth – Seventh – Shepherds – Eighth – Ninth – Aragonese – Alexandrian – Nicopolis – Northern – Hussite – Varna – Otranto Hussite Wars Nekmer - Sudomĕř – Vítkov – Vyšehrad – Nebovidy - Německý Brod – Hořice – Ústí nad Labem – Tachov – Lipany – Grotniki The Hussite Wars, also called...

The Hussites initially campaigned defensively, but after 1427 they assumed the offensive. Apart from their religious aims, they fought for the national interests of the Czechs. The moderate and radical parties were united and they not only repelled the attacks of the army of crusaders, but crossed the borders into neighboring countries. On 23 March, 1430, Joan of Arc dictated a letter^[2] that threatened to lead a crusading army against the Hussites unless they returned to the Catholic Faith; but her capture by English and Burgundian troops two months later would keep her from carrying out this threat. This article is about the medieval crusades. ... For other uses, see Joan of Arc (disambiguation). ...

The Council of Basel and Compacta of Prague

Eventually the opponents of the Hussites found themselves forced to consider an amicable settlement. They invited a Bohemian embassy to appear at the Council of Basel. The discussions began on January 10, 1432, centering chiefly on the four articles of Prague. No agreement emerged. After repeated negotiations between the Basel Council and Bohemia, a Bohemian-Moravian state assembly in Prague accepted the Compacta of Prague on November 30, 1433. The agreement granted communion in both kinds to all who desired it, but with the understanding that Christ was entirely present in each kind. Free preaching was granted conditionally: the Church hierarchy had to approve and place priests, and the power of the bishop must be considered. The article which prohibited the secular power of the clergy was almost reversed. The Council of Basel was a council of bishops and other ecclesiastics of the Roman Catholic Church that was held at Basel, Switzerland. ... is the 10th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events June 1 - Battle of San Romano - Florence defeats Siena foundation of Université de Caen In the end of the Hook and Cod wars, Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut and Holland is forced by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, to abdicate all her estates in his favour; end of Hainaut... For other uses, see Prague (disambiguation). ... is the 334th day of the year (335th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1433 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ...

The Taborites refused to conform. The Calixtines united with the Roman Catholics and destroyed the Taborites in the Battle of Lipany on (May 30, 1434). From that time the Taborites lost their importance, though the Hussite movement would continue in Poland for another five years, until the Royalist forces of Poland defeated the Polish Hussites at the Battle of Grotniki. The state assembly of Jihlava in 1436 confirmed the Compacta and gave them the sanction of law. This accomplished the reconciliation of Bohemia with Rome and the Western Church, and at last Sigismund obtained possession of the Bohemian crown. His reactionary measures caused a ferment in the whole country, but he died in 1437. The state assembly in Prague rejected Wyclif's doctrine of the Lord's Supper, which was obnoxious to the Utraquists, as heresy in 1444. Most of the Taborites now went over to the party of the Utraquists; the rest joined the "Brothers of the Law of Christ" (Unitas Fratrum in Latin) (see Unity of the Brethren; also Bohemian Brethren and Moravian Church). Battle of Lipany, Hussite Wars, 1434. ... is the 150th day of the year (151st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events May 30, Battle of Lipany in the Hussite Wars Jan van Eyck paints the wedding of Giovanni Arnoflini The Honorable Passing of Arms at the bridge of Obrigo The Portuguese reach Cape Bojador in Western Sahara. ... The Battle of Grotniki was a battle that took place on May 3, 1439 in south of Poland. ... Jihlava ▶(?) (German Iglau) is a city in the Czech Republic. ... Events April - Paris is recaptured by the French End of the Hussite Wars in Bohemia. ... // Events foundation of All Souls College, University of Oxford. ... The Utraquists (Both-kinders) were moderate followers of Jan Hus, who maintained that the Eucharist should be administered to the people in both kinds, i. ... Events March 2 - Gjergj Kastriot Skanderbeg proclaimed commander of the Albanian resistance April 16 - Truce of Tours. ... The Unity of the Brethren (Czech: Jednota bratrská, Latin: Unitas Fratrum, also known as Czech or Bohemian Brothers or Brethren) is a Christian denomination whose roots are in the pre-reformation work of Jan Hus, who was martyred in 1415. ... A Moravian is a Protestant belonging to a religious movement that originated in Moravia, Czech Republic. ... The Moravian Seal, as rendered by North Carolina artist Marie Nifong. ...

Disappearance of the Hussites

The Utraquists had retained hardly anything of the doctrines of Hus except communion in both kinds. In 1462 Pope Pius II declared the Compactata null and void, prohibited communion in both kinds, and acknowledged George of Podebrady as king on condition that he would promise an unconditional harmony with the Roman Church. This he refused, but his successor, King Vladislaus II, favored the Roman Catholics and proceeded against some zealous clergymen of the Calixtines. The troubles of the Utraquists increased from year to year. In 1485, at the diet of Kutná Hora, an agreement between the Roman Catholics and Utraquists was obtained which lasted for thirty-one years. But it was considerably later, at the diet of 1512, that the equal rights of both religions were permanently established. Luther's appearance was hailed by the Utraquist clergy, and Martin Luther himself was astonished to find so many points of agreement between the doctrines of Hus and his own. But not all Utraquists approved of the German Reformation; a schism arose among them, and many returned to the Roman doctrine, while other elements had long before joined the Unitas Fratrum. Under Maximilian II, the Bohemian state assembly established the Confessio Bohemica, upon which Lutherans, Reformed, and Bohemian Brethren agreed. From that time Hussism began to die out; but it was—for a time—completely eradicated only after the battle of the White Mountain (November 8, 1620) and the Roman Catholic reaction which fundamentally changed religious conditions in Bohemia and Moravia. Events Settlers from Portugal begin to settle the Cape Verde islands. ... Pope Pius II, born Enea Silvio Piccolomini (Latin Aeneas Sylvius), (October 18, 1405 – August 14, 1464) was Pope from 1458 until his death. ... George of Podebrady - statue in KunÅ¡tát (Czech Republic). ... Ladislaus Jagellion (in Czech Vladislav Jagellonský, in Hungarian II. Ulászló) was the King of Bohemia from 1471 and the King of Hungary from 1490 until his death in 1516. ... Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 – February 18, 1546) was a German monk,[1] priest, professor, theologian, and church reformer. ... The Protestant Reformation was a movement which began in the 16th century as a series of attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church, but ended in division and the establishment of new institutions, most importantly Lutheranism, Reformed churches, and Anabaptists. ... The Unity of the Brethren (Czech: Jednota bratrská, Latin: Unitas Fratrum) is a Christian denomination whose roots are in the pre-reformation work of Jan Hus, who was martyred in 1415. ... Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II. His Coat of Arms Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor of the Habsburg dynasty (July 31, 1527 – October 12, 1576) was king of Bohemia from 1562, king of Hungary from 1563 and emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1564 until his death. ... Battle of White Mountain Conflict Thirty Years War Date November 8, 1620 Place Bílá Hora near Prague Result Bohemian defeat In the Battle of White Mountain, 1620 November 8, (Bílá hora is the name of White Mountain in Czech) an army 15,000 Bohemians and mercenaries under Christian... is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1620 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Saturday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ...

Today the Czechoslovak Hussite Church claims to be the modern successor of the Hussite tradition.^[1] The Czechoslovak Hussite Church (Czech: Církev československá husitská CCH) is a Christian Church which separated from Roman Catholic Church after World War I in former Czechoslovakia. ...

See Also

The Hussite Bible, a Hungarian Bible translation named so after the Czech-influenced orthography imported by Hungarian followers of Hus. The Codex of Munich, open at the first page of the New Testament The Hussite Bible (Hungarian: Huszita Biblia; sometimes also The Bible of the Franciscans) is the oldest known Hungarian, but also Finno-Ugric Bible tranlation, dated to the 1420s-1430s. ...

Notes

References

English

• Kaminsky, Howard. A History of the Hussite Revolution. University of California Press, 1967.

Non-English

• Ondřej, Brodu (1980) Traktát mistra Ondřeje z Brodu o původu husitů = Visiones Ioannis, archiepiscopi Pragensis, et earundem explicaciones (alias Tractatus de origine Hussitarum) Muzem husitského revolučního hnutí, Tábor, OCLC 28333729 in Latin with introduction in Czech
• Mathies, Christiane (1978) Kurfürstenbund und Königtum in der Zeit der Hussitenkriege: die kurfürstliche Reichspolitik gegen Sigmund im Kraftzentrum Mittelrhein Selbstverlag der Gesellschaft für Mittelrheinische Kirchengeschichte, Mainz, OCLC 05410832 in German
• Bezold, Friedrich von (1978) König Sigmund und die Reichskriege gegen die Husiten G. Olms, Hildesheim, ISBN 3-487-05967-3 in German
• Denis, Ernest (1978) Huss et la Guerre des Hussites AMS Press, New York, ISBN 0-404-16126-X in French
• Macek, Josef (1973) Jean Hus et les Traditions Hussites: XVe-XIXe siècles Plon, Paris, OCLC 905875 in French

This article includes content derived from the Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 1914, which is in the public domain. The Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge is a 1914 religious encyclopedia, published in thirteen volumes. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

External links

• Hussite Museum, Tabor
• Hussites - God's warriors, in Czech
• Notes on the Hussite movement and links to primary sources, from Kenyon college
• The Hussite Era, from Radio Prague's History Online feature
• Article on the Hussites from the Catholic Encyclopedia (1917 edition)
• Hussite War-wagons, presenting detailed information about the Hussites' most characteristic tactic, by Matthew Haywood
• Letter to the Hussites dictated by Joan of Arc on 23 March 1430, translated by Allen Williamson.
• Short article on the Hussites, from the University of Calgary's 'The End of Europe's Middle Ages'
• Article on the Tactics of the Hussites