1415-07-06 · Constance, Germany

Council of Constance Condemns and Burns Jan Hus

On July 6, 1415, the Council of Constance condemned the Bohemian priest Jan Hus as a heretic and burned him at the stake, sparking the Hussite Wars and foreshadowing the Protestant Reformation by a full century.

Jan Hus was a popular preacher and rector of the University of Prague who had been calling for reform of the Church since the early 1400s. He preached in Czech rather than Latin, criticized the sale of indulgences, challenged the wealth of the clergy, and argued that a pope or bishop in a state of mortal sin had no legitimate authority. Some of these ideas drew on the writings of John Wycliffe in England, whose books Hus had read and, in part, defended. When the Council of Constance was convened to resolve the Great Western Schism, Hus was summoned to defend his teachings. Emperor Sigismund gave him a safe-conduct letter guaranteeing his security. Hus went, believing he would get a fair hearing. He did not. He was arrested shortly after arriving, imprisoned for months, and put on trial. The council demanded that he recant. He refused, saying he could not condemn teachings he had never held and would not deny what he believed was true. On July 6, 1415, he was led to a field outside the city, tied to a stake, and burned alive. His last words, according to witnesses, were prayers. The reaction in Bohemia was fury. The Hussite Wars erupted within four years, and Bohemian forces defeated five successive crusades sent against them. The movement Hus started survived his death and prefigured many of the complaints Luther would raise a century later. For the Catholic Church, Hus's execution remains one of the most troubling episodes of the medieval period — a case where legitimate calls for reform were answered with fire.

Why it matters

Demonstrated the consequences of the medieval Church's failure to address legitimate reform demands, sparked the Hussite Wars in Bohemia, and foreshadowed the Protestant Reformation by a century.