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He, also, would
fall under the criticism of the Catholic Church. The
Archbishop of Prava would eventually have him excommunicated, and
he would also declare an interdict in the city of Prague.
Now, to be excommunicated meant that he was summarily removed from
the Catholic Church. That was not of any consequence to Hus,
who was very critical of the church. However, the
interdict—you remember, we had talked about this in previous
lessons that an interdict was a practice that the clergy, the pope
and the archbishops would exercise in certain areas, where all of
the services of the church could be removed from a city or from an
area, and thus, this took place in Prague. This interdict was
quite troubling to those in the community who still held to the
practices and the doctrine of the Catholic Church.
And thus, Mr.
Hus was summoned to come to Rome to appear before a council.
He was reluctant to go, because he feared for his life. But,
the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire assured him that he would have
safe passage. However, when he appeared before the council,
he would be labeled and branded a heretic, and he would be burned
at the stake. The Roman Emperor was somewhat concerned about
this, because he had guaranteed the safe passage. However,
church officials assured the Emperor that because Hus was a
heretic, that he, the Emperor, was not bound in any way to follow
through with his promise.
[AN INTERESTING
NOTE FROM Glimpses: "WE'LL COOK HIS
GOOSE." Believe it or not, that phrase originated as a
reference to a man whose last name means (in his native language,
Czech) "goose" - John Hus. He was literally cooked -
burned at the stake - but in being cooked he lit a fire of both
nationalism and church reform…Not about to listen to a
"rebel"—The
council of Constance had been called to settle the scandalous
situation of having two popes, one in Italy, one in France. This
"Great Schism" (1378-1417) had to be dealt with. It was
dealt with—thanks to the council. Naturally, a council that
restored an undivided papacy wasn't about to acquit a rebel who
questioned the authority of the pope. Hus's goose was indeed
cooked.]
The death of
John Hus did not end the movement which bore his name. His
followers would continue his reforming efforts that he had
begun. Some went even further than he had,
requiring—demanding—very sweeping changes within the
Roman church. Unfortunately, his followers would become
divided themselves. As a matter of fact, they would carry on
a bloody civil war among themselves. The Hussites, as they
were referred to, would make a small incursion into the Roman
Catholic Church, but eventually, some of the more conservative ones
of that group would reconcile with the Roman Catholic Church and be
received back into it.
We see, then,
the outcome of the lives of two early pre-reformers, one being John
Wycliffe, who was responsible for the translation of the New
Testament, but who was in disfavor with the Catholic Church, such
that they burned his writings, such that they would even exhume his
bones and have them burned and scattered; and then this one, John
Hus, who would literally be burned at the stake for the stands that
he took against the Roman Catholic Church.
By the year
1500, the foundations of the old medieval society had been
shaken. Soon thereafter, these foundations began to
crumble. Protestant historians log the 16th
Century as one of the most important periods in the history of what
is broadly referred to as, and considered to be,
“Christendom.”
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