Bohemia, Hus, and the Husite Reformation

I.  Introduction

• the heart of Central Europe, the Kingdom of Bohemia: Prosperous, natural resources, protective mountains.
• 13^th century economy based on cultivation of wheat, fish, beer, wool. Further expansion in 14^th century with silver mining, crafts.
• Czechs--ethnic group ruled by the Premyslid Dynasty
• 10^th cent. Christianity from German missionaries: Latin church (Byzantine mission to Moravia in Slavic language failed earlier)

Bohemian Kingdom part of the Holy Roman Empire: close association with the Western Church, HRE, and with Germans—long-lasting. Pluses & minuses:

• + mid-13^th century Bohemia acquired the duchies of Austria, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola (what is today Austria and Slovenia), and failed bid to become the Emperor (HRE). But this shows power and prestige
• – Czechs’ struggle to maintain independence from Catholic Church, Germany (and its predecessor, HRE), and Austria/Habsburg Monarchy

church reformer Jan Hus and his followers as example

II. Bohemia: Rural & Urban Society

divided into estates: clergy, nobles, townsmen, and peasants.

Clergy was very well endowed, owned 1/3 of the land

Nobles: Magnates & lower nobility

• Privileges, collected taxes, held public offices
• dominated parliaments (Diets)
• During the early 14^th century these rights expanded due to dynastic crisis
• Sheep husbandry & wool industry cut into peasant lands
• Nobility's grain trade increasingly bypassed town middlemen

Towns--royal towns--sent representatives to the diet

• served as a counterweight to nobles
• but royal towns outnumbered by private towns, subject to individual nobles. These added to the power of the nobility
• towns' prerogative to brew beer for sale (but later nobles acquire that)

Peasants worked land for which they made payments to landlords (knights, lords, clergy)

• By 13^th century most of the payments were cash
• In addition they provide labor for lords' estates
• not represented in the diet

German colonists invited to clear land and farm

also founded cities craftsmen, an important part of the urban economy.

Growing commercial agricultural economy and urban life

Germans important in urban life

Town notables mostly German

King vs. nobility. King allied with peasants, Germans, &  towns. Nobility, clergy, towns represented in the Diet.

Charles IV of Luxemburg (1346-1378): King of Bohemia & Holy Roman Emperor

In 14th century Bohemia most urbanized, commercial, most “western” part of E.C.E., area with densest population. Prague—largest city east of Rhine River. Prague was imperial capital, great center of learning.

• Golden Age: Great construction projects, palaces, bridges
• Charles’s former tutor Pope, and Prague made an archbishopric
• Charles elected Holy Roman Emperor:  Prague the capital of HRE 
• promoted development & reforms in culture, education, the economy, etc. 
• 1348 Charles University founded in Prague—first in HRE & Central Europe (earlier ones in Paris, Oxford, Italy). Cosmopolitan. Languages: Czech, Polish, Latin, German, Italian. 7000 students in town of 40,000. Many Germans came and began dominating the university.
• Charles attempted to reign in the magnates

The Church & Its Troubles

• Though under German jurisdiction, Slavonic liturgy in use for a while: vernacular religious tradition was there.
• 12^th century completely westernized. Slavonic liturgy replaced by Latin. But early Slavonic influence left imprint.

end 14th century, while cultural flowering also movement for church reform

testimony to the Westernization of Bohemia: Prague as center for debates going on in other parts of Europe—Oxford, Paris

But also return to early “Eastern” tradition: 1391 Charles IV gets permission to reintroduce the Slavonic liturgy in Bethlehem Chapel.

The Hussite Movement

Pre-conditions

• the crisis of the Catholic church in the 14^th century
• moral crisis. Sale of indulgences; paiment for ecclesiastical appointments
• institutional crisis - the Western schism (1378-1417)
• response: ideas about how to reform the Church (John Wyclif). But others in Paris where some Czech reformers attended lectures
• the development of the Prague University & large body of priests, teachers, students (including burghers) discussing theological issues
• attempts of king-emperor Vaclav (1378-1419) to take over church properties

Jan Hus (1369-1415)

• 1402 installed preacher in Bethlehem Chapel
• theology professor at University; enrolled in Ph.D. program; rector
• of a generation involved in debates about reform
• acquainted with writings of the Oxford theologian John Wycliffe (1320-1384) who advocated moral reform of church: attacked sale of indulgences, etc.
• Hussites wanted Church to be poor, abandon the wealth and power; clergy should enjoy no special privileges and should live on alms
• priests and prelates should be elected by the Christian community (laymen included)
• lex Christi embodied in the Scripture whose authority exceeds that of the church, pope & church councils
• anticipated Reformation in demanding freedom of conscience and expression; and the right of laymen to preach & get both kinds of communion like clergy (Utraquism)
• Hus invoked a national sense—preaching in Slavic rather than Latin
• During debates the non-Bohemian nationes (student associations) left in protest. The remaining Bohemian students more in agreement with Hus & reformers.

• 1409 - king Vaclav, supported by Hussites, sides with pope elected by the Pisa council, while archbishop of Prague and the Germans in the University side with pope in Rome; University is reformed in favor of Czechs. German professors and students leave Prague
• 1411 Hus excommunicated and banished, living in the countryside under noble protection. Hus preaches further. King and the nobles take over church estates
• Hus appealed to Christ against his excommunication
• 1414 - the council of Constance; Hus is summoned to defend himself; goes with the emperor's safe-conduct, but is imprisoned and burnt at the stake (1415)

The Hussite Wars (1419-1434)

In the aftermath of Hus's execution, the reform movement continued and became radicalized.

• September 1415,  452 Czech noblemen protest against the condemnation and execution of Hus, and form Hussite league; they begin to receive the communion sub utraque species (Utraquism)
• 1419 - king forbids Utraquism and tries to re-Catholicize the church
• Hussites begin to attend hilltop religious service (Taborite congregations), and take control of a large part of Bohemia, including Prague
• 1419 Vaclav dies; new king is emperor Sigismund of Luxemburg
• Hussites adopt the Four Articles of Prague:

1.      unimpeded preaching of the Gospel by/to everyone

2.      communion 'under both species' for all Christians

3.      the clergy to be divested of all worldly power and wealth

4.      public punishment of mortal sins

• among the Hussites, the authority divided between military commanders of the Taborite armies, the Bohemian Diet (controlled by nobles) and the Hussite Church (governed by a consistory of priests and university teachers)
• Basel Council came to terms with the Hussites: the Compactata of 1433 accepted communion sub utraque species (only for Bohemia, as an exception) and a diluted version of the Four Articles
• Radical Taborites organized Community of Bohemian Brethren: communal living, simple manual labor

Significance and consequences of the Hussite Movement

• Hussite movement very advanced: anticipated Christian Reformation by 100 years. Hus failed to reform church as a whole, but his ideas would be used later
• Constitutionally it legitimized resistance to authority on the basis of religious faith
• 100 years later Luther explicitly referred to "the Bohemian cause" making clear the kinship bet. the Reformation he was leading and the Hussite movement.
• BUT it isolated Bohemia from mainstream Catholic Europe
• turn to vernacular language, anti-German ordinances, turn away from cosmopolitanism

Political, social, ideological consequences:

• Refusing to accept King Sigismund in 1419 Bohemia became a de facto republic, or noble oligarchy—but also a land wracked by anarchy—for next 17 years. Lacking a king, the diet became that much more important.

• Royal fortresses fell to nobles and to Hussite armies. Chaos and fragmentation. Nobles and towns battled each other. Private towns and powerful nobles grabbed royal towns and possessions. Rival parties attempted to dictate to a weak monarch.

• clergy lost much landed wealth to the nobles & their place in the diet

• Many Germans fled: native burghers became stronger without the Germans

• peasants lost out as they were defenseless in face of anarchy and noble ascendancy

• religious compromise made the next monarch of Bohemia, King George Podebrady, declare himself to be the monarch of both Catholics and Utraquists. This gave Bohemia a political identity not tied to a particular church

• Habsburg designs on Bohemia came to fruition by means of Counterreformation as a result of this religious situation

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